Kane Williamson – CaughtOutCricket

Once heralded as the future of West Indian batting, Darren Bravo has instead found himself stuck inside the shadow of his hero Brian Lara.

Darren Bravo disappointed — Photo Credit: Getty Images.

One of the most fascinating aspects of cricket is defining its different contrasts throughout various eras and generations.

Whether its hours spend down the local pub discussing the great teams and individual players with friends or colleagues, or time spent self analysing various matches and stats – trying to determine the benchmark between very good and great.

Defining players throughout eras is a complex and usually unfulfilling task – after all Test cricket has changed tremendously throughout the past century. From timeless matches, to covered pitches, bigger bats and now day/night matches – it’s almost impossible to compare a player from, say…the 1960’s to one in the present day.

It does though become easier defining greatness among contemporises. By this logic we can assume that the likes of Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Jacques Kallis were a cut above the rest during the 1990’s and 2000’s. Messrs AB de Villiers and Kumar Sangakkara, have since continued this batting excellence into the present.

What about the future batting greats?

Martin Crowe, the former New Zealand batsman, was the first to mute the idea of “Test cricket’s young Fab Four”. In an article published on ESPNcricinfo in August 2014, Crowe suggested that Test cricket’s next four batting superstars would be: Virat Kohli (India), Joe Root (England), Steven Smith (Australia) and Kane Williamson (New Zealand).

Even back then it was hard to argue against the four choices given, except – I believed there was one name missing – Darren Bravo of the West Indies.

If Kohli was the new Tendulkar, Root the heir apparent to Michael Vaughan, Smith the next Steve Waugh and Williamson, of course, the next Martin Crowe, then surely wasn’t Bravo the new Lara?

At the time of the publication, (August 29^th 2014) Bravo was very much holding his own as a Test batsman. In fact his record was better than those of Kohli, Smith and Williamson.

Test batting stats before August 29^th 2014

Bravo – 2196 runs at 43.92 (30 matches)

Root – 1732 runs at 50.94 (22 matches)

Kohli – 1855 runs at 39.46 (29 matches)

Williamson – 2377 runs at 40.28 (34 matches)

Smith – 1361 runs at 40.02 (20 matches)

Test batting stats since August 29^th 2014

Bravo – 545 runs at 32.05 (9 matches)

Root – 1288 runs at 61.33 (13 matches)

Kohli – 1139 runs at 54.23 (12 matches)

Williamson – 1250 runs at 78.12 (10 matches)

Smith – 2015 runs at 74.62 (16 matches)

However, as time passes it’s becoming much more difficult to argue against his non-inclusion in Crowe’s thoughts. On the other hand, the wisdom shown to pick out Kohli, Root, Smith and Williamson is becoming extremely well vindicated.

While the four mentioned by Crowe have all since taken their batting to the next level, Bravo has been left trailing in their wake. His batting has regressed alarmingly, so much so that across seven Tests this calendar year he’s averaging just 30.71 – with no hundreds. A far cry from the player once regarded as a future great by no finer judges than Lara and Steve Waugh.

So what has happened to the once promising career of Darren Bravo?

After a solid start to his Test career – which peaked with career high average of 52.50 after 13 Tests –his average has now plummeted to an ordinary 40.91 after 39 Tests.

“Darren Bravo from the West Indies. He is identical to Brian Lara in every way. He is world cricket’s next superstar, no doubt.” – Steve Waugh (February 2012)

When at his best, the Lara comparisons are never far away. As a youngster he used to hone his game solely on his first cousin. Only watching cricket on television because of Lara, as soon as ‘The Prince’ was dismissed, Bravo would switch off the TV and head outdoors to bat himself.

Such was the obsession, he would also skip school just to go and admire Lara at practice. Born in the same north Trinidadian village of Santa Cruz, the pair has grown close over the years. Bravo has, on more than one occasion, crediting Lara with helping him correct both technical and mental deficiencies.

But the similarities run much deeper than that – at times their mannerisms at the crease are so alike it’s almost freaky. The high back-lift, the flowing cover drive and the excellence against subcontinental spin bowling are all traits shared by the two men. However, the freakiest resemblance between the pair was their identical batting records after 12 Tests – both men had scored 941 runs at 47.05.

While Lara continued his path towards greatness during a 131-Test match career, Bravo has so far struggled to maintain the consistency required to differentiate between being a good and a great batsman.

Going into their three-match Test tour of Australia, the West Indies need their elegant left-hander to fire more than ever. Besides Marlon Samuels, Bravo, 26, is the most experienced batsman in a side shorn of the onetime experience of Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and Darren’s older half-brother Dwayne.

While the younger Bravo made three starts (50, 31 & 61) in four innings during the recent two-Test tour of Sri Lanka, his average has continued a steady decline throughout the past few years. After averaging 37 in 2012, 2013 and 2014, he’s barely touched 30 in 2015. In a nutshell – not good enough for a man of his obvious talents.

Bravo during his maiden Test double-hundred in Dunedin. Photo Credit: Getty Images.

Personal issues – which have forced him out of away series in New Zealand and South Africa during the past two years – could well be to blame. As could the added expectations and responsibilities placed on his shoulders following the exile of many experienced teammates.

Despite a brief flirtation with IPL side Deccan Chargers in 2012, Bravo has remained soundly loyal to the West Indies cause throughout the tough times. Times that have seen the Test side striped of their prize assists by the riches of various worldwide T20 franchises.

While it’s certainly admirable that Bravo still regards Test cricket as ‘the ultimate’, it’s certainly not a view currently shared by many across the Caribbean. Onetime Test players Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Sammy, Lendl Simmons, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell now all exclusively play just limited overs internationals, while others such as Kieron Pollard, Samuel Badree and Kevon Cooper have too made their names almost solely in T20 cricket.

Despite the emergence of a new group of young Test batsman – headlined by Jermaine Blackwood and Kraigg Brathwaite – the region is struggling to cope without the capabilities and international know-how of the aforementioned nine.

With the fluctuating career of Samuels showing signs of reaching its conclusion, Bravo must be on hand to recapture the form he showcased in late 2011. This purple patch saw him register a maiden Test hundred in Bangladesh (195 in Dhaka) before following it up with successive hundreds (136 in Kolkata & 166 in Mumbai) in India just weeks later.

Without a hundred in his first nine matches, three followed in just four matches; Bravo had arrived on the international stage. Perhaps it was a late summer stint with County side Nottinghamshire that led to his upturn in fortunes, either way it was another year until he scored his fourth Test hundred – again in Bangladesh (127 in Khulna).

A further year passed before he scored his fifth hundred, this time a career best 218 against New Zealand in Dunedin. After several stints away from the Test side, he has scored just one further century since, 109 on his home ground Queen’s Park Oval, way back in June 2014.

Sadly Bravo isn’t the only recent young West Indian batsman to make a strong introduction to Test cricket, before fading away. Fellow Trinidadian Adrian Barath made a superb counterattacking hundred on debut at the Gabba six years ago; he’s since drifted away – not just from the international scene, but from regional cricket too.

Like Barath, fellow opener Kieran Powell has also suffered a similarly disheartening fate. A product of Somerset’s illustrious Millfield School, Powell played his last Test against New Zealand in June 2014 before being dropped in favour of the uncapped Leon Johnson.

He’s endured a tough time since the international breakthrough that saw him register a maiden Test hundred against New Zealand in 2012. An innings that was backed up with twin centuries in Bangladesh later that year.

Like Bravo, the Nevis-born Powell has suffered from personal issues in the latter half of his international career – now just 25; he was last seen playing first-class cricket for Tamil Union in the Sri Lankan Premier League tournament in March.

Unlike Barath and Powell, Bravo is still very much central to the West Indies future plans. Building a team around him along with the likes of Brathwaite, Blackwood and Captain Jason Holder remains vital – especially if the West Indies still harbour any hopes of touching past glories.

Despite a couple of lean years, Bravo’s career shouldn’t yet be viewed as a failure. Only seven months ago he showcased the best of his batting when contributing a match-winning 82 against an English attack that included both James Anderson and Stuart Broad.

Turning the frequent starts into regular hundreds should be a future goal that Bravo sets himself. Upcoming visits to Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney (where Lara once made a majestic 277) would be good places to begin.

For ‘Lil’ Bravo – it’s time to step out of Brian Lara’s shadow.

In what was being heralded as a new beginning for Australian cricket, the home side portrayed similar qualities of old to dominate the visiting New Zealanders during a 208-run victory at the Gabba.

Khawaja Cricket Australia-Getty Images — Usman Khawaja looks to have finally nailed down his spot at number three. Image Credit: CA/Getty Images.

What was all the fuss about Eh?

This was supposed to be a new summer, a new beginning, and a new era in Australian cricket. The five post-Ashes retirements wouldn’t be easily replaced overnight and the Blackcaps genuinely had their best chance to end a 30-year wait without a series win over their Tasman rivals. But in the end it was the “same old” for Australia as they clinically demoralised yet another visitor at the “Gabbatoir”.

Their record at the Gabba is unrivalled by any nation, at any venue. Not since the great West Indies side triumphed there by nine-wickets in 1988, have the home side been defeated in Brisbane. That was 27 years ago. The stats make for profound reading: 27 matches, 20 wins, seven draws and zero defeats.

This was a textbook Gabba performance from the Australians too – the batting in particular. Win the toss – check. Bat first – check. Solid opening foundation – check. Accelerate – check. Grind the opposition into the dirt – check. And then declare 550-600 runs to the good – check.

The bowling held up well too. If it weren’t for the exceptional Kane Williamson (140 & 59) then it could well have been far worse for the visitors. Especially in the first innings where he looked to be playing on a different wicket to his compatriots, regularly repelling the Australian quicks as often as the wickets tumbled around him.

So far ahead was Australia after three days that even the inclement Brisbane weather – which wiped out big chunks of the fourth day – couldn’t hold them back. In the end a 208-run victory, achieved around lunchtime on the fifth day, was a fair reflection of the gulf between the two sides in this Test match.

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum will rue the failure to make inroads with the new ball on the opening morning as paramount to his side’s failings in the match. He certainly wasn’t helped with injuries to both spearhead Tim Southee and allrounder James Neesham along the way, while not many would have forecasted such inept bowling displays from both Trent Boult and Doug Bracewell.

But a large portion of credit must go to Joe Burns, David Warner and Usman Khawaja at the top of the Australian order. The first day’s play really set the tone for further dominance across the course of the remaining four. Never has Australia had a better first day’s batting at the Gabba than the 2-389 they racked up here.

Khawaja was without doubt the biggest positive to emerge from the Gabba success. The 28-year-old, beginning his third stint in the side after failed launches in both 2011 and 2013, began this summer very much at the crossroads of a career that has regularly promised much but seldom produced enough.

It’s a well known fact that Australia has gone almost five years without an established number three. Since Khawaja debuted in January 2011, thirteen players (excluding nightwatchman) have tried and subsequently failed to hold down the position. But while Steven Smith could have carried on in the role after batting there with reasonable success during the winter tours of the West Indies and England, promoting Khawaja, instead, was justified with verve against the Kiwi’s. The languid left-hander’s style and class made him perfectly suited to the number three berth; although his real test will come when he has to walk out at 1-0 and not the untroubled 1-161 and 1-237 he was duly provided with here.

The victory, in its entirety, has acted as a huge fillip for Rod Marsh and his selection panel. Marginal calls were made to bolt for Burns and Khawaja, as opener and number three, ahead of Western Australian pair Cameron Bancroft and Shaun Marsh. Hindsight is of course a wonderful thing, but these judgements are now looking particularly vindicated, as is the call to keep faith with Adam Voges at number five after much clamour was made to jettison him in favour of fellow veteran Michael Klinger.

As the aforementioned trio were “getting their feet under the Test cricket table,” over in Adelaide, Bancroft (111) and Marsh (92) were putting on 172 for Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield. South Australian captain Travis Head, profoundly built up by both Darren Lehmann and Ricky Ponting prior to the summer, won that match with his maiden first-class hundred and he too remains firmly on the periphery of national honours. Maybe there is more batting depth than many of us had originally considered.

Australia pic Getty — Photo Credit: Getty Images

The bowling too reaffirmed the Australian swagger of old. A key quandary going into the first Test of the summer was the debate over whether both Mitchell’s could line up in the same bowling attack. While both Johnson and Starc possessed moments of brilliance during the Ashes, they at times, also leaked runs at an alarming rate. Even though Johnson went at over five-runs-an-over in the first innings here, he did snare the vital wickets of McCullum, Ross Taylor and BJ Watling with his usual emblematic aggression.

Quite how long Johnson, 34, continues in the Test side is a question for another day. With inconsistency still often following Starc and Josh Hazelwood and injuries still blighting the young careers of James Pattinson and Pat Cummins, Australia and Smith very much need their spearhead to continue a little longer yet.

Starc’s six wickets were a match high and moreover his economy rate of 3.32 was an improvement on the 3.85 he averaged across five Ashes Tests earlier in the year. As mentioned on these pages before, this could very much be a breakout summer in Test cricket for the quick.

Often an afterthought in the Australian side, Nathan Lyon continued to quietly do his thing in Brisbane. He’s come a long way since bowling his country to success against India in Adelaide last summer. His new found fourth-innings confidence was there for all to see as he removed the obdurate Martin Guptill, the enterprising Williamson and the regularly dependable Watling. Outside of perhaps Ravichandran Ashwin, it’s difficult to reason of a finer current offspinner in the world game.

Lyon is becoming a reliable and instrumental figure in this new Australia set up. He’s now not just a senior in the side, only Johnson (72) and Peter Siddle (57) among the current setup have more Test caps than his 47, but also a senior member of the leadership group governed by Smith and Warner.

While this Australian side is by no means the finished article, they have made significant strides over the first Test of the summer to suggest that the old swagger isn’t far away, on their own turf anyhow.

Tag: Kane Williamson

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