Wounded Windies limp home to face rusty South Africans

Queen's Park Oval, where the men's Test series between West Indies and South Africa starts on Wednesday (August 7), has been good to the visitors. Daryll Cullinan scored 103 there in a 69-run win in March 2001. The visitors won by eight wickets in April 2005, when Makhaya Ntini took 6/95 and 7/37 and Graeme Smith scored 148 to blunt Brian Lara's 196. Nobody made a century in June 2010, not least because Dale Steyn claimed 5/29 and 3/65. South Africa won by 163 runs.

But it's not just Trinidad. South Africa have lost only two of the 15 Tests - and won eight - they have played in the Caribbean from the first, at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados in April 1992. That doesn't make Temba Bavuma's team special. And it's not just South Africa. From that 1992 match, the Windies have won only 46 of their 138 home Tests - a success rate of exactly a third.

Speaking about things happening in threes, the West Indians will limp into the series still smarting from the 3-0 drubbing they have suffered in England the past 28 days. That said, they beat England 1-0 at home in March 2022 and followed that by winning both Tests against Bangladesh, also in the Caribbean, in July that year. In West Indies' most recent home series, in July last year, India prevailed 1-0.

South Africa's chief challenge will be to reacquaint themselves with a format they last played almost six months ago. Indeed, most of their preferred XI haven't been involved in a Test for more than seven months.

South Africa fielded a weakened squad in their most recent series, in New Zealand in February, because their ranks had been ravaged by the concurrent SA20 - which had first dibs, contractually, on the players. Of the squad of 14 who went to New Zealand, only David Bedingham, Dane Paterson and Dane Piedt are among the 16 in the Caribbean.

The return to going nowhere slowly is likely to jolt South Africans watching from home, who have seen their team roar through a dozen T20Is - including the World Cup final in Barbados in June - since they last play a Test.

That contrast will likely prompt questions and conversations about the future of the format, a discussion Andre Russell weighs into below. The debate would be more interesting should someone do something worthy of snaring a headline. Both teams have players eminently able to do so. It's up to them to do it.

When: August 7 to 11, 2024; 10am Local Time (4pm SAST, 7.30pm IST)

Where: Queen's Park Oval, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago

What to expect: Interruptions. Significant rain has been forecast for all five days. And a turning pitch.

Team news:

West Indies

The experienced Kemar Roach looks set to replace the rested Alzarri Joseph. Given that Gudakesh Motie is a left-arm orthodox spinner, and that the pitch looks likely to help the slow bowlers, off-spinner Bryan Charles could make his debut. Keacy Carty could be in line for his Test debut.

Possible XI: Kraigg Brathwaite (C), Mikyle Louis, Keacy Carty, Alick Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Jason Holder, Joshua da Silva, Gudakesh Motie, Bryan Charles, Kemar Roach, Shamar Joseph

South Africa

Lungi Ngidi, who has played in only one of South Africa's last seven Tests, cracks the nod.

Confirmed XI: Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma (C), David Bedingham, Ryan Rickelton, Kyle Verreynne, Wiaan Mulder, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada

What they said:

"It's going to be attritional. The conditions don't lend themselves to fast scoring and bouncy, seaming pitches. So it's about us staying in the fight and dragging it out. When those tough periods come we need to be at our best." - Shukri Conrad on how the conditions might shape the match

"I don't think money is the issue. Based on the amount of T20 and leagues around the world, I think a lot of players are just not interested in playing Tests." - Andre Russell, who is playing in The Hundred and isn't in the Windies squad, tells the UK's PA Media what he really thinks about the ancient format