On this Test tour to England, the West Indies will certainly miss the top trio of Keemo Paul, Shimron Hetmyer and Darren Bravo. The batting department will certainly be very weakened with Hetmyer and Bravo out for sure, but those batsmen on tour should see this as opportunity for someone to take on the added responsibility of stepping up to the plate and contributing in a meaningful way. They certainly are capable of standing in the proverbial gap, but the question to be asked is: Whose star will shine this season?
Darren Bravo
West Indies Head Coach Phil Simmons, in his virtual press conference on Saturday, detailed the importance of the players returning solid batting performances on this tour. He highlighted that the bowling unit had carried the team in recent times, but the batting would be under pressure on this tour.
“We need to get that total of 400-450 in order to give this top-class bowling unit a chance,” Simmons posited. He
Hetmyer and Bravo are a dynamic duo
declared that management would just have to work hard with the guys on tour and put them in a position to fill the shoes of Bravo and Hetmyer in the series.
In the West Indies monumental win against England, centuries were scored in the Headingly affair back in 2017. Shai
Hope had scored twin centuries, while Kraigg Brathwaite had scored a first innings ton, and followed that up with 95 in the second innings.
On this occasion, the players will have to make statements with their bats, and not with their mouths. The Kemar Roach-led West Indies fast bowling group had caused some troubles in recent times, especially against England in the Car
Shimron Hetmyer
ibbean last year; but they would most certainly need “something to work with” on this tour.
Among the batsmen present in the 14-man squad, none boasts a better Test average than Darren Bravo, who is simply an experienced candidate and is arguably the best batsman in the Caribbean in terms of skill and technique.
Bravo played in 54 Test matches, and has an average of 37.6. On tour, the inexperienced Shamarh Brooks has the best batting average, 34, but is three Test matches old. Brathwaite has a batting average of 33 in 59 Tests, and is the most experienced batsman on tour. Captain Jason Holder has a batting average of 32 in his 40 matches, while Roston Chase has a batting average of 31 in 32 Tests.
The red-hot Jermaine Blackwood, who is returning to the Test squad, has an average of 30, as does Shane Dowrich. Opener John Campbell averages 29, while the gifted Shai Hope has the poorest Test average among the Test batsmen: 27. His average is similar to Hetmyer’s, who opted out of the tour.
Hope, however, has made great strides in the ODI format, but is yet to enjoy similar success in the Test format. He will certainly be reminiscing on his twin centuries at Headingly back in 2017. This tour will be of great significance for that Barbadian class act, and he will have to “pull more weight” in the absence of Bravo and Hetmyer.
Uncapped Jamaican Nkrumah Bonner has constructed his innings well in Regional 4-Day cricket, and this tour will be the perfect opportunity for him to announce himself to International cricket and cement a place in the West Indies team. Only time will tell who fills the shoes of Bravo and Hetmyer.
