Last Chance Saloon for Brathwaite
Can the man once earmarked as the future of the game recapture his form?
On the surface, it would appear the narratives of Kraigg Brathwaite and Shai Hope are inter-woven. Two young batsman, the bright future of the West Indies Test side, both suffering a long-term slump in form after career-defining performances at Headingly in 2017. It would be easy to band the two players together, both unable to carry the weight of expectation after that Test, but it would also be ignoring the individual aspects at play.
Shai Hope, during this dip in Test form, has excelled in ODIs, averaging over 50 and performing on unforgiving pitches across Asia. His plight mirrors Jonny Bairstow’s, a seemingly necessary sacrifice of one format over the other, part of modern day cricket’s intricacies. It could also be argued that yes, Headingley was the pinnacle of Shai Hope’s Test career, a period of brilliance never to be replicated again, before or after. Kraigg Brathwaite is different. There has not been focus on other formats. Headingly was not the pinnacle for him. The decline in form has been more alarming than Hope’s.
Brathwaite, along with Kieran Powell, was groomed as the future of West Indies cricket. Brathwaite displayed the patience and technique that was perfectly aligned with Test cricket; in an era when it was a concern for those in charge that some West Indian players were ‘abandoning’ the red ball for T20 contracts and franchise acclaim, Brathwaite stood out, a throwback. He entered Test Cricket as an 18 year old, and played alongside the likes of Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan in the early stages of his Test career.
A fine double century in 2014 against Bangladesh highlighted just how good he could be with the bat, a remarkable 6 wicket haul that followed in 2015 against Sri Lanka showed he was handy with part-time spin as well. For all the talk about Headingley being the defining innings of his career, it was just one of many great innings for him, arguably his finest moment so far came in 2016, in the dustbowl of UAE, where he carried his bat in the first innings to score 142 and then came back out to score 60 not out, as West Indies, despite already having lost the series, secured a remarkable away win in conditions that every team in the world has famously struggled with.
The heroics of Headingley need no recapping; it was seen in the English media as symbolising a rebirth of West Indies glory era; perhaps fuelled by nostalgia and a longing by most to see West Indies do well on the world stage again, because you know, ‘’Cricket needs a strong West Indies’’. Not long after, Brathwaite was made captain of the side against New Zealand, filling in while Jason Holder was suspended. Perhaps the weight of expectation became too much, years of being branded the bedrock of cricket in the region taking its toll or perhaps the lack of experience around him hindered his game. He was expected to take the lead opening for a very young and inexperienced West Indian side, a side that has only in the past 18 months started to display the potential that they were earmarked for.
Brathwaite’s Test average over the past two years has been 11. A lack of alternative opening batting options and a belief that he can regain his form of yesteryear have kept him in the side so far. But he will know the need to perform on this tour, a run of low scores could very well see him dropped. A return to the safe space of regional cricket, where West Indian internationals go to regain form and confidence, saw Brathwaite play a full season for Barbados, averaging 33 and finishing 9th in the run charts; not the returns selectors would no doubt have been looking for.
Speaking in a press conference today, there is clearly a determination however, ‘‘Looking back at stuff I did I can obviously see things I did well, but that's history. I have a current job to do here and I'm ready, I'm raring to go.’’ It is also suitably apt that with Brathwaite focused solely on Test cricket, he has sought advice of a fellow Bajan, a legend in the Test arena: ‘’I had some words with Desmond Haynes back in Barbados…He was obviously an opener as well and that's been very beneficial to me.’’
West Indian Test cricket needs Brathwaite. He is still young and has almost ten years of Test Cricket behind him; a priceless array of experience. The hope is that England, scene of just one of his standout performances, will stir memories and signal the start a glorious upturn in fortune for him.