By David Jackson
Now that West Indies T20 World Cup dream
is over, West Indies fans will now turn
their attention to the senior men’s Test
series against England at Lord’s, Trent Bridge
and Edgbaston in England, in July. West Indies
selectors updated the original 15-man squad
as Kemar Roach was unfortunately ruled out of
the Test series, due to injury. Roach has been
replaced by uncapped fast bowler, Jeremiah
Louis.
Kemar Roach, 35, is one of the West Indies
leading pace bowlers, and has taken 270
wickets in the 81 tests which he has played thus
far. He is presently undergoing rehabilitation,
after suffering a knee injury while playing County Cricket
for Surrey, this season. Lead selector of the West Indies
acknowledges that Kemar Roach will be missed, for
this Test series, due to his experience and skill as a Test
bowler.
Jeremiah Louis, Roach’s replacement, is a
28-year-old fast bowler who plays First Class cricket
for the Leeward Islands. He performed creditably in
the regional championship and has one five-wicket
and seven three-wicket hauls to his name in the seven
matches he played in 2024. Louis will compete for
a place, in what seems likely to be a four-prong West
Indies pace attack. The other pace bowlers selected
in the squad are: former captain Jason Holder, Alzarri
Joseph, Shamar Joseph, and Jayden Seales.
Jason Holder, 32, had opted out of the Test series
in Australia in January, instead choosing to play in the
United Arab Emirates T20 franchise league. Though he
was ruled out of the 2024 T20 World Cup due to injury,
he is expected to be fully fit for the Test series against
England, which starts at Lords on the 10th of July.
Fast bowler Jayden Seales also missed the Test series in
Australia, due to an injury. He, however, impressed
the selectors in a stint in the County Championship
with Sussex, earlier this season, taking 24 wickets in six
matches.
Pace bowlers Shamar Joseph and Alzarri
Joseph are both likely to make the first XI for the first
Test match. In the absence of Kemar Roach, Alzarri is
expected to take on the role of lead bowler, while
Shamar Joseph would be remembered for that second
Test against Australia at Brisbane, when he put in a
remarkable bowling performance resulting in a historic
Victory for West Indies. He is certain to be in the X1.
The updated squad is: Kraigg Brathwaite (captain),
Alick Athanaze, Joshua DaSilva, Jason Holder, Kavem
Hodge, Tevin Imlach, Alzarri Joseph (vc), Shamar
Joseph, Mikyle Louis, Zachary McCaskie, Kirk McKenzie,
Gudakesh Motie, Jeremiah Louis, Jayden Seales and
Kevin Sinclair.
West Indies bowling attack, in my opinion, has
the potential to be competitive in the series, but it is
the batting which could prove to be their downfall.
The non-selection of Tage Chanderpaul means that
Captain Kraigg Brathwaite will have a new opening
partner. Mikyle Louis or Zachary McCaskie is expected
to fill that opening position. Louis is likely to be chosen
in the X1 for the first Test. He performed exceptionally
well in the recent regional first class championship,
and should be duly rewarded for that.
My greatest concern with the batting, however, lies with the middle
order. Kirk Mckenzie is expected to remain as the no. 3
batsman with Alick Athanaze at 4 and Kavem Hodge
at 5. All three batsmen lack experience, and that should
indeed be some cause for concern. Wicketkeeper
Joshua DaSilva will likely come at 6, Jason Holder at 7
and Kevin Sinclair at 8. These three are expected to give
added strength to the batting. Alzarri Joseph, Shamar
Joseph and Jayden Seales would probably complete
the eleven, unless pitch conditions favour spin. In that
case Gudakesh Motie may come in for one of the pace
bowlers.
In this series we need to see more grit and determination
from our batsmen, and more effort to settle down and
build solid partnerships. Too often we see our batsmen
throwing away their wickets, early in their innings, with
injudicious strokeplay. On most occasions, they attempt
over-ambitious shots, without first assessing the pitch
conditions and the quality of the bowling attack. We
need our batsmen to play sensibly and learn to keep
rotating the strike. Batting won’t be easy in English
conditions. They need to be patient and watchful,
especially in those opening overs. It is imperative that
the top order set a solid platform on which the lower-order batmen can continue to build upon.
Captain Kraigg Brathwaite and the promising Alick
Athanaze are two of the batsmen who the West Indies
would certainly rely on to put up good scores against
what is expected to be a strong England bowling
attack. Brathwaite is West Indies leading batsman with
12 centuries and 29 half-centuries in the 89 Test matches
he has played thus far. He is a patient batsman, who
likens his batting style to former West Indies Test batsman,
Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
Athanaze has shown great potential as a batsman but
needs to blossom into the kind of player he is capable of
becoming. His talent was seen as far back as November
2017, when he was selected in the West Indies squad
for the 2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. Following the
West Indies matches in the tournament, the International
Cricket Council (ICC) named Athanaze as the rising star
of the squad. He became the second batsman for the
West Indies to score two centuries in one tournament,
finishing as the leading run-scorer in the tournament, with
418 runs. He made his first-class debut for the Windward
Islands on the 6th of December in the 2018-19 Regional
Four Day Competition.
In October 2019, Athanaze was selected to the Windward Islands squad for the 2019-
20 Regional Super50 tournament. He was the leading
runscorer in the 2022-23 West Indies Championship,
scoring 647 runs in 10 innings. In February 2023, Athanaze
was selected in the West Indies Test squad for the South
Africa series and was again selected in December 2023
for the Test series against Australia. Though he
has struggled in the couple of Tests he has played,
there is no denying his immense talent as a
batsman. Let us hope that this time he performs
exceptionally well for the West Indies. The West
Indies are presently ranked 8th in Test, just
above Bangladesh.
Following the disappointment of seeing the
West Indies being knocked out of the ICC 2024
T20 World Cup tournament, fans across the
region would be hoping that the Test team put
in creditable performances against England.
We wish the team well in this important Test
series against England, the no. 3 ranked team in
the world. Really hard!
