TOO much exposure to the Caribbean sun, or to its best known beverage, seems as plausible an explanation as any for the latest, seemingly daft decision by the West Indies selectors.
They have chosen to immediately send the same 15 players just beaten in both Tests and three ODIs in Sri Lanka to Australia where the climate, the environment and, above all, the opposition present altogether different challenges for three Tests in Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney between December 10 and January 7.
There is only one change to the squad. Phil Simmons, the head coach suspended for heated comments about his fellow selectors’ rejection of his plea for the return of Dwayne Bravo and Keiron Pollard for the ODIs in Sri Lanka, has been reinstated for Australia.
It would normally be a significant return.
The Trinidadian who joined the West Indies in March after eight highly acclaimed years as coach of Ireland had clearly developed a close relationship with the players. In his third Test, he oversaw the West Indies’ victory over England to level their home series last May.
Humbling apology
He is now back after issuing a humbling apology, demanded by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), and told that it will “immediately investigate” his allegations of outside interference in the selection process and subsequently “take the necessary and appropriate action”.
He missed an important series in Sri Lanka when Eldine Baptiste, one of the selectors with whom he disagreed, took his place on an interim basis. Events in Australia should reveal whether his authority has been compromised.
This time, there is a plausible reason for the selectors’ apparent absurdity. Chairman Clive Lloyd and his colleagues simply had no obvious alternatives and no way of assessing the competence of prospective Test players from a sub-standard regional first-class tournament, devalued by the absence of several experienced players now committed to the numerous global domestic T20 franchise teams.
Seven of those who were in the Tests in Sri Lanka have managed to squeeze in the first two PCL matches before heading off to Australia; they won’t be available again until the second round in February.
When installed as chief selector a year ago, Lloyd declared a youth policy aimed at rebuilding an anaemic West Indies team with promising young players.
He immediately made Jason Holder, 23, ODI captain, later elevating him to the same position in Tests. He and his panel ended the career of the enduring, ever dependable Shivnarine Chanderpaul at 41 to widespread criticism, not least from the player himself.
Lloyd is committed to the policy. Eleven of the 15 for the back-to-back series in Sri Lanka and Australia are under 30, seven under 25. Ten are on their first Test tour of Australia. Only Marlon Samuels and Denesh Ramdin have played more than 50 Tests.
The experience against the Australians whose ruthless power have been demonstrated over the past fortnight in the first two Tests against New Zealand will either break them or make them.
The recent performances of Samuels and Roach, whose backgrounds are critical in such an inexperienced team, are cause for concern.
Samuels has apparently surrendered his BPL contract to be available for all three Tests. After scores of 11, 0, 13 and 6 in his four Test innings in Sri Lanka, his career of a dozen years in international cricket would have been over except there was no capable alternative. His revival in the white ball matches was proof of both his class and his inconsistency that has led to an unsatisfactory Test average of 34.52.
His returns in Australia, where he impressively started as a raw 19-year-old in 2000-2001, are likely to determine his future at the age of 34.
Long-term prospects
Roach is 27. Whether he can regain his form and, more critically, his confidence, could also be an indicator of his long-term prospects.
He has been consistently the spearhead of the attack. In 2014, he was the only West Indian in the top ten bowlers in the ICC rankings.
Roach’s sufferings over the past couple of years have had a profound effect. In his last five Tests he has managed nine wickets at an average of 56.22 against an overall 28.21. His return in his three of the seven matches in the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand was a solitary wicket.
The drawback is that, through injuries, he and Jerome Taylor, an incisive fast bowling combination, each with over 100 Test wickets, have rarely been at their best together.
Key considerations
The advice of the latest review panel’s report into the status of West Indies cricket that the time is long past for its governance to be reformed and the WICB immediately reconstituted is self-evident.
That alone won’t turn around the fortunes of the team. The fitness and form of Roach and Taylor as the bowling spearheads, the batting of Samuels and the development of Lloyd’s young brigade are the key considerations on the field.
A long, hard struggle lies ahead and they don’t come harder than confronting Australia in Australia.
Tony Cozier is the most experienced cricket writer and and broadcaster in the Caribbean.
