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TAKE a bow, West Indies cricket team. Your performances in the just-completed two-Test series in Bangladesh is nothing short of magnificent. You took on the ravages of a worldwide pandemic that included lockdowns and living in a “bubble” and fought off the fear and nervousness of inexperience to emerge winners, sweeping the two Test matches on a foreign field.
What an effort. Your character and courage willbe talked about and discussed for a long time, as this victory is now embedded in the psyche of all West Indian cricket fans. You have brought joy to the region.
Taking on the Bangladeshis in their backyard and the doubt created by playing on unfamiliar wickets in an unusual environment, ensured that winning not one but both Tests is solid proof of the strength and the power of concentration of the Caribbean cricketer, with a dash of self-confidence and a positive outlook.
This inspiration of a winning attitude is usually provided by leadership. Hence plaudits must be shared with the coach, Phil Simmons, plus his entourage, in addition to – most of all – the captain on the field of play, Kraigg Brathwaite. This series was played with the skipper being the only one of two (the other being Shannon Gabriel) with adequate Test experience, and he had to take with him several inexperienced newcomers.
[caption id="attachment_873335" align="alignnone" width="682"] In this Feb 7 photo, West Indies’ Kyle Mayers plays a shot during the fifth day of the first Test match between Bangladesh and West Indies at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong.AFP PHOTO -[/caption]
Two stood out in the first Test. WI were asked to score 395 runs for victory, a task never before performed on the Asian continent. That they reached their target through debutants Kyle Mayers, 205 not out, and Nkrumah Bonner, 88, plus a vital partnership of 100 between Mayers and Joshua Da Silva (20) who was in only his second Test, was amazing. A fiction writer could not make that up.
And to follow in the second Test, Bonner (90) and Da Silva (92) stitched together a valuable partnership of 88; then 118 between Da Silva and Alzarri Joseph (82), another recruit with fewer than ten Tests to his name. The total of 409, on a viciously turning wicket with variable bounce, was invaluable, and a winning total, as it turned out.
Despite the obstacles this team encountered, starting with senior players becoming unavailable because of fear of covid19 (which is difficult to accept because a few of them went ahead and played cricket tournaments in other countries where the pandemic was raging) – notwithstanding their absence, the inexperienced team has restored some pride to long-suffering West Indian supporters.
And the expectation is that their wonderful achievement will inspire future WI teams to recognise the deep satisfaction that comes from playing the game with fighting spirit against all odds, eventual victory being the goal, the only reason for participating.
Although being abandoned by senior colleagues, the positive side of that was the opening of the door to cricketers-in-waiting, those who have been clamouring for an opportunity for the longest while.
That they took it and claimed the positions as their own showed how eagerly they have been waiting for their chance.
Take Bonner for example, the Man-of-the-Series: he is 32 years old,he averaged 57.75 with the bat and had never been selected for a Test match before, though he was chosen for two ODIs in 2011. Opportunity knocked in 2021 and he embraced it fully.
These surprisingly very good performances, on pitches that have given the best teams extreme difficulty to conquer, prove the resolution that beats in the heart of these newcomers.
The new kids on the block seized the possibility of playing international cricket amid mind-numbing lockdowns and a limited social life. They were just happy to represent their group of nations with pride.
There’s also the factor that nobody gave them a chance. I looked upon it as a knowledge-gathering tour to build and formulate the experience necessary to make a difference in the future of WI cricket.
Who would have guessed that a group of Test-match neophytes would have set the WI cricket world ablaze by winning both Tests?
A fantastic job. Well done.
[caption id="attachment_856879" align="alignnone" width="900"] By Bryan Davis -[/caption]
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