Useless- Batting time without scoring runs.

Collapse Sends Windies to 113-run Defeat - Caribbean News

The great West Indies  batmen of the past were all very good at scoring runs. The fallacy of batting time  has now been a theme in cricket. The game is about run-scoring. Hence, batting time without being able to score runs is useless. 

Shai Hope scrambled around batting sixty-four balls and scored 17 runs before he got a good one and Roston Chase made nine from 36 balls. Batting in England is not easy and against four good fast bowlers it is even harder. However, if batmen do not have the capacity to put away the bad balls or they lack the confidence and courage to do it. Then, we got what we saw today. 

West Indies needs to regain its identity. Somewhere along the line the selectors have gone for players who they perceive will bat time with limited run scoring ability that bowlers can easily bogged down. The West Indies selectors need to start select more attacked minded cricketers who will find a way to get the score board moving. Players like Pooran, Hetmeyer and Blackwood that score freely should be encouraged. Attacking players should not be put in a box and be labeled as limited overs cricketers only but be encouraged to play the longer format as well. It may well have suited Shai Hope to go on the offensive and hit himself into form.

West Indies is now precariously placed on 137 for 6 with Shane Dorwich jumping around in his crease like he doesn't  want to be out there. West Indies needs to start groom batsmen who can pierce the gaps in the field and score runs freely, batsmen with courage. It is simply pathetic to merely surrender to England fast bowlers  and this is what is unfolding.


Correspondent

C.W.Forrest


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