From Miguel Cummins to Roston Chase: Lesser-known West Indies players who can surprise India

Indian supporters and TV viewers are familiar with many Caribbean cricket faces from their passionate following of cricket. Beamed into their homes, several West Indians have gone from being mere players to being TV personalities and household names: Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell, Darren Sammy, Sunil Narine, Lendl Simmons and more have lit up the world’s premier domestic T20 tournament, the IPL and scintillated with their skill, flamboyance and match-winning exploits.

It was heart-breaking, but perhaps not a huge surprise, when the bulk of these aforementioned cricketers beat the hosts and the rest of the world in this year’s ICC World T20 tournament in India. West Indies are the masters of the shortest format. In the longest, these players are absent - and the team performs like doughnuts. Many fans within the Caribbean, and most in the outside world assume this no coincidence. I’m not so sure.

None of those world-beaters mentioned above have featured, for one reason or another, in West Indies’ Test team for quite a time. Nor have they played much first-class cricket either. I personally don’t believe the skill-sets of the longest and shortest formats are quite so easily transferable as many believe - especially when you don’t practise them.

Some, maybe all these players, will never appear in red-ball international cricket again. Whatever the case - and now is neither the time nor place to be sidetracked by the how and why – the fact is that the West Indies do not have these guys to call upon, and must make do with what they’ve got. But is it good enough to compete with India?

The world number two ranked team embarks on the first of four Test matches in the Caribbean on Thursday against the side ranked eighth - and are widely expected to be beat them easily. Anything other than a series victory for the tourists would be a major surprise, but if they go into it over-confident, or with the slightest whiff of conceit, then an upset is possible.

West Indies are entering into a new area – and for the first time in more than decade they are beginning to find some self-belief. A hat-trick of 2016 victories - beginning with the U19’s 50-over World Cup win, followed by the double triumph of the senior men and women’s teams lifting the World T20 trophy earlier this year – has given West Indian cricket fans renewed hope as they see the early shoots of recovery. Now they anxiously wait to see if they will bloom – and whether this young team can first survive, then thrive.

Nowhere will they be as keen and anxious for the progress and success of certain individual players than in Barbados. The core of this new-look West Indies side has emerged from that island, and have been the nucleus of their national first-class XI. Under the shrewd stewardship of coach Hendy Springer, they have been a leading side in the regional four-day competition for the last four seasons: triumphing in 2013 and 2014; and finishing runners-up to Guyana in 2015 and 2016.

In that time several young men have emerged as impressive cricketers and moved up towards the highest level. In both batting and bowling they have nurtured and developed several improving talents: Jason Holder and Carlos Brathwaite are already well-known and have made an impact. Others, like Kraigg Brathwaite, Shane Dowrich and Shai Hope could also do so. Two further Barbadians may well make their debuts in this first Test.

Barbados’ fast-bowling shelves have also been well-stocked in this time. Available for selection for the Bajan team in the domestic 4-day competition have been several who’ve also appeared for the West Indies: Jason Holder, Carlos Brathwaite and Kemar Roach, there was also Tino Best, Fidel Edwards - plus, briefly, Chris Jordan, who left the island to commit his future to playing for England. But invariably though Barbados’ leading seamer has been Miguel Cummins. To this observer at least, his selection is long overdue. Tall, languid, accurate and deceptively quick off the pitch, Cummins is reminiscent of Courtney Walsh. If he can overcome any Test Match debut nerves, and find his range early, I would expect him to make things difficult for India’s top-order batsmen.

Cummins will surely be earning a first-cap. Whether all-rounder Bajan Roston Chase does likewise will depend upon the balance of the side the selectors decide upon. Chase had a very successful 2015-16 first-class season: like Cummins, an ever-present in the Barbados four-day side, he scored over 700 runs at 59; and took 23 wickets with his off-spin. Rarely used as a bowler previously, he stepped up when the side was without both their international slow-left-armers - Sulieman Benn and Jomel Warrican - and proved to be a genuine all-rounder. If the West Indies are looking to go into this opening encounter with five bowlers including a support spinner to Devendra Bishoo, then Chase will get the nod.

The perception to overseas onlookers of a further weakening of the West Indies side was provided with the additional absences of quick bowler Jerome Taylor and wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin. Taylor announced his retirement from Test cricket on the eve of the squad’s selection, and Cummins took his place. The Taylor who could bowl quick, sharp and with hostility will be missed. The Taylor who trundled up and delivered harmless dross in Australia a few months ago will not. The selectors asked him to feature in one of the tourists’ recent warm-up matches so they could assess which Taylor would turn-up. He declined to – and felt disrespected to be asked to thus prove himself. This sounded to me like a reasonable request – and the response did not. The selectors, rightly, have moved on.

They also made the big decision to move on from former-skipper Ramdin. This was a bigger call, and caused some disquiet in the region – especially amongst his fellow Trinidad & Tobago ex-West Indies wicket-keepers. Much has been made of Ramdin’s poor showing with the bat, especially in recent times, and his contributions have been woefully beneath his genuine talent and potential. Personally though, I agree with Deryck Murray, and would have retained him. Irrespective of his poor returns with the bat, he is still the top keeper in the Caribbean.

In his place, Shane Dowrich, who has already played Test cricket as a specialist batsman (somewhat surprisingly) now gets to don the gloves too. He will be under the spotlight, and needs to keep as well as his predecessor and exceed his run tally, or he’ll be under a great deal of pressure to retain his place. He’s capable of doing so.

Dowrich, Chase and Cummins are not the only fresh faces to the Indian audience. Batsmen Rajendra Chandrika and Leon Johnson may well be new too. Both have modest figures in their early Test outings – but both have been part of the Guyana team to win the regional four-day competition for the last two years – as has leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo. It is now down to them to turn their domestic form into international success.

These young men, led by Jason Holder, feature alongside Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels and Shannon Gabriel - guys who’ve proved they can perform at the highest level, but have up till now failed to do so with sufficient regularity.

Be in no doubt that all these players, whether new to you or well-known, have the talent to compete with the best. Whether they have the patience and application to do so – or whether India allow them to do so - is another story.