Speaking to Katya Witney for issue 79 of the Wisden Cricket Monthly, Jayden Seales, the young West Indian quick featuring in the Test series against England, has said that his goal is to dominate Test cricket and break into the top three bowlers in the format in the future.
Seales, 22, is part of West Indies' first-choice seam-attack taking on England in a three-match Test series. Having made his Test debut against South Africa in 2021, injuries have limited Seales' Test appearances to only ten. The England series marks a comeback for the tall right-arm seamer from Tobago.
For the latest edition of the Wisden Cricket Monthly, Seales spoke about his aspirations and how he wants to make a mark in Test cricket. In an era where most players are shifting focus to white-ball cricket, Seales is one those rare ones who is most capped in first-class cricket among the three formats.
When asked if he sees himself as a predominantly red-ball player, Seales said, "I want to say yes, but I would branch off into white ball."
"Not right now because I think, and this is my opinion, I’m not saying this is how it’s supposed to be but, I believe that for me to become a better white-ball player I need to play a lot of red-ball to understand my game and develop my skills.
"So I will play red-ball for as long as I possibly can."
Seales expressed frustration at the decreasing number of Test matches that happen every year. "It is frustrating at times," he said. "Not me, but it can obviously make a lot of players question why they want to play Test cricket for much longer because if we’re averaging 10, 12 Test matches a year and most of the series are two matches, sometimes one, it’s not much cricket to play, so it’s not much fun anymore.
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"A lot of the big nations get three or four-match series, and sometimes 20 Test matches a year. I hope it changes somewhere down the road, because Test cricket is where players can become great."
Since 2018, West Indies have averaged seven Tests per year till the end of 2023, having played ten Tests only once - in 2021. In fact, the last time West Indies played more than ten Tests in a calendar year was way back in 2009.
Despite the challenges facing Test cricket, Seales expressed a desire to reach the zenith in the format within the next five to ten years.
"I would still be playing for West Indies, all formats, and my goal when I was a young boy was to be No.1 in the world for at least three to five years. So maybe up there at some point or at least break into the top three in Test cricket."
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