West Indies ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 profile
As part of our lead up to the ICC World Cup 2019 hosted by England and Wales, Expat Sport will bring you in depth profiles of all ten qualifying teams set to put bat to ball when cricket’s premier competition begins next May. We look at the players, coaches, the highs and lows of form and make a nod to those we believe will make a success of their bid to be crowned champions of the World.
West Indies – Trailing close to the Windies
In August 2003 West Indies were 4th in the Men’s ICC ODI Team Rankings list, a decade later saw them drop down to seventh and 2018 finds the side in 9th position.
With next year’s pinnacle event of the one-day game reduced to ten teams, the Windies found their participation in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 suddenly dependent on the team battling its way through to the final of the 2018 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier, held in Zimbabwe back in March.
At the end of the qualifier group stage, Afghanistan, Ireland, Scotland, United Arab Emirates, West Indies and Zimbabwe had all made it through to the Super Sixes.
Fortune narrowly smiled on the Windies in this stage of the competition, as they became the first side to qualify for the 2019 Cricket World Cup, after they beat Scotland by a wafer thin margin of five runs according to the Duckworth–Lewis method. Meanwhile, Afghanistan beat Ireland by five wickets in the closing Super Six match, to become fellow qualifiers and meet the West Indies in the tournament final, where they beat them by 7 wickets.
So where now for the Windies in their build up to an ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, set among the capricious weather conditions and pitches of England and Wales? An improvement in overall form and individual performance, that is for certain. Currently the highest placed West Indies batsman in the ICC ODI player rankings is Shai Hope in 45th position, followed by Marlon Samuels just outside the top 50. From a bowling perspective, Jason Holder sits at a relatively respectable number 27 in the ICC ODI bowlers list, but his nearest colleague Kemar Roach resides in 64th place.
No doubt a pressing need for an influx of game changers sparked the selectors into bringing back big-hitting all-rounder Andre Russell, along with Alzarri Joseph, the young fast bowler, and batsman Kieran Powell as part of the 13-member squad due to take on Bangladesh in three ODIs back home in the Caribbean. Kemar Roach, who had also missed the last Test against Bangladesh having picked up an injury, was rested, and there were no spots available for T20 Captain Carlos Brathwaite, Nikita Miller, Marlon Samuels or Kesrick Williams.
At the start of the Bangladesh one-day series the Windies had 16 ODIs to go before the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, a statistic which moved coach, Stuart Law to make the point that every game would be vital toward gathering momentum.
Courtney Browne, the Chairman of Selectors, went on to add:
“The panel will focus on giving opportunities from time to time to players that we believe can add value to the ODI team.
“With the Super50 Championship set for October this year, we will also have an opportunity for regional players to perform heavily and place themselves in line to be considered for selection.”
West Indies legend Brian Lara’s comment was short but emphatic:
‘We want the Windies to play hard, honest cricket.’
The ODI squad picked to play Bangladesh was: Jason Holder (c), Devendra Bishoo, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope (wk), Alzarri Joseph, Evin Lewis, Jason Mohammed, Ashley Nurse, Keemo Paul, Kieran Powell, Rovman Powell, Andre Russell.
Bangladesh won the ODI series, played on the 22nd, 25th and 28th of July 2018 by 2 games to 1. The Tigers won the first game by 48 runs, then only lost by 3 runs in the second encounter and took the final match by a margin of 18. In the 1st game only Gale with a knock of 40 and Hetmyer with 52 exhibited any real promise for the West Indies. Second time out, a fine 125 from Hetmyer and 44 from Powell proved to be the platform that carried the Windies through to victory. However, in the third and final game, despite Gale and Powell hitting 73 and 74 respectively, as well as Shai Hope finally coming good with a decent innings of 63 and supplemented by a steady 30 from Hetmyer, West Indies fell short in a not unreasonable run chase of 302 to win. Exposing, perhaps a lack of batting quality depth in that particular iteration of the one-day line up.
It’s worth noting that Expat Sport as part of their online World Cup build up of news and editorial will analyse the ODI series played between the participating teams in more detail ongoing as they work their way towards the main competition in 2019.
Still many of the West Indies team are now in the thick of the Caribbean Premier league. While, seasoned Test and ODI cricketers maintain that T20 does not necessarily provide the best preparation for the longer forms of the game, it at least represents valuable match time out on the field of play.
Yet in the context of T20, stamina build-up (both mental and physical), is often called into question relevant to ODI and Test cricket. Where, for example, bowlers only have to deliver 4 overs, as well as significantly truncated time spent in the field in general. All match fitness aspects believed to leave players more prone to picking up injuries in the longer formats. In addition, the fact that Twenty20 cricket laws are different is said to blunt strategic thinking in terms of field placings. Given that, only five fielders are allowed to stand on the leg side of the batsman at any one time, and only 2 fielders permitted to stand outside of the inner circle during the first six overs of play.
Interestingly, Carlos Brathwaite, the left out Windies T20 captain, has already had a spell playing Twenty20 for Kent on the English county circuit this season. Therefore having gained some local conditioning based on his own ability, should he be brought back into the ODI squad?
On the subject of top West Indies cricketers getting game time in England, Trinidadian Dwayne Bravo was draughted in to play six Twenty20s for Middlesex this year. Bravo has not played in the Windies ODI side since 2014, when he was spokesman for a players’ strike, which caused the tour of India to be cut short. Now 34, he is still playing well enough for this World Cup to be his swan song in international cricket. Meanwhile, Kraigg Brathwaite joined Nottinghamshire in mid-August to help their English County Championship push. The Barbadian right-hander last played in the West Indies ODI team against England in March 2017; he was also recruited to play for Yorkshire in the final two games of that season. At 25, one could say Brathwaite is ideal ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 material. Fast bowler Jerome Taylor too, also 34, opted to play T20 for Somerset from the end of July, his last ODI game for West Indies being in September 2017. Yet, he remains in excellent nick, having lost little of his pace and remains deadly accurate.
Regardless of whether picking the final ODI squad might present some challenging choices, Caribbean one-day cricket when on song and flowing freely is a totally glorious phenomenon to watch on its day, and always played with infectious enthusiasm. Who could deny the thrill of watching those tail-ender-terrifying fast bowling attacks, and grand masters of the silky batting stroke, effortlessly finding the boundary rope or the eagerly outstretched hand of an athletic spectator in the stand. There are some outstandingly good players that could, perhaps should, be called up according to the neutral observer. Nonetheless, the selectors are still experimenting by bringing new young bloods into the side to see how they go, and rightly so for the future of West Indies cricket. Although a careful blend of age & experience and youthful talent might well prove a more productive recipe, if the Windies are to play to their undoubted strengths in next year’s World Cup.
Expat Sport’s Mac McTiernan takes a long look at the current shape of the West Indies ODI squad shape, their preparations for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 and potential return of presently sidelined marquee players in time for the main event.
