One win, 45 defeats

Over the next three weeks, West Indies will make another attempt to correct what has been a woeful overseas record over the last decade and more, when they play three Tests against the top-ranked team in Test cricket. As if playing the best team in their home conditions wasn't tough enough, West Indies have been further hampered by the loss of two key batsmen: Chris Gayle hasn't recovered from a back injury, while Darren Bravo has pulled out due to personal reasons. The only positive is a return to the country where they last won an overseas Test outside of Zimbabwe and Bangladesh: on their tour here in 2007-08, they won by 128 runs in Port Elizabeth before losing the next two Tests to lose the series 2-1. (Port Elizabeth is the venue for the second Test this time.)

That win in the Boxing Day Test in 2007 is, in fact, West Indies only Test win outside Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in the last 14 years, which illustrates just how badly West Indies cricket has slipped. In the 14 previous years before November 2000 (November 1986 to October 2000), West Indies had a 22-26 win-loss record in 64 Tests in these countries. They won at least one match in every country where they played two or more Tests except, ironically, South Africa, where they lost five out of five in 1998-99. In other countries, though, they were extremely competitive: their win-loss record was 7-5 in Australia, 9-7 in England, 2-2 in India, 2-3 in New Zealand, and 2-4 in Pakistan.

More recently, though, the only countries they've toured well are Zimbabwe and Bangladesh: in ten Tests there they have a 7-0. On other tours, they've mostly been awful: 0-10 in Australia, 0-11 in England, 0-6 in India, 0-4 in Pakistan and New Zealand, 0-5 in Sri Lanka, and 1-5 in South Africa. All of that adds up to a dismal 1-45 win-loss in these countries.

A comparison of batting and bowling averages in these countries reveals that bowling has been the bigger problem, with the team conceding almost 46 runs per wicket, compared to a bowling average of less than 35 at home. The batting has suffered too, though not as much, dropping from 32.66 at home to 27.19 in these countries. A comparison between the two periods also shows that bowling has been the bigger problem for them in the last 14 years.

West Indies' Test record since Nov 2000

	Tests	W/ L	Ratio	Drawn	Bat ave	Bowl ave
Overall, since Nov 2000	136	25/ 72	0.35	39	30.66	38.23
At home	66	17/ 27	0.63	22	32.66	34.67
Away/ neutral	70	8/ 45	0.18	17	28.95	42.21
In Bd'esh/ Zim	10	7/ 0	-	3	43.86	28.34
In all other countries	60	1/ 45	0.02	14	27.19	45.73

West Indies in overseas Tests, excluding B'desh and Zimbabwe

	Tests	W/L	Ratio	Drawn	Bat ave	Bowl ave
Nov 1986-Oct 2000	64	22/ 26	0.85	16	28.87	28.91
Nov 2000 onwards	60	1/ 45	0.02	14	27.19	45.73

West Indies are currently ranked No. 8 in ICC's rankings, 19 points adrift of seventh-placed New Zealand but based on overseas results alone they should be even further adrift. New Zealand don't have a great record overseas either, but 6-31 is still a lot better than West Indies' 1-45. All the other teams have done significantly better, though only two - Australia and South Africa - have won more than they've lost overseas.

A look at the top bowlers for West Indies during this period in these overseas countries reveals the problem. Their leading wicket-taker, Fidel Edwards, has taken 63 wickets in 27 Tests, but each has cost him more than 50 runs. He has had a couple of good series when he has led the attack, but more often than not he has struggled, as much with his economy rate as his wicket-taking ability.

Among the bowlers in the current squad, Jerome Taylor and Kemar Roach are the main men for West Indies, and while have pretty good overall numbers, they haven't done so well in these overseas countries. Taylor has a career average of 33.94, but in these countries he averages almost 44, with only 35 wickets in 15 Tests. Kemar Roach has an even better overall average, of 25.98 in 28 Tests, but in these countries his stats are a more ordinary 27 wickets in nine Tests, at an average of 36.37.

The best bowling average among the lot is nearly 35, while six out of nine bowlers in the list below average more than 40, which explains why West Indies' overall bowling stats in these countries is so poor during this period.

Among the batsmen, there are four with 40-plus averages, but only one of them is in the current squad. Gayle and Darren Bravo both average in the 40s but aren't around, and their absence will surely put even more onus on Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Unlike Taylor and Roach, whose numbers drop off considerably when playing overseas, Chanderpaul's average in these countries (50.41) is only marginally lower than his career average of 53.10. In South Africa he averages 59.22, with two centuries and three fifties in 11 innings.

West Indies will expect more, though, from Marlon Samuels and Devon Smith, especially in the absence of Gayle and Bravo. Both have warmed up well with huge scores in the practice match, and it'll help West Indies' cause if they can display some of that form in the Tests as well. Samuels averages in the mid-30s, both over his entire career and in these countries, while Smith is struggling to get out of the mid-20s. West Indies will expect much more from both.