Not enough openers knocking the door down

– said a worried Roger Harper

By Brandon Corlette

The opening partnership of the West Indies Test team has been a concern in recent years, and with the recent failures of John Campbell, that concern continues.
West Indies chief selector Roger Harper has said this opening slot remains a concern, but it was nice to see captain Kraigg Brathwaite getting some big scores.
“I think it’s been a concern for a while. It was nice to see the captain get some big scores, but the partnership on the whole needs to be solid, ”Harper revealed on the recent Mason and Guest Radio program.

Against Sri Lanka, Campbell scored 68 runs in four flyovers at an average of 17. With four carbon copy redundancies, he’s certainly under the pump, and possible ax looms for the Jamaican when South Africa travels around the Caribbean later in June.
His Test record is also inferior. After 30 innings, Campbell on the left has accumulated 640 runs with two half centuries, averaging 23.70.
“We were very pleased to see Campbell applying himself and being more patient, but we need some more positive gains,” said Guyanese Roger Harper.
Asked what is being done to solve this opening partnership problem, Harper responded: “It’s something we’re looking at. We look at our best options. At the moment, in terms of red ball, we don’t have enough openers knocking down the door in terms of performances. ”
It is still uncertain whether a 4-Day Regional tournament would be played in 2021 before South Africa enters the Caribbean, but reflecting on the openers’ performances in the emerging Regional 4-day 2020 tournament a lifetime ago, veteran Devon Smith was the best opening batsman, with 649 runs.
Campbell, playing for the Jamaican Scorpions franchise in the 4-Day tournament, was the next best opener in terms of runs, with 491. Sheyne Mosely scored 490 runs in that final 4 Day Tournament, and was awarded a spot in the Test. side, batting at number three in Bangladesh, where he failed.
Kieran Powell scored 429 runs at 30.6 with three fifties in the last 4 Days tournament. As well as Powell, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Tevin Imlach and Tagenarine Chanderpaul are also promising openers who have the talent and who showed and played red ball cricket.

The versatile Trinidadian Joshua Da Silva, who performed particularly well in Regional cricket, has shown his ability to bat at the top of the order. His 4-Day stats surpassed most Division batters, when he scored 507 runs at an average of 50.7.
Since making his Test debut in New Zealand, Da Silva has proved his worth, and is also ready to bathe in any position the team requires.
For the next Test assignment, it will be interesting to see the selection of the selectors. People like Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer are also options that could be considered to open the batting along with captain Kraigg Brathwaite.