West Indies coach Daren Sammy admitted there’s mounting pressure on opener Kraigg Brathwaite after another disappointing outing in the series defeat to Australia in Grenada. Chasing 277 on the fourth day, the West Indies folded for just 143, with Brathwaite managing scores of only 0 and 7—continuing a lean patch where he averages under 19 over his last 35 innings.
“𝑯𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔,” 𝑺𝒂𝒎𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑰𝒏 𝒂 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒚 ‘𝒐𝒌𝒂𝒚, 𝒅𝒐 𝒘𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆 𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆?’”
Sammy stressed that the selection panel will have a serious discussion about Brathwaite’s spot before the Jamaica Test.
Batting Concerns and Hopes for Improvement
Sammy pointed out that while the pitches have been challenging, the batters needed better technique and mindset—taking cues from how Steve Smith adjusted his game to the conditions.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅. “𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔𝒆𝒕, 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌.”
He also expressed frustration with the Caribbean’s domestic pitches, arguing that inconsistent surfaces make it hard for players to develop solid techniques.
“𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕,” 𝑺𝒂𝒎𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔, 𝒘𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒖𝒚𝒔 𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 40-𝒑𝒍𝒖𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕-𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕.”
Despite the batting woes, Sammy praised his bowlers for claiming all 40 wickets across the two Tests, giving them chances to compete against the world’s top side.
The day-night pink-ball Test in Jamaica is still set to go ahead, although preparations remain a concern. Sammy called it a historic occasion and said he was confident the match would proceed under lights as planned.
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