However, now my view has changed. After his op, Dwayne Bravo is bowling no faster than Sammy, and with less accuracy. Bravo's batting has deteriorated to the point where it's not much better than Sammy's. I think Big Bravo needs to do a lot more to convince us he's back to his old self before looking at a return to the Test side.
There's a good argument that he has to do a lot more to convince us that he's worthy of a return to any side. He's hardly been lighting things up in any form of the game, internationally or domestically. Shame really, but I think the commerce of T20 has sapped some of his enthusiasm for the tough stuff. And now it's even taken a toll on his T20 form too.
But I agree about Ramdin. Baugh is in the side because he's supposed to contribute more with the bat, and to date he hasn't done so. His glovework is inferior to Ramdin, and Ramdin was dropped because he wasn't contributing with the bat. Ramdin has also made runs domestically, as Jigga says, so if Baugh doesn't produce runs in this Test, I think Ramdin should be recalled....
I have mixed emotions about Ramdin. I agree that he needed to be dropped, because he needs to learn that if he can't play his favourite shot - the sweep - with considerably less risk, he needs to cut it out entirely. The number of times he has been dismissed to cross-batted shots (even practically cross-batted defensive ones) is infuriating. Yes, his wicketkeeping is outstanding, but West Indies can't afford to carry a specialist 'keeper, when the batting and bowling are so thin. I was never convinced that Baugh would be the answer (as my previous posts on this forum have indicated) no matter how well he did domestically (though he was often poor there too). But something needed to be done to try to wake Ramdin up, because he's too talented to take things for granted.
Memories of the spirit and composure of his debut series, in a WI 'B' team against Sri Lanka...he should have accomplished so much more by now. All said, I'm just about in favour of his recall, because he's been making the right noises in interviews, and put his head down toward the end of the domestic season to get some runs on the board.
In the meantime, there are no changes in the 14 players who've made their way to St Kitts, and the 13-man squad should be announced tomorrow. I want to see just one change to the team - Devon Smith out, and someone - anyone, please! - to open the batting with Simmons.
As I've said before, I'm in favour of Nash opening. I prefer him against the new ball, and he prefers things at their bouncy/quickest. He was once an opener, after all, and it would be good to have someone who can, potentially, bat through most of the innings (concentration-wise).
