The emergence of potential fast bowlers
When West Indies dominated world cricket, their battery of top-notch fast bowlers was arguably the most important facet in their armoury, and the decline in quality fast-bowling options since 2000 was a key factor in the team's fall. Caribbean pitches now do not usually encourage the development of fast bowlers, as spinners take a lion's share of the wickets.
However, Ian Bishop noted on Twitter during the CPL how Michael Hilton, the head groundsman at Sabina Park had done an excellent job with the pitch. It was a point also reinforced by Barbados Tridents coach Robin Singh, who said, "While the competition this year was certainly better than previously, I was particularly impressed and happy about the standard of pitches."
The end result was that some upcoming West Indies fast bowlers had an encouraging tournament, on surfaces that kept them interested. They included Alzarri Joseph (who notably hit AB de Villiers on the head during the series, and went on to have an impressive debut Test versus India), Kesrick Williams, Sheldon Cottrell and Delorn Johnson. Add to this Miguel Cummins claiming a six-wicket haul in the St Lucia Test against India, and Shannon Gabriel's improvement since the tri-series, and potentially the team has some solid fast-bowling options to work with.
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