After defeating West Indies in the second Test at Old Trafford, England have levelled the three-match series 1-1. Now, all eyes are set on the series finale which starts from Friday (July 24) in Manchester.
The Caribbeans looked completely helpless in all the departments in the second Test. West Indies had lots of expectations from their star performer Shai Hope, but he has so far been unable to perform up to the desired mark in the series.
Hope, who smashed two centuries during West Indies’ previous tour to England in 2017, has struggled to even go past the 30-run mark in his four innings this year. His current scores have been 25, 7, 16 and 9.
Now, the big question is whether Jason Holder should give Hope another chance in the series. Speaking about the same, former West Indies speedster and a legend of the game, Curtly Ambrose has come up with the opinion that Windies must rest out-of-form Hope for the third Test because repeated failures may ‘destroy’ the wicket-keeper batsman.
“He [Hope] is a much better player than what he is showing at the moment and is obviously very low on confidence. Maybe in the next game, we should rest him so he can regain some confidence,” Ambrose told ‘Sky Sports’.
“If you keep playing him and he keeps failing, it will only get worse. You are going to destroy him if it continues like that.
“Something has gone terribly wrong for him since those two centuries at Headingley – he hasn’t done anything really in Test cricket since then,” he added.
Ambrose, who bagged 630 wickets in Tests and 176 in, believes Hope may regain confidence if he gets a rest.
“I like Hope a lot. I think he is a fantastic player, but this is not doing his confidence any good. Are West Indies going to go with him again? It’s a tough call.
“I am inclined to give him another go, but by bringing someone else in he could get totally away from the game for a little bit and get his mind together,” Ambrose concluded.
