By Tony (McWatt) and Reds (Perreira)
SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. A SWOT analysis is, therefore, a strategy that is often used by businesses for measuring and evaluating their abilities to successfully achieve a specific objective. Over the next few weeks the attention of all Caribbean cricket fans and followers is likely to be firmly focused towards Oman and the UAE for the West Indies team’s quest to retain its ICC T20 World Cup title. As such, we thought that a SWOT Analysis of the team’s chances for success would now be most timely.
Despite all the justifiable criticisms leveled at the West Indies Selectors over some of their choices for the West Indies’ 15 members 2021 T20 World Cup Squad, its “Strengths” are never-the-less as numerous as they are obvious. First off there’s the immense available talent in both batting and bowling.
No less than eight of the fifteen players chosen: Evan Lewis, Lendyl Simmons, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmeyer, Nicholas Pooran, Captain Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell and, Fabien Allen have repeatedly proven themselves to be fully capable of winning T20 matches on their very own with their very powerful, often destructive batting. Based on his performances in this year’s recently concluded Caribbean Premier League (CPL), Royston Chase has also demonstrated that he may be quite capable of fulfilling the Marlon Samuels’ type innings stabilizer role that was such a crucial part of the West Indies’ success in its two previous T20 World Cup title wins in 2012 and 2016.
As far as the bowling is concerned, Dwayne Bravo’s inclusion in the squad has also equipped the West Indies with one of T20 cricket’s very best death bowlers. Bravo’s vast experience and indisputable success bowling the crucial final overs of their respective opponent’s innings will serve as a foundation for the squad’s other exciting bowling talents to work around. The likes of Obed McCoy, Hayden Walsh and Oshane Thomas should all benefit from sharing the bowling duties with as experienced and skilled a campaigner as Dwayne Bravo.
Indeed the Squad’s overall T20 experience is also readily available as an identifiable Strength. Between them, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell have collectively played more T20 international matches than some of the entire teams that will be participating in this year’s World Cup. More importantly, as a direct result of their vast experience, they are now fully equipped with the knowledge as to exactly what it takes to win major championships such as a World Cup!
There is, however, an old adage which suggests that your greatest strength can often be your most common weakness. The flipside of the West Indies Squad’s experience coin is the advancing age of many of its members. Almost half of the Squad’s members: Simmons, Gayle, Pollard. Russell, Bravo, and Ravi Rampual are now well past their respective thirtieth birthdays and undeniably on the wrong, downward sliding slope of their mountainous T20 careers.
The advancing age of the West Indies Squad can, therefore, be now be viewed as one of its major Weaknesses. So too can be the associated doubts about the fitness levels of some of its key players, Gayle and Rampaul in particular. Added to these would be the injury concerns and questionable match readiness of Andre Russell and Obed McCoy both of whom have been recently inactive as a result of incurred injuries.
The West Indies’ 2021 T20 World Cup fortunes may well be determined by which of its identifiable Strengths or Weaknesses prevails and has the upper hand during any of the seven matches they will eventually have to play if they are to regain their title. The extent to which some individual squad members can fully utilize the Opportunities that will be presented to them during the World Cup may also, however, prove to be a major factor in eventually determining the West Indies’ title defense fortunes.
Given his advancing age, at 42 he will be the oldest player in the tournament, and declining performances of late, his last 20 international T2o innings in West Indies colors having produced scores of 12*,1*,16,7,21,1, 67,13,4,11,5,8,32* 13,16, 0,5, 15, 18 and 0, the inclusion of the self-proclaimed “Universe Boss” Chris Gayle as a member of the West Indies final squad was understandably highly controversial. The World Cup will now, however, provide Gayle with a perfect opportunity to silence all his critics and detractors.
West Indies’ captain Kieron Pollard has indicated that Gayle will be given a special role to fulfill during the World Cup. So too we imagine will be some of the Squad’s younger players, Evan Lewis, Shimron Hetmeyer, Nicholas Pooran, Fabian Allen, Haydn Walsh and Obed McCoy. Each of whom will now have opportunities to further and fully display their obvious immense talents to an estimated global World Cup audience of billions.
While there will undoubtedly be many available opportunities to be capitalized on by the West Indies during the forthcoming T20 World Cup, there will also be a few palpable Threats to the successful defense of their title. Foremost among which will be the prevailing climate and playing conditions for their scheduled matches.
The 2021 T20 World Cup matches will be played at Oman and the UAE venues in conditions of extreme heat and on grounds with very large boundaries. The former will certainly test the fitness levels the West Indies’ aforementioned older players. The latter might just as importantly negate the boundary hitting process of the West Indies batsmen, forcing them to rely instead on rotating the strike, reducing the number of dot balls faced, and taking twos and threes. None of which have historically been strong features of their T20 batting.
In England, South Africa, and Australia the West Indies will also be facing very formidable first-round opponents. Each of which is fully capable of identifying and exploiting the available weaknesses in the West Indies’ batting, bowling, and even fielding.
To progress beyond the Preliminary Round into the Semis and hopefully even further eventually to the final, the West Indies will most likely first have to win at least two of the three aforementioned matches. In addition to those against the Group’s two remaining teams.
Whether they will or not could, therefore, very likely be determined by the extent to which they can fully utilize their Strengths, mitigate their Weaknesses, make the absolute most of the available Opportunities, and counteract the existing Threats.
As they embark upon their campaign to successfully defend their T20 World Cup title the West Indies Squad, should also know that every genuine fan and follower, including ourselves, will be cheering them with hopes for their every success.
Go West Indies Go!
About The Writers:
Guyana-born, Toronto-based, Tony McWatt now serves as Cricket Canada’s Media Relations Manager. He is the Publisher of both the WI Wickets and Wickets monthly online cricket magazines that are respectively targeted towards Caribbean and Canadian readers. He is also the only son of the former Guyana and West Indies wicket-keeper batsman the late Clifford “Baby Boy” McWatt.
Guyana-born Reds (Perreira) has served as a world-recognized West Indies Cricket Commentator for well over fifty years. Reds made his broadcasting debut during the 1971 West Indies-India Test Series, and has commentated on hundreds of matches since then!
