Ambirs, Shepherd among few positives for Windies A in poor series

By Brandon Corlette

With India ‘A’ clinching the five-match One-Day International Series against the West Indies ‘A’ 4-1, the latter team can now review their performance and observe that only a few positives can be counted throughout the series.
Top-order batsman Sunil Ambris has looked positive throughout the series, but he did not register the big score that was required of him, despite finishing with the most runs for the Caribbean team.

However, he finished as the leading batsman for the West Indies ‘A’ with 161 runs from his five innings. The Vincentian has shown great intent, finishing the series with the highest strike rate for the West Indies.
The opener, a replacement player in the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup, had a strike rate of 105.92 in the five-match one-day series. Despite registering only one score above 50 and averaging 32.20, Ambris looked set to partner Chris Gayle at the top of the order, giving Evin Lewis the chance to recover from injury.
Guyanese Romario Shepherd has been the most watched player in the series. He finished with seven wickets, the most for West Indies ‘A’ in the five-match series.
The brisk right arm speedster who took seven wickets in four matches, including 4-36, has bowled with venom. He also scored an unbeaten 34 and a 21 from eight balls in the series.
He will also fancy his chances for a senior team selection after his consistent performances at the Regional level.
Rahkeem Cornwall had a good outing with the ball with his five wickets, while Khary Pierre had only two wickets in the 32 overs he bowled across four matches.
Roston Chase, Rovman Powell, Jonathan Carter, Raymon Reifer and John Campbelle had poor outings for players with One Day International (ODI) status. Chase, who captained the team, scored 109 runs in five innings. He had a top-score of 84 and he had five wickets in the series with his off-spin.
Powell defended nine runs in the final over of the fourth one-day; that was probably the only thing he had accomplished across all five matches. He scored 47 runs with a high score of 41 in five innings, and had two wickets to his name.
Carter, who made a return to the senior squad in Ireland, scored 114 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 61. He lacked intensity and consistency throughout the series, which had presented another opportunity for him and many other players to seal a spot in the senior team.
Reifer scored only 91 runs in the series, and took two wickets, while Campbelle had the poorest of series with 30 runs in three matches.
Devon Thomas had a good match when he scored 70, but Guyanese Sherfane Rutherford was given limited opportunity. Rutherford made his presence count with a responsible knock of 65 in the final match, one of two matches he played in the series.
Keemo Paul had a fair return from injury with four wickets in the three matches he played, and he scored 58 runs; but Akeem Jordan, who had four wickets in as many matches, was not an impacting bowler.
This series would have given the selectors a wider pool of players from which to select when the Indian tour gets underway with the white ball matches commencing first.