Veteran cricket commentator Joseph Reds Perreira believes the West Indies’ batting will be the decisive factor in their upcoming Test series against New Zealand — and whether Caribbean fans receive a festive miracle by month’s end.
The three-match series bowls off on December 1, and while the Windies have historically struggled in New Zealand conditions, winning just four Tests away from home – the last in 1995, Perreira remains cautiously optimistic. But he’s clear-eyed about the challenge ahead.
“The batting is going to be the key,” he said. “I think bowling is going to be fairly competitive once they bowl the right line and they have the consistency.”
The West Indies and New Zealand have faced off 49 times in Tests since 1951, with New Zealand winning 17, the Windies 13, and 19 ending in draws. But the Black Caps home advantage has often proved decisive.
Perreira also drew attention to a potential blow to the Windies’ bowling depth: the likely absence of Jason Holder. The seasoned allrounder, who last played Test cricket in 2024, is reportedly unavailable for selection due to commitments in a white-ball T10 competition in Dubai.
Perreira wasn’t sure whether the Barbadian wasn’t selected, “or he was asked and he chose the T10 series”.
“The first surprise to me was, although no official Test squad has been announced for New Zealand, it appears that Jason Holder will not be part of it,” the commentator said. “He’s by far our best allrounder and has an outstanding career for the West Indies. He’s done very well in those conditions.”
Holder has played 69 matches, scored 3 073 runs at 29.83 with three centuries, and taken 157 wickets at 28.80.
Perreira believes his absence could significantly alter the team’s balance.
“If you look at the possible make-up with Holder, it would have been Seales, Roach, Holder, Greaves, Phillip and maybe one spinner in Chase. That would have been a fairly decent attack that might have asked questions in New Zealand conditions,” he said.
“Holder not being selected is like if the West Indies team in the past didn’t have Richard Edwards in New Zealand [in 1969], who picked up 15 wickets on that tour.”
Still, Perreira insists that batting will be the true test. He expects the top order to include John Campbell, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Alick Athanaze and Justin Greaves, but notes that the final lineup remains uncertain.
“The indication so far is that the weak aspect of our game is with our top order,” he said. “We will have to see who will follow up after that.”
Preparation, too, is a concern. Perreira believes the team would have benefited from a pre-series camp in New Zealand, funds permitting.
“I would have thought if the money was available to the West Indies Board, it would have been good to have had the camp in New Zealand,” he said. “But that would have been very costly at this time, and the West Indies Board practically had to do the camp in Antigua.”
He also suggested that wicketkeeper Tevin Imlach should have arrived earlier to acclimatise, especially given the swing-friendly conditions.
“Deryck Murray was saying that the ball is going to swing around much more than it swung when you’re playing in Australia or playing at home. It tends to swing late; it tends to swing and drop. It’s much more like English conditions, New Zealand conditions, even more so.”
Despite the hurdles, Perreira remains hopeful: “We wait for the official announcement of the Test squad, and we will just have to hope that the weather will be good for both Test matches. The West Indies know that New Zealand at home has been very hard to beat, as the facts indicate…. Let’s see whether we’ll have a Christmas present by the West Indies team, the people of the Caribbean, by the end of December.”
