West Indies They were once a force to reckon with in Test cricket and were the best team in the world, but the current situation suggests that they need a major rebuild starting from the grassroots level to improve their stature in Test cricket. According to Caribbean captain Kraigg Brathwaite, the obvious first step in restoring the West Indies to their former Test status will be to give them more Test matches to play.
Kraigg Brathwaite will lead the Caribbean team in the two-match Test series starting on January 17. The first test between Australia and West Indies will be played in Adelaide, while the second Test will be played at The Gabba in Brisbane. The West Indies are currently seventh in the WTC table with a PCT of just 16.67. However, they are currently ahead of England and Sri Lanka.
A group of senior Caribbean players, including former captain Jason Holder and all-rounder Kyle Mayers, have opted out of the Australian tour. Instead, they chose to play in cash-strapped T20 leagues around the world. Kraigg Brathwaite does not blame them for their decisions and fully understands why they made that decision, but rather he blames another factor.
“I can’t decide for the boys, I completely understand why they made the decision… it’s solely up to them.” he told reporters Tuesday. Instead, he blames the lack of Test matches for the West Indies’ decline from their halcyon era of the 1980s and early 1990s. The West Indies played six Test matches last year and, to their surprise, only two of them were at home against India in July. By contrast, Australia played 13 Test matches last year, equivalent to the West Indies’ appearances in the last two years in Test cricket.
West Indies need to play more Test matches to rebuild, believes Kraigg Brathwaite
“In the West Indies we don’t have many Test matches. If we get more… that would help a lot. And obviously the incentive to play Test cricket is always great because you know T20 cricket and T10 cricket are also there, so it’s always going to be difficult. But I think the more (Test) cricket we play, the better.”
Kraigg Brathwaite reckons that if they play more Test cricket and do well in the longer format, the young boys watching them will grow up inspired to play for the West Indies, but if they don’t see much of that they will be inspired to play T20, which that they see all the time.
“For young hopefuls in the Caribbean, if we play Test cricket and we as West Indies do well, they grow up watching it. That will help inspire them to want to play for the West Indies. But if they don’t see it, they will be inspired to play what they see, which is the T20s and T10s around the world.”
The West Indies need to focus more on the longer formats and have players who dedicate their time to the team rather than playing in T20 leagues. It was shocking to see them not being part of the ICC Cricket World Cup for the first time. They were champions in the first two editions of the ODI World Cups.