The year 2020 could be viewed as one of the most difficult year for sports around the world with the Novel Coronavirus pandemic curtailing most plans and activities.
Despite the pandemic, West Indies teams were among the most traveled during the year.
They, however, returned no different results than those the fans have grown accustomed to in the last decade.
Regionally, the West Indies four-day championship was shortened to eight rounds with the pandemic reaching this part of the world just before the final two rounds.
Barbados Pride ended Guyana Jaguars’ streak to take the title with 134.8 points while Trinidad and Tobago Red Force finished second with 94.8 points.
The Jamaica Scorpions and the Guyana Jaguars ended the truncated season tied on 91.8 points while the Windward Islands Volcanoes finished with 78 points and the Leeward Islands Hurricanes last on 52.8 points.
Some 24 centuries were scored in the tournament with Jason Mohammed, Nkrumah Bonner, Paul Palmer, John Campbell and Kyle Mayers the only players with two tons.
Jermaine Blackwood reignited his case for West Indies selection and was recalled to the Test side having scored the lone double ton of the tournament. He finished as the tournament’s leading run-getter with 768 runs.
For Jaguars, Leon Johnson (189 not out) and Christopher Barnwell (107) were the only century makers.
Alzarri Joseph, in five innings ended with an average of 117. Only seven players averaged over 50 while six averaged over 40. With the ball, the ever-dependable Jaguars left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul ended with 50 wickets to be the leading wicket taker. He also had his best figures of 15 for 7. Despite those performances he found it difficult to earn a Test recall.
The next best bowler was Chemar Holder, who made his Test debut this year and Akeal Hosein with 36 wickets each.
Promising fast bowler Preston McSween had 31 wickets while West Indies mainstays, Kemar Roach and Rahkeem Cornwall returned 30 wickets each.
Jaguars pacer’ Nial Smith was the find of the tournament and in his debut tournament, turned heads immediately with his pace and accuracy. Smith bagged 20 wickets from seven games with a best of six for 55 on debut.
Permaul’s team mate Anthony Bramble again showed that he is one of the most consistent wicketkeeper/batsman around with 27 dismissals and 339 runs.
Over in the shorter format, West Indies did not have a Super50 tournament this year but the Caribbean Premier League created history as the first Franchise-tournament to be hosted in a post-Covid world.
Trinbago Red Force had an unblemished run to lift the title for the fourth time. They were led astutely by skipper Kieron Pollard and in the batting department, Lendl Simmons, who ended as the tournament’s leading run-scorer with 356 runs and Darren Bravo (297 runs).
Shimron Hetmyer was the Guyana Amazon Warriors’ most prolific scorer with 267 runs while his team mate, Nicholas Pooran had 245 runs under his belt. Pooran, who is the current West Indies T20 vice-captain scored the lone century of that tournament.
Overseas bowlers dominated the wickets column, led by Scott Kuggeleijn and Mujeeb Ur Rahman. Imran Tahir and Fawad Ahmed also dwelled at the top of the charts while Kesrick Williams was the best local bowler with 13 wickets.
On the international scene, West Indies hosted Ireland then traveled to Sri Lanka before the pandemic. After a four-month downtime due to the virus outbreak, West Indies became the first team to travel as they went to England and followed that tour with another to New Zealand.
In the test arena they just one match out of five when the defeated England in the first Test at Southampton by four wickets. The Caribbean side went on to lose the series 2-1. They then travelled to New Zealand where they lost both Tests by an innings. The maroon boys ended the year in eighth position on the Test rankings.
Blackwood, who scored his first Test ton in five years, is currently the highest ranked batsman at number 34 in the ICC rankings while Jason Holder is ranked 41st. They are the only two batsmen in the top 50.
Blackwood’s purple patch saw him being the most prolific Test scorer for the Caribbean in the format with 427 runs at an average of 42. His century against New Zealand is the only one for West Indies in Tests this year and he also fell for 95 against England. No other batsman averaged over 25 or scored more than 250 runs.
Holder is also the top West Indian bowler and the only one in the top 10 rankings (10th). Shannon Gabriel is ranked 19th while Roston Chase sits at 32nd. They are the only bowlers from the Caribbean in the top 50.
Gabriel finished as the leading wicket taker with 17 wickets while Chase bagged a dozen.
Holder lost his place as the top all-rounder in the world and now sits in second place behind England’s Ben Stokes.
In the limited overs game, West Indies won three One Day Internationals (ODIs) and three T20Is having played six and eight matches respectively.
Currently in ODIs, West Indies are condemned to ninth place. They have scored over 300 in an innings only once and their lowest score is 184.
Shai Hope finished as the leading run scorer with 282 runs at an average of 47 and a best of 115. Evin Lewis is the only other batsman with a century in the format as he chalked up 208 runs from three matches at an average of 104. Pooran scored 204 runs from six innings but no other batsman scored 100 runs in the format.
Hope is the highest ranked batsman for West Indies, sitting at 11th while Hetmyer, who played two matches last year, is the second highest ranked player at 27th. Pooran (32nd) is also in the top 50.
In the bowling department, left-arm seamer, Sheldon Cottrell is the highest ranked at 26th with the next best, Joseph ranks 45th and is is the leading wicket taker with 18 wickets while Cottrell returned 10 wickets.
Over in the shortest format, Simmons has scored 199 runs, striking at 168 from five innings to end with an average of 66 and a best of 91 not out. Limited overs captain, Kieron Pollard scored 168 runs with a strike rate of 204 and an average of 56 while Lewis accumulated 101 runs at an average of 50.5 and a strike rate of 177 to round off the top three batsmen.
Unsurprisingly, Lewis is the highest ranked West Indian batsman, currently tied at 12th and the only player in the top 50.
Cottrell also leads the bowling charts and is ranked eighth while Oshane Thomas (41st) and Williams (48th) are in the top 50. Thomas and Pollard have both taken nine wickets to lead the bowling.
