West Indies legend Curtly Ambrose believes the team should consider removing Shai Hope from the line-up against England, for his own good, after a brutal run of form has severely limited the player’s impact in the ongoing series.
Hope was among the few standout players when the team played England in the 2017 series. In fact, his two finely crafted 100s played a critical role in the team turning the tables on England for a shock victory in the second Test at Headingly.
To say Hope has struggled since then, however, could only be construed as a massive understatement. He has averaged below 25 in 21 Tests, with no hundreds and managed scores of 16, 9, 25 and 7 in the first two Tests against England. With the final and decisive Test on the horizon, Ambrose believes some time out of the spotlight could be good for the 26-year-old, and that on the flip side, repeated failure could permanently damage the player.
“Something has gone terribly wrong for him since those two centuries at Headingley – he hasn’t done anything really in Test cricket since then,” said Ambrose recently told Sky Sports.
“He is a much better player than what he is showing at the moment and is obviously very low on confidence,” he added.
“Maybe in the next game we should rest him so he can regain some confidence. 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.” (Sportsmax)
