Will West Indies' new solution work for their old batting problem?
Coach Sammy feels they either have to bat longer or bat faster. But in the first Test they could do neither
Andrew McGlashan28-Jun-20250:47
Hazlewood tears through West Indies’ top order
Try to bat longer or try to bat quicker: that appears to be West Indies’ inner battle as they attempt to find a way to give their potent pace attack enough runs to make themselves competitive.The bowlers could not have done much more at Kensington Oval in the first Test. The game was evenly poised heading into the third day, but they were not backed up by their fielders, with seven catches going down, while the batters found Australia’s quicks too much to handle. They have bemoaned umpiring decisions that went against them – and they didn’t get the rub of the green – but the fragility in the new-look order leaves a lot for the bowlers to make up.West Indies had the lowest collective batting average (20.96) and lowest run rate (3.13) of the last World Test Championship cycle. The previous two years, they were second-lowest by average and comfortably the slowest by scoring rate.Related
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These are not new problems, and captain Roston Chase conceded “we are not the best batting side” after the Barbados defeat, but he and coach Daren Sammy are trying to formulate a model that can work. They are not setting their sights massively high, in part due to the bowling strength and also the nature of the surfaces. As was shown prior to the WTC final this month, the trend is for Test matches to be getting faster and shorter.”We just need to find ways of getting at least 250 runs or 300 runs with the bowling line-up that we have,” Chase said. “I think once we can do that regularly, we will become a competitive side. It’s just for us to sit and talk and come up with ideas and ways that we can get that 250.”The way this side has been selected suggests an attempt to try and score quicker, although their overall run rate of 3.45 in the first Test was inflated by Shamar Joseph’s late dash. Brandon King, who unfurled some pleasing drives in the first innings, has forged his career predominantly against the white ball and earned his Test call-up after playing just four games in this season’s four-day championship, where he averaged 30.25.
“Brandon King’s inclusion fits a role we have identified that needs special focus to take our team to those closer to the top of the rankings,” Sammy had said when the squad was announced.Opener John Campbell was another recall to face Australia and, in the second innings, briefly took on the quicks, lap-sweeping Josh Hazlewood and driving strongly through the off side before another attempted sweep off Hazlewood brought his downfall.”John is a guy that plays those shots usually,” Chase said in Campbell’s defence. “So I won’t be too hard on him. He even played one in the same minutes before and it went for four. He’s a guy that likes to play positively and that’s one of his shots.”There were other glimmers in Barbados. The partnership between Chase and Shai Hope, the latter playing Test cricket after three-and-a-half years, had given West Indies the chance of a handy lead before both fell to the controversial umpiring decisions. In the second innings, albeit with the game gone, Justin Greaves played well.”As a batting group, when we’ve done our research, in the first innings we’ve been averaging probably 65 overs,” Sammy said after the second day’s play. “We’ve not improved on that [here]. Some of the areas that we’ve spoken about the last year’s Championship [was] that we were scoring at probably 2.5, 2.6. So if we’re going to bat less overs, try to find a way to score faster… Then that balances the game.”Kraigg Brathwaite is averaging 19.33 from his last 12 Tests•AFP/Getty ImagesOverall, though, it was slim pickings for West Indies and they desperately need more from former captain Kraigg Brathwaite, who was twice dismissed for 4 by Mitchell Starc – in the second innings clipping off his pads to square leg – and since the start of 2024 is averaging 19.33 from 12 Tests. His 100th Test in Grenada would be an ideal place to improve those numbers.Nobody is quite sure what to expect conditions-wise in the next two Tests. Grenada has hosted one Test since 2015 – a low-scoring affair involving England in 2022 – while Jamaica will be played with a pink ball, which brings a whole other host of unknowns given it’s the first floodlit game at the venue. Mikyle Louis and the uncapped Kevlon Anderson are the other batters in the squad, but Chase suggested immediate changes were unlikely.”After one game, I can’t really chop and change that,” he said. “I don’t think that would make any sense. It’s a new line-up. You have to give these guys the opportunity to play as a team and see if we can have that batting synergy.”The pitch was a very difficult one, as you saw. The ball was bouncing high, keeping low, jagging all over the place. So it’s not really a good pitch to critique guys on.”