By Joseph `Reds’ Perreira & Tony McWatt
Coming as it did hard on the heels of their disastrous 133-run loss in the first of the three scheduled ODI matches, the postponement of the July West Indies – Australia Second ODI, due to a positive COVID Test by a non-playing member of the West Indies Squad, has placed a major dent in the West Indies’ 2021 ICC T20 World Cup preparation plans.
As reigning champions, the West Indies will be seeking to successfully defend its title at the UAE hosted ICC T20 World Cup this coming October.
In preparation for its ICC T20 World Cup championship defence, the West Indies had scheduled three successive five-match T20 Home Series against South Africa, Australia, and Pakistan. The completion of the respective South African and Australian Series means of course that 10 of those 15 scheduled matches are now done, dusted and relegated to history. Only the five to be played against Pakistan, two in Barbados on July 27 and 28th, followed by three in Guyana on July 31, August 1 and 3 now still remain.
Ideally, the West Indies would have wanted to enter the five-match Pakistan T20 Series with their final World Cup Squad of 15 more or less fully identified.
That would have allowed full use of those matches as an ultra-important fine-tuning exercise for the identified and still required improvements in each of the three disciplines of batting, bowling, and fielding.
Instead, the inconsistent performances among some members of the 18-member squad identified as the pool from which the final World Cup 15 would be chosen, during both the South African and Australian T20 Series, would have prohibited the West Indies from doing so. As such the three ODI matches against the Aussies, which were to precede the Pakistan T20’s, had arguably assumed the added importance of providing the West Indies with further opportunities to identify suitable replacement candidates for the remaining spots that are now still very much in doubt in terms of the composition of the World Cup Final 15.
Notwithstanding the recent wholly inappropriate selection related comments made by both the West Indies CEO Johnny Grave and the team’s Vice-Captain Nicholas Pooran, to all concerned ourselves included, it now seems apparent that the following 11 individuals, (in anticipated batting order), have seemingly confirmed their seats on the flight to the UAE. 1. Evan Lewis 2. Lendyl Simmons 3. Shimron Hetmeyer. 4. Nicholas Pooran 5. Kieron Pollard. 6 Andre Russell 7. Fabian Allen 8. Jason Holder. 9. Dwayne Bravo. 10. Hayden Walsh and 11. Obed McCoy. Indeed in the words of the renowned West Indies Cricket Commentator Fazeer Mohammed, all that’s left to be determined would be their personal choices for an aisle or window seat as well as their respective meal selections.
There remains, however, much less consensus within all circles as to the merits for the 42-year-old veteran Chris Gayle’s inclusion as a member of the Squad. Despite his acknowledged, well-established reputation as one of the most powerfully devastating batsmen in T20 cricket’s history, Gayle’s advancing age and his inconsistent batting performances over the last few years have caused many to still question his claims for selection.
Gayle’s actual performances in the forthcoming series against Pakistan will therefore, now be followed with very keen interest, as a means of determining whether his selection merits are being supported or undermined. Outside of the Gayle, however, the other selection areas of contention over which there would now likely be very little dispute are those of the backup wicket-keeper, another batsman capable of serving as a much-needed innings stabilizer, as well as a genuinely quick “shock attack” seamer able to routinely blast opposing batsmen out at with deliveries at speeds in excess of 140 kph.
As the 18-member squad incumbent for the backup wicket-keeper batsman position, Andre Fletcher’s scores of 12, 6, 4, 9, 30 and 35 in the six matches he played in total against both the Aussies and South Africans, has done absolutely nothing to justify his claims. Shai Hope’s outstanding record as the West Indies ODI opening batsman and wicket-keeper would have identified him as a most obvious potential replacement for Fletcher. As such Hope’s participation in the ODI matches against Australia would have provided opportunities for his merits for T20 Squad inclusion to be confirmed. As it is he missed the first as a result of a last-minute injury and with the second now having been postponed, those immediate opportunities have now been lost.
Much the same can be said about Darren Bravo whose ODI record of 3051 runs from 1157 matches with four centuries and an average of 31.15 would have qualified him as a potential target for the desired batting stabilizer role. Bravo was actually drafted into the 18-member squad for the last T20 match against the Aussies. Batting at number 8 in the order he scored just 5 off of seven balls faced. He did not do much better in the first ODI against the Aussies, scoring just 2 as part of the West Indies woeful batting performance which resulted in their previously mentioned 133 run loss.
The final spot seemingly still up for grabs would be that of the genuinely quick seamer, for which neither of the 18 member squad incumbents Fidel Edwards and/or Oshane Thomas have by their performances to date merited their claims. Edwards and Thomas’ performances, or lack thereof, would have opened the door for Sheldon Cottrell, who plays in both formats, to further advance his World Cup sSquad inclusion claims. Cottrell’s performances to date have, however, been similarly and unimpressively inconsistent. Moreover, Cottrell’s inconsistency has been in stark contrast to that of Alzarri Joseph whose bowling in the first ODI was sufficiently impressive to have now definitely advanced his claims for World Cup Squad inclusion consideration.
What happens from hereon in terms of the West Indies-Australia ODI Series, following the COVID-induced postponement of the second match, will certainly be interesting. So too will the announcement of the West Indies squads for the forthcoming T20 matches against Pakistan. Hopefully the demonstrated performance inadequacies of several members of the 18-member squad would have convinced West Indies Selection Chairman Roger Harper and the other members of the panel of the now obvious need for the adoption of far more greater flexibility to the selection of the West Indies Pakistan series squads than their previously stated approach of being “locked-in to the 18 already chosen.”
Whatever the composition of their squad turns out to be, the West Indies will be seeking to utilize the Pakistan T2o Series matches to address the areas of concern in their batting, bowling, and fielding that are still in obvious need of much improvement.
In terms of the batting, there was overwhelming evidence during both the preceding South African and Australian matches of astronomically high numbers of dot balls, each and every time the West Indies batted. Forty to 55 dot balls per twenty-over innings, the rough equivalent of 5-9 overs of non-scoring deliveries, is a major concern that the West Indies will need to address and rectify during the Pakistan Series matches.
So too the number of boundary balls being provided by the West Indies bowlers to opposing batsmen. During the South African and Australian T20 matches the West Indies bowlers recorded a whopping 187 boundaries, fours and sixes combined, from 196 overs bowled. Surely that must be another area of concern for Coach Simmons, Captain Pollard and the other members of the West Indies Brain Trust.
Finally, although their overall catching has been commendably good to date the West Indies fielders’ throwing is still an area in need of required improvement. Too many crucial run out opportunities are still being missed either as a result of poor throws or a failure to make direct hits.
Grouped as they will be along with Australia, England and South Africa in the T20 World Cup’ Super 6 Stage, the West Indies will be sufficiently challenged to emerge from the Group as one of the two teams advancing to the semi-finals. Anticipated match conditions in the UAE characterized by searing heat and large grounds with extended boundaries will not make such challenges any easier. Individual fitness and wise shot selection by their batsmen could well, therefore, prove to be key to the West Indies chances for success.
So much still to be decided and determined. The weeks ahead, between now and the mid-August conclusion of the Pakistan T20 Series, should therefore prove to be very interesting for West Indies cricket enthusiasts ourselves included.
Guyana born Joseph Reds (Perreira) has served as a world recognized West Indies Cricket Commentator for well over fifty-years now, having made his debut broadcast during the 1971 West Indies-India Test Series.
Guyana born, Toronto based, Tony McWatt now serves as Canadian Cricket’s Media Relations Manager and as Publisher of Wickets: Canada’s Monthly Online Cricket Magazine. He is also the only son of the former Guyana and West Indies wicket-keeper batsman the late Clifford “Baby Boy” McWatt.