Its mind-boggling regional pundits are unable to cite the obvious causes for the West Indies’ continued failures in all formats of cricket. Undercooked has been the most misused word the last few days after the West Indies slumped to yet another Test series loss to England after the just concluded second game.
Yes, the team of predominantly rookie batsmen was not afforded adequate playing time in tricky England conditions prior to the three-match series.
Yet even if the three or four warm-up games schedule was had, as was the case for the regional teams touring there in the past prior to the 2000’s, the end result was not likely to be different.
The glaring footwork technique deficiencies by all of the batsmen is the primary reason West Indies are two loses down with another staring them in the face when the third and final Test starts today (Friday) at Edgbaston.
In scoring 457 runs in the first innings in the Trent Bridge second Test, the West Indies enjoyed good batting conditions on a pitch without demons over the first three days.
But when it began to wear on the fourth day and became more bowler-friendly, it was back to the norm for the regional batsmen as they were skittled by spinner Shoaib Bashir, displaying the ever-present inability to cope against good bowling in testing conditions.
In being wiped out in less than two sessions on day four, the tourists’ heavy-footed batsmen perished in a series of backfoot, half prods, and general non-existent footwork defensive plays that allowed Bashir, Chris Woakes, and company a field day.
Kavem Hodge, who has shown an appetite for batting long, was good in the first innings while netting his first Test century and who, along with Josh Da Silva, once again teamed up like they did in being the best batsmen in that victory in Brisbane over Australia.
But both of the players’ defensive frailties were exposed in the second innings. Hodge has the tendency for an all-out backfoot approach that worked on the placid early stage pitch, and while escaping with a dropped catch, trying to defend on the backfoot then, was trapped lbw by a Bashir off break from way too far in his crease, as was the case with Da Silva.
Kraigg Braithwaite, the most experienced of the lot, edged behind playing away from the body, and Alick Athanaze, who also did well in the first innings, couldn’t avoid not getting to the pitch and paid the price as well.
Backfoot play is suicidal against spin, and it is the cause for West Indies batsmen Achilles heel regardless of the format, for much too long. The same goes against the swinging delivery from fast bowlers.
If videos of Brian Lara and Viv Richards, two of the region’s most prolific batsmen ever in the recent contemporary past, are examined, it would be the perfect lesson to know to combat spin. Lara was always akin to a ballerina at the crease, ever present dancing forward to the slower stuff, while Richards’ swift feet always had him getting to pitch, to blast boundaries off the best from his time.
As well, you never found Shiv Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, or Carl Hooper trapped in the crease to anyone. Players from that era would readily admit that “playing in the V” was always hammered in their heads, meaning the necessity to bat straight predominantly instead of the cross-batted swipes that also characterise the modern-day regional batsman.
At this stage, the team’s coaches need to be grilled on their understanding of this glaring flaw and their thoughts on getting it fixed. As it is, almost every other international team coach, even from the associate teams, understands and executes drills to fix such deficiencies.
Also, almost no one in the West Indies decision-making hierarchy ever speak about the role the slow-, dead pitches play in the region’s contemporary batsmen developing the bad habits.
The proverbial “needle in the haystack” search would be required to unearth any such young player who uses their well enough in both defence and attack. Former ODI player Keswick Williams painted a depressing picture of the said flaws displayed by the next generation of batsmen in the current Regional Under-19 competition while speaking on the popular Mason and Guest radio show.
It is easy to “stand and deliver” without footwork or get away with continuous swiping across the line on the low and slow existing strips in the region. It explains the heart of the problem at all levels, and unless efforts are made to provide much more exposure for players on the better pitches at the Darren Sammy Cricket Ground in St Lucia or in Barbados at the famed Kensington Oval surface, which could do with a bit more grass in its preparation in recent times, our batting will continue to go around in circles without significant improvement.
The great majority of the pitches in the West Indies used for international competition, like the sand-based Providence strip, are hopeless and need to be dug up and replaced.
Therefore, it is imperative that regional coaches understand they have their work cut out to fix the malaise, mainly due to the counterproductive existing strips.
So where does it leave the regional side in their quest to save face by winning the third and final Test at an Edgbaston pitch, expected to yield more swing than at Trent Bridge? The odds are against the tourists avoiding a whitewash, as there’s no Roston Chase or Shai Hope to draft in, given their omissions for the tour. Both have shown significant improvement in those key batting skills requirements, based on performances in recent limited overs outings.
It is not clear whether Hope declined selection for the second time as he did for the Australia tour earlier in the year. That decision was eyebrow-raising given he was once such a star in the making following his historic twin-century display at Headingly, Leeds, in 2017.
Hopefully, he is ambitious enough to want to regain such glory in the format considered the best measurement of a cricketer’s greatness and make himself available in the future.
As a result, the team selection for the other of the back-to-back Test competitions against South Africa in the region next month would make interesting reading.
