THOUGH the opposition teams in their last four Test matches are lowly ranked, it can be argued that results by West Indies are encouraging from a statistical perspective.

Under the captaincy of opening batsman Kraigg Brathwaite, West Indies beat Bangladesh 2-0 away in February and battled 0-0 against Sri Lanka in the just concluded series in the Caribbean, or to be more precise, in Antigua on flat pitches at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

It is the first instance since 2012-13 that West Indies have played three or more consecutive Tests without a defeat. As my old school cricket teammate, Trevor Eastmond, later to become a well-known comedian, would say, “clap for that”.

But this is no joke. The statistics tell us that West Indies have been struggling for a very long time to dominate teams.

Coincidentally, it was against Bangladesh in November 2012 when they won 2-0 and then enjoyed similar success over Zimbabwe (for the Clive Lloyd Trophy) in March 2013 in the Caribbean – Daren Sammy was the captain for both series – that West Indies had last played three or more successive Tests without losing.

Since beating Zimbabwe eight years ago, West Indies have played 26 series, winning only six, while losing 17 with three drawn.

Of 64 matches in the period under review, West Indies have won 17, lost 37 and drawn ten.

The triumphant series were against Bangladesh (three times; all 2-0) – 2014, 2018 and 2021; Zimbabwe (1-0), 2017; England (2-1), 2019 and Afghanistan (1-0), 2019. (See list at the bottom).

Of the top ten teams in the ICC Test rankings, India lead the way followed by New Zealand, Australia, England, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

Now, the likes of lead selector Roger Harper and head coach Philip Simmons have talked about the spirit and determination exhibited by the West Indies team during the last two series.

No one can blame them for feeling upbeat but they know that much tougher examinations are expected this year at home against South Africa and Pakistan.

In the absence of some leading players for the tour to Bangladesh as they cited concerns over the Covid-19 pandemic, a few rookies performed impressively, namely batsman Nkrumah Bonner, all-rounder Kyle Mayers, wicket-keeper/batsman Joshua Da Silva and off-spinning all-rounder Rahkeem Cornwall.

“I think the dressing room is exciting. There’s an energy around the dressing room,” Simmons said.

“I think winning the two Test matches in Bangladesh brings that kind of energy, and there’s a lot of young players who have just come into the team who bring that type of energy too, whether it’s in their batting, their keeping, in their bowling.

“Whichever it is, they bring that energy and it’s a nice feeling in the dressing room in a nice way. Players are looking after one another and want each other to succeed.

“So the energy in the dressing room is great but it can always get better. We keep working on improving it and making sure that it keeps getting better.”

Against Sri Lanka, Brathwaite batted in typically obdurate style, amassing the most runs for his team (237) including one century at an average of 59.25.

His 126 in the first innings of the second match was his first century in 38 Test innings and ninth all told. He batted for 514 minutes and with a knock of 85 in the second innings lasting 299 minutes, he now holds the record in terms of minutes (813) for the longest time at the crease in a match for West Indies.

Five West Indies batsmen averaged over 50.00. Apart from Brathwaite, Bonner scored 144 runs (ave: 72.00); former captain Jason Holder 138 (ave: 69.00); Cornwall 134 (ave: 67.00) and Mayers 201 (ave: 50.25).

Next in the averages was Da Silva (33.50), having scored 67 runs.

There were two disappointments in opener John Campbell and vice-captain Jermaine Blackwood. Campbell scored 68 runs (ave: 17.00) and Blackwood 42 (ave: 10.50).

Veteran fast bowler Kemar Roach was the top West Indies wicket-taker with nine (ave: 23.55), while Holder picked up seven (ave: 18.57).

Medium-pacer Mayers took four wickets at 11.25 runs each to head the averages. Pacer Alzarri Joseph got four (ave: 53.00) and off-spinner Cornwall, also four (ave: 60.00).

Experienced fast bowler Shannon Gabriel struggled and managed just one wicket for 146 runs.

Following are the results of the Test series played by West Indies since 2013-14: + denotes won, * lost, # drawn.

*2013-14 v India in India (won 0, lost 2, drawn 0).

*2013-14 v New Zealand in New Zealand (won 0, lost 2, drawn 1).

*2014 v New Zealand in West Indies (won 1, lost 2, drawn 0).(Extracted from Barbados Today)

+2014 v Bangladesh in West Indies (won 2, lost 0, drawn 0).

*2014-15 v South Africa in South Africa (won 0, lost 2, drawn 1).

#2015 v England in West Indies (won 1, lost 1, drawn 1).

*2015 v Australia in West Indies (won 0, lost 2, drawn 0).

*2015-16 v Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka (won 0, lost 2, drawn 0).

*2015-16 v Australia in Australia (won 0, lost 2, drawn 1).

*2016 v India in West Indies (won 0, lost 2, drawn 2).

*2016 v Pakistan in UAE (won 1, lost 2, drawn 0).

*2017 v Pakistan in West Indies (won 1, lost 2, drawn 0).

*2017 v England in England (won 1, lost 2, drawn 0).

+2017 v Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe (won 1, lost 0, drawn 1).

*2017-18 v New Zealand in New Zealand (won 0, lost 2, drawn 0).

#2018 v Sri Lanka in West Indies (won 1, lost 1, drawn 1).

+2018 v Bangladesh in West Indies (won 2, lost 0, drawn 0).

*2018-19 v India in India (won 0, lost 2, drawn 0).

*2018-19 v Bangladesh in Bangladesh (won 0, lost 2, drawn 0).

+2019 v England in West Indies (won 2, lost 1, drawn 0).

*2019 v India in West Indies (won 0, lost 2, drawn 0).

+2019-20 v Afghanistan in India (won 1, lost 0, drawn 0).

*2020 v England in England (won 1, lost 2, drawn 0).

*2020-21 v New Zealand in New Zealand (won 0, lost 2, drawn 0).

+2021 v Bangladesh in Bangladesh (won 2, lost 0, drawn 0).

#2021 v Sri Lanka in West Indies (won 0, lost 0, drawn 2).