Based on the recently concluded Four-Day Championship, not many changes are likely to be made to the West Indies Test team for the two-match series against Sri Lanka.
Former Trinidad and Tobago Red Force selector and CWI scout Tony Gray has come to this conclusion.
“Jayden Seales and Anderson Phillip have brought back a higher level of fast-bowling standards in the Caribbean, other than that, nothing has changed,” Gray told the Express yesterday.
Fast bowlers Seales and Phillip were both in the Windies side that lost 2-0 away to New Zealand in its last series in the World Test Championship in December.
The pace pair were key performers as the Red Force franchise ended T&T’s 20-year wait for a regional four-day title this season, ending with 23 and 25 wickets, respectively. And Gray expects them both to be part of the squad that faces Sri Lanka in two Tests in Antigua next month. Prior to that, the teams will play three-match One-Day, and T20 International, series in Jamaica.
Gray said the truncated nature of this year’s Championship where only finalists Red Force and the Guyana Harpy Eagles played as many as five matches each was “not ideal.” He noted that, “in comparison to last year, it’s going to be harder for selectors to pick teams now because of the way it was structured.”
However, Gray does see a return for triumphant Red Force skipper Joshua Da Silva. Wickekeeper/batter Da Silva was the competition’s leading scorer with 413 runs at an average of 59.00 and also had the most dismissals (15). WI incumbent, Harpy Eagles skipper Tevin Imlach had a quiet tournament with the bat, totalling 184 runs and averaging 26,28. Imlach also had 13 dismissals and was named the Best Wicketkeeper because of a higher number of dismissals per innings.
Shamar would be welcomed
Gray would also bring back recuperating Harpy Eagles fast bowler Shamar Joseph but has doubts over Alzarri Joseph who missed the Championship to play in the Pakistan Super League T20 tournament, which was his first action after a long lay-off from a back injury.
“I’m not sure about Alzarri Joseph,” he said. “I’ll have to see him in the One-Day scenario first… Four overs per game (Pakistan Super League T20) is not enough for me to make a proper assessment of Alzarri Joseph.”
Gray said spinners Gudakesh Motie and Joshua Bishop should be included in the squad to face the Sri Lankans, based on their work in this season’s Championship. Motie of the Harpy Eagles was the leading wicket-taker (27), while Bishop of the Barbados Pride took 16.
Red Force middle-order batter Amir Jangoo (411 runs, average 68.50) and Harpy Eagles all-rounder Keemo Paul also impressed Gray. He said both should be given consideration for the Test series.
“He has been impressive right the way through for Guyana,” Gray said of Paul. “He has proven his fitness. He has bowled on slow wickets and got the ball to shift around. He has got different tools to work with.”
However, the former West Indies pacer does not see room for Harpy Eagles opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul even though he was fourth on the list of top run-scorers (342, average 57.00).
“I think you need another player who is going to be assertive because we have to look for wins now. We have failed seven times out of eight times in Test match cricket,” Gray said, preferring to leave Brandon King at the top of the order with Jamaica Scorpions colleague John Campbell.
Red Force praise
And while the structure of the Championship did not allow for players to showcase themselves fully, Gray was impressed with the way the Red Force went about winning the title.
“They were the team to beat. I thought they played excellent cricket right the way through,” he said. Former selector Gray added that Red Force now have a structure to get more four-day success.
“The selectors did an excellent job. I saw no weakness at all… “Rayad Emrit has proven himself as a good coach… and they have some excellent young talents coming through.”
MARTY MELVILLE
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