Jangoo silences selectors as one Test down, one wounded animal to go

In my younger days, when someone achieved a monumental milestone, the phrase of choice was always, “Give Jack his jacket.” Nowadays, I am told the younger generation prefers to “give them their flowers.” Well, go ahead and empty the entire flower shop.

We owe a massive bouquet of congratulations to the West Indies team, Amir Jangoo, Kemar Roach, Roston Chase, and yes, even to King Sammy himself. What an absolutely magnificent victory! It felt like an actual eternity since the fans last witnessed the West Indies comprehensively win a Test match.

Perhaps the team simply wanted to pierce through the roaring euphoria of the 2026 FIFA World Cup to remind Caribbean fans that world-class Test cricket is alive and well on home soil—and that the regional team is currently locked in battle with a plucky, unpredictable, and highly dangerous Sri Lankan side.

The second Test bowls off tomorrow (Friday). I am tapping into my inner Aretha Franklin and silently humming “Say a Little Prayer” for the maroon caps. Complacency is the eternal enemy here. Winning this series is paramount for team morale, World Test Championship standing, and the general sanity of West Indian cricket fans. Make no mistake, Sri Lanka will return with all guns blazing—I just don’t think they have quite enough ammunition left in those guns to upset the West Indies’ momentum.

Let’s relive the first Test. Dismissing Sri Lanka for 308 in their first innings was a solid result, though letting them slip from a precarious 110 for 5 to past the 300 mark wasn’t exactly what the doctor ordered. A target under 250 was firmly on the cards, but the target of 308 meant the West Indies batting line-up had to put on their big-boy pants and play proper, disciplined Test cricket. With Shai Hope absent, someone needed to stand up and answer the call. And did they answer that call! Instead of just standing up, two men grabbed fire brigade ladders and climbed straight to the heavens.

Remember the name—and no, it’s not Carlos Brathwaite. Jangoo didn’t just play an innings; he systematically dismantled the Sri Lankan bowling attack to all parts of the North Sound Ground in Antigua. He hammered a masterful 233 runs off 373 balls, highlighted by 19 fours and three sixes. It was a clinic in courage, application, attitude, and sheer unadulterated determination. It was an innings that practically shouted at sole selector King Sammy, “Look what you’ve been missing!” The late, great comedian Sprangalang would have looked at that scoreboard, turned to the sole selector, and said, “Take dat in yuh pueffen!”

I deeply admire Jangoo’s fortitude because he has essentially been the forgotten man in King Sammy’s grand designs (Lord knows how much ink I have personally spilled campaigning for him and Joshua Da Silva). The crowning irony? If Hope had been fit, Jangoo would have spent the match playing the role of a highly overqualified water boy, yet again! Consider the statistical crime of King Sammy playing Kavem Hodge ahead of Jangoo based on the recently concluded Four-Day regional tournament.

Let me remind all that during the regional tournament, Hodge scored 154 runs from six innings, averaging 25.66; whereas Jangoo scored 411 runs from seven innings, averaging 68.50. Surely, if Hope was fit enough, he would have batted at number three and Hodge would have been carrying drinks. If, as they say, the selections are truly based on merit, Jangoo’s name should have been the first batsman on the list, written in permanent marker.

The pressure on the young man must have been suffocating; he knew a single failure meant kissing the second Test goodbye (and perhaps his Test career as well, while King Sammy is at the helm). I have been clamouring for him to be given more opportunities, but I hope this knock will give him an extended run in the team, especially so he can test himself when the better opposition comes knocking at West Indies door. I caught a snippet of King Sammy’s post-match interview where he casually mentioned he was away, and Floyd Reifer had to call him from camp to report how good Jangoo looked. I can only hope it was just a rumour that if Hope were fit, Jangoo would not have played.

One more time, congratulations Jangoo! Don’t change your style for anything and continue to do the right things that got you a double hundred. Fun fact: Jangoo is the first player in cricket history to record three double-hundreds for his first three centuries. Every single time he hits a ton, he refuses to stop walking. Hopefully, this spectacular knock teaches him that when he takes his time to settle, he is utterly unbowlable.

What can we possibly say about the ageless Kemar Roach? It was on June 23, 2025 (exactly one year before the first Sri Lankan Test) that Prince Miles Bascombe announced to the world that the veteran pacer was no longer in the West Indies’ future plans, brutally dropping him from the 16-man squad to face Australia. At the time, Roach sat on 284 wickets from 85 Tests. Bascombe said he and head coach King Sammy had spoken with Roach about their plans to move forward without him. Imagine the sting of that dagger in the back.

But Roach does not know how to quietly step aside and be discarded like an old tuffy bag. Instead of sulking, he went back to the drawing board, added a lethal array of variety to his bowling armoury, and fought his way back. He has now officially joined Courtney Walsh, Sir Curtly Ambrose, Malcolm Marshall, and the legendary Lance Gibbs as one of only five West Indian bowlers to shatter the 300 Test wicket barrier. His next target is Gibbs at 305. Congrats, Kemar—only you get to decide when it’s time to say goodbye.

I must formally offer an apology to skipper Chase. Left entirely up to me, Chase would have been reading about this Test match in the morning papers or watching it from the comfort of his sofa. I have always maintained that he is an incredibly intelligent cricketer who beautifully compensates for any lack of raw ability with pure brainpower—but his performances over the past year have been disastrous.

Fortunately for the West Indies, he is firmly established as one of King Sammy’s favoured inner circle, and he repaid that faith beautifully with stellar batting and astute on-field leadership. I am genuinely hoping he has crossed a major psychological hurdle and can maintain this consistency across all formats moving forward. Well done, skipper!

Finally, King Sammy has won his first test match (after becoming the all-format coach in April 2025) by accidentally stumbling into picking the absolute best team available to him. Let’s hope this opens his mind moving forward, given that he currently acts as the sole judge, jury, and executioner of West Indies selection. While Joshua Da Silva let himself down with the bat and gloves this time around, I remain entirely confident that, given an extended run and proper encouragement, he will join the ranks of Jangoo, Roach, and Chase in proving everyone wrong and coming good.

Congratulations once again to the West Indies team! Do not let your guard down for the second Test; Sri Lanka is a wounded animal, and wounded animals bite hard.

Next week, we will take a dive into the World Cup, which is interesting so far, isn’t it? Until then, keep the drinks cold, keep the prayers loud, and hopefully, the West Indies will bring home the series!

Editor’s note: The views expressed in the preceding article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views of any organisation in which he is a stakeholder.