‘Just ridiculous’
Perreira, Neita slam turning first-Test pitch
Published:Tuesday | July 18, 2023 | 12:09 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
FOLLOWING WEST Indies’ embarrassing display with both bat and ball during their first Test assignment against number-one-ranked India, cricket analyst Joseph ‘Reds’ Perreira and former Jamaica captain Mark Neita are pointing fingers at the pitch curators as well.
The West Indies lost by an innings and 141 runs at Windsor Park in Roseau, Dominica.
“I think the batting was pathetic as we just didn’t have a clue against the Indian spin bowlers. The pitch, no doubt, was of the liking of the Indians as you would have believed that it was prepared by an Indian ground staff somewhere in Mumbai. It was tailor-made for them. I know they made 421 runs, but you can’t compare oranges to apples. We just don’t have the spinners that we once had to provide the kind of difficulty we need for the Indian batsmen,” said Perreira.
As the series now shifts to Trinidad and Tobago, with the second Test set to bowl off tomorrow, Perreira added that he thinks it a no-brainer to make major changes in order to be competitive against a stacked Indian lineup, which includes dropping vice-captain, Jermaine Blackwood.
“I think we’ll be shocked if we don’t see major changes. I don’t see (Raymon) Reifer, (Jermaine) Blackwood, (Jomel) Warrican or (Rahkeem) Cornwall being retained. My certainty would be Kraigg Braithwaite, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Alick Athanaze, Brandon King, Kirk Mckenzie, Shai Hope, Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Kemar Roach, Akeem Jordon or Shannon Gabriel, Bryan Charles or Kevin Sinclair,” Perreira listed.
Unlike Perreira, Mark Neita, president of Melbourne Cricket Club and former Jamaica batsman, believes wholesale changes might not solve the Caribbean team’s fortunes as, in his estimation, “the cupboard is fairly bare”.
“The truth is there’s not a lot left in terms of rotation of players. If you’re really looking around the West Indies for quality, at this point, I don’t know if this is the best of the lot, but this lot is not particularly good as the cupboard is fairly bare. If they do, will it make any difference?” he questioned.
Neita further added that he hopes Kraigg Brathwaite and his troupes are given a better batting surface for the second Test in order for them to have any chance against the Indian bowlers.
“I want to say everybody who is passionate about cricket worldwide would have been extremely disappointed with the West Indies’ batting performance. It was also unfortunate the type of wicket that we played on. There’s no way that we should have had a pitch that was turning from the first day. To me, that was just ridiculous. I hope that that is fixed for the second Test as we need a pitch with at least some amount of grass to give our batsmen a chance.”