Rain, No Play

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The ICC has released the schedule for the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup to be held in September of this year. The format will be similar to just concluded World Cup, just that the tournament will be concluded within 2 weeks, unlike the 7 weeks for which CWC 2007 dragged on. There will be 12 teams this time with only 2 minnows: Kenya and Scotland. The round robin first stage has the 12 teams divided into four groups of three with the top 2 in each group moving on to the Super 8s. The top four in the Super 8s will qualify for the semifinals. After playing in the opening matches in the 2003 and 2007 World Cups, the Windies will again feature in the initial game. Here is the Windies' first round schedule:

Tuesday, September 11th 2007
South Africa v West Indies (12noon Eastern Caribbean 11am Jamaica) Johannesburg

Thursday, September 13th 2007
West Indies v Bangladesh (4am Eastern Caribbean 3am Jamaica) Johannesburg

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Proving that it hasn't learned anything from the contract dispute that took place before this current English tour and before the World Cup and before the India tour in January and ...well you get the point, the WICB is making plans for the West Indies to play 20/20 matches in a Tournament in Toronto, Canada in August as well as for an A team tour to Zimbabwe in July. Problem is, neither of these tours is listed in the ICC Future Tours Programme, and unlike with this English tour, the issue is clear cut. In a situation like this the MoU signed by WIPA and the WICB just last September requires that both parties agree to these tours. So far, it seems that the WICB has not contacted WIPA about the tours. I guess one dispute at a time...

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The first Test match of the West Indies/England series of 2007 in Lords, and indeed the entire series, is shaping up to be a mismatch. A look at the Test statistics shows a gaping chasm between the two sides. Side by side, here are how each team's top 7 batsmen for the first Test compare. The final XIs have not been named and may only include 6 of these players on either side. However with Bravo and Flintoff being genuine allrounders it is possible that all 7 from each side will play, pending Flintoff's fitness.

West Indies Batsman	Average	England Batsmen	Average
Chris Gayle	38.71	Andrew Strauss	43.09
Daren Ganga	27.29	Alastair Cook	43.20
Devon Smith	25.34	Ian Bell	43.72
Ramnaresh Sarwan	38.80	Kevin Pietersen	49.69
Shivnarine Chanderpaul	44.60	Paul Collingwood	42.94
Runako Morton	26.11	Owais Shah	63.00
Dwayne Bravo	32.73	Andrew Flintoff	32.50

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Zimbabwe holds a special place in the hearts of most West Indians. Just as West Indians were keenly interested in the struggle for racial equality in South Africa, so were they interested in the struggle for liberation in Zimbabwe. So much so that Jamaican reggae singer Bob Marley sang at the Independence of Zimbabwe in 1980. Then he was celebrating Zimbabwe's independence and the election of Prime Minister Robert Mugabe after Ian Smith's minority rule in then colonial Rhodesia. How prophetic has Marley's words in his song Zimbabwe become:

To divide and rule could only tear us apart;
In everyman chest, there beats a heart.
So soon we'll find out who is the real revolutionaries;
And I don't want my people to be tricked by mercenaries.

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Runako Morton slammed an aggressive 103 before retiring hurt against Somerset in Taunton, England yesterday to press for a place in next Thursdays first Test against England. From all accounts, Morton was severe against anything short or too full and may just have booked a place in the starting XI. Morton and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (82 n.o.) revived the Windies innings after the team had slumped to 44 for 4, losing Gayle, Sarwan, Ganga and Devon Smith cheaply. From reports it seems that Gayle and Smith fell to loose shots. It will be critical that the top order avoid such collapses against the English bowlers in the Test series.Read more

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Chris Gayle - "a very proficient spinner at Test level"

Now we know why a specialist spinner wasn't picked for the Windies' tour to England - because opening batsman Chris Gayle is the region's best spin option for Tests. That according to new coach David Moore.

You've got to be kidding me, right? Now Gayle is not a lollipop bowler like Carl Hooper , but I've never thought that his flat offspin could be confused with genuine Test level spin. He's a pretty decent bowler in one day matches, but that's a whole different game from Test cricket. However according to Moore, Gayle is "a very proficient spinner at Test level". No disrespect to Gayle, but that's stretching things more than just a little.

Never mind the fact that to say that Gayle "spins the ball" would be generous, since his "offbreaks" generally go straight on, let's look at his stats to see if he is "very proficient" at Test level.

In 64 Test matches Gayle has taken 53 wickets at an average of 38.69 runs per wicket and at a strike rate of 91.05 (or a wicket every 91.05 deliveries). He has taken two five wicket hauls including a career best of 6/81. Those are hardly the figures of a "very proficient" Test bowler. For comparison, English up and comer Monty Panesar has taken 42 wickets in 13 matches at an average of 33.71, Harbhajan Singh of India has taken 238 wickets in 57 matches at an average of 29.86, while the best off spinner in the world, Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka has taken 674 wicketa in 110 Tests at an average of 21.73. Is Gayle in their league? Even the relatively inexperienced Panesar is miles ahead of Gayle as an off-spinner.Read more

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With this current tour to England, the Windies are hoping for a new dawn with new captain Ramnaresh Sarwan, new coach David Moore and a new code of conduct, including an 11:30 pm curfew for the entire tour. They'll face an opposition that will be similarly hoping for a new dawn, also with a new coach in Peter Moores and an interim captain in (probably) Andrew Strauss.

This series will be a match up of two teams on the rebound after a tough World Cup campaign. Both were humiliated in their last Test series: England losing 0-5 in Australia and the Windies getting pounded 0-2 in a three Test series in Pakistan. The West Indies will try to make amends for two horrible series in 2004 against their former 'beating sticks'. In the West Indies in 2004, the English tore apart the Windies with a comprehensive 3-0 defeat highlighted by Matthew Hoggard's hat trick in Barbados and Steve Harmison's 7 for 12 in Jamaica as the Windies were routed for 47, their lowest ever Test score. Only Brian Lara's 400n.o. in the 4th Test in Antigua prevented a clean sweep by the Englishmen. The English however completed the 4-0 whitewash in the 4 match Test series that followed in England that summer. The Windies lost those matches by 210 runs, 256 runs, 7 wickets and 10 wickets. A pitiful performance by any standard.

Revenge?

West Indians enjoy beating England in particular, so losing by a combined 7-0 in 2004 to England doesn't sit particularly well with Caribbean fans who will want revenge in this Test series. But do the players understand what's at stake? Do they understand the importance to the Caribbean of beating the former colonial masters? Do they understand the humiliation with comes with losing to England and especially by the margins that they lost by in 2004?Read more

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Average: 1.1 (52 votes)

Caribbeancricket.com reported today that the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) will advise the players to sign the contracts to be offered by the WICB for the upcoming tour to England, "subject to the decision of the arbitration panel."

The dispute was sent to an arbitration panel chaired by Barbados Chief Justice David Simmons, after the WICB and WIPA differed over whether the upcoming tour was part of the ICC's Future Tours Programme (FTP). According to the MoU signed by WIPA and the WICB in September of last year, the players would be entitled to additional monies for tours outside of the FTP. WIPA believes that this tour is outside the FTP, while the WICB claims otherwise.

From emails released today by WICB Corporate Secretary, Tony Deyal, it appears that the WICB may have arguments in its favour. The original FTP devised in 2001 did not include this current tour to England. This tour was, however, agreed to by the WICB and England's ECB in early 2006 before the FTP was revised by the ICC later that year. Hence it was included in the FTP as an "additional" tour as England and the West Indies would have otherwise met their minimum requirements of matches for the FTP. According to Dave Richardson, GM of the ICC "It is quite clear therefore that the England Tour, although additional to the minimum requirements (and thus indicated as such), is part of the FTP."Read more

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Those expecting wholesale changes to the composition of the West Indies team to England learned today that the only major change is the omission of Marlon Samuels. Aside from Samuels, the only selections that could be considered surprises are the inclusions of Sylvester Joseph, Darren Sammy, Runako Morton and Ravi Rampaul.

The WICB also deemed it unnecessary to select a specialist spinner, going instead with an all pace attack featuring Daren Powell, Jerome Taylor, Fidel Edwards, Ravi Rampaul, Darren Sammy and Corey Collymore. Perhaps the ghost of Rajindra Dhanraj's 1995 tour to England is still fresh in the minds of the selectors to the extent that Amit Jaggernauth was overlooked for this tour. Regardless, a rebuilt West Indies future has to include the development of a legitimate spin option. The English conditions should suit Rampaul who has the ability to swing the ball moreso than anybody in the squad. One has to wonder if Pedro Collins' international career with the West Indies has ended, as his left arm swing bowling would be best suited for English wickets, yet as with the World Cup squad, he is nowhere to be found.Read more

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WICB CEO, Bruce Aanensen

The current impasse between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and West Indies Players Association (WIPA) could potentially result in WIPA calling a strike and the tour to England being cancelled.

At issue is whether the upcoming tour, which starts in under 2 weeks, is part of the ICC's Future Tours Programme (FTP). Any tours outside of the FTP would require additional negotiations and more pay according to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between WICB and WIPA. According to cricinfo.com, the WICB had previously agreed with WIPA that the tour was outside of the FTP, but had only recently arrived at its current position that the England tour was part of the FTP and hence the players should get no extra money.

The dispute has been put before an arbitrator in Barbados, whose ruling will be binding. However the arbitrator, Barbados Chief Justice David Simmons is not expected to rule before the departure date for the team on May 8th.

WICB CEO Bruce Aanensen (pictured above) is confident that the tour will go ahead however, with or without the regular players. He believes that the MoU precludes players who have retainer contracts from going on strike while a dispute has been referred to an arbitrator. He also states that in the event of a strike, the WICB will "move to the next set of players until we get a team of 15".Read more