Test Cricket is King – tears for West Indies!

Jun 29, 2025 Sports

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By Colin Croft – Former Guyana, Lancashire CCC & West Indies International Cricketer

 

Kaieteur Sports – England v India; Sri Lanka v Bangladesh; West Indies v Australia; Zimbabwe v South Africa (starting Saturday 28 June 2025).  Recognize and appreciate that Test cricket is continuing on its purple, red, even pink patch, of brilliant performances and results.  Expect anything and everything!

On 17 June last, international teams, bold belief in bellies, started, all from zero, ICC’s new World Test Championship 2025 – 2027.  For whatever reason, only nine of twelve full members will participate.  Ireland, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan miss out.

New Zealand joins late in July v Zimbabwe, while Pakistan, with travel and political restrictions, starts next October v South Africa.  Each team has high hopes to participate in, and win, that very prestigious, extremely lucrative WTC Final, worth US$5m to the winner, in June 2027, at Lords, London.  Even better Test cricket is coming!

Already, it has been a smorgasbord of tensions, disputes, contentious on-field and off-field umpiring decisions, excellent batsmanship, superlative bowling, obvious confirmation that no “White Ball” series anywhere can compete with Test cricket.

WEST INDIES v AUSTRALIA – Test No. 1 – Kensington Oval, Barbados

Australian arrogance overcame common sense at the start.  Everyone expected them to fire fully after recently losing WTC Final 2025 to South Africa, but having won the toss, without knowledge of conditions, Australia should have bowled first.  Batting first, they gave advantages to WI’s faster bowlers, who did not disappoint.  Australia did win, though, in the end.

WI captain Roston Chase smiled when he lost the toss and knew that WI would field first.  Chase unleashed his faster bowlers in familiar surroundings but unknown underfoot conditions.  WI had not played in a Test at Kensington Oval since March 2022 v England.

Jayden Seales continued his high productivity; (15.5–1–60 – 5); as WI hit Australia hard, the visitors scrambling to 180 in 1^st innings.  Yet Australia got somewhat off the hook.  At 138- 6, Australia should not have made more than 150.

Shamar Joseph bowled exceptionally well; straight, pacy; very pleasantly surprising many, including me.  He had a sustained 2^nd innings spell, (25.5–5–87–5), plus 1^st innings (16–3–46–4).  He was “loose limbered’.  How his immediate future now develops could be interesting!

He even looked accomplished with amazing late order slogging, acing 44 entertaining runs; (4 x 4; 4 x 6); in WI’s dismal 2^nd innings 141.  Ten days in “cricket boot camp” prior to Test No. 1 did Shamar Joseph much good in approach, focus, languidness, elasticity and attitude.

Australia’s Travis Head; 59 and 61; was “Man of the Match”.  Shamar Joseph; match figures 9–133 (41.5 steamy overs) plus 52 runs; should have been thusly dubbed.  Pure robbery!

Chase’s fetish for fast bowling undermined his faculties.  WI bowled 56.5 overs in the 1^st innings.  Yet orthodox left-arm spinner, vice-captain Jomel Warrican, did not bowl a ball.

Did Chase ‘forget’ Warrican or was Warrican pointedly ignored so that so-called all-rounder, Chase’s compatriot, Justin Graeves (9-2-26-1) and (13–1– 55–1), making four and 38 no, could somehow continue to feature?

Worse, in WI’s 1^st innings, Warrican, whose batting is so poor, was sent as ‘Night Watchman.’  One supporter even shouted: “Not all madmen are in the asylum!”  Quite so too!

In Australia’s 2^nd innings; 310 in 81.5 overs; Chase bowled one over, got a wicket, stopped bowling.  In Test total 148.4 overs, Warrican, supposedly WI’s best orthodox left-arm leg spinner, bowled only eight overs and Chase five.  Maybe these guys are batting all-rounders?

Batting failure, John Campbell expectedly failed again, scoring seven before falling to left-hand quick Mitchell Starc.  Campbell’s 2^nd innings dismissal looked like Warner Brothers / Looney Tunes “Daffy Duck”, trying to ‘lap scoop’ one of the world’s best bowlers; out for 23.

This West Indies performance in Test No. 1 v Australia really should make all WI supporters weep.  Only God and Head Coach Darren Sammy know why Campbell is in this squad.

Kraigg Brathwaite; four and six; looked like “sixes & fours”, totally out of class.  He must be put out of his misery now.  Picking him just for his 100^th Test would be an insult to us all!

Keacy Carthy succumbed to Caribbean cricket’s curse – two scores of 20’s are good enough.

Debutant Brandon King bludgeoned 26 before shouldering arms; bowled by metronomically accurate Pat Cummings.  On the balcony, King looked pleased to get ten runs less than his First-Class average.  2^nd innings; out first ball.  Mediocrity now has its smiling television face!

Had it not been for Shai Hope, who battled well for WI 1^st innings highest score; 48; and 44 from Chase, WI would not have gotten to Australia’s 1^st innings score.  Lusty hitting from Alzarri Joseph, who really struggled badly for rhythm while bowling, but who made an invaluable 23 no, ensured that WI had a meagre 10-runs 1^st innings lead.

When it mattered more though, in WI’s 2^nd innings, Chase made 2 and Hope 6, falling to the continued really professional fast bowling accuracy of Josh Hazelwood and Pat Cummins.  

For Test No. 2 in Grenada, expect no WI changes despite losing by 159 runs.  Warrican hails from St. Vincent & the Grenadines.  Darren Sammy, from another of the Windward Islands – St. Lucia – also cannot drop useless Campbell and King, whom he had just selected.

Brathwaite will play his 100^th Test, since Kaveem Hodge and Alick Athanaze, successes from WI 2024 Tour of England, are not even in the squad selected for this tour.  It is what it is!

How WI fast bowlers recuperate after Barbados will be important to the result in Grenada.

ENGLAND v INDIA – Test No. 1 – Leeds, United Kingdom

Total 1673 runs; daily average 334.6 runs. Seven centuries scored, five by Indian batters.  Yet India lost, by five wickets, on a tension-filled 5^th afternoon.  Match that, “White Ball” cricket!

“A team cannot win a Test during 1^st innings but can lose that Test from 1^st innings” was applicable to India.  Their 1^st innings total should have been at least 550 runs.

When new Indian captain Shubman Gill was out; 430-4; for a well-made 147, India must had visions of 600 runs, then quickly realized that cricket is not played on computers.

India’s lower order batters failed badly, allowing England to take India’s final six 1^st innings for only 41 runs – total 471.  At that early stage, India were on the defensive.

India’s fast bowler extraordinaire Jasprit Bumrah, with fair support, tried hard to bring India back into the game with a massive effort; (24.4 – 5 – 83 – 5); but England still made 465, giving India a slender six-run lead.   That meant that the Test “restarted” in the 2^nd innings!

Again, India’s vaunted batting line-up disappointed, totaling only 364, at least 100 runs too few, after being 287– 3 at one stage, under the Test’s best batting conditions.

Kannaur Lokesh “KL” Rahul made a personally important, patient 137, while wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant slashed 118, to go with 1^st innings 134.  Yet, with an overall lead of 370, India knew that only their bowlers could have saved them from going one Test down.

India’s limited bowling options quickly surfaced as England sought 371 to win.  Bumrah, excellent as he is, is a one-man show.  Even he could not produce miracles, getting no wickets, from 19 overs.  England beat rains too, to get to 373 – 5, their 2^nd highest 4^th innings Test winning effort ever.

Pugnacious opener Ben Duckett made 149 superlative runs, ensuring that India had lost an almost “un-losable” Test.  What a fantastic game!

For the next Test at Edgbaston, Birmingham, India have another big problem.  Bumrah is scheduled to rest (What?  After only just one Test?).  So, India’s bowling attack, which looked ordinary when Bumrah was not deployed, must have a substantial revamp for Test No. 2.

SRI LANKA v BANGLADESH – Tests Nos. 1 & 2 – Galle & Columbo, Sri Lanka

At Galle – Test No. 1 – last Test for Sri Lankan great, former captain Angelo Matthews, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh played a very tense draw.  1337 runs were scored, including four centuries.  At the end, SL wobbled to 72 – 4, trying to get 296 to win.

Bangladesh middle-order batter Nasmul Hussein Shanto was sublime, scoring 148 and 125 no., and will do even better against sturdier opponents.

Test No. 2 at Columbo was different.  Bangladesh were, disappointingly, quickly dismissed for 247.  SL batted only once, replying with a robust 458.

Another century; 158; by Pathum Nissanka, enterprising SL opener, to go with 187 in Test No. 1, yet another young man with a tremendous future who will have to prove himself often.

In 2^nd innings, Bangladesh stuttered badly again, making just 133, as SL’s spinners took charge.  Sri Lanka won by an innings and 78 runs.

Pathum Nissanka was “Man of the Match” and “Player of the Series.”

If you are like me, always greedy for good Test cricket, you must be gorging on recent fare.  Patiance, intelligence, gambler instincts, luck, fantastic bowling, tantalizing batting, all apply in Tests.

Unpredictability, tentativeness and eagerness make for tremendous cricket.  2025 to 2027 – ICC World Test Championship – will be totally enjoyable.  Cheers!

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• Headingley, Jayden Seales, Leeds, Shamar Joseph, Test cricket, West Indies

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