A brand new opportunity

With 12 established international players pulling out of the Bangladesh tour, Luke Dunning looks at the revamped ODI squad

The West Indies touring party are due to arrive in Dhaka on January 10 and the series will run until February 15. West Indies are scheduled to play three ODIs and two Tests in Chattogram and Dhaka in a shortened tour.

The following players declined the opportunity to tour due to COVID-19 related concerns or personal fears: Jason Holder, Kieron Pollard, Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, Roston Chase, Sheldon Cottrell, Evin Lewis, Shai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer and Nicholas Pooran. Fabian Allen and Shane Dowrich are unavailable due to personal reasons.

West Indies ODI Squad

Jason Mohammed (captain), Sunil Ambris (vice-captain), Nkrumah Bonner, Joshua Da Silva, Jahmar Hamilton, Chemar Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Andre McCarthy, Kjorn Ottley, Rovman Powell, Raymon Reifer, Romario Shepherd, Hayden Walsh jr

CWI Press release - December 29, 2020

With the squads being announced for the West Indies’ tour of Bangladesh, a lot has been made of the missing players but as indicated by Roger Harper and Jimmy Adams the ODI squad presents a fantastic opportunity for players who may well have otherwise not been afforded this opportunity.

Within the selected squad there are a number of talking points, vis-à-vis the most likely to don the maroon by the time of the first ODI.

The fight for the wicket-keeping gloves is the first interesting point. Joshua da Silva is coming in hot for the role following an impressive test debut in the final test of the New Zealand tour. His battling 57 in the second innings of that match showed the grit and determination needed to succeed at international level.

His form in the domestic Super50 competition for the West Indies Emerging Team also merits his selection; Da Silva made 301 runs at an average of 44.28. You pair this with his CPL return (136 runs @ 27.20) which in alone may not look spectacular but the context is that it was a tough competition for batters and Da Silva was one of only two batters to record a half century for the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the tournament.

In comparison, Jahmar Hamilton is coming in pretty much ice cold. He played as back-up to Denesh Ramdin at the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the CPL and didn’t make double figures in three outings with the bat but his skill comes with the gloves. He managed to lead and keep wicket for the Leeward Islands during the 2019/20 Super50 competition averaging 34 across the 10 matches.

It may be the case that Da Silva plays as a specialist batsman and Hamilton is given the gloves but it clear that Da Silva is the better batsman of the two keepers on this trip.

A point relevant for Da Silva and the majority of the batsmen within the squad (Jason Mohammed, Andre McCarthy and Nkrummah Bonner especially) who have done well at domestic levels is how to transform that to consistent performance at the international level.

Rovman Powell is a live example of that difficulty, a player who obviously has the talent to dominate in domestic cricket but who has only returned three scores of 50+ across 31 innings of ODI cricket.

SIDE NOTE: Powell also averages 9.62 across his ODI career in Asia…

This is also why the CPL is so crucial in player development. Playing well in the premier domestic T20 tournament is key to becoming a top international batsman purely because the standard of the bowling in the CPL is the best they will potentially face without playing international cricket.

That being said we should therefore be excited to see Kyle Mayers in this series. This is not to say that he set the CPL alight in 2020 but he did compete with the top batsmen. What was most impressive about him is that he broke in to the Barbados Tridents team and topped their run scoring charts. He is a versatile middle order batter, handy with the ball and his 20(14) against New Zealand on his T20 debut gave a glimpse of the talent he possesses.

Put alongside his outstanding domestic form in the last year and you have a player who could well excel in the Maroon.

Super 50 - 9 games, avg 41 (1 100s 1 50s)

4 day - 8 games, avg 50 (2 100s 5 50s)

I spoke before and after the New Zealand series about Hayden Walsh Jr needing to become a big part of this West Indian white ball set up, he surely has to be given all the games this tour to stake his claim given the conditions in Bangladesh.

The plan should be for Walsh Jr to use those middle overs to provide a wicket taking threat and Akeal Hosein (vs right handers) should be used in the PowerPlay should Jason Mohammed need a spin option. Hosein is a genuine threat to Fabian Allen’s place within this West Indian white ball squad.

It would be ironic for Hosein to oust Allen given that Allen missed the CPL subsequently thrusting Hosein into the limelight. The Trinidadian left arm spinner recorded 10 wickets at an average of 15.00 through the competition at an impressive economy of 5.55. The only West Indian who bowled 20 or more overs and recorded a better economy was Roston Chase and if Hosein can bowl those tough overs in the PowerPlay, he could give the Windies that control from a spinner that they have lacked since the retirement of Samuel Badree.

One thing for sure is that at 27 years of age, Hosein will need to take this opportunity especially with the emergence of Ashmead Nedd in last year’s Super50 which was then followed by a decent start in the CPL.

The squad may well be light on international experience but there are enough hungry players selected who should be looking to use the tour to really put pressure on the incumbents.

Going into the 1st ODI, this is the team I would like to see (not necessarily the one I expect Phil Simmons and Jason Mohammed to go with):

Kjorn Ottley

Sunil Ambris

Kyle Mayers

Nkrummah Bonner

Joshua da Silva (wk)

Jason Mohammed (c)

Raymon Reifer

Romario Shepherd

Alazarri Joseph

Akeal Hosein

Hayden Walsh Jr

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