(Photo: Getty Images)
By Harvey Burgess
As England gear up for the three-match ODI series against West Indies in the Caribbean, opinions continue to differ on who should be in the XI.
Sam Billings or Alex Hales, Jake Ball or Steven Finn, Liam Dawson or Adil Rashid. The criticism of the England side was rife after a terrible tour of India, which resulted in series losses in Tests, ODIs and T20s, and the calls for change in the XI continue to grow.
However, apart from the injured David Willey, the only permanent change that could improve the team would be to replace Hales with Billings, as was done for the final ODI in India. Other than that, England have pretty much a full-strength squad – they were just beaten by a better team in the subcontinent.
Enough on England. Here, we have a look at four of the West Indies players who pose the biggest threat in the upcoming series. England may be four places ahead of their hosts in the ODI rankings (5th and 9th respectively), but the home side boast their fair share of talented players.
Jason Holder
It might seem an obvious choice to start with the Test and one-day captain, but the bowling allrounder does pose a huge threat to England’s hopes of winning the series. The 25-year-old, who became the youngest current Test captain when he was appointed two years ago, is a vastly imposing figure at 6ft 7in which helps to add bounce and zip to his medium-pace bowling. Holder may not have the best statistics of any allrounder in one-day internationals, but England will be wary of his ability after the captain scored a maiden Test century in April 2015 against the visitors.
Although he is yet to preside over an ODI series victory – they last won when Bangladesh toured the Caribbean in 2014 – Holder will be keen to show that he is a more than capable captain and cricketer in the series. He may have gone unsold in the recent IPL auction too, but England must pay Holder the greatest of respect come 3rd March.
Evin Lewis
Lewis is not the most experience in the West Indies side, with only five ODIs under his belt, but the 25-year-old has nevertheless impressed enough to be called up as opening batsman. He made his name in T20 cricket, for Trinidad & Tobago as well as in the Caribbean and Bangladesh Premier Leagues, before making his debut for the Windies in October 2016.
An average of 44.80 is skewed by a phenomenal innings of 148 against Sri Lanka in November, nonetheless Lewis possesses the ability and the power to take the game to England, evidenced by a strong strike rate of 156. Lewis bases his game on his mentor Chris Gayle’s and it’s not hard to see some similarities between the two. “I hit a lot of sixes, big sixes like him,” Lewis has said in the past, and who’s to say England won’t find that out the hard way next month.
Kraigg Brathwaite
Unrelated to fellow West Indies cricketer Carlos Brathwaite, whom England fans know only too well after he smashed two sixes off Ben Stokes to win the 2016 World T20 title, Kraigg has an altogether different style of play to his namesake. A member of the Test team for six years now, Brathwaite made his ODI debut in September last year. Although his average may be a respectable 31, he has only made one half-century so far, in a draw against Zimbabwe.
The 24-year-old is a notably patient player, with an ODI strike rate of 58, and might need to up his scoring rate if West Indies are to stand a chance of winning the series. “BoBo,” as he is known by his teammates, has enormous potential and will be hoping to carry on his current good run of form for Barbados, having notched two centuries and three fifties already this calendar year.
Brathwaite actually broke a record in recent times as he became the first opener in history to remain not out in both innings of a Test, when West Indies played against Pakistan in October.
Devendra Bishoo
The final player on this list, and the eldest among them, is 31-year-old leg-spin bowler Devendra Bishoo. Born and raised in Guyana, Bishoo made his debut for West Indies in all three forms of the game in early 2011, but was out of the reckoning for international cricket between 2012 and 2015, before some impressive performances for his country of birth put him back in the limelight.
The right-arm bowler is a particularly attacking spinner, and is well-known for his fantastic delivery to Brad Haddin exactly 22 years after Shane Warne’s “ball of the century.” Given the way that England struggled against spin against both Bangladesh and India, Bishoo is likely to play a key role for the home side as they look to win their first ODI series since 2014. He will fight it out for the spinners’ spot with Ashley Nurse, but judging on current form, the Guyana-born 31-year-old is likely to start next Friday.
West Indies may be rated as massive underdogs by the bookmakers, but if all four of these players were to be on form, England will face a massive Test in the Caribbean.
