Maybe it's unfair to do a series review on the India-WI series, because India are so much better than the Windies....
To me, there's a clear top four - England, India, South Africa and Australia - and then there's daylight, and then the rest. The likes of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies, New Zealand, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe can fight it out among themselves for fifth place in the ICC rankings. To expect anything higher than that would be unrealistic, IMHO, with this bunch of players.
Maybe it would be less harsh on the players to do a series review on the five Tests in India and Bangladesh combined, to see who passed, who failed, and who excelled....
I shall endeavour to do that at the end of this Test.
And of course, those who disagree *cough* Afro *cough* are free to dispute my review....
Okay, I'll do my review in three parts...the first will be the specialist batsmen, the second will be the allrounders (Samuels, Baugh and Sammy), and the third will be the bowlers....
Let me start first with the specialist batsmen. They batted on five pitches in the Subcontinent, two against a weak Bangladesh, and three against a strong India. They batted on three pitches that favoured batting, and two that offered something for the bowlers. Because this tour was more slanted towards the batsmen, I've set the pass rate at 35 for the batsmen. If they can't average over 35 against India and Bangladesh on pitches that favour batting, then how will they fare against the better bowling attacks of Australia and England on pitches that favour bowling?
1) Lendl Simmons - 51 runs (ave 25) = FAIL. Yes, he probably deserved a run in the side comprising more than one Test, but a failure is a failure....
2) Kraigg Brathwaite - 277 runs (ave 28) = FAIL. Quite simply, Brathwaite is not ready to play Test cricket yet. He's totally at sea against the spinners, much like Devon Smith used to be, which is why Dhoni opens the bowling with spin. KB is the future, but only if that future is nurtured. He needs to skip the series against Australia and England, and play a full season with Barbados, and some more cricket in the A team, before coming back into the WI side for the home series against NZ.
3) Kirk Edwards - 459 runs (ave 51) = GOOD. He only started playing Test cricket this year, and he's already averaging over 50 on the Subcontinent. He's cemented his place in the side, and should rise up to the challenge of the Aussies and England.
4) Darren Bravo - 637 runs (ave 71) = EXCELLENT. Three centuries, and his runs are keeping pace with those of his brilliant cousin Brian Lara. He's the successor to Shiv, around whom the batting of the future will be built.
5) Shiv Chanderpaul - 342 runs (Ave 57) = VERY GOOD. Once again, Shiv's runs form the backbone of the WI batting. What more can be said about this outstanding performer?
6) Kieron Powell - 190 runs (ave 32) = FAIL. Performed reasonably well, but not good enough on pitches that favoured batting. Powell is the future, but only if that future is nurtured. He needs to skip the series against Australia and England, and play a full season with Leewards, and some more cricket in the A team, before coming back into the WI side for the home series against NZ.
7) Adrian Barath - 128 runs (ave 32) = FAIL. After his century in his debut Test, he just can't seem to reach triple figures again, wrestling with one injury after another, which seems to prevent him from completing an entire season for the Windies. In the absence of Gayle, Barath needs to step up and provide leadership at the top of the order.
I will provide my assessment of the allrounders (Samuels, Baugh and Sammy) later....
(1) Brathwaite= an excellent start to a career which should last a very long time, three 50s in his last four Tests is great form from an 18 year old AWAY FROM HOME, he's also shown huge guts at crucial stages, especially in the first test in Bang and late last night after India got Kirk early, i can only see him improving from here and look forward to seeing him play against England and Australia,
(2) Barath= he does need to convert when he gets good starts but he has learned from the bad habit he had of cutting the ball and getting out, injuries have got in the way of his rhythem imo and i think a decent four day competition will do him the world of good,
(3) Bravo= the boy is gonna be a megastar there's no question about it, he's so important to us now it's ridiculous
(4) Edwards= another who has been in great form, the more he plays at this level the better i expect him to get, he's such a calming figure at the crease and i think he gives the other batters confidence when he bats with them,
(5) Powell= not happy with the way he got out today but the pitch was doing things so i won't be too hard on him, but his performance in the first innings was stunning really and he's got all the shots in the book, hope to see him make the middle order his home now and put up some good scores in the four day competition, he'll be in the squad for the Australia and England series and hopefully he'll embrace the challenge and step up like Darren has of late,
(6) Samuels= a few decent knocks but he's not the same batter he used to be imo and needs to take a long hard look at himself, two ducks against India when we needed him isn't good, especially as he's meant to be a "senior batsman",
(7) Baugh= pure garbage and needs to be dropped NOW, fullstop,
(8) Sammy= pure garbage with the bat and has only averaged around two wickets per innings, not good enough imo, we need bowlers who can run through a batting order, not a bowler who can nick two wickets and then hide from a tailender like Sammy did yesterday!!,
(9) Fidel= Been crap in this India series and just looks to erratic, WE MUST FIND BETTER THAN HIM if we are to progress,
(10) Bishoo= done ok in Bang but has been very average in India, his unwillingness to mix it up is driving me mad now and his batting is just shambolic, i guess the hype might have gone to his head a little because he's not trying to improve his game at all,
(11) Rampaul= Extremely thankful for that Tendy wicket, just a great moment, but he's another one who barely takes more than two wickets per innings, that needs to change quickly if he wants to stay in the team long term imo,
(12) Simmons= not good enough at Test level which has been proven several times already,
(13) Chanderpaul= been disappointing imo, he's meant to be "our best batter" but he failed on what was apparently a "road" and was part of the first two collapses, his ton in the first test was decent but that's the only thing of note he's done during these two series,
In closing i think Sammy, Baugh, Fidel and possibly Samuels needs to be dropped from the team, and Bishoo's position needs to be looked at aswell.
Last edited by AFRO on Sat Nov 26, 2011 3:07 am, edited 2 times in total.
