West Indies head coach Daren Sammy has promised a searching review of his batting line‑up—and particularly of out‑of‑form opener Kraigg Brathwaite—after Australia sealed the series with a 134‑run victory in Grenada.
The hosts wilted for 143 in pursuit of 277, and the margin would have been uglier had it not been for another late‑order flurry from Shamar Joseph.
Brathwaite’s centenary turns sour
The coach did not mince words about the former captain, who marked his 100th Test with scores of 0 and 7 to follow 4 and 4 in Barbados.
“He hasn’t looked good this series, and in a team where you are searching for performances, you get very close to say ‘okay, do we give somebody else a chance?’” Sammy admitted.
Brathwaite now averages 18.68 across his last 35 Test innings, with only three half‑centuries in that span.
Australia’s pace pack exposes fragile top order
West Indies staggered to 33 for 4 by lunch on day four as Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood unleashed a six‑over burst that shredded the middle order and left the score at 99 for 7—no recognized batter in sight. Sammy conceded that his young line‑up had been asked to solve a daunting puzzle against “Australia’s relentless fast‑bowling cartel” on two unforgiving pitches.
While accepting the blunt reality of a series already lost, Sammy preached patience:
“I do understand the journey that I took on, and Rome is not going to be built in a day… Some of the attitudes that are changing give me hope.”
He singled out Steven Smith as a model of technical adaptability and insisted the West Indian batters must learn to make similar adjustments.
The pitch problem
Sammy again urged regional stakeholders to improve first‑class wickets:
“When you look at the surfaces that we play on, it’s hard… Those type of pitches don’t allow you to come up technically sound, because you’re really unsure. There’s always doubt.”
A coordinated push—complete with traveling head groundsmen—is underway to provide tracks where batters “can trust their techniques.”
There was pride, however, in a bowling unit that dismissed Australia for 286 and 243.
“Our bowling, we can’t fault them, they’ve gotten 40 wickets. I don’t know when last we got 40 wickets against a top‑three team in two Test matches,” Sammy noted. The task now is ensuring the batters can “show a little bit more fight” to complement that effort.
Pink‑ball first awaits at Sabina
Attention shifts to Jamaica’s inaugural day‑night Test at Sabina Park, where the teams will use the pink Dukes ball—still en route to Sammy’s squad. Despite concerns over ground preparation, the coach called the fixture “a historic event” and expressed confidence it will proceed under lights as planned.
