Bennett, Morgan hope Campbell rediscovers form

Former national senior men’s cricket team coach Junior Bennett believes Jamaican opener John Campbell is one good knock away from rediscovering his form with the West Indies team.

Campbell has been having a difficult time on the tour of New Zealand so far, registering scores of 26 and two in the first Test which ended on Sunday. Before that, Campbell came into the match having scored four and 45 in two warm-up games.

Pundits have been questioning Campbell’s inclusion in the West Indies Test team, having registered modest returns of 410 runs in 20 Test innings, with just one half-century, which came against Afghanistan in Lucknow, India, in November 2019.

Bennett, who coached Campbell from the youth ranks up to the senior level, believes it’s a matter of time before the left-hander start scoring runs at the international level.

“He is on a lean spell right now and the runs are just not flowing,” Bennett said. “He has to just continue to work hard and dig deep and see if he can get through this moment. This tour is very important for him, so I am hoping he can come out of the rut.”

FLAWS BEING EXPOSED

Former Jamaica and West Indies ‘A’ opening batsman Delroy Morgan believes Campbell’s technical flaws are being exposed in New Zealand.

Morgan, who toured Zimbabwe with the West Indies ‘A’ team in 1988 with current coach Phil Simmons, and Brian Lara, described issues hindering Campbell from scoring runs.

“Two things John is doing wrong, in my estimation; he is pushing too hard at the ball, and not knowing where his off stump is,” Morgan said. “On those sorts of wickets, you have to have the proper judgement because it’s a bouncier track in New Zealand, and the ball is going to seam and swing a bit more. He has to pick up the bounce early, and, very importantly, he has to leave balls alone a lot more.”

Campbell showed a glimpse of his free-flowing run-scoring potential in his debut series against England, scoring 44, 47, and 41 in the Caribbean.

Apart from the 55 runs against Afghanistan, Campbell’s next best score is 32, which he made against hosts England in Manchester this past summer.

With that, Bennett believes Campbell has to remain positive despite the lack of runs.

“One thing he has to do, regardless of the situation, is to remain positive and play his game,” Bennett said. “He has to back himself despite the lack of confidence, but sometimes you need one good innings to turn things around.”

Campbell and the West Indies team will face off with New Zealand in the second Test starting on Thursday, Jamaica time.

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