A juicy Test cricket match-up always tickles my fancy and the West Indies offer exactly that for Aotearoa's Blackcaps. When news dropped of the West Indies squad for their Test series against Aotearoa, a few silly mainstream kiwi media jokers highlighted that this Windies squad was 'young' and while it's definitely a fresh squad, this is largely because they had no choice. Windies cricket is trying to re-establish themselves in Test cricket and they come to our shores with a squad that have been together for about a year, perfectly poised to upset Aotearoa.

And there's absolutely no grounds for any kiwi arrogance based on the simple fact that West Indies have played more Tests in the past two months than Aotearoa will play all summer. They were low key impressive in a three-Test series against England - impressive in the context of their squad's journey - and then went to Zimbabwe where they won the series 1-0 against a Zim team that had convinced Brendan Taylor and Kyle Jarvis to give up their County contracts in England, thus making themselves available again for Zim.

There's a lot of noise about Test cricket's predicament, which overlooks the recent resurgence of West Indies and Zimbabwe. West Indies are building something and Zim are working their way back into relevance under coach Heath Streak and with Tatenda Taibu leading the charge - hence they were able to get Taylor and Jarvis back. There's along way to go for both Test nations, but it's cool to have them both making positive moves.

Positive moves which included actually, ya know, playing Test cricket. West Indies hosted Pakistan for three Tests, then went to England to play three Tests and then Zimbabwe for two Tests. Regardless on the Test cricket talent they have, there's a definite benefit in touring with a consistent squad and getting Test cricket reps as a team. Aotearoa on the other hand have played five Tests this year (eight for Windies) and haven't played a Test since March 25, while Windies have played all eight Tests after March 25.

Before the first Test I'll get into a preview, for now the focus is the squad named for the Test series. 24-year-old batsman Sunil Ambris is the only new face and he replaces Kyle Hope, with Ambris earning selection after a strong showing for West Indies A against Sri Lanka A. There's only really one spot in this Windies batting line up that is up for grabs and it's the No.3 spot vacated by Hope, although don't expect Ambris to stroll into the starting XI as Shimron Hetmyer batted No.3 in the home series vs Pakistan.

Hetmyer is also coming in hot, with scores of 43* (FC vs Kent), 128* (LA vs Leicestershire) and 48 vs Zimbabwe A (LA). He's only 20yrs and has a First-Class average of 32.37 in 22 games, so the kid goes alright and while he didn't do much against Pakistan, I suspect he'll be the batsman to get the next opportunity here.

Other than that, Windies have a fairly settled batting group and their likeliest batting line up is; Kraigg Brathwaite (36.74TestAvg/40.67FCAvg), Kieran Powell (28.48/34.01), Shimron Hetmyer (16/32.37), Shai Hope (35.42/43.98), Roston Chase (40.25/44.75), Jermaine Blackwood (30.09/31.63), Shane Dowrich (25.69/32.59), Jason Holder (30.27/23.75).

Windies bat deep and Holder has shown numerous times that he's a decent all-rounder; Holder hit a century against Zim and has four 40+ scores this year. Then you have the top-tier talent in Brathwaite, who is a very legit Test opener and Hope who hit two centuries against England as well as coming into this series with six 40+ scores in his last seven innings.

Chase and Blackwood also roll the arm over with off-spin, and in the tier below them you have Brathwaite and Powell. That's going to offer up a funky opportunity for West Indies' bowling attack. If they want to go all-out with seamer, they can leave out Devendra Bishoo and play either Alzarri Joseph or Miguel Cummins, relying on part-time spin to fill the void. That's merely an option though and I'd expect to see Bishoo lace up as the main spinner; the leggy has taken a wicket in every Test he has bowled in.

This is skewed by Bishoo playing in funky spin conditions and he wasn't amazing in England, especially compared to 9 wickets in three Tests vs Pakistan (home) and 13 wickets in two Tests vs Zimbabwe (Zim). Aotearoa's more similar to England, so it'll be interesting to see what Bishoo serves up here and we all know how kiwi batsmen don't deal with spin all that well. Bishoo would be wise to check the Plunket Shield bowling stats over the past two seasons as spinners lead the way.

Holder will be joined in the seam-bowling department by Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel. There won't be too much dramas there as they have formed a seam-trio in recent series and Roach is coming off a Zim series where he took 8 wickets @ 17.25avg. Gabriel and Roach will be hostile, Holder will be a threat with his height and consistency. Joseph and Cummins offer the depth, they'll only get a run if there's an injury or if it's not worthwhile playing Bishoo.

West Indies have a crop of talented cricketers who will be eager to prove themselves against a fresh challenge. They put up a strong account of themselves in England and then flexed against Zimbabwe, so the Blackcaps will provide a nice gauge for West Indies to see how they are developing in Test cricket. I won't hype them up because Aotearoa is a weird place to tour and for many of these lads they'll get their first dose of touring Aotearoa and actually getting game time. This will be a great challenge for them in conditions that are incredibly different to the Caribbean and West Indies tend not to perform so well in Aotearoa.

They a different group though and they have enjoyed regular Test cricket. That can't be slept on, not when they will be eyeing up this series as a chance to level-up as players and as a team.

Peace and love 27.

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