Michael Rudling marks the West Indies players out of 10 after Jason Holder’s side slid to a 2-1 Test series defeat against England.
Kraigg Brathwaite – 5
3 Tests, 176 runs @ 29.33, 2 fifties, HS: 75
Brathwaite has done what he has struggled to do recently but used to do consistently: grind out runs in tricky conditions. He hasn’t set the world alight, but two half-centuries against Broad and co in English conditions is a hint at a return to form from the 27-year-old.
John Campbell – 2
3 Tests, 84 runs @ 16.80, HS: 32
Campbell has occasionally looked a dangerous player in a Jekyll-and-Hyde opening partnership, but he hasn’t passed 32 all series, with his shot selection often his downfall.
Shai Hope – 2
3 Tests, 105 runs @ 17.50, HS: 31
He’s been heart-achingly stylish all series, but Shai Hope has continued to struggle in Test cricket this summer. He’s had a start in each game, the peak coming in the third Test when there was the briefest flicker of Headingley, but an ill-judged pull shot ended a poor series for the Bajan. May be at the end of a very long rope.
Shamarh Brooks – 5
3 Tests, 195 runs @ 32.50, 2 fifties, HS: 68
Shamarh Brooks has continued to look comfortable in Test cricket, even if he didn’t get the big score in this series to truly show his class. He shone with two sixty-odds in an otherwise-bleak West Indies batting performance in the second Test and produced solid thirties in the other two games. His loose drive on the final day of the series shows there are still improvements to be made, but Brooks has had a quietly impressive series.
Roston Chase – 6
10 wickets @ 34.00, 1 five-for, BBI: 5-172, 157 runs @ 26.16, 1 fifty, HS: 51
Chase is something of a bits-and-pieces cricketer, and he’s played this series accordingly. He’s bowled nicely enough, taking a five-for in the second Test and having Rory Burns on toast for most of the series. The 28-year-old looked solid with the bat too but failed to produce a genuinely game-changing piece of cricket at any point.
Jermaine Blackwood – 6
3 Tests, 211 runs @ 35.16, 2 fifties, HS: 95
Blackwood loves a score against England. He produced a match-winning 95 at the Ageas Bowl (ignore the fact he was dropped every third ball) and then backed it up at Old Trafford by abandoning his usual swashbuckling approach and knuckling down for 55 in tricky conditions. West Indies would like him to reproduce this form against someone else at some point, but Blackwood has looked a top player in this series.
Shane Dowrich – 4
3 Tests, 126 runs @ 21, 1 fifty, HS: 61
There’s something immensely likeable about Shane Dowrich. He’s struggled in this series, looking in trouble against the short ball and having a nightmare with the gloves in the third Test (he took a nasty blow keeping to Gabriel). He did score an important 60 at the Ageas Bowl and looked to be dealing with the short stuff much better on day three in the final Test.
Jason Holder – 7
3 Tests, 10 wickets @ 30.10, 1 five-for, BBI: 6-42, 114 runs @ 22.80, HS: 46
The Windies captain started the series with a brilliant display at the Ageas Bowl and looked as though he might see his side to the draw in the second Test before Dom Bess bowled him with a perfect off-break. Holder has led the side well throughout a tricky tour, producing a couple of great spells and chipping in with some handy runs.
Alzarri Joseph – 5
2 Tests, 3 wickets @ 60.66, BBI: 2-45, 59 runs @ 19.66, HS: 32
Joesph’s stats don’t do him justice. He’s taken just three wickets in the series, but one was a clever wide-on-the-crease delivery to take the key wicket of Root in the second Test, and another was a well-set Crawley at a key point in the first. Remember the name.
Rahkeem Cornwall – 2
1 Test, 0 wickets, 12 runs @ 6, HS: 10
Ultimately, the Antiguan giant failed to match his exceptional form from the winter, but was perhaps unlucky not to take a wicket after a tidy first-innings spell. He did manage a true champagne moment, taking the catch of the series to dismiss Rory Burns at first slip off Chase.
Kemar Roach – 7
3 Tests, 8 wickets @ 36.50, BBI: 4-72, 15 runs @ 5, HS: 5*
Roach was luckless at the Ageas Bowl, taking no wickets despite bowling remarkably tight lines (at one point he bowled four maidens in five overs). He came back well at Old Trafford though, taking two in two balls (London busses, etc) in the first innings and bowling Crawley gloriously in the second. He might not be the 150kph tearaway he once was but Roach is still a potent force in Test cricket.
Shannon Gabriel – 7
3 Tests, 11 wickets @ 32.27, 1 five-for, BBI: 5-75, 4 runs @ 2, HS: 4
A proper grumpy, snarly fast bowler who can’t bat. Gabriel was unstoppable in the first Test, taking the Player of the Match award for a quick, aggressive nine-for. He struggled in the second Test with a slight injury but played a key role in the third as he dismissed both set batsmen on the second morning to inspire a mini-collapse.
