Brathwaite says Windies climb in rankings is the start of good things to come

By May 14, 2021

West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite was a happy man on Thursday upon hearing the news that his team is now sixth on the ICC Test rankings, up from eighth following improved performances against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in recent months.

West Indies’ 84 points see them move ahead of South Africa (80) and Sri Lanka (74) in the Test rankings. India leads the rankings with 121 while New Zealand is second on 120. England (109), Australia (108) and Pakistan (94) are third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

Brathwaite was encouraged by the news.

“I’m very proud of the team to jump two places in the Test rankings. I think this is just the beginning of good things to come,” he said.

“As a group, it shows that we can climb up the ladder and it’s just important for us to work hard and keep the belief and attitude to doing things right – in the preparation and the execution on the field. Once we continue to do the small things right and have the right attitude … because Test cricket is never easy… the sky is the limit.”

The West Indies growth and progress is the result of the memorable 2-0 win away to Bangladesh and the hard-fought 0-0 draw in the Sandals Test Series at home against Sri Lanka. It signals an overall rise for the team – last month it was announced they moved up one spot in the ICC One-Day International (ODI) rankings – following the 3-0 clean sweep over Sri Lanka in the CG Insurance ODI Series.

Jimmy Adams, CWI’s Director of Cricket praised the players and the support staff on the accomplishment.

“I am pleased to see the improvement from eighth to sixth in our Test ranking. This comes on the back of good cricket played earlier in the year against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka,” Adams said.

“Firstly, we should recognize the efforts of the players and support staff on the ground who have delivered results under pressure and secondly to the large number of people working tirelessly in the background to support them in the face of multiple challenges. We continue to work hard towards our strategic goal of top 3 rankings across all formats.”

There was more good news as the ICC MRF Tyres player rankings also revealed that former captain Jason Holder remains the number-one Test all-rounder and is also the West Indies’ highest-ranked Test bowler at Number 8. Kemar Roach is the next highest at Number 12.

The West Indies will soon have an opportunity to pick up more valuable ranking points when they host South Africa in June before taking on fifth-ranked Pakistan in a Test Series due to played in August 2021 as part of the next cycle of the ICC World Test Championship.

 

 

Leighton Levy

Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.

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