The Basement Battle Preview: NZ in the Windies

A little trivia: how many times have New Zealand visited the West Indies for a full tour since 1985? Two. They've played a grand total of four test matches over those visits in 1996 and 2002.

This promises to be an interesting little series in an otherwise overstuffed calendar, because the two teams rarely play each other and appear to be on equal footing. Each would fancy its chances of a rare series triumph. From NZ's point of view, the test series is a must-win; not only to move up the rankings, but to earn some respect in the cricketing world. When the seventh-ranked West Indies finally decides to host you after ten years for just two tests, you know you're not being taken too seriously.

However, NZ are going into this series on the back of very little preparation, while their opponents will no doubt be hardened by their recent series against Australia and England. Superficially, the sides are similar; both are characterised by calm leadership, flimsy top-order batting, decent pace-bowling stocks and an inability to finish opponents off. But the Windies have the edge in a couple of areas. 


One, they boast some real depth in the spin department - and these days, conditions in the Caribbean tend towards the subcontinental. If Sunil Naraine should fail to live up to the hype, there's Devendra Bishoo, Shane Shillingford and even Suleiman Benn waiting in the wings. NZ's answer, Daniel Vettori, hasn't been much of an attacking threat in test cricket for a while now, and Tarun Nethula has only played a handful of international games. Also, NZ's best player of slow bowling, Jesse Ryder, is not in the tour party.

Two, the presence of the top-ranked batsman in the world, Chanderpaul, could well prove to be the difference between the sides. On recent evidence, no one on either side looks capable of matching the weight of Shiv C's runs (Kane Williamson or Marlon samuels maybe?), particularly in these conditions. Again, the closest NZ batsman to Chanderpaul's style is Vettori, and his stats don't really compare to Chanders'. The ex-NZ-captain may be past his prime, but this just shows you how dependent the side is on him still.

If these two factors mean NZ's task is far from easy, a third one probably ensures West Indies go into each format as favourites. Chris Gayle is back in the national side for all forms of the game (supposedly), and he does have a history of dining out on kiwi bowling; he averages something like 70 against NZ in tests. 

This is John Wright's last assignment with the national side, so here's hoping he gets a good send-off. The tour kicks off with the two T20s on lifeless Florida pitches, and it'll be interesting to see what the crowd numbers are like. As for the tests, even if the standard of cricket isn't likely to rival that of the upcoming England-South Africa series, the contest could be very watchable so it's a real shame the organisers didn't include a third test.