Test cricket in the West Indies is boring, according to a recent study.
Test matches played have produced the fewest percentage of results and lowest scoring rates in world cricket since the beginning of the 2000s.
This was revealed on the website Cricinfo.com recently.
According to the research, there have been 37 results in 61 Tests in the region during the period, making for a rate of 60.65 percent is marginally lower than India (63.16 percent), New Zealand (68.63 percent) and Pakistan (68.75 percent).
Meanwhile, at the top of the list (excluding minnows Bangladesh and Zimbabwe) are Australia (86.11 percent) and England (77.65 percent).
The West Indies is the only nation in which the average run rate in Tests has been less than three per over, in contrast to the 1980s during which it was the only country in which batsmen scored at a three-plus rate.
With a Rate Per Over (RPO) of 2.98, they trail Zimbabwe (3.03) and Sri Lanka (3.10) at the bottom of the list while England (3.44), Australia (3.36) and South Africa (3.30) again occupy the three top spots.
The website was unflattering in its assessment of Caribbean wickets.
“There used to be a time when cricket in the West Indies used to be about quick pitches, which encouraged bowlers to bowl fast and batsmen to score quickly – in the l980s the West Indies was the only region in which the average scoring rate in Test cricket was more than three runs per over.
Those were the golden days of West Indian cricket, when most of the batsmen were aggressive and bowlers bowled fast, according to the research.
“Now, cricket in the West Indies is often characterized by slow pitches and slow outfields, which means batsmen do not get value for their shots, fast bowlers don’t get much out of it, and bowlers in general struggle to get batsmen out quickly.”
The website noted that the recent series marked the first time since 2000 that Australia’s run rate in a series was less than three runs per over.
