Amidst all the hype and hysteria surrounding the 2022 FIFA World Cup it is quite easy for West Indies sports fans – apart from the forever dwindling tribe of die-hards – to be oblivious to the reality that the West Indies are currently engaged in a Test series in Australia. It’s a mini-series – just two Test matches – which will be completed before the World Cup semi-finals, and its significance as a possible turning point in history can be easily overlooked.
It’s the first encounter between the two sides in the five-day format since 2016-2017 (also in Australia), for the Frank Worrell Trophy. That prize appears to have acquired permanent residence Down Under, since the West Indies surrendered it at home in 1995, after placing an iron fist hold on it from April 1978. The West Indies, who have not won a Test in Australia since January 1997, lost the First Test on Saturday, at Perth by 164 runs. The casual followers (who presumably missed, or were unaware of, the game) should save their usual “not-again” sighs this time around and spend a moment reviewing the match, noting the emergence of the long-awaited glimmers of hope.
Just after Tea on the second day, Australia, having won the toss and electing to bat, declared their first innings at a mammoth score of 598 for four. After baking the visitors for five sessions in the Australian heat, the home side probably expected to snare three or four quick wickets in the abbreviated period, as the wilting batters surrendered to their much-vaunted pace attack. It was not to be, as the opening pair of Skipper Kraigg Brathwaite and debutant Tagenarine Chanderpaul surprised all and sundry, remaining unbeaten at the close with a healthy stand of 74 in 25 overs, with the 50-run partnership coming off 100 balls.
At the second break on the third day, the West Indies, were comfortably placed at 237 for four off 77 overs, with Jermaine Blackwood (35) and Shamarh Brooks (18) – a concussion substitute for Nkrumah Bonner – well set. After Tea, the middle-order collapse, which has become almost a ritual, took place. The team succumbed to 283 all out in 98.2 overs, 315 in arrears. Sparing the visitors the ignominy of the follow-on, a wary Australian captain, opted to bat again, increasing the lead to 344 by the close, with all his wickets intact. The hosts no doubt intended to apply as much psychological and physical pressure – more sun – as they could on the West Indies.
The Australians declared their second innings at Lunch on Friday, after hammering a further 182 on to the lead, off 37 overs for the loss of only two wickets, thus, propositioning the West Indies the monumental task of chasing 498 to win, or surviving five sessions to draw the game. How does one approach climbing Mount Everest? One step at a time. Once again, the opening pair of the captain and the newcomer proved they were up for the challenge, posting 84 off 30 overs in the session, with the 100-partnership coming shortly after tea. At stumps, the Australians must have been asking themselves, “Who are these West Indians?”, as the Caribbean battled to 192 for three off 60 overs, with Skipper Brathwaite undefeated on 101.
Another middle-order collapse in the morning session on the final day, found the visitors at 258 for seven at lunch, and staring at yet another massive defeat. However, Roston Chase and Alzarri Joseph, numbers eight and nine, respectively, in the batting line up, stubbornly dug in their heels, plundering 82 priceless runs for the eighth wicket off 20 overs. The run-a-minute rearguard stand included eleven boundaries, four of which were swatted for six, as the tail enders showed the middle order how to emulate the openers. The West Indies finally succumbed in the hour before Tea, thus ensuring that the Frank Worrell Trophy will continue to reside at its current abode.
Our knee-jerk reaction every time the West Indies lose another Test match, is to shrug our shoulders and focus on the usual negatives; the side’s inability to dismiss the opposition’s batsmen, and the inevitable middle-order collapse. For a change, let’s concentrate on the positives coming out of this encounter.
This is the West Indies’ first loss in the long format of the game this year, following three wins and two draws in two series victories at home over England and Bangladesh. Australia is the cattle grid of international cricket – here the meek and the weak are quickly weeded out and discarded, the men separated from the boys. It is hot, the wickets are hard and fast – the Perth pitch had 12 millimetres of grass – no quarter is given, and respect must be earned; the crowd is very cricket savvy. It was there, during the 1975-76 tour, when the Australians dished out a 5-1 drubbing, that the young West Indian fast bowling pair of Andy Roberts and Michael Holding, the pillars of the early great sides of the 1980s, learned the harsh reality of what Test cricket is all about. Hopefully, the current heirs apparent on this tour, Alzarri Joseph and Jayden Seales will have a similar experience.
As the West Indies’ openers approached the wickets in both innings, they had been handed the daunting tasks of laying the foundation for replies to 600 and 500 runs, respectively, psychological yokes installed before they had even put on their pads. Their adoption and application of the ‘stand up and bat, the runs will come’ adage in the tough confines must be noted. Whilst we are both proud and excited over young Chanderpaul’s debut performance with scores of 51 and 45, we need to afford him the time and space to come into his own, tempering the urge to make the inevitable comparisons and shouldering him with unnecessary expectations too soon.
The best positive coming out of this loss has been the leadership displayed by Brathwaite. At the press conference on the eve of the Test, the skipper stated, “We want to bat [for] 100 overs, the main focus is to have discipline. We have batsmen that can get on with it, so it’s not to stop them. It’s for them to do the processes throughout the entire innings.
“I think [batting] time is always great to have in Test cricket… to believe they can do it. We know Australia is a superior team. We have to play ten days of hard cricket, that’s our main focus.” A side batting 100 overs twice in a Test match, should score at least 350 to 400 runs per innings, enough to win, or at least avoid losing the match. At Perth, the visitors lasted 98.2 and 110.5 overs, thus achieving the skipper’s goals, and had the middle order gotten its act together – several good starts went abegging – the West Indies could well have walked away with their heads held high after a hard-fought draw.
In the Test, Brathwaite led from the front, top scoring in both innings, with knocks of 64 and 110, while occupying the crease for 252 and 311 minutes, in the respective innings. A veteran of 80 Tests, he passed 5,000 runs in this match, and his eleventh Test century pushed him past the great George Headley on the list of West Indian century makers. Although personal milestones and records are not on his agenda, like a previous captain, it should be noted that in six tests this year, Brathwaite has scored 665 runs, at an average of 74, with two centuries, and five 50s, including one 90.
After the fourth day’s play, with a slim chance of a West Indies’ victory, Brathwaite told reporters, “We got to believe. It was good to get through this today. We had to fight.” And fight they did. It is easy to miss the fact that the West Indies scored 616 runs in this loss to the number one ranked Test team.
The Second Test, a day/night affair begins tomorrow (tonight Caribbean time) in Adelaide. Can the West Indies under Brathwaite’s inspired leadership bring an end to the 19-match drought against the men from Down Under? We got to believe they can.
