Orville Higgins | Time for action, drop Windies underperformers!

There is an old saying that ‘desperate times call for desperate measures’.

After watching the just-concluded second Test match between West Indies and India, I am now convinced that it is high time for a major shake-up within the West Indies team.

If those within the corridors of power want to see West Indies climb up the rankings, rather than languishing at the bottom, we may have to resort to some a measures. After all, what do we have to lose?

We must now seriously look at dropping some of the batsmen, who have been a fixture in the team for the last two years but who continue to underperform. Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer should be first on the chopping block. These two are averaging in the 20s and need to be told that this is simply not good enough.

I no longer want to hear about how talented they are. At some point, talent must lead to production. Averages in the 20s for two of your batsmen in the top six is unacceptable. For this year, they have been averaging 25 or less. These would be my first two casualties for the Tests against Afghanistan later this year.

I agree that we are limited in batting choices, but the selectors should no longer persist with this mediocrity. Maybe it’s time to give Brandon King a run. He averaged 48 in the four-day tournament last year-with a century and six half centuries. Surely, he can’t do any worse than Hope and Hetmeyer.

Shamarh Brooks could continue to hold down a middle-order spot, and once he sorts out his issues with shot selection and concentration, then Jermaine Blackwood could also get a second life.

HOLDER’S BATTING

Captain Jason Holder MUST bat higher. He is the team’s highest-ranked batsman, and having him at seven makes zero sense. Yes, I accept that he has a lot of bowling to do, which is why he should be part of a five-man, rather than a four-man attack.

Batting him at five does mean that you could play four other bowlers. Holder at five, plus three other pacers and a spinner who can bat, does appear to give us the best-balanced team.

With no Hope or Hetmyer, Roston Chase has to bat at three. He has the temperament and the technique. Kraigg Brathwaite’s place at the top of the order must now come into question. His form is woeful, too.

Maybe it is high time we give Sunil Ambris a little run opening the innings. Despite his poor form, I will stick with Darren Bravo. He is too good not to overcome this horrible run. He must do something about his home record, though. He averages 50 away but only mid-20s in the Caribbean.

My line-up for the next Test match away to Afghanistan would therefore read John Campbell, Sunil Ambris, Roston Chase, Darren Bravo, Jason Holder, Shamarh Brooks, Shane Dowrich, Rahkim Cornwall, Shannon Gabriel, Kemar Roach, and, if he is fit, Alzarri Joseph.

Brandon King, Jermaine Blackwood, Khary Pierre, and Sheldon Cottrell could round out the 15-man squad. The selectors must send a strong message. “Do better, or else.”