WINDIES NEED A MORE EXPERIENCED LINE-UP

West Indies put up a good fight and lost their three-test series against Australia 2-0. And while many continue to deride the team about losing to the number-four ranked team in the world, the reality is that this team has shown signs of improvement. Critics will have to acknowledge that all the tests went well into the final day and there were periods, long periods too, when the West Indies were either in the ascendancy over or at the very least, on par with the Australians.

However, several things will have to change for the improvement to continue.

Throughout the entire series the West Indies were competitive but were let down by their inconsistency in the batting, especially at the top of the order. Kieran Powell, Kraigg Braithwaite and Adrian Barath failed to consistently provide the team with solid starts. Barath is a talented player but a series of loose shots cost him his wicket each time which put the middle order under pressure. Braithwaite hardly gave the scorers any work and Powell may have been asked to do too much as while he possesses some talent he also suffers from technical weaknesses and never seemed to be able to converts starts into anything noteworthy. Who can forget that leave alone that saw him get out first ball?

With that being said, the selectors need to seriously reconsider their policy of having so much inexperience at the top of the order where the success of an inning usually depends on a very solid start. Serious consideration needed to have been given to bringing in someone like Devon Smith, who while not the most prolific opener, would almost certainly have given the West Indies better starts. It goes without saying that 30s and 50s are certainly much better than zeros.

The failure of the opening batsmen put added pressure on players like Darren Bravo, who while struggling for form, would have been better served by his openers if he didn’t have to be opening himself. He, too, needs to develop patience and address his shot selection. Several times throughout the series he got starts only to throw his wicket away. Such is his talent however, that he had the third best average (36.80) of the specialist batsmen in the series. Only new world number one Shivnarine Chanderpaul (86.50) and Matthew Wage (39.60) were better in the averages.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul is the number-one batsman in the world. Nuff said.

Wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh kept well on difficult pitches but again did not deliver with the bat.

There are a lot of people for whom Darren Sammy can do no right but he did a good job containing the Australian batsmen during the series. He also did a good job as captain of this team and the players are clearly behind him and his batting improved during the series. His 61 in the final test as his team stared defeat in the face, caused a few Australian hearts to flutter. That being said, his catching has to improve. He dropped a few sitters that could have had an impact on the game.

The bowling while good, was not consistent enough. There were several occasions in which the West Indies had Australia on the ropes only to let them off the hook and let them back into the game. Kemar Roach and Shane Shillingford were outstanding as the leading wicket takers during the Test series. Fidel Edwards bowled well without much success and Narsingh Deanorine filled in admirably with the ball taking nine wickets. Together though, they managed to bowl the Australians out consistently except for a couple of occasions. Sammy, too, provided a few timely breakthroughs.

Former West Indies wicket-keeper Jeffrey Dujon has suggested that the players – after being in the field for some time – might be susceptible to mental fatigue. I don’t disagree but in addition I think the team lacks the killer instinct. That is something they are going to have to learn to develop if they are to punch on an equal basis as the top teams in the world.

Frustrated fans will only feel better when the West Indies start winning again but what those fans have to realize is that the process of change is not as simple as switching on a light switch. The team has been losing for more than a decade and losing, like winning, becomes a habit. What we have here now is a situation where this young crop of players has not been poisoned by the losing culture, which is why I believe the selectors have gone with the youngsters. However, a better option is balancing the youth with some experience.

Word is that players like Sarwan and Gayle, are a bad influence on the younger players but the process of phasing them out cannot be instant. It has to be gradual because the youngsters can learn valuable things from them. For example, had Gayle been involved in this series perhaps the outcome of the first Test, when the West Indies collapsed in the second innings after being toe-to-toe with the Australians in the first innings, may very well have been different. And had Chanderpaul had greater support in the middle order, West Indies may very well have won the series, or at least tied it.

Going forward the selectors need to look at a greater balance between youth and experience which I feel would position the team to take advantage of chinks in their opponents armour. The tour of England might provide a clearer picture of what needs to be done, as the inexperience might turn out to prove embarrassing in England in May. Now more than ever, the team needs a few more players with experience to guide the youngsters until they are ready to take over. What the Australian series proved was that the youngster are not quite there yet.