A week or two before the
start of the 2022 ICC
Men’s T20 World Cup I did
question the readiness of
West Indies for the tournament. Their
early exit from the World Cup clearly
shows that they were far from ready.
What an awful performance by the
West Indies in that last match against
Ireland! So many things went wrong for
West Indies in that match and in the
Qualifier stage of the tournament. In
both matches, West Indies’ batting fell
apart. West Indies batsmen are still not
learning that things have changed in the
T20 format.
It is not just about ‘power-hitting’,
as I had previously stated, but
sensible batting; building partnerships,
keeping your wickets intact, rotation of
strike, and controlled aggression. Players
like Kyle Mayers have to realize that
‘reckless strokeplay’ will win matches. A
quick 20 or 30 is not enough for a top
order batsman. The team has to first
build a good foundation on which the
other batsmen can capitalize. And as
I said in my previous article, we need
a good anchoring batsman.
Evin Lewis was not in good form and the inclusion
of Shamarh Brooks did not help. Here
is where Hetmyer might have made
a difference. What a pity he had to be
replaced!
The poor form of West Indies
captain Nicholas Pooran added ‘salt to
injury and the insignificant contributions
of vice-captain Rovman Powell did not
help. Brandon King is probably the only
batsman who looked good in the tournament. It was unfortunate for
the team that he was not well for the second match against Zimbabwe.
However, West Indies did go on to win that match.
Before the start of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, the West Indies met
Australia in a two-match bilateral T20 International (T20I) series on
October 5 at the Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast and on October 7 at
the Gabba, in Brisbane. West Indies lost both matches and it was clear then
that the team was not in the best form to do well in the World Cup. No
one though, really thought, that West Indies would have done so poorly
in the Qualifier stage of the tournament. It seemed likely that West Indies
will qualify for this group stage but struggle when they reach the Super
12 stage.
In the West Indies’ first match in the Qualifier stage, Scotland
shocked West Indies by posting a score of 160 and then bowling out West
Indies for 118 in 18.3 overs. West Indies rebounded in the second match
posting a score of 153-7, thanks to a solid 45 by Johnson Charles. They
then bowled out Zimbabwe for 122 in 18.2 overs. Alzarri Joseph was the
pick of the bowlers, putting on an awesome display of aggressive bowling.
He had figures of 4 for 16 from his four overs and was named player of the
match.
Caribbean hopes rose again after that performance by West Indies. Sadly, their hopes were crushed. In their third
match against Ireland, West Indies were totally outplayed and Ireland secured victory by 9 wickets to push West Indies out of the tournament. It was a truly humiliating exit.
The question on everyone’s lips now is simply this. What’s next for West Indies? Where do we go from here? Surely it cannot be business as usual. Heads must roll after such pathetic performances. Yes, the Head Coach, Phil Simmons will be stepping down from his position, and we all welcome that, but others must go too. Major changes will have to take place as West Indies go back to the drawing board.
Following the departure of Phil Simmons, the next change should be the removal
of Nicholas Pooran as captain of both the T20 and ODI formats. He has displayed poor leadership skills in the decisions he has made. I need not list them all. Another reason I think that he should be relieved of the captaincy is to enable him to regain form as a leading batsman in the team. The burden of captaincy has apparently affected his batting.
I think we also need good batting and good bowling coaches. I am not convinced that
the present coach The selectors must accept some blame for the way the team has played.
The inclusion of Reifer, Cariah, and Cottrell ahead of Hayden Walsh Jr, Fabian Allen, and
Romario Shepherd still boggles my mind. What did these three bring to the table that
Walsh, Allen, and Shepherd could not have brought? CWI had invested so much
in Hayden Walsh and to just drop him like that
like a hot potato was not a very wise decision
on the part of the selectors.
Walsh is a wicket-taking spin bowler. Sure he is sometimes rather
expensive but he is a quality wrist spinner and could
be a great asset to the team. He is also a good fielder and can bat.
Fabian Allen, I must admit was struggling for form, but he is an experienced
lower-order batsman with a good strike rate. He is also an exceptional fielder and
can be used as an extra spinner when the need arises. There were others struggling
for form. Why omit such a useful cricketer to include someone with little experience in
T20 cricket? Just because you think he has shown some potential in one ODI series he has
played? Mind-boggling I say.
In relation to Romario Shepherd, the decision not to include him
in the World Cup squad was probably because of his weaknesses as a death bowler. The solution
to that was easy. Give him the ball earlier in the innings and avoid bowling him in those latter
overs when the batsmen are on the attack, going after the bowling. Shepheard has proven
to be a useful lower-order hitter of the ball. It is still early days for this panel of selectors,
therefore, there are unlikely to be any changes here. The Skerrit-led administration
must come in for criticism too.
Except for their performances in Tests, the West
Indies have not shown satisfactory improvement in T201s and ODIs.
Let us hope our administrators and cricketers learn from their mistakes and
work harder to achieve success in the future. One consolation for West
Indies at this time is that other leading teams are not doing as well as they
hope in the ongoing tournament. The ‘mighty’ England was defeated
by Ireland while Zimbabwe also defeated Pakistan.
Nevertheless, as two-time champions, West Indies should never have
prepared so poorly and performed so woefully to find themselves
out of the T20 World Cup, a format in which they were once very
competitive.