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WEST Indies head coach Phil Simmons said the exceptional showing by his players on the tour of Bangladesh will create a competitive environment for selection when players return to the West Indies set up.
West Indies completed a 2-0 sweep of Bangladesh in a two-match Test series, which ended on Sunday. The regional team went to Bangladesh as underdogs as many did not give them a chance to emerge victorious. A total of 12 players decided not to tour because of covid19, personal fears or personal reasons. Test captain Jason Holder, Darren Bravo, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich and Shai Hope were among the players who declined to tour leaving room for other players to fill the gap.
The West Indies selectors, led by Roger Harper, will have a larger group of players to choose from for future tours with so many players performing in Bangladesh and the return of experienced players.
On having an expanded pool to choose from, Simmons told Cricket West Indies media, “It is good for us. It puts things in perspective that it is not just one or two players that can play this game and it gives us the opportunity to pick who is doing well, but it also puts pressure on people to do well because there are other people to come in, so it goes both ways in what it is good for.”
Kraigg Brathwaite captained the West Indies to the series victory with the trio of Nkrumah Bonner (player of the series), Kyle Mayers and Joshua Da Silva leading from the front in the batting department. Bonner and Mayers made their debut on the tour and Da Silva went into the series with only one Test match under his belt.
Mayers was the best batsman overall in the series, scoring 261 runs at an average of 87.00. In the opening Test, Mayers scored 210 not out on debut to help West Indies chase 395 to win. Bonner was more consistent than Mayers ending as the second-best batsman with 231 runs at an average of 57.75. Da Silva was sixth overall with 174 runs at an average of 43.50.
Off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall and left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican were the most successful West Indies bowlers, combining to grab 24 wickets in the series. Cornwall took 14 wickets including match figures of 9/179 in the second Test. Warrican grabbed ten wickets including match figures of 7/190 in the first Test.
Speaking more about the selection headache, Simmons said, “That is what you want. As coaches, as selectors that is what you want. You want people fighting for their position, you want when you pick people they know that they have to perform because people are waiting to come in if they don’t. That is when your cricket starts moving upwards, so let’s hope this is the start of the upward movement.”
Discussing the performance of his spinners, Simmons said, “I think he (Cornwall) was outstanding. I think his ability to bowl long spells for the captain helped us a lot in this series and just his ability to put people under pressure and get wickets. For him to get 14 wickets and the most wickets with so many more experienced spinners in the other team it is good to see and it is good for him and for West Indies cricket.”
On the performance of Mayers, Bonner and Da Silva, Simmons said, “I think it opens up their eyes to the point where it makes them understand a little bit more about how hard Test cricket is and how hard you have to prepare, how hard you have to work to get yourself in a position to even perform at this level.”
He added, “Fortunately there is still some experience around them in (Jermaine) Blackwood and Kraigg batting wise. It was good for them to have the pressure, but also have somebody to turn to for advice.”
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