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Did you know?<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/7858/kraigg-brathwaite/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">&nbsp;Kraigg Brathwaite&nbsp;</a>averages 73.88 in Test cricket this year. Brathwaite (665) has scored nearly twice as much as the second-best West Indies batter this calendar year, Jermaine Blackwood (349).Did you also know? This is the same Kraigg Brathwaite that, about 20 months ago, was statistically the worst opening batter in the world, that too by some distance.Chances are that you probably don&rsquo;t remember Brathwaite&rsquo;s lean run. It&#39;s natural to forget things in sport due to the content overload we&#39;ve all been exposed to, so in your mind, Brathwaite probably has always been that guy who&rsquo;s been a rock for West Indies in the longest format.But for two years, he was bad. Really, really bad.Between October 4, 2018, and February 2, 2021, a total of 17 opening batters played 8 or more Tests. In terms of averages, Brathwaite was 17th in the list: he averaged 16.00, amassing 464 runs from 30 innings. THIRTY INNINGS.Here&rsquo;s how bad Brathwaite was! During this period: the 16th batter in the list, Imam-ul-Haq, averaged 7 more than him. Essentially, when it came to hopeless openers (strictly statistically), there was Brathwaite, daylight, some more daylight, and then the likes of Imam, Marcus Harris and Jeet Raval.&nbsp;<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1670224017545-articleimg" style="width: 800px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil">It was some fall from grace because in the 37 Tests that preceded this wretched run of form, Brathwaite had averaged 41.10 and had struck seven hundreds. The aforementioned 37-Test stretch featured a 212 in Kingston vs Bangladesh, a 106 away in South Africa, a 94 and 85 in Hobart and Sydney, respectively, a 142* in Sharjah and a 134 and 95 in Leeds.&nbsp;He was genuinely considered one of the best opening bats in the world. His CV was glittering.Then came the downfall, quite really out of nowhere, that began in Rajkot against India. Forget being the worst opener in the world; he was the worst batter in the West Indian side. That was damning because the Windies, in the said period, had as many as four batters (excluding Brathwaite) who averaged under 20. None of them were as bad as him.Three failures became five. Five became ten. Ten became fifteen. Fifteen became twenty-five.&nbsp;It came to a point where you almost had to resign to the fact that the rut was never going to end. That Brathwaite was close to being &lsquo;done&rsquo;, though he was still in his 20s.&nbsp;Phew! Those were some really silly thoughts, weren&rsquo;t they?Because here he is, 18 months on, back to the top. Batting as well as he ever has.&nbsp;Here he is, casually proving the &lsquo;form is temporary, class is permanent&rsquo; clich&eacute; to be true.&nbsp;Craig with a K and an extra &lsquo;g&rsquo; proving that &#39;Klass&#39; is indeed permanent.&nbsp;***How being handed captaincy has coincided with Brathwaite&rsquo;s resurgence<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1670224146898-articleimg" style="width: 800px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil">After averaging 16.00 across 15 Tests and 30 innings, the last thing Brathwaite would have imagined is him becoming the permanent captain of the Test side just months down the line.But fate did its thing and voila, by March 2021, Brathwaite was indeed West Indies&rsquo; permanent Test captain.A bunch of senior players, including incumbent skipper<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/10232/jason-holder/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">&nbsp;Jason Holder</a>, withdrawing from the tour of Bangladesh due to personal reasons meant that Brathwaite got the opportunity to lead an inexperienced side away in the sub-continent. He was appointed stand-in skipper by CWI, not necessarily because of his leadership qualities. Maybe it played a part too, but Brathwaite was a straightforward choice due to his experience.&nbsp;Two historic wins and a 2-0 whitewash later, the selectors were so impressed with Brathwaite&rsquo;s captaincy that they decided to instantly appoint him full-time skipper, giving the sack to Holder.&quot;Bangladesh really opened our eyes to a number of things. What we saw was a team playing with passion, playing with determination, rallying around each other, great teamwork, and showing a great desire to succeed. Kraigg played a major part in that,&rdquo; West Indies&#39; then lead selector Roger Harper said, explaining the decision to appoint Brathwaite the skipper.The second part of Harper&rsquo;s statement is what, in hindsight, has proven to be prophetic.&nbsp;&quot;We also saw Kraigg&#39;s batting returning to the sort of form that we expect and look forward to. He handled the responsibility very well, and I expect big scores to come from Kraigg in the very near future. [In] areas where we thought there was a need for improvement, we saw exactly the sort of effort and spirit and the birth of a culture that we would really like to see go forward and develop and be instilled. &quot;Coincidentally or otherwise, Brathwaite&rsquo;s resurgence with the bat has directly coincided with him being appointed skipper.Since being appointed full-time captain, Brathwaite has averaged 47.64, striking three tons in 14 Tests. In 28 innings, he&rsquo;s scored nearly thrice as much as what he managed in the wretched 2018-20 phase.<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1670224055952-articleimg" style="width: 800px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil">An intangible like being handed the responsibility of captaincy has the ability to lift an individual, but you don&rsquo;t go from averaging 16.00 to 47.00 just because of a title. The Bangladesh tour &mdash; in which he was stand-in captain &mdash; saw Brathwaite show glimpses of his best as he notched up scores of 76 and 47, and in the aftermath of that series, &nbsp;he explained how getting his balance in order made a world of difference to his batting.&quot;The more you&#39;re balanced, the better your shots, and that was something important for me,&quot; he said.&nbsp;&quot;I also went about planning even better in terms of how I want to go about my innings and topping up on power. But mainly getting my balance in order and backing yourself. You always have plans, and it&#39;s to really trust them, that was the key for me. Planning was very very important.&quot;Perth showing confirms Brathwaite is truly batting as well as he ever hasHeading into the Australia series, Brathwaite had averaged 70.14 from 5 Tests in 2022. His achievements in the calendar year included him batting 673 balls in Bridgetown against England &mdash; across innings &mdash; to score 216 runs and a match-winning 94 on a very challenging Gros Islet wicket against Bangladesh. In the last Test, he played in 2021, away in Sri Lanka, Brathwaite top-scored for West Indies with 72 on a typical Galle wicket.Point is: he was not entering the Australia tour having to &lsquo;prove&rsquo; something.But we all know how sport works. There are always questions. Endless ones. &nbsp;&lsquo;Could Messi do it on a cold rainy night in Stoke?&rsquo;Similarly, &lsquo;yeah, Brathwaite has been smashing it all year, but could he do it on bouncy Australian wickets against Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood&rsquo;?Turns out, he could.&nbsp;<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1670224197406-articleimg" style="width: 800px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil">At the Optus Stadium, Brathwaite amassed 174 across 2 innings, scoring an exquisite ton in the second dig to give his side hope of getting something out of the game.The wicket was largely batter-friendly &mdash; look no further than Australia scoring 780 runs for the loss of 6 wickets &mdash; but Brathwaite&rsquo;s efforts were still special for a variety of reasons.None more so than the fact that, once he strode out to bat, he was able to completely erase from his mind key factors like what unfolded on the field, the situation of the match (West Indies were fully under pressure) and so on.&nbsp;The 64 in the first innings arguably was tougher. In fact, most certainly, it was.Brathwaite had just seen his bowlers get pummeled for nearly 600, and he and his side had spent no less than 152.4 overs on the field. Australia declared right after tea, and lying ahead for the Windies was 25 overs of hell against a fully charged-up Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood.The conditions were still great for batting, but ask any batter who&rsquo;d spent 1.5 days fielding, watching the opposition batters smack the bowlers, and they&rsquo;ll tell you how easy it is to mentally check out. You simply get run over. Most of the time, you get daunted by the scorecard once you realize just how far behind you are in the contest.Brathwaite, though, was having none of it. It didn&rsquo;t matter to him that his side were 598 runs behind. It didn&rsquo;t matter to him that he was coming up against arguably the best pace attack in the entire world.He stayed true to his age-old method and ground the bowlers down. For Brathwaite, it was almost as if the first innings didn&rsquo;t exist.&nbsp;He batted 166 balls and it seemed that the only way he was going to get out was if the best bowler in the world bowled one of his best balls. That&rsquo;s exactly what happened.Part of the reason why the 64 in the first innings was better than the 110 in the second was, in the first dig, he also had to contend with the threat of Pat Cummins, something he didn&rsquo;t have to do the second time around. But take nothing away from the ton in the fourth innings, it was a masterclass in every way.&nbsp;<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1670224265955-articleimg" style="width: 800px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil">Brathwaite dexterously negotiated the threat of the Australian seamers, but the highlight of his knock(s), in many ways, was how he conquered his nemesis, Nathan Lyon.&nbsp;Heading into the Perth Test, Lyon had dismissed Brathwaite four times in 7 innings. The right-hander has a dismal average of 15.00 against Australia&rsquo;s lead spinner.However, at the Optus Stadium, one of Lyon&rsquo;s best venues, Brathwaite took the off-spinner apart, taking 67 runs off the 98 balls he faced against him. The Windies skipper was palpably aggressive against Lyon, primarily deploying sweeps and lofted hits, and struck 10 boundaries in total. Astonishingly, against Lyon, he batted with a control percentage of 94.9% in the entire Test.&nbsp;As it turned out, Lyon got his man on the final day, but it was anything but the &lsquo;last laugh&rsquo;. Brathwaite will head into Adelaide with a 2-0 lead over his nemesis.&nbsp;Brathwaite&rsquo;s efforts, unfortunately, were not enough for the Windies to salvage a draw, but the skipper, through his showing, showed the world that he is well and truly back to his best.&nbsp;The days when he was the worst opening batter in the world are long gone. Brathwaite is now back among the best.&nbsp;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

Two years ago, Brathwaite was statistically the worst opener in Test cricket. Since taking over as captain, his career has taken a remarkable turn for the better

Kraigg Brathwaite

West Indies tour of Australia, 2022

West Indies

The (jarring) fall and (extraordinary) rise of Kraigg Brathwaite

After recording a comprehensive 164-run win against West Indies at the Optus Stadium in Perth, Australian skipper <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/56964/pat-cummins/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Pat Cummins</a> said he was confident Sunday of being fit to play in the second Test starting December 8 at the Adelaide Oval.&nbsp;The pace spearhead has been nursing a mild thigh problem and did not bowl in the second innings of the game after Australia declared on 182 for the loss of two wickets.&nbsp;While he was on the field marshalling his troops, he did not bowl with <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/10053/mitchell-starc/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mitchell Starc</a> and <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/4255/josh-hazlewood/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Josh Hazlewood</a> shouldering the fast-bowling workload, along with six-wicket hero Nathan Lyon as Australia prevailed before tea on day five.There is a short turnaround for the day-night Adelaide Test, which starts on Thursday, but Cummins said he should be okay.&quot;It&#39;s just a small strain, normally a one-weeker (recovery), and if you bowl, you make it worse, but I&#39;ll spend the next few days rehabbing and think it&#39;s a pretty good chance I&#39;ll be good for Adelaide,&quot; he said.Australia play five Tests this summer, with three against South Africa after the West Indies, then a massive 2023 ahead, with Cummins also conscious that he has a lot of bowling to do.&quot;It&#39;s definitely part of the thought process the last few days. I don&#39;t really want to turn a one-weeker into a three or four-week injury and potentially miss the summer,&quot; he said.&quot;We&#39;ll weigh all that up, but I felt pretty comfortable out there. Even without Cummins, Australia were too good for the West Indies, with Lyon ending with 6-128 despite the wicket offering little for spinners.The skipper said he felt the team was improving in being able to close out Tests on day five after several failures to do so in recent years.&quot;I hope so, the last few instances, in Pakistan (this year) and here, I&#39;ve felt the whole squad has been really composed, not just the bowlers but the fielding group out there,&quot; he said.&quot;I just feel like we&#39;ve given ourselves the best chance. Feels like we&#39;ve got a really good method. It&#39;s not going to work every time but we&#39;re giving ourselves the best chance.&quot;(With inputs from AFP)Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

The right-arm pacer is struggling with a right quadricep injury and did not bowl in the second innings

Pat Cummins

Mitchell Starc

Nathan Lyon

Travis Head

Australia

Pat Cummins confident of being fit for Adelaide Test

LIVE: Australia vs West Indies, first Test, Day 5

Lyon six-fer floors Windies as Australia go 1-0 up: As it happened

Cricket West Indies (CWI) on Saturday confirmed that right-arm pacer <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/63152/marquino-mindley/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Marquino Mindley</a> will be flying to Australia as injury cover for the West Indies squad ahead of the second Test in Adelaide.The visitors were struck with injuries to key players during the ongoing first Test at Perth. All-rounder <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/58082/raymon-reifer/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Raymon Reifer</a> has been ruled out of the tour with a groin injury while <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/57792/kyle-mayers/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kyle Mayers</a> can no longer bowl in the series after suffering a strain to his right teres major. <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/11149/nkrumah-bonner/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Nkrumah Bonner</a> has been ruled out of further participation in the first Test Match due to concussion protocols after being struck on the helmet when batting in the first innings. <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/61799/shamarh-brooks/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Shamarh Brooks</a> replaced him as the concussion substitute.&nbsp;Mindley has so far played 42 first-class matches with 103 wickets at an average of 24.25 runs per wickets. His last first-class assignment was in August for the West Indies &ldquo;A&rdquo; Team against Bangladesh &ldquo;A&rdquo; in St. Lucia where he had impressive figures of 5-59.The 27-year old is likely to make his debut in second Test, which will be a day-night contest at the Adelaide Oval, beginning on December 8.In the first Test, Windies ended day four at 192/3 in chase of 498, after captain <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/7858/kraigg-brathwaite/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kraigg Brathwaite</a> scored an unbeaten 101 off 166 balls.Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

The 27-year old pacer is likely to make his debut in the second Test in place of concussed Nkrumah Bonner

Marquino Mindley

Nkrumah Bonner

Shamarh Brooks

Kyle Mayers

Windies call-up Marquinho Mindley as injury cover for second Test

Batting great <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/2394/ricky-ponting/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ricky Ponting</a> returned to the commentary booth on Saturday &quot;shiny and new&quot; after being taken to hospital with chest pains and dizziness during the first Test between Australia and the West Indies.The 47-year-old Australian suffered the scare on Friday around lunchtime and did not return to commentate on the last two sessions of the match in Perth.&quot;I probably scared a lot of people yesterday and had a little scary moment for myself, to be honest,&quot; Ponting, who played 168 Tests and 375 ODIs during a glittering career, said when he resumed broadcast duties on Saturday.&quot;I was sitting in the comms box halfway through the stint and got a couple of really short, sharp pains through my chest. I tried to stretch it out and get rid of it and probably didn&#39;t give too much away when I was on the air,&quot; he added.&quot;But I had a couple of those sort of incidents, got through the stint, got up, went to walk to the back of the commentary box and got a bit light-hearted and dizzy and grabbed the bench.&quot;Ponting mentioned his discomfort to close friend Justin Langer, who is sharing commentary duties with him, and the former Australian coach insisted he go to the hospital.&quot;I feel great this morning, I&#39;m all shiny and new,&quot; he said.&quot;But I think the bottom line is the fact I was willing to share it... that&#39;s really a good learning curve for me yesterday, especially with what&#39;s happened over the last 12 or 18 months with really close people around us.&quot;Australian cricket has gone through a horror year with greats Shane Warne and Rod Marsh both dying unexpectedly, while Andrew Symonds was killed in a car crash.Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

The former Australian skipper complained of chest pains and was rushed to the hospital in the first session

Ricky Ponting

Ponting back at work 'shiny and new' after health scare at Perth Test

LIVE: Australia vs West Indies, first Test, Day 4

Brathwaite's ton sets up riveting final day: As it happened

Batting great <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/2394/ricky-ponting/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ricky Ponting</a> was taken to hospital Friday after a health scare while on commentary duties at the first Test between Australia and the West Indies in Perth, reports said.The 47-year-old went for checks after feeling unwell around lunchtime, with The Australian newspaper saying it was a heart issue but not serious.&quot;I only heard it a minute ago,&quot; Australian skipper Pat Cummins said in a press conference after the third day&#39;s play.&quot;Obviously wish Ricky the best, was just chatting to him this morning out in the field. By all reports, it sounds like he&#39;s going okay.&quot;But anything like that is super scary so wish him all the best.&quot;Ponting, who played 168 Tests and 375 ODIs during a glittering career, commentated in the morning session but missed the remainder of play.Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

The Australian legend was part of the commentary team during the first Test between Australia and West Indies at Perth

Ponting rushed to hospital due to heart issue: Report

LIVE: Australia vs West Indies, first Test, Day 3

Cummins, Starc put Australia in pole position: As it happened

LIVE: Australia vs West Indies, Day 2, Perth

Defiant Chanderpaul, Brathwaite keep Australia at bay: As it happened

<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/65083/marnus-labuschagne/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Marnus Labuschagne</a> loves playing at Perth. The second-ranked Test batter might have played only three innings but already has scores of 143, 50 and 154* at this venue. Guess what, he can still add to that 154*, which he got on day one of the first Test against West Indies on Wednesday (November 30). The right-hander registered his eighth Test century and <a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/live-blog/215837/aus-vs-wi-1st-test-west-indies-in-australia-2-test-series-2022/live-australia-vs-west-indies-first-test-perth-1669771024141" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">propelled Australia to 293/2</a> before the stumps were drawn on day one.&quot;I love this venue. I love playing in Perth because the conditions are so similar to Brisbane. And I&#39;ve had some good success in Brisbane so it&#39;s really nice to be able to come to a ground where the characteristics of the wicket are very similar,&quot; said Labuschagne.&quot;Growing up playing a lot on the Gabba really helps with that because you know there&#39;s light at the end of the tunnel. So you know you&#39;ve got to put in the hard work early. Knowing the conditions, obviously playing in Brisbane with the bouncy conditions, certainly helps.&quot;You just let the ball go. You understand the game, the tempo isn&#39;t as fast as other venues. You&#39;re not hitting as many balls. You&#39;re letting a lot of balls go. So all those things really helped. And then to be able to then come out after lunch and after tea and be able to put the pressure on, they tried to amend their shorter length and they tried to bowl a bit fuller which created a few more scoring options for us.&quot;Labuschagne has a staggering record at home. The 28-year-old averages close to 70 in Australia and seven of his eight centuries have come in home conditions. However, he did struggle a bit against Mark Wood in last year&#39;s Ashes series with the paceman testing him with that outside off-stump line, but Labuschagne has made some tweaks since then.&quot;I certainly looked at a lot of that stuff from last summer. It&#39;s feeling alright. I&#39;ve certainly felt better. But it&#39;s nice to be scoring runs when you&#39;re not absolutely feeling 100%. Certainly, my stance is probably more closed off I think from where it was last summer.&quot;I&#39;m probably not as rigid as I was last summer. I feel like I&#39;m a little bit more relaxed in my hands. So I think that&#39;s helping me on that short ball and that back-foot punch, so I don&#39;t really get stuck and then start fending the ball away from my face.&quot;Australia are currently in a commanding position and Labuschagne has no intention of slowing down. &quot;Whenever you&#39;re not out overnight on 150 the next stop is 200. So it&#39;s just going to be for me tomorrow if I&#39;m able to stick to the process for long enough.&nbsp;&ldquo;If I do, I&#39;m sure I&#39;ll get there. But put that out of your mind, you&#39;ve got to take it ball by ball and if the 200 does come that&#39;s great, but more importantly, I&#39;m just trying to get as many runs as we can in this first innings and put the pressure on the West Indies.&quot;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

The second-ranked Test batter slammed 154* on day one of the first Test against West Indies

AUS VS WI,1st Test

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