How many IPL players will be missing? really? How many of those IPL players been in a West Indies Test team? The ONLY player who West Indies would really be missing is Chris Gayle, no one else. Russell doesn't play Test cricket and has not since his one Test ages ago. Pollard has never played a Test. Simmons cannot walk into a WI Test side with an average of 17. Sammy-many in West Indies quarrelled at his automatic selection s you were invariably either a bowler or a batsman short. Bravo hasn't played Tests in ages and even he could not be considered an automatic pick. Narine has not played that many Tests and he may have had a shout. It's a nice narrative being spun by the English press but it's not really true. WI had a competitive home series against NZ and several of the names in this side were a part of that series. Roach, Taylor, Holder, Benn, Chanderpaul,Braithwaite, Darren Bravo, Samuels,Blackwood, Ramdin, Chanderpaul. Braithwaite did quite well as opener and Blackwood scored a fifty on debut. Roach, Taylor and Benn bowled well generally and Holder did well in with bat and ball in the single match he played.
All of those names except Bravo also played in SA with Braithwaite doing no discredit to himself, Blackwood in and out of the side but still scored a fifty in last Test. So yeah, really missing the eight IPL players. It's crap as a statement since as I said ONLY Gayle of the IPL brigade could be considered an automatic selection.
Even if they were all desperate to play test cricket, its tricky to know how many of Pollard, Sammy and Dwayne Bravo you could squeeze into the same side.
Gayle/ Kraigg/ Darren/ Samuels/ Shiv/Ramdin
None of the absentees would get close to displacing any of those guys. So that leaves number seven, would Sammy, Dwayne, or Pollard be that much better than Holder? Its doubtful.
Pollard or Sammy are rarely trusted whether its for their limited over sides to play as a frontline bowler, so its tough to see how you could justify picking them as a main bowler in test cricket, even if you did, they would struggle hugely.
I'd be tempted to bring in Narine I suppose, but at the moment so much cloud over his action.
So even if the IPL guys were begging to play test cricket,
it be
Gayle- Kraigg- Darren- Samuels- Shiv- Ramdin
7-Dwayne
8- Holder
9-Roach/Taylor
10 Narine
11 Benn/Other spinner.
I'd hate that side, but of those 3 IPL players I have crowbarred in, 1 is a guy whose action is under serious scrutiny, an other is a 35 year old with a bad back, which leaves Bravo who is younger, but has suffered from loads of injuries over the years despite avoiding red ball cricket.
