A question for the WI posters. I thought the pitches in this 3-test series, while a little tough for the fast bowlers, were all very good - a bit of movement on day 1, good for batting on days 2-3, breaking up on days 4-5. Why is it that the international pitches are of such a high standard, whilst the domestic pitches are so poor in comparison?
I thought the Jamaican pitch was very disappointing tbh and is on a downward curve. It used to be an awesome cricket wicket that suited pacers and spinners whilst aiding decent batsmanship. Now it is a slow low turner with a painfully slow outfield. The pitch at the QPO has been a good wicket over the last year or so, they've done a lot of work on it which is pleasing as that too was getting a bit slow and low. The pitch at the Kensington Oval is getting slower too but it still produces decent cricket and if the pacers work hard they get decent reward. So I agree the last two matches were excellent test strips.
These matches were played at 3 marquis venues with better facilities. The only other one with a half decent pitch is Beausejour in St Lucia IMO. The others are all slow low turners which make life very hard for fast scoring and good fast bowling. It is an area that really needs investing in as the only domestic matches played at these venues tend to be the semi-finals onwards so a number players will play their whole 4 day season on terrible wickets.
When was the last time the West Indies had a decent left arm fast bowler and are there any coming through?
Pedro was very good with the new ball and was capable of Boultesque spells (I remember him giving Michael Vaughan all sorts of problems. He could also move the old ball the other way but for some reason never really took off at test level. He also played less than he should because he was only 80-83mph.
Ian Bradshaw was another one of course. Only got up to 80mph at best but had wonderful accuracy and each way movement. He should have played an awful lot more international cricket instead of watching someone like Nixon Mclean play so many matches.
At the moment the lefties are:
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Kenroy Peters, who is a medium pacer but swings the ball prodigiously both ways and is relentlessly accurate. I was hoping he might get picked for the NZ series after dominating our 4 day tournament but alas they clearly decided he is too slow and at 33 years old his time might have passed.
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Sheldon Cotterrel, who has just been selected for the T20s. Tends to be pretty fast and nasty. Can swing the new ball but generally bowls too short. Could be decent, but not quite up there with Roach, Taylor and Holder IMHO.
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Delorn Johnson, who has a good record and once blew away an India A team with Dawan, Pujara and various others in it. He's not very quick (135kp max I would guess) but seams it both ways and is pretty accurate. If he had a better FC season he would be right in the mix.
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Krishomar Santokie is an outstanding T20 bowler and plays List A fro Jamaica too. Max speed of 80 mph and has a very low slingy action which enables him to swing the new ball a lot. Also has a devilish slower ball. Not 4 day material but an outstanding option in T20.
how realistic are some other options being touted?
Carlos Brathwaite batting 6? Looks pretty talented but possibly more of a 7. Ramdin 6, Brathwaite 7, Holder 8?
Alternatively, Kieron Pollard?
I think in the future Braithwaite could bat 6 but he's nowhere near ready yet. More like an outstanding number 8 or an okish 7. I actually really like his bowling and he wouldn't be far off selection in that discipline anyway.
Pollard needs to play more FC. Whenever he does he scores runs. If Edwards fails and Blackwood does as well as I think he will, Pollard could come in at 6 to destroy tired bowlers and Blackwood could go at 3 like he does for Jamaica.
