West Indies Cricket: Up-And-Coming Talent

West Indies have shown much promise lately to suggest that brighter times are ahead. Despite the drubbing by Australia, they have had good results against Sri Lanka in the tests and one day series and showed glimpses of form in the series against South Africa and England (in 2007).

The main problem recently preventing progress has been injuries to numerous players at the same time when there hasn’t been the time for rest and recuperation. When at full strength though, they have a very promising team which should be capable of winning test matches for the next few years.

Captain Chris Gayle has obvious talent and has delivered, to a degree, over the years but really dominates when he concentrates more than he has done recently.

Ramnaresh Sarwan, at three, is a class act. He is aggressive without being stupid, is good against pace and is a proven scorer of hundreds.

Chanderpaul is quite simply the best number five in the world. He is obdurate with a technique that people go on and on about, but he is very difficult to get out and is the backbone of this side.

To add to these three star batsmen, Xavier Marshall looks good. His performance against Australia in the ODIs tell me he may be better suited to number four, where there is a gap following Marlon Samuels’ ban.

Samuels looked to have finally settled down and made the no. 4 slot his own with some fantastic innings of concentration versus South Africa, and I think he will be missed.

If Marshall takes his place this just leaves the opening spot to be filled.

Chattergoon has been tried with some success and he has shown ability. I like the aggression and intent of Devon Smith, who is a nice stroke maker, but I believe it is time to go back to Ganga.

His concentration and stubbornness should be the perfect foil to Gayle’s bravado and with a mainly attacking batting lineup, someone like him is needed.

Bravo backs up the top five, but needs to use his brain more instead of throwing his wicket away. Having said this, he has a shed-load of talent and does get runs when he balances his instincts with sense.

Ramdin is a fine wicket keeper and talented batsman, but has been out of form for a long time. I think he needs time in first class cricket (perhaps with a county if a new keeper is picked for England) and Browne looks a good replacement who has had some positive showings in the ODIs I have seen.

The bowling side of things has much promise. Jerome Taylor is the real deal—he has good pace, control, and swing and seems to have a good brain.

Fidel Edwards has all the pace in the world, has swing to go with it, and has taken wickets recently against very good opposition, implying that he may be about to turn into a good bowler as opposed to the raw talent he has always been.

I’m not too sure about Daren Powell, but he seems to be a father figure to the first two and always runs in with energy. The three of them have shown at times to be a real wicket-taking trio; good teams have bowlers working in packs so this is perhaps the most important thing about the bowling front.

To back this up, I like Daren Sammy. I think he is the bowler West Indies most need—a sort of Mcgrath figure (although not in the same league).

Gayle doesn’t seem to want to use him whenever I watch, but he is the consistent, no-frills bowler that teams need. He is capable of creating pressure and giving the batsmen nothing, crucial to the team when the out-and-out wicket takers aren’t getting the help they want from the conditions.

Then there is Dwayne Bravo, a real character who gives 110% all the time. He hasn’t the greatest pace but gets wickets and is capable of simply stunning spells of bowling (for example, versus South Africa in '08).

You could argue that with Taylor, Edwards, Bravo and then Sammy that Powell isn’t needed, leaving room for a spinner. I know Sulieman Benn is no world beater, but I think he is a reliable bowler who turns the ball a little and his height will cause problems with bounce every now and then so he should be given a long spell in the team.

The other thing about this bowling attack is that Taylor and Sammy can bat a bit, so will hopefully reduce the likelihood of a batting collapse that always seems to be on the cards with West Indian performances.

The team as a whole has shown character recently with some really good efforts against huge fourth innings deficits (vs England at Old Trafford and vs Australia recently), showing that the team spirit and fighting qualities are there—they just need more consistent runs at the top of the order. These will come when the injuries subside.

I think the most important thing is to stop the silly selections of players like Raul Lewis, who was never going to do anything special and prevented consistency in a team that badly needs it.

Once the team gets fully settled, I imagine they will climb the rankings. They need a world class acquisition or two to reach the very top of the rankings, but they can certainly be a very competitive side that will bring back long overdue pride to the Caribbean.

This is necessary for the world game to be as special as it can be.

Team to stick with: Gayle(c), Ganga, Sarwan, Marshall, Chanderpaul, Bravo, Browne(wk), Sammy, Taylor, Edwards, Benn

Reserves: Ramdin(wk), Devon Smith, Dwayne Smith, Powell