Chris Gayle’s irrelevant six

Last night, lost a bit in the final day of the first Australia v South Africa Test, was the start of the West Indies’ Test series in Bangladesh. It’s a bit odd as they toured there this time last year as well, but at least they are playing Test cricket and regardless of whether or not Bangladesh should be playing Test cricket at all it’s better this than yet more pyjama matches. Though apparently not everyone realised it was a Test. The headlines today have focused on the fact that Chris Gayle launched the first ball of the match for six. This had never been done before in Test cricket and looks on the face of it like a remarkable and daring achievement. And it is at least noteworthy; it always is when something new happens in Test cricket and 6-0 off 0.1 overs is a nice start.

But it isn’t something to be celebrated as a lot of the coverage seems to be implying. Six runs off the first delivery is good, but that kind of fast start is not needed in Test cricket. As I recently wrote on the Armchair Selector, the aggressive style of opening has not been effective recently. It doesn’t matter if one’s first six runs of the game come off the first ball or the first half-hour as long as they come and the numbers actually show that at least recently the latter is better. Virender Sehwag and David Warner also approach opening like it is a pyjama match and they all average less in the past three years than Alastair Cook who opens the batting properly.

This was shown in microcosm yesterday as well, though it isn’t always. Gayle kept on attacking and was caught trying to hit another six when he was only on 24 and left the West Indies 32-1. It would not matter if he had found a way to get all 24 of his runs off that first ball; that is simply not a good score in Test cricket and if he can’t even get away with it against Bangladesh then that says a lot about the approach. Twenty-four off 17 balls may be good in a T20, but this was not a T20. The scores that helped the West Indies were the 117 from Kieran Powell and the unbeaten 123 from Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Neither of them were scored particularly quickly. If Gayle wanted to help his team he would have played properly, even against Bangladesh. As it is he grabbed the headlines for himself whilst leaving his team in a poor position.

I would not say that Gayle should confine himself to pyjama cricket, but the West Indies should not let him open the batting in Test cricket if he cannot rein himself in. If he must play the way he does, and as long as his counter-productive accomplishments are still lauded then he will continue, then he needs to bat down the order. Let him come in to face the older ball and weaker bowlers. Better still, let him come in after Chanderpaul when there is some balance at the other end and someone to keep the bowlers at bay whilst Gayle hits out. Gayle’s style of play can help the West Indies, but they need to make better use of it than they will get from him opening the batting.

1-0 the Windies

The West Indies beat Bangladesh this morning by 229 runs to win the series 1-0. It very easily could have been a 1-1 draw, had it not been for the poor outfield drainage in the first Test, though with Bangladesh it cannot be assumed that they would have converted a strong position into a victory. The West Indies continue to look rather mercurial, but generally improving somewhat. Last spring they beat Pakistan in a Test match and did not embarrass themselves against an admittedly reduced Indian side. Then they came to Bangladesh and played very poorly in the first Test. They probably ought to have lost, but only three days of play were possible. Coming on the heels of being bowled out for 61 in ODI, it looked pretty grim for the second Test, but they came back well. They twice bowled Bangladesh out for under 300, and the Bangladeshis strength is their batting. Their captain, Mushfiqur Rahim, was unimpressed with his side’s collapse on the final day, however.

The West Indies now go across the border for three Tests against an Indian side presumably still reeling from their 0-4 tonking in England. The way the Windies have played against Bangladesh they will be clear second favourites. The way India played against England may cast some doubt on that, but a more rested side at home should see off the Windies comfortably. Two-nil, I’d say.

Recap

Some brief thoughts on occurrences today:

The England men collapsed from 129-0 to 176 all out. It was pretty spectacular, even by English ODI standards, but there is little to be said about the match that has not been said on the tour already. The loss hands England a 0-5 whitewash. England can try to salvage a bit of face in a one off T20 before having two months off preceding the series against Pakistan in the UAE.

England were on the good side of a whitewash in South Africa though, as the women beat South Africa by five wickets to secure a 3-0 whitewash. A good bowling performance ensured that they only had to chase 182 to win and despite the early losses of Charlotte Edwards and Danni Wyatt they got home with a full seven overs to spare. Lydia Greenway top scored with 63, (and won Player of the Series) and Heather Knight won Player of the Match for her unbeaten 55 with the bat and 2-15 with the ball. England now have a three match T20 series to conclude the tour.

Bangladesh drew their rain ruined Test against the West Indies in Chittagong. There was never going to be a result, although the Windies were bowled out for 244 (a deficit of 106). Bangladesh were the better side and will take heart from debutant Elias Sunny who took 6-94 in the first innings. Two full days were lost to rain, although it was all overnight rain. The groundstaff could not get the outfield dry and days two and three were completely lost. It was something of a farce and should not happen on a test match ground, even in Bangladesh. The Windies have not had a great tour thus far; they won the ODI series 2-1, but were bowled out for 61 in the last match and this performance was a pretty poor one. There is one match left in the series and they will need to up their game considerably to avoid a humiliating defeat.

Zimbabwe won a historic victory against New Zealand. They chased down 329 to win by just one wicket and with one ball to spare. It was their highest ever successful run chase. Malcolm Waller won a deserving Man of the Match after scoring an unbeaten 99 off 74 deliveries and hitting the winning runs (though he was dropped twice in the last over). The Kiwis still won the series 2-1, but this does add something (I’m not sure what, exactly, probably some sort of spice) to the one off test match next week. Hopefully it will be a good match.

Not today, but on Sunday South Africa (men) levelled their series against Australia, inflicting an 80 run defeat on the tourists. Australia won the first match by 93 runs (D/L) so it’s been a pair of hammerings, but in opposite directions. The ODI series concludes on Friday and I am not even going to try to predict how that will go. A tie would probably be most fitting.