T20 glory possible for West Indies
LIKE MOST Caribbean people, I have given up on the thought of seeing the West Indies get back on top of the world in Test cricket.
We may just have to resort to YouTube if we want to see the West Indies beating the world while decked out in ‘whites’ again. I do not hold out much hope of seeing us win the 50-over tournament anytime soon either.
T20 cricket is another matter. Here we have a genuine chance of lifting the trophy late next year in Australia. We have lifted two global T20 titles before, and though the current team is not the same quality as it was, say, five years ago, we could still be one of the teams to beat.
The biggest problem is, of course, the bowling. When we took the two titles, we could call on the services of Sunil Narine and Samuel Badree, at the time the best spin- bowling duo in the T20 format. Badree has since retired and gone into commentary (did I read talks about a comeback?), while you never know when Narine will be available to play international cricket.
Ravi Rampaul, the most underrated West Indian fast bowler of his generation, is also no longer wearing West Indies colours. Those are three huge shoes to fill, and looking around the West Indies, there are no obvious replacements.
Hayden Walsh and Khary Pierre are exposed now, but it is unlikely that they will have the same impact as the Narine-Badree combination. Chris Gayle may well try to summon up the last vestiges of his form and fitness for what should be his last hurrah in a little under a year. With or without Gayle, the batting still looks fairly formidable on paper. Any T20 batting line-up with Evin Lewis, Lendl Simmonds, Brandon King, Shemron Hetmeyer, Nicholas Pooran, Daren Bravo, Kieran Pollard, and a possible Andre Russell can create problems for any team.
The next staging of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will be held just before the World Cup next year and will provide opportunities for players to make the World Cup squad. Sheldon Cotterell and Kesrick Williams look to be the two front runners for the new ball, but the other spots for fast bowlers are wide open.
An SOS for fast bowlers who can bat will be sent out during the CPL next year. Wicket-taking spinners are also in short supply. With no obvious attacking spinner who’s scaring the world, we may have to make do with slow-bowling all-rounders. Fabian Allen and Rahkim Cornwall, anyone?
Do we “remember the name” and bring back Carlos Brathwaite? Will Dwayne Bravo suit up now that he has announced an end to his retirement? We do not have the bowlers to make international batsmen lose sleep, but we still have reasonable bowlers who can hit it a far way.
We may well have to gamble on Jason Holder, Dwayne Bravo, Carlos Brathwaite, and Andre Russell all in the same team. Power hitting is one area where we have an advantage over the world, and this may well be our best chance if we play all these hard-hitting all-rounders. I can’t wait to see how our team will do Down Under in the tournament next year. We can win, but our odds are not what they used to be.