00:00Cricket analyst Fazir Mohammed hopes that the West Indies can be competitive
00:03against England in a three-match test series starting July 10th at Lourdes.
00:07In 2017 and 2020 the Caribbean side lost 2-1 on both occasions to the English who
00:14were hosting them. It's really now for the test team to hit their straps once
00:19again. So first test match at Lourdes, farewell for Jimmy Anderson who's a
00:22legend of the game for England of course. It is going to be a challenge, unfamiliar
00:26conditions for most of the players but I would expect the West Indies to
00:30hopefully be as competitive as we saw in the last couple of series in the UK.
00:37Whether the West Indies will win the series it's difficult to say but I would
00:42really expect the West Indies to be as competitive or even more competitive
00:46than their last two visits to England. Like legend Brian Laura, Mohammed is also
00:50concerned about the West Indies batting. He uses the example of the test series
00:55in Australia which finished 1-1. The batting will be the concern. I think
00:59Brian Laura's comments have been received around the world and they're
01:03pretty much on point because if you look at the numbers even in those two test
01:07matches in Australia the numbers are very ordinary for the batters. It's the
01:12bowlers and of course Shamar Joseph on that last day at the Gabba that pulled
01:15the West Indies out to that famous victory. It's good to see the
01:19West Indies getting 339 at the start of their lone warm-up match at Beckingham,
01:24a hundred and a couple of fifties 350s in fact that's very encouraging to see
01:30and now it's really for those players to carry that into the test match because
01:34it's a very different challenge from a first-class atmosphere to a test match
01:38atmosphere. What worries Mohammed is the middle order batters on the West Indies
01:42team. According to him there are a couple players who have to come really good or
01:47else it's goodbye. I would suggest that the middle order it's a make-or-break
01:52situation for them. Alec Athanase, when we saw him a year ago against India even
01:57as disastrous as that debut test was in Dominica he top scored in both innings
02:02and we've seen bits and pieces of him to suggest that he has the basic tools to
02:09really be a successful test batter but he needs to show it far more consistently.
02:14Someone else, Kirk McKenzie, he had a good start to the series in Australia with a
02:19half century in Adelaide but then faded away again. So really for those two
02:23players I think given their talent, their ability, their youth, they need to
02:27step up and these three test matches in England are the opportunities for them
02:31to really show their worth and if they don't then the selectors will be well
02:35within their rights to look at other options. He expects the bowlers to
02:39deliver since some of them have been playing in England. Pacer Kemar Roach is
02:43out through injury with Jeremiah Louis being his replacement. So with the
02:47absence of Roach be a blow for the West Indies? It's a blow but if you look at
02:51the numbers over the last couple of tours Roach really has not been
02:56outstanding in England especially but but he'll be missed for his experience
03:00for his for his mentoring role. Hopefully and you never know he might still be
03:04around the squad because of his experience and that could be very useful.
03:08Whether Jeremiah Louis gets a game it's debatable because if you look at it
03:12you've got Alzari Joseph, you've got Shamar Joseph, you've got Jaden Seals
03:16coming back in, you've got Jason Holder and then you might want to have a spin
03:20option in Gurkesh Moti. So I think the bowlers are fairly well sorted
03:26out in terms of experience and as far as the quality that we have available.
03:29Following the first test the second one starts July 18th in Nottingham and the
03:35final one begins July 26th in Birmingham.
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