On Monday, April 24th, Cricket West Indies
(CWI) announced the match schedule for
the upcoming Men’s “A” Team Series in
Bangladesh. According to the schedule the West Indies
A team will arrive in Bangladesh on the 11th of May,
2023. The team will play three four-day “Test” matches
against Bangladesh “A”, at the Sylhet International
Cricket Stadium. The first “Test” will be from May 16th
to May 19th, the second from May 23rd to May 26th,
and the third and final “Test” from May 30th to June 3rd.
All matches will have full first-class status.
This series will undoubtedly provide good exposure
for several players who are striving for selection to
the West Indies senior team. The players will surely
gain much-needed experience which would help to
develop them, sharpen their skills and work out areas of
weaknesses. Some players are still struggling to correct
major deficiencies in their batting techniques, but we
are now beginning to see more players putting in good
performances at the First Class level. We have also
seen some rather good performances in the Headley
Weekes Tri-series and expect to see several of these
players in the squad named for West Indies “A” Team
tour to Bangladesh this month.
Alick Athanaze continues to perform well at the First
Class level. He just has to maintain consistency. He
is almost certain to be selected for the “A” tour to
Bangladesh and will surely be in the West Indies Test
squad to play the Test series against India in July/August.
I will go even further say that he is likely to be in the final
X1 for the first Test, once his good form continues. It
was also great to see West Indies White ball top order
batsman Brandon King returning to red ball cricket. He
showed his capability in this format with a solid knock
of 92 from 148 balls, representing Team Weekes in the
Tri-series. King’s last four-day appearance was in March
2022, at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad, when he made a solid
119 for the Jamaican Scorpions against the Windward Islands
Volcanoes. His form has fluctuated over the years ever since he
was included in the West Indies squad for the 2014 U-19 World
Cup. In recent years he has worked hard to correct technical flaws
in his batting and has now developed into one of West Indies’
leading batsmen in the white ball formats of the game. A Test call
may not be too far away if the continues to impress.
It is good to also see young players like Kirk McKenzie, Kevin
Wickham, and Kevlon Anderson putting in some creditable
performances. And what about Darren Bravo, who showed
glimpses of good form in the First Class season this year? Age
is definitely not in his favor. At 34, Bravo will find it somewhat
difficult to get a Test recall. He is still one of our better players
of spin, but it seems that his ‘ship has long sailed’. I doubt he will
even be selected for the “A” Team tour to Bangladesh. Nkrumah
Bonner is another batsman who will find it difficult to make it back
into the Test team, after being dropped for the last Test series.
He seems to have lost all confidence in himself and didn’t help
his cause much with his performances with the bat in the last FC
season.
Looking at the West Indies batting unit at present there needs to
be at least three or four changes. I cannot see us going into the Test series against India with Reifer as our no. 3 batsman. Blackwood, Chase, and Mayers are too inconsistent and should be dropped. Some will probably say that Jermaine Blackwood is the vice- captain and should remain in the team, but he is just not consistent enough. Mayers on the other hand is best suited to the white ball format. But would the selectors share my views?
In the bowling department, 22-year-old Nyeem Young is developing into a promising Right-arm medium-pace bowler. Akeem Jordon is another good bowler; definitely one for the future. We need more of our young promising bowlers to put in greater effort and work harder to take more wickets, as they attempt to maintain good ‘line and length’.
We wait for the return of Jayden Seales from injury. It must have been heartbreaking for the talented 24-year-old. The knee injury that he suffered, after being selected by Sussex, ahead of the County Championship season, ruled him out of the Championship. The injury required surgery and the recovery time is expected to be about four months. He would have gained valuable experience which would have helped him to improve more as a bowler.