BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – One of Test cricket’s greatest ever captains, Sir Clive Lloyd, has described West Indies’ victory over Bangladesh in Chattogram last week as one of Test cricket’s greatest ever results.
A weakened XI, featuring three debutants after several first choice players opting out of the two-match tour, stunned Bangladesh by three wickets on the final day after chasing down an improbable 395 for victory.
The win was all the more sensational after Kyle Mayers slammed an unbeaten 210 in a record 216-run fourth wicket partnership with fellow debutant, Nkrumah Bonner (86), to underline the run chase.
“This was excellent. The point is the way the guys played, I think it’s perhaps one of the best games ever,” Sir Clive said in the wake of the historic win.
“When you look at it, we lost 10 players [for both the Test and one-day series]. We have five million people from all walks of life so we’re really choosing from a very small cadre of cricketers.
“And a guy who’s never played a Test match, can bat like that. He didn’t make fifty, he didn’t make a hundred, he didn’t make 150, he made a double hundred and still batting. This is something that we must be very proud of.
“People must realise that whenever West Indies lose, we lose too. What we [legends] have done in the past, is the past. We want these guys now to take up the mantle. We’ve passed the baton on to you.”
Mayers, 28, began the final day on 37 and batted all three sessions, en route to becoming only the second West Indies batsman and the sixth in history to hit a double hundred on debut.
His innings was monumental, lasting 310 balls in just under seven hours and including 20 fours and seven sixes.
Sir Clive, under whom West Indies became the juggernaut of the late 1970s and early 1980s, praised both Mayers and Bonner for the manner in which they approached their innings.
“[Mayers] is a good striker of the ball and I hope he will be able to put things together,” Sir Clive told Starcom Radio’s Mason and Guest.
“It’s obvious he’s worked very hard at his game and now that he’s done what he’s done, it’s up to himself, the coach and the other players to carry on what they’ve done. They can’t lose the series.
“I like the way the guy Bonners plays. He wears the bowlers down, he doesn’t give his wicket away. Cricket examines every part of your game and they came through. They batted intelligently, professionally, they were very skillful, they showed character.”
He added: “I know that a lot of people didn’t give them a chance. Everybody said Bangladesh were going to beat us; nobody gave us a price and I’m so glad it looks like we’re now getting the making of a good side.
“With the injection of a couple of players, I think we can be on the rise.”
Of the 10 players that declined selection for the tour, five represented the core of the Test side’s batting, with the likes of Test captain Jason Holder, Roston Chase, Shamarh Brooks, Darren Bravo and Shimron Hetmyer all opting not to travel due to COVID-19 concerns.
And with the inexperienced players having performed outstandingly, Sir Clive said it was now critical to keep the group together so the talent could be properly developed.
“We’ve now got to harness the talent that we have there. We have to make sure that these guys stay together, that they don’t want to be running off to other places,” he warned.
“I’m sure we would like every cricketer to do well monetarily but we have to harness this talent and we must find sponsors to keep these guys together, get them to sign contracts so that the captain will know, from tour to tour, what side he has and how he can work with them and lead them properly.”
