West Indies Test Series in Zimbabwe bowls off today

- First ball set for 4am

Ina cricketing landscape where many of the same big names are playing in the same T20 leagues and the same top-tier Test nations have more or less the same big-picture narratives against each other, here’s something different: Zimbabwe and West Indies will face off for only the sixth time in a Test Series, and the first time in more than five years. It’s not a World Test Championship Series, so there are no points on offer; it’s simply good, old-fashioned cricket for cricket’s sake.

Even though context is key in a crowded calendar, there are several reasons why this series matters. We shine the spotlight on them here.

Gary Balance. This Zimbabwe-born, Englandcapped, top-order batter has been out of the Test arena for longer than Zimbabwe have waited to play West Indies in this format. His last appearance was in July 2017 against South Africa, and it brought an end to the first phase of a Test career that had 1000 runs in its first 17 innings, and yielded fewer than 500 in its next 25.

Ballance has since been one of the central characters in the Yorkshire racism scandal. He has admitted to, and apologised for, using the word P*** when talking to Azeem Rafiq, and then took a lengthy break from the game to manage his mental health.

Ballance was released early from his county contract, which was due to run until the end of the 2024 season, and he returned home to Zimbabwe at the end of last year. He signed a two-year deal with Zimbabwe Cricket, and joined a long list of players who have headed back to the country from England, including Kyle Jarvis, Brendan Taylor (both since retired) and Blessing Muzarabani, in a bid to boost the national set-

By Brandon Corlette

West Indies Women, who have lost their last 13 T20I matches in a row, will, from February 13, be in action against England at the T20 World Cup, and Guyanese

Shemaine Campbelle will be the vice-captain of the team.

According to Courtney Walsh, the West Indies Women's Head Coach, Campbelle needs to be more consistent.

Lead Selector Ann

Browne-John has said the 25-year-old Kaysia Schultz missed out on selection due to the unique combination of the squad. But although Schultz, a left-arm spinner, has played only four games and bowled only 36 balls, she has not been given a fair run. She also had two wickets on her One Day International debut, and did not play a game thereafter.

"We can only pick 15 persons; we therefore have to look at our best combination. So, you would recognize that we cannot pick eight seamers or eight spinners or eight up. Ballance made his debut for Zimbabwe last month, and was capped in T20Is and ODIs, but it’s the longest format where he is expected to make his biggest contribution. With a first-class average of 47.31, four Test hundreds to his name, and years in the county circuit, Ballance will bring experience and gravitas to a line-up that is only rarely exposed to the rigours of Test cricket.

Another prodigal son in the Zimbabwean set-up is coach Dave Houghton (who is also related to Ballance). He came back into the fold before the T20 World Cup qualifiers last year.

Houghton, who previous- ists Pakistan. They also beat Bangladesh for the first time in an ODI Series after nine years (that’s six series).

Every player interviewed - including Sikandar Raza, who was included in the ICC’s ODI and T20I teams of 2022 but will not feature in this Series because of T20 franchise commitments - has credited Houghton for changing the environment, giving them freedom to express themselves, and encouraging them to play attacking cricket.

He now has to work his magic in the format Zimbabwe have the least experience in. They have not played Test cricket for 18 tity” if they continued to lose players to T20 leagues and failed to cultivate incentives for representing the islands, especially in Test cricket. The report detailed a new strategy, wherein West Indies would use a select group of white-ball players in red-ball cricket in order to fast-track their development. was their leading wicket-taker in Australia. ly captained Zimbabwe at the 1992 World Cup, and coached them in 2009, was tasked with turning around the fortunes of a team that had lost a Series to southern African counterparts and associates Namibia, and were at risk of missing a fourth successive ICC event.

He inspired a remarkable turnaround, in which Zimbabwe not only went to the 2022 T20 World Cup, but made it out of the first round into the Super 12s, and stunned eventual final- batters, we have to find a mix and a blend. So, with that being said, it is just that Kaysia was not able to find a place in the 15. As I mentioned before, we now have Zaida James in, who bowls left-arm orthodox, who is a left-arm batter. We had more options this time, months, since they hosted Bangladesh and lost heavily.

What sort of impact will Brian Lara have?

West Indies have problems of their own, after their dismal performance at the T20 World Cup, wherein they did not advance out of the first round. On their subsequent tour to Australia, they were blanked in both the T20I and Test Series.

A report by CWI warned that West Indies Cricket could “cease to exist as an en-

None of them is part of the touring party to Zimbabwe, though, but another familiar face is. Brian Lara will begin his role as West Indies’ performance mentor on this trip, a job aimed at assisting with both the tactical and technical skills of the team. Much like Houghton, Lara has his work cut out. But he will be comfortable with what should be a fairly soft landing in Zimbabwe, before moving south to neighbouring South Africa for a full Tour.

A West Indian bowling attack is usually worth keeping an eye on, especially this time, because it features two names that will be an important part of the Windies’ rebuilding.

Shannon Gabriel returns to the squad after a 14-month absence - a consequence of being injured and then overlooked. He will join a pack that also includes Jason Holder, Kemar Roach and Alzarri Joseph, who

Joseph is proving to be one of their most consistent players across all formats. He was their second-leading wicket-taker in ODIs last year, and had his most successful year in T20s in 2022: he took 46 wickets at an average of 19.54. Joseph is exactly the kind of player West Indies could lose to leagues, unless they incentivise and manage him properly, and this Series could be the start of that process

Thanks largely to Bazball, we know that Test cricket is alive and well, but we don’t know if that’s the case outside of a select few teams. The big three, along with New Zealand, Pakistan and to a lesser degree South Africa, still put the longest format on a pedestal. But when it comes to Zimbabwe and West Indies, where hosting Test matches is costly and the rewards are slim, this format may still be running cold. This series will give us a gauge.

Zimbabwe Cricket has put an effort into marketing this Series, and expects to see a healthy clutch of spectators, not least because there hasn’t been any Test cricket in Bulawayo since the West Indies trip of 2017.

If you think that’s over-

Walsh has said.

Match Schedule of the T20 World Cup:

Monday, 13 February: West Indies vs England. Boland Park, Paarl, 3 pm (9 am Eastern Caribbean/8 am Jamaica)

Wednesday, 15

February: West Indies vs India. Newlands, Cape Town, 3 pm (9 am Eastern Caribbean/8 am Jamaica) ly optimistic, it’s not. The Harare Sports Club was well supported during Zimbabwe’s recent Series against Ireland, and there’s a sense that Zimbabweans are warming to the game again, thanks to the recent form of the national side.

Zimbabwe fans have formed their own supporters union, named Castle Corner after the beverage, and are campaigning for crowds to pour into the Queen’s Sports Club.

Whether the series will be well-followed outside of Zimbabwe remains to be seen. It is being played at the same time as the start of Australia’s Test Series in India, the Women’s T20 World Cup and the PSL, and the end of the SA20, the ILT20 and the BPL, which leaves cricket lovers spoilt for choice. (ESPN Cricinfo) and unfortunately, Kaysia did not find a place in the 15.

“As we tell the players, do not ever consider you are dropped, it is when we looked at combinations, we try to put the best combination together," the Women's lead selector has said.

Walsh has said that team members have put the recent defeats behind them, and are ready to go. "They are obviously disappointed with the results. We treat each game as a new game, and we try to get the best done. With everything behind us, everyone is focused on the World Cup. It is the World Cup which is the biggest stage, and this is where it will count more. The mood is very good in the camp. We are hopeful of Stafanie Taylor. Medical will update us. Staf is upbeat as well, and everything is coming together at the right time. If we can get her fit and the other in- jury that we had, we will get our strongest team to select from," Walsh has said.

Campbelle, who played in 115 in T20I matches, has a high score of 47 and a batting average of 13.81. Walsh is hoping she can turn the tide with added responsibility.

"We want her to be a bit more consistent. We keep seeing scores here and there, and we are hoping (that) with the added responsibility and her experience, she can settle and be more consistent. She will give us depth, and we can bat around her. She is fit, and we hope she can help us and guide the younger ones,"

Friday, 17 February: West Indies vs Ireland. Newlands, Cape Town, 7 pm (1 pm Eastern Caribbean/12 noon Jamaica)

Sunday, 19 February: West Indies vs Pakistan. Boland Park, Paarl, 3 pm (9 am Eastern Caribbean/8 am Jamaica).

FULL SQUAD: Hayley Matthews (Captain), Shemaine Campbelle (Vice Captain), Aaliyah Alleyne, Shamilia Connell, Afy Fletcher, Shabika Gajnabi, Chinelle Henry, Trishan Holder, Zaida James, Djenaba Joseph, Chedean Nation, Karishma Ramharack, Shakera Selman, Stafanie Taylor, Rashada Williams.

West Indies 4-Day Championships 2023…