Brooks and Blackwood have pleasantly surprised me as well. Particularly Brooks who has looked really good for the most part. If you analyse our batting lineup you have Braithwaite, Brooks, Chase, Blackwood, Dowrich and Holder who are good for scoring 40s and 50s regularly. John Campbell and Shai Hope don;t even offer that and need replacing basically.obviously hindsight is 20/20 but it would've been real sweet to have rested gabriel for that second test to have him fit and firing if we get play in the third hey
shame we haven't seen cornwall yet but the windies have a couple of options if they do decide to rejig the team around. dowrich, hope, and campbell all could be on the block with the bat (though i don't think that they would drop hope), and gabriel or roach could warrant a rest with the ball.
i tell you what
for all the talk of the windies middle order being averse to time in the middle, both brooks and blackwood have come up aces when they've had to this series. they're used to some combo of dowrich, holder, chase, coming to the rescue, but ultimately they can't always do it and seeing some of those middle guys step up has been a pleasant surprise. next step is to get the middle and lower middle working at the same time and contributions from the top too. the pieces are all there!!
Up until now I agreed with your assessment of Shai, but it has been way too many test matches and it's holding the team back. I also don;t think it's fair on others performing at FC level over the last couple of years to be kept out of the side by someone performing so badly.Yeah WI's batting hasn't been all that bad. They showed a decent amount of resilience in the last Test, but couldn't go on to convert starts into big ones. Brooks and Blackwood have been better than most people would have guessed before the series began. John Campbell and Hope have been the standout "failures", so to speak. They just need those two to contribute something. Still feel Hope has a lot of talent and he's got off to decent starts and shown flashes of real quality, but needs to go on with it.
who is putting up the runs in the fc game that should be pushing hope aside?Up until now I agreed with your assessment of Shai, but it has been way too many test matches and it's holding the team back. I also don;t think it's fair on others performing at FC level over the last couple of years to be kept out of the side by someone performing so badly.
For me Shai gets dropped for the next test and Campbell joins him on the bench for the next series if he doesn't pull his socks up in the next test.
Over the last 2 years Bonner and Mayer's both averaged over 50. Brandon King also performed at FC level and then played really well in A team cricket.who is putting up the runs in the fc game that should be pushing hope aside?
Holder is sinking Chase?s role as a batsmanRoddy Estwick days no injury troubles for the third test. My eyes must have deceived me when I saw Shannon barely able to bend down and Alzarri holding his bicep.
Holder is very stubborn, I have a sinking feeling they'll play the same XI.
You know, really they should. I've read a bit about resting Gabriel but I don't see the reasoning. Meant to be unfit yet has played two tests and was influential in one of them. Fitness isn't a concern for the last test either; apparently. The series is even. WI not really noted for batting out draws to secure the trophy. Though with bad weather forecast maybe they can. If you want to keep the trophy then I can't see a reason why you wouldn't pick your best side which means Gabriel. Or if you rest him play an extra bat that might just pad the side with enough graft to see out whatever time the weather allows. Not that it would be my preferred option.Roddy Estwick days no injury troubles for the third test. My eyes must have deceived me when I saw Shannon barely able to bend down and Alzarri holding his bicep.
Holder is very stubborn, I have a sinking feeling they'll play the same XI.