Blackcaps vs West Indies: Sussin' West indies Jah Bless
Hope.
As the light-bringer of Jahtearoa, it's only right I bless kiwis with some sort of understanding about the touring West Indies cricket team. They just finished a three-day game against an Aotearoa 2nd XI in which they get some much needed reps on kiwi soil and showed some promising signs given what we have seen from Windies in Aotearoa on recent tours and that Aotearoa presents a far different challenge to what many of these young Windies lads are used to.
I'm rather excited about this Windies group as they are a legit young squad, as opposed to the mediocre squads that have toured here in recent years and they've stacked up solid performances as a young group. Sprinkle the fact that this squad has been together for much of 2017 on top, meaning that a tour to Aotearoa could be viewed as a gauge of where they are at and I'm super intrigued about this Windies team.
The main focus point for Windies is who bats #3. Shimron Hetmyer seems to have an inside running to start in the first Test given that he batted #3 in both innings vs Aotearoa 2nds, however Hetmyer could only manage scores of 12 and 10. Usually I'd brush that off and suggest that Hetmyer would still get the Test spot, however the only notable change in this squad to tour Aotearoa was Sunil Ambris replacing Kyle Hope after Hope had a few too many low innings at #3.
This opened the door for Hetmyer, yet in the tour game it was Ambris who hit 153 and he not only hit a notable score, he did so off just 145 balls. Lockie Ferguson and Logan van Beek were the only kiwi bowlers to concede less than 4rpo and Rahul Dravid's favourite leg-spinner Todd Astle conceded 6.93rpo off his 14 overs as Ambris got his tour off to a slick start.
And Ambris is earned this spot in the squad via a strong West Indies A series vs Sri Lanka A, in which he hit two centuries in five innings. Now Ambris has three centuries in six long-format innings and I reckon this could be enough to see Ambris slide in at #3 ahead of Hetmyer. Although, the consistency in Windies selection has been glorious this year and I can definitely see Hetmyer getting a crack in the first Test with Ambris as an option in the second Test.
The only other contentious spot for Windies could be Jermaine Blackwood's #6 spot after Blackwood put up scores of 4 and 0 in Christchurch. Blackwood had a few solid scores in England, but after scores of 1 and 5 in the third Test, Blackwood then only managed 1, 3 and 5 in Zimbabwe before continuing the slump in Aotearoa. Again, I suspect Blackwood will be given a chance to work his way out of this hole, but Windies could bring in another seamer ahead of Blackwood, thus moving Shane Dowrich and Jason Holder up a spot.
If Windies do bring in another seamer, it's likely to be Miguel Cummins as he won the low key battle between he and Alzarri Joseph in the tour game. Cummins bowled 10 overs @ 3.30rpo with a wicket, while Joseph bowled 7 overs @ 5.43rpo with a wicket in the first innings and Cummins was probably ahead of Joseph in the depth chart before this game. I'm reasonably confident in saying that Shannon Gabriel, Kemar Roach and Jason Holder will definitely form a seam-trio and Devendra Bishoo will offer some leg-spinning funk. Whether Windies play an extra batsmen in Blackwood, or lean towards another seamer thanks to Holder's all-round abilities, is an interesting selection conundrum.
I'd love to see Windies roll out Gabriel, Roach, Cummins and Holder, going all-in on a pretty ruthless seam attack. Holder would bat #7 and it wouldn't hurt their batting too much, plus they have the spin of Roston Chase to go with Bishoo's leggies. Chase also casually averages 40.25 in Test cricket (15 Tests) and 44.75 in First-Class (56 games), while consistently being used as a spin option.
Chase chipped in with 49 in the first innings for Windies over the weekend, while the two gun batsmen for Windies also scored runs with Shai Hope hitting 110 in the first and Brathwaite retiring on 88 in the second innings.
Don't get caught up in the young vibes of this West Indies squad as I view it as being the best-equipped squad to tour Aotearoa of perhaps the past decade. They have two world-class batsmen and if Windies enjoy contributions from the likes of Powell, Chase and Hetmyer/Ambris, they could score enough runs to give their bowlers a foundation from which to attack. A bowling group that could feature four seamers, a leggy and a decent offie, giving Windies the variety required to trouble Aotearoa's batsmen.
Any slither of complacency, or the Blackcaps being under-cooked for Test cricket will be pounced upon by this well-travelled Windies Test squad. Hit an ad if you enjoyed the yarn and support the Niche Cache, you'll be making a donation so shout out to you.
Peace and love 27, Jah bless.