The Jamaica Gleaner’s review of West Indies cricket 2022 as follows, paints a very dismal picture. Lots of reported negatives among very little that was overly positive.
As cricket got back into full swing in 2022 following the COVID-19 pandemic, not much changed during the last calendar year for the senior West Indies men’s team, which continued to find the going tough on the international stage. Nothing was more glaring than the dismal performance of the white-ball team at the International Cricket Council (ICC) T20 World Cup in October, where the two-time champions failed to even get out of the qualifiers for the marquee tournament in Australia.
Defeats to Scotland and Ireland meant the regional side, led by Nicholas Pooran, finished bottom of Group B, and following that debacle, head coach Phil Simmons decided to throw in the towel after his second spell in charge dating back to October 2019. Pooran also felt the pressure from the disappointment of the World Cup and told Cricket West Indies in November that he, too, was stepping aside.
Months before the World Cup fiasco, long-standing white-ball captain Kieron Pollard decided he had enough in the maroon colours and called it quits on his international career back in April. His resignation didn’t do much for the team’s fortunes, despite beating England and Bangladesh in T20s. They would go on to lose T20 series to India in July and August, New Zealand in August, and Australia in December.
Following Pollard through the door were veterans Dwayne Bravo and Lendl Simmons, but a couple of players did put their hand up with creditable performances. Pooran ended the calendar year with the most T20 runs, 582, while Jamaica’s Rovman Powell and Brandon King came into their own by scoring 513 and 480 runs in 21 and 17 innings, respectively.
Jason Holder led all wicket-takers in the T20 format with 28, followed by Obed McCoy with 19, and Jamaica’s Odean Smith with 18.
The One-Day International (ODI) version was less stellar for the regional side who managed to beat only the Netherlands 3-0, before succumbing to Ireland, 2-1; Pakistan, 3-0; Bangladesh, 3-0; India, 3-0; and New Zealand, 2-1.
Once again Shai Hope proved that he
relishes the 50-over format after scoring
709 runs in 21 innings, a feat which secured
him a nomination for the ICC One Day
Player of the Year. Shamarh Brooks wasn’t
too far behind following his 694 runs in
21 innings, with Akeal Hosein proving his
stock with the ball by snaring 30 wickets in
20 innings, with Alzarri Joseph bagging 27
wickets in three fewer matches.
In the longer version, the Windies played
only seven Test matches. They got
another series win over England, where
they came out with a one-nil victory at
home in the three-Test series. A two-nil
win over Bangladesh in June gave the team
some momentum. However, they were
swiftly brought back down to earth on the
tour of Australia, where the team were
hammered 2-0 in December.
Captain Kraigg Brathwaite stood tall with
the bat once again, racking up 687 runs
in 14 innings. He would lose his Jamaican
opening partner John Campbell in
October, after the left-hander was banned
from cricket for four years following a
doping violation.
That disappointing news for the Jamaican
was not the same for the nation, which
managed to pick up two trophies in 2022.
The Tallawahs franchise, led by Rovman
Powell, won the Caribbean Premier
League for the third time in September.
New coach Andrew Richardson, who
took over from Andre Coley in August,
secured the Super 50 limited-overs trophy
for the Jamaica Scorpions in November.
Coley would eventually be named as
interim coach for the West Indies for their
upcoming tours of Zimbabwe and South
Africa.