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West Indies lost the second Test to Pakistan by a 109-run margin at Sabina Park on Tuesday. What was poised to be an interesting final day of the series quickly turned into a farce with West Indies losing four wickets in the first session itself. The Windies ultimately getting bundled out for 219 was just one more in a series of their recent batting collapses.
Following the defeat, the two-match series ended 1-1 with both sides winning one Test each. But was the series as competitive as the scoreline suggests? Even the staunchest of West Indies fans would think twice before answering in the affirmative.
The first Test was an absolute humdinger of a match, with fortunes swaying either way. The hosts finally limped and scraped their way to victory in the low-scoring encounter. After all, West Indies have made merry with such low-scoring matches in the recent past.
When the action moved on to the second Test, it was time for Pakistan to absolutely dominate. The Asian outfit could have won by a bigger margin if there weren’t overs lost due to rain and they had decided to bat for longer.
The West Indies bowlers did a fair job in keeping the side in the game, just as they have done time and again in the recent past. The Windies now boast a formidable pace attack with good bench strength. But the real letdown has been their batting unit.
After the South Africa series, which was nothing short of a disaster on the batting front, the scorecards from the two Tests against Pakistan will look a bit better. However, totals of 233, 155, 133 and 207 would not make any Test-playing nation proud.
The lack of runs has been plaguing the Windies for quite some time now. Keeping the Bangladesh tour aside, West Indies' batting unit has suffered a string of below-par performances for quite a while now.
In the last couple of years, West Indies have managed to cross the 400-run mark just once while managing just two totals in excess of 300 runs. The more worrisome fact is that 17 of their innings ended for less than 200 runs during the said timespan.
What has gone wrong for the West Indies? Do they have any answers to these batting ailments? Are there enough resources in the domestic leagues to counter their batting woes? Let's find out!
The openers are the greatest concern for the current West Indies side
The opening stand is a foundation that needs to be strong for any successful side in international cricket, especially in the longest format. The primary cause of the Windies' below-par batting performances has been their underwhelming opening pairs.
The selectors gave John Campbell a fairly long run to partner Kraigg Brathwaite. When he failed to produce any performance of note, they went back to Kieran Powell. But once again it was disappointment that was awaiting the management.
Neither Campbell nor Powell have produced the numbers even a mediocre team would be proud of. Campbell averages under 24 with just a couple of fifties across 15 Test matches. Powell, on the other hand, had a longer run with the side. He has played 44 Test matches despite averaging less than 26, with his lone century coming against New Zealand way back in 2012.
Kraigg Brathwaite hasn't performed well either. He has been a regular at the top more due to his past performances and lack of competition rather than his current form. The last reasonable year he had with the bat was in 2017 when he scored 706 runs, including four fifties and a century in 10 Tests. He averaged a below-par 22 during 2018 to 2020.
The top three have failed time and again
West Indies have tried different players for the no.3 spot over the last couple of years, but with little success. After the failed experiments with Shai Hope and Darren Bravo, it seems that they have found a reasonable answer in Nkrumah Bonner. He possesses good technique and has the best average among the Windies batters who have batted in the top three since 2019.
However, when looking at the overall picture of the West Indies' top order, one would realize exactly how grim the picture is. The combined average of West Indies' top-three batters is by far the lowest among all Test-playing sides barring Ireland, who have played just two Test matches. While the Windies' top order averages under 22, the next worst team are England with an average of 29.20. The difference here is quite alarming, to put it mildly.
Mediocre conversion rates ailing the middle order
When it comes to the middle order (no.4-7), the average and performances get much better. However, the real problem lies in the conversion rates. The middle-order batters get starts, but they seldom convert those into notable scores.
When we look at the conversion rate for middle-order batters in international cricket, West Indies are once again at the bottom of the pile with 22 fifties and five centuries in the period starting from 2019. The combined average is also at the bottom, only ahead of Ireland.
The manner in which Roston Chase's form has tapered off will be a concern to team management. He played some match-winning and match-saving knocks against top teams in the initial burst of his career. But the last couple of years have been disastrous for him with the bat, averaging well under 18. Since scoring a century against England in February 2019, Chase has managed only two 50-plus scores in 12 Tests.
* A conversion rate of 22.73 means that the West Indies batters convert only 22.73% of half-centuries into centuries.
The case of Kyle Mayers is quite similar, but it is too early in his career to pass a judgment. After the historic double century he scored during the tour of Bangladesh earlier this year, everything has come downhill for the southpaw. Mayers has managed just two half-centuries since then. He also had a string of disastrous performances in the home series against South Africa and Pakistan, including three ducks in a row.
So what possible solutions does West Indies have for their batting ailments?
The real concern for the West Indies is that they don’t have anyone coming in through the ranks who can replace the current lot of batters. If you look at the last red-ball tournament held in the Caribbean - the 2019-20 West Indies Championship - all the top-five run-getters barring Devon Smith are part of the current West Indies side.
Jermaine Blackwood, Kyle Mayers, Nkrumah Bonner and Joshua Da Silva are the four of the five players. Smith, on the other hand, is currently 39 years old and the Windies team management may not want to invest much in him now.
It's quite clear from the list that there isn’t any player pushing his way through, especially for the opening slot, which is the biggest concern for the West Indies now.
The only possible solution is that they would try out a player who has proved his merit in white-ball cricket. Yes, the conditions and the format will be entirely different. However, there is no better solution available for the team management in the current scenario.
Evin Lewis has been impressive for the Windies at the top of the order in limited-overs cricket. He is a dasher, but things can’t go much worse even if they try experimenting with him. Nicholas Pooran is another player who could be tried in the red-ball arena. He has been inconsistent in his short career so far, but Pooran has good technique apart from his big-hitting ability. If he has the right mindset, there is no reason why he won’t succeed in Tests.
West Indies have already tried out Shimron Hetmyer. However, concerns with his form and fitness led him out of the side. If he can once again find his mojo, Hetmyer too could be a valuable addition to the Test squad.
West Indies management are probably erring on the liberal side, providing one chance too many to the players. Sometimes, one may need to be more proactive rather than wait for a player to absolutely prove that he doesn’t belong to the highest level. If the West Indies are to scale up that World Test Championship (WTC) points table, they will have to try and blood in new talent sooner or later.
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