Barren Test schedule hurting Windies – Brathwaite
WEST INDIES captain Kraigg Brathwaite urged administrators to schedule more Tests to help his fledgling side improve.
The Caribbean side began the first Test against hosts and world champions Australia yesterday, Jamaica time, trying to secure a first Test win against this opponent in 27 years Down Under and two decades overall.
“We don’t get many Tests matches, that’s one (issue),” Brathwaite told reporters on the eve of the match.
“So more Test matches will be great for us. Obviously, last year we only had six games. I think if we get more, we play more cricket, I think that would help a lot.
“And obviously incentivising Test cricket is always great. Because T20 cricket is out there. T10 cricket is out there, so it will always be tough.”
West Indies fielded three newcomers for the Test – Kavem Hodge, Justin Greaves, and Shamar Joseph – and have seven players with less than 15 Tests between them against a vastly more experienced Australian side.
They are without several players, including all-rounders Jason Holder and Kyle Mayers, because of commitments to Twenty20 franchise leagues around the world.
“I can’t make a decision for the guys, fully understood why they made the decision, it’s solely up to them,” Brathwaite said on the absence of senior players.
West Indies have only 13 Tests during the 2023-25 World Test Championship window, and only one three-match series scheduled during the period, coming against hosts England in July this year.
Brathwaite said this was not enough to trigger interest among young players in the Caribbean and a greater effort was need to secure more Tests.
“For aspiring youngsters in the Caribbean, if we play Test cricket, and we as West Indies do well, they grow up seeing it,” he said. “That will help to inspire them to want to play for West Indies
“But if they don’t see it, they’ll be inspired to want to play what they see, which is the T20s and T10s around the world.”
Former West Indies captain Brian Lara also recently spoke about franchise cricket hampering the state of the red-ball format in the Caribbean.