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.
Paul-Andre is the Managing Editor at SportsMax.tv. He comes to the role with almost 20 years of experience as journalist. That experience includes all facets of media. He began as a sports Journalist in 2001, quickly moving into radio, where he was an editor before becoming a news editor and then an entertainment editor with one of the biggest media houses in the Caribbean.
Naseem Shah can be a force for Pakistan - Waqar Younis
Naseem Shah can be a force for Pakistan and trouble batsmen around the world, according to bowling coach Waqar Younis.
The teenager made his Test debut at the age of 16 in last year's series with Australia and bowled faster than Jofra Archer in the first match against England last week.
Naseem took the wicket of Ollie Pope in the first innings and England captain Joe Root in the second innings, though his efforts could not prevent from Pakistan from suffering a three-wicket defeat.
He will attempt to play an instrumental role in the second Test at the Rose Bowl, which starts on Thursday.
And Waqar, whose 373 Test wickets put him second on the all-time list for Pakistan behind Wasim Akram, believes improving his fitness to bowl longer spells is key to Naseem realising his potential.
"He's very talented and he's only 17 years of age, he's still growing but what a talent he is," Waqar told a media conference.
"I don't think he really bowled as well as expected in the previous game, but he can really bowl well, he can really take the opposition on at times.
"He's one for the future, he's going to get stronger and hopefully get fitter and be able to bowl longer spells and will cause trouble to batsmen around the world."
Asked if Naseem can go on to join him and Akram in the ranks of the Pakistan greats, Waqar replied: "He's young, he's really talented, he's got a very good action, all he needs to do is probably get stronger and fitter.
"Once he gets fitter and bowls more overs, he will definitely be a force for Pakistan in the next coming few years.
"When you talk about becoming a great it's very, very difficult to be sure about anyone.
"Pakistan has over the years produced some really, really quality fast bowlers in the last two and a half/three decades I know.
"If he keeps himself fit and strong and keeps bowling, I'm sure he's got the potential of becoming a very good bowler."
Root: Pakistan first Test key in England's progress towards number one in the world
Joe Root believes England's first Test win over Pakistan was exactly the sort of victory they need to build on if they have serious designs on becoming the world's best team.
England had their backs against the wall for much of last week at Old Trafford but made a remarkable recovery to win the series opener after Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler led a successful 277-run chase.
Root's side are now preparing for the second match against Pakistan at Southampton, where they can clinch the series and the captain can claim a seventh Test win in succession.
Yet Root did not feel he performed his duties particularly effectively in Manchester, although the match moved the team in the right direction.
"I didn't think I had a very good game last week, to be honest," he told reporters. "I made a few errors, tactical errors, but that can happen from time to time.
"You're not always going to get it right. I think most importantly, it's very clear for the guys how we're looking to play.
"Those messages are consistent and we're seeing improvement week in, week out. That's a really promising sign for the group, and long may that continue.
"Most importantly, we're looking forward, it's not about me, it's not about how many games we win with me as captain, it's about us getting consistently better over a long period of time, looking towards being the number one side in the world.
"If we can maintain that attitude collectively, winning obviously breeds confidence all the time. And people putting in performances like Jos and Wizz [Woakes] did on that final day will breed confidence in the rest of the guys, too.
"The other players, young batters in the team, looking at those two getting the job done, will think, 'I want that to be me next time, I want to be the one stood there at the end having won the game when the heat was on'.
"The more and more we can keep performing like that and keep winning, the quicker I think our development as a side will move forward."
Pakistan look to cash in on 'huge loss' of Ben Stokes from England series
Pakistan will look to capitalise on the "huge loss" of Ben Stokes from the England side by taking advantage of a lighter middle order, says bowling coach Waqar Younis.
Stokes withdrew from the rest of the series, which England lead 1-0 after a three-wicket win at Old Trafford, to travel to New Zealand for family reasons.
The world's top Test all-rounder had initially been limited to the role of specialist batsman for the first Test because of a thigh injury but came on to bowl in the second innings to help England dismiss the tourists for 169 with the wickets of Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi.
England improbably chased down 277 to win, though Stokes was not a major factor in that pursuit as he followed a first-innings duck with nine in the second innings.
However, captain Joe Root is under no illusion as to the impact of his absence, telling a media conference: "It's a huge loss for us. For a long period of time, he's been arguably our best player.
"He offers so much in all departments. He's a big leader within the group - vice-captain, as well - and, of course, we'll miss him dearly.
"We're all thinking about him. But it's an opportunity for someone to come in and try to fill those boots.
"That's always exciting for someone to take on that challenge. Whoever gets that responsibility has to try to step up to the plate and trust in their own game to help us hopefully get two up in the series."
Waqar does not necessarily see Stokes' exit from the series as a boost to the tourists given their bowling performance against him.
But with Zak Crawley expected to come into the side, he does see potential for Pakistan to have greater success against England's middle order.
"He's [Stokes] the kind of batsman that takes the game away from you single-handedly at times," said Waqar.
"I wouldn't say it's a boost because of the way we bowled at him in the previous game. I thought we had very clear plans and I think we executed really well.
"Yes he's not around, it's unfortunate for cricket but there's no doubt he's a match-winner. If he's not around, England will probably be a touch light when you talk about the middle order. We're going to talk about it and try to cash in."
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