West Indies: The tale of the tape

Who were the West Indian winners and losers from the Test Series?

After all was said and done victory in the Wisden Trophy series came down to the final day of the final test match. England completed another home series victory leaving the West Indies to ponder what might have been.

For some of the men in maroon they return to the Caribbean Isles with their reputation enhanced but for others a very uncertain future awaits in the test arena.

Machel Hewitt runs through the definitive breakdown of the winners and losers with his player ratings.

Kraigg Braithwaite 6/10

After a lean few years in test cricket with no 50s/100s in his last 10 test matches. Braithwaite returned to England with something to prove and a big question mark over his head.

Under pressure to perform to keep his place in the test side after the series, the obdurate opener returned to something akin to old expectations.

A 65 and 75 in the first and second test respectively were important in setting foundations and more crucially it was the balls absorbed that indicated at the return to form.

The 65 coming off 125 balls and the 75 off 165. He will be disappointed he didnt record a hundred in either innings or get anymore 50s in the others and as the senior batsman in the side that must be the expectation of him. However on the flip-side a series average of 29.33 was his best series return since Bangladesh at home in July 2018.

He may well (allegedly) have lost his central contract but he wont have lost his place in the test side.

John Campbell 2/10

Since John Campbell debuted against England in 2019 there have been concerns about his technique. Opening in test cricket is exceptionally hard and Campbell seemed way too expansive and loose to survive for long against top quality attacks.

India’s pace attack had found him out at the back end of 2019 and it was a similar case against the English in favourable conditions for their seamers.

It was right to give Campbell all three tests in my mind as it was his first test tour of England and he wont be the last to struggle as an opener. However too many of his dismissals were avoidable and loose and suggest he has to go and develop a better technique.

One 50 in nine test matches for John Campbell is not a great look and it would not surprise me if his name is missing from the next test squad as a result. That doesnt mean he wont come again but he’ll need to do it via sheer weight of runs in FC cricket.

Shai Hope 1/10

Disclaimer: Shai Hope will eventually become a good test batsman.

That time is not now though. If Shai is honest with himself he must know he needs a break from the Test arena. Like Kraigg he came into the series under huge pressure, unlike Kraigg he didnt shut his critics up.

Shai now has three 50s in his last 39 test innings. There can be no justification to keep him in the side when Darren Bravo and Shimron Hetmyer are on the outside looking in.

What was most worrying about Shai through his six innings on this tour is the number of times he changed his stance and style of innings. That suggests at a batsman who isnt comfortable with his game.

As harsh as it may sound one cannot live on “but his cover drive is so classy” plaudits alone. You have to produce and Shai hasnt.

CPL is next on the agenda for Shai but if he has ambitions to succeed in red I would work with CWI to get a red ball contract overseas away from scrutiny.

Shamarh Brooks 7.5/10

One of the genuine positives on the tour. Given his performances in the 4 day domestic championship Shamarh could have come into the series questioning his form.

However he proved to be watchful at the crease and very wristy in his strokeplay playing all balls on their merit.

Like Kraigg he hit two 50s and had one good start and he will be slightly disappointed not to have converted them to 100s particularly in the second test.

Also like a few of the batsman Shamarh had a tendency to play deep in his crease and on the backfoot. Consequently he was pinned lbw on three occasions. That is a technical flaw he needs to address moving forward.

The good news for Shamarh, however, is that he has made sure his name is a certainty on whatever test assignment awaits for West Indies.

Roston Chase - 6.5/10

Roston was the recipient of the West Indies player of the series award which I found an odd decision.

That’s not to say he didnt perform admirably at times but Roston by his own admission would say he wanted to have a better series with the bat.

Watchful in both innings in the West Indies victory at Southampton, despite not recording a 50, Roston was able to soak up balls and pressure with patient knocks of 47 and 37. He followed that up with a good 50 in the 2nd test.

However his series tailed away with the bat in the final three innings and he will look back on falling victim to too many lbws (that back foot play again).

With the ball Roston once again tormented England and Rory Burns in particular. 10 wickets at 34 a great return for someone who maybe needs to get more respect put on his name as an all-rounder.

All the while Roston can perform like that with the ball it will make it more likely that West Indies choose to play with 4 pacers.

That said, Roston is in the side primarily to make 50s and 100s, this was a much better tour for him than 2017 but he will still want better returns with the bat going forward.

Jermaine Blackwood - 7.5/10

The top run scorer in the domestic FC season, Blackwood made his long awaited return to the Test side and promptly topped the run charts for the West Indies.

211 runs at 35.16 demonstrated a batsman comfortably with his game and as displayed in the majority of his innings better placed to play the situation.

His second innings 95 at Southampton was the key in West Indies winning the first test and his 55 in the 2nd innings in the 2nd test looked at one point to be crucial in West Indies salvaging a draw.

Blackwood was selected due to the absence of Bravo and Hetmyer but what is now clear is that he wont be dropped when they both return.

Jason Holder - 6/10

Jason was technically West Indies best bowler on tour which is perhaps unsurprising. He took 10 wickets at 30 helped largely by his brilliant 6/42 that destroyed England in the first innings at Southampton.

His SR worsened over the tour and the team critics will say that’s because West Indies had to bowl too much etc. However, whatever the reason he still ended with the best bowling average of the quartet.

It is the bat where Jason will feel he let the side down. Regardless as to whether Jason is batting 7 or 8 he is better than a 23 average.

A 35 in the 2nd test and 46 in the third were belated signs of what he could do but he would definitely have wanted more consistent returns. Whether he should have to is another question but he knows he has to due to the weak top order.

As a captain the debate will rage about his toss decisions and many will say he made negative choices in not batting first in the 2nd/3rd test but as the ratings for the batsman show there may be some mitigation for that.

Shane Dowrich - 4/10

Believe it or not this was actually a much improved tour for Dowrich compared to 2017. That’s where the positives end.

Averaging 21 is not what Dowrich would have wanted in this series and it’s subpar for him given his great success over the last two years - where he has turned up time and time again.

His gritty 61 in the first innings at Southampton was crucial in setting up the innings lead that lead to the test victory but he fell away badly from there. What was more worrying than the double duck in the 2nd test was the wicket-keeping.

Came back with a good 37 in the last test when running out of partners and after much harsh criticism from the 2nd test but over the piece it was a disappointing tour.

He is in no danger of a drop but eyes will be on him come the next test series.

Alzarri Joseph - 3/10

There is no doubting that Alzarri Joseph will lead the West Indies bowling attack at some point in the future however for all the talk of managing the bowling resources better. One can see why Alzarri was the one rested/dropped in the final test.

56 overs -3/182 across the first two tests is way below what Alzarri is capable of he should be the first to admit it.

Aside from one brilliant spell in the 2nd innings at Southampton where he got rid of Joss Buttler and Zak Crawley Alzarri didnt quite have that extra zip he is know for.

With the bat Alzarri contributed better than Hope and Campbell which is saying quite something. He had a good FC season with the bat and clearly is taking that suit seriously but ultimately he should be judged on what he does with the ball as the 4th seamer.

Kemar Roach - 6/10

Nowhere near as potent as one would have expected Kemar to be but came back well after going wicketless in the first test.

To reach the landmark of 200 test wickets, the first West Indian to do it in 26 years is such a telling stat about West Indies cricket (particularly management of players) but is worthy of so much praise for Kemar.

He generallly bowled too wide of the off stump at Southampton but challenged the stumps and batsman regularly at Old Trafford, with 4 wickets a piece in the 2nd and 3rd test.

If we’re honest it was overall a subpar return for Kemar but one that can be allowed given how well he has bowled in the preceding three years.

Shannon Gabriel - 7.5/10

The debates will rumble on as to whether Shannon should have been rested at any point, given he was coming off an injury.

As many have been at pains to point out Shannon looked fit in the nets, West Indies were one up and in an unprecedented position. It would have been a huge call to leave Shannon out in light of the above.

What does seem clear however is that Shannon bowled probably at 100% effectiveness in the first test picking up 9 wickets and bowling West Indies into a position where they could chase 200 down to win.

By the third test, fit or not he was probably down to 70% effectiveness. He did produce a fantastic spell on the 2nd morning of the 3rd test to briefly bowl West Indies into contention but you sensed that was him done after that.

He ended the series with 11 wickets at 32 which was a more than creditable return for a man coming off a 7 month injury lay off.

Rahkeem Cornwall - 2/10

Hindsight is a interesting thing. Everyone has so much to say about what the West Indies should have done to get a ‘better/different’ result but Rahkeem is an example of how sometimes thats all hot air.

Rahkeem was called for from many (including myself) to be included from the start or at least in the 2nd test. England had played Dominic Bess in all three tests after all.

However once Rahkeem was introduced in the third test for a pitch that had taken spin previously he was ‘ineffective’ and outbowled by Roston Chase.

Rahkeem will be disappointed to come out wicketless and not show up with the bat. It is in fact harsh to say he was ineffective at Old Trafford as he had one wicket not reviewed and did regularly beat the bat. However it wasnt to be for him.

This is by no means the end of Rahkeem and he will have a big part to play in West Indies test matches going forward but it may well be that we only see him at venues where we know it is definitely going to take spin given the form Roston is showing.

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