Shamarh Brooks
At 31 years old, Shamarh Brooks is playing in just his second Test, but he will not allow that late start to create anxiety that could mean he performs at less than his best for the West Indies.
Playing against Afghanistan in a one-off Test in Lucknow, India, Brooks’ 111 helped the West Indies to a dominant position on just the second day of the contest.
The batsman’s debut century, in conjunction with Rahkeem Cornwall’s 7-75 and 3-41 meant Afghanistan ended day two 19 runs ahead of the West Indies first-innings total with just three wickets remaining.
Afghanistan had first been skittled out for 187 and are now 109 for 7, after Brooks, John Campbell (55), and Shane Dowrich (44), helped them to 277 all out.
Brooks’ success though, has been a long time in coming. As a teenager, the right-handed batsman, made two under-19 World Cup squads, even captaining the West Indies youth side in 2008.
But Brooks’ promise never translated into the senior ranks as smoothly as was expected.
Brooks, having scored just one 50 for Barbados between 2007 and 2012, was dropped and went missing until he smashed 124 against the Windward Islands on his return in 2015.
He would score two more centuries that year and returned to the reckoning for a spot in the West Indies senior side.
He would play for Board Present’s XIs and finally made a West Indies ‘A’ outfit last year.
Brooks would repay the faith the West Indies had put in him as captain of the ‘A’ side with 91 and 122 not out against India ‘A’ during a tour of England and two half-centuries against them in 2019.
Those innings earned Brooks a call to the squad to face India in the West Indies but his scores of four and seven were not flattering.
Still, Cricket West Indies stuck with him for a second Test and he has delivered.
The long-time away from the international team, Brooks hints, never daunted him and he never felt his dream of playing for the West Indies was at an end.
“I guess it's just hard work and keep performing, and you never know when you get a look-in,” said Brooks.
The batsman has also learned how to approach different oppositions, saying Afghanistan posed a very particular challenge.
“The idea was to keep Rashid out as much as possible, and keep picking it off,” he said.
The result, his first Test century and he is a happy man.
"Always a good thing to get a Test century in my career. I just raised my hand for the team today,” he said.
Raising your hand, according to Brooks meant carrying on from the good work he did on day one when he helped the West Indies make a mini-recovery by stumps to end on 68-2.
Today, was much harder, but for Brooks, the plan was simple.
“I thought today was much harder than yesterday. The idea was to keep Rashid [Khan] out as much as possible, and keep picking it off,” he said.
The result might look like a foregone conclusion at the moment but there were times on day two when one couldn’t be sure.
“Once they were 50 for no loss, we thought we had to hang in there and get one wicket and you never know,” said Brooks of Afghanistan’s faltering second innings.
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Kohli example will bring Windies success - Roddy Estwick
Ahead of a massive One Day International test against India, West Indies assistant coach, Roddy Estwick, is an optimistic man.
The West Indies beat Afghanistan 3-0 in their last ODI series, but in truth, the Caribbean side have faced very lean times whenever they have played the 50-over game.
Despite winning just nine of the last 25 ODIs they have played in 2019, assistant coach, Roddy Estwick believes there are signs the West Indies are ready to make things interesting.
Estwick was speaking ahead of the start of the ODI series against India, saying the West Indies have shown they have the quality to challenge top sides and have combined that with the work ethic to make it stick.
“It’s exciting times for us. When you look at somebody like (Shimron) Hetmyer, (Nicholas) Pooran, Shai Hope – we’ve got young batsmen who are developing,” he said during a press conference, pointing to the talent in the West Indies middle order.
“But the key thing is how you prepare, if you’re prepared to work hard and you’ve got a benchmark in Virat Kohli – somebody who you will see in the gym and will work very, very hard, and once our players can learn from players like that, then we’ve got a chance because without hard work there’s no success, and hard work is boring but it gives you great success,” said Estwick.
“Once they can learn and keep working, keep dealing with the process, then they’ve got a chance.”
Estwick also pointed out that there must be some patience when thinking about those young players and the way they have been performing recently.
Taylor counting on Black Caps' fighting spirit against dominant Australia
Ross Taylor accepts Australia are in a dominant position after three days of the first Test, yet the New Zealand captain is hoping the Black Caps' spirit can save them in Perth.
Eleven wickets fell on day three as Australia - 167-6 at stumps in their second innings - took a 417-run lead to establish firm control of the day-night encounter.
The Black Caps began the day on 109-5, with Taylor unbeaten on 66, but they were all out for 166 before lunch.
Australia were then 131-1 second time around, but Tim Southee (4-63) and Neil Wagner (2-40) helped stage a fightback to leave the home side six wickets down, and Taylor believes New Zealand will take heart from their display in the final session.
"There's still a long way to go in this Test match, but I thought the fight that we showed as a team, especially in that last session, bodes well for the rest of the series," Taylor told reporters.
"We're a long way behind the game at the moment, but if we can show the fight that we've shown in the last series, I think it will give the team a lot of confidence coming over here."
Taylor went on to add: "Any time you're going to chase 350, 400 on a wearing wicket, it's going to be tough.
"But at the same time we'll see what Australia do tomorrow and hopefully we can take that [declaration] out of their hands and wrap it up.
"Throughout the last few years, the strength of this side is the fighting spirit. Regardless of what happens, we want to fight and fight right to the end.
"It's a strange game, cricket, and the way Australia bowled at us in the first innings - they bowled fantastically well. But it's a time for us to step up as a batting unit and show what we can do. Not only showing what we can do but getting our confidence up as well."
When New Zealand bat again, they will do so knowing Australia are a bowler light after it was confirmed Josh Hazlewood will not bowl for the remainder of the Test due to a hamstring injury.
That did not seem to bother Australia first time around, though, and opener Joe Burns is keen for the hosts not to give their opponents a chance of a recovery on day four.
"Good position to be in," Burns said. "Obviously it's still going to be tough, being a bowler down, but we're really happy with where we're at.
"A little bit disappointing to lose a few wickets tonight but in the grand scheme of the game, we're in a good position, in control of the game. Come out tomorrow, start well and keep driving it home."
Smith appoints Boucher but his own long-term future is unclear
Graeme Smith is not looking beyond his initial three-month tenure as South Africa team director after appointing Mark Boucher as Proteas head coach.
Smith wasted no time in getting to work in his temporary role, unveiling Boucher on Saturday and naming Enoch Nkwe - who had been interim team director - as his former team-mate's assistant.
Ex-South Africa captain Smith this week agreed to take his new role on a short-term basis due to Indian Premier League media commitments.
The 38-year-old says announcing a Test squad to face England rather than considering his long-term future was the priority.
"We will be announcing both the Proteas Test squad and the South Africa A squad to play England on Monday," Smith said.
"The Test squad will then go into immediate camp to prepare for the Test series and some of them will be included in the South Africa A team.
"Aiden Markram is likely to be the only player released for franchise duty in the four-day series as he is in need of match practice after his lengthy injury-enforced absence.
"As far as my vision for the future is concerned, we need to rewind to performance excellence and that will be the focus going forward. Our public want and demand a world-class Proteas side and we must deliver on that.
"As far as my own future is concerned, I face a very busy and at times hectic three months and I am not going to look further ahead than that. I am sure everybody will understand that.
"Because of the time frame the Proteas Test squad is my most immediate concern and we will be rolling out plans for the Proteas Women and the under-19s, who both face important ICC global events next year, in the immediate future."
It was also confirmed on Saturday that Linda Zondi resumes as convener of the national selection panel, while unsurprisingly Faf du Plessis remains Test captain ahead of a four-match series with England on home soil.
Meanwhile, ex-Proteas batsman Ashwell Prince will take charge of South Africa A for the upcoming tour match against England.
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