‘Lambs to the slaughter’
Published:Tuesday | January 9, 2024 | 12:09 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
FORMER West Indies wicketkeeper-batsman Jeffrey Dujon believes the squad selected to participate in an upcoming two-Test series against world number one ranked Australia is similar to sending lambs to the slaughter. The Kraigg Brathwaite-captained team is comprised of seven uncapped players, and Dujon added that this is bit of an embarrassment for the Caribbean team.
“It’s a bit of an embarrassment because Australia doesn’t suffer from the same situation like us. Maybe their players are more patriotic, but this is like sending lambs to the slaughter. It would have been better if we had sent a young team like this to play a weaker nation, but I don’t think there’s a whole lot to be gained sending a team with seven debutants against a team so experienced, established and powerful,” Dujon explained.
The last time a West Indies team defeated Australia in a Test series Down Under was back in the 1992/93 series when the West Indies won 2-1. The announcement of the inexperienced squad caught the attention of former Australia captain Steve Waugh, who shared that he wants cricket’s governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), to intervene.
“They (West Indies) haven’t picked a full-strength Test team for a couple years now. Someone like Nicholas Pooran is really a Test batsman who doesn’t play Test cricket. Jason Holder, probably their best player, is not playing now,” Waugh said.
According to Dujon, he’s in agreement with the former Australian captain, as he thinks it signals the doom of Test cricket.
“Cricket can’t improve unless you have your best players playing. However, it’s not a situation that’s easily solved, and Steve Waugh is right, this is signalling the doom of Test cricket because the boards don’t have enough control over the players and they (players) can dictate when and where they want to play,” Dujon said.
‘Watered-down’ Test cricket
Barbados-based cricket commentator and host of the Line and Length cricket podcast, Barry Wilkinson, added that he lays the blame solely at the feet of the ICC, who has let the problem reach this point.
“The ICC has let the problem fester too long and it has become cancerous. They’ve allowed leagues and individual territories to make rules for their players, and they have essentially contributed to the watered-down product of Test cricket and have become one of the most toothless organisations in world sport,” he remarked.
Wilkinson also shared that while this might be the weakest-ever West Indies team sent to Australia, stronger squads were deployed over the years and were hammered on Australian soil.
“We might say it’s an embarrassment but we’ve been there with Lara, Ambrose and Walsh and we’ve been beaten badly. It’s now 31 years since we’ve beaten Australia and while this might be the weakest team we’ve ever sent there, we’ve sent stronger teams and got beaten very badly,” Wilkinson said.