Rain, No Play

Chasing a target of 437 for victory, West Indies could only hope for a draw by the middle of the second session as the batsmen failed to make the most of a very good start to the day by Bravo and Sarwan. Resuming at 96/1, both batsmen acquitted themselves well in taking the score to 156 before Bravo was C&B by Muralitharan for 83.

At 156/2, Sarwan well set and Samuels, Chanderpaul and Gayle to come, a draw was very much still in the cards. West Indies failed to solidify their position, however, as wickets fell at regular intervals. Samuels was next to go - caught behind off Chaminda Vaas. And when Chanderpaul was beaten all over the place by a Vaas incutter, the prospect of a draw all but dissipated.  read more »

At stumps on Day four of the first test between West Indies and Sri Lanka, the home side continued the promise shown at the end of the previous day, leaving themselves with a fairly reasonable chance of securing a draw.

Resuming this morning in hopes of avoiding the follow on, Jerome Taylor and Daren Powell saw the Windies through to 280 forcing the Sri Lankas to return to the crease. By mid-evening, the tourists declared their second innings at 240/7 leaving West Indies 437 from 113 overs to win.

Given his run of poor form against Chaminda Vaas, captain Chris Gayle opted to send Bravo in his stead to open the innings with Devon Smith. Sri Lanka sniffed a chance to make some serious inroads before stumps as Smith was caught attempting to play a hook shot with the score on 22. Sarwan then joined Bravo to steady the ship until the close as both managed to play without much trouble and at a rate quick enough to keep alive any minute chance of a West Indian victory.  read more »

Marlon Samuels got the West Indies off to a good start on day 1 of their first Test in South Africa. The Windies' first day score of 281/4 was built around Samuels' 94, but it was captain Chris Gayle's blazing 66 off 49 deliveries that got the Windies off to a flier. Gayle, who was doubtful to play in this match due to his hamstring injury, and Daren Ganga(33) put on 98 for the first wicket against the likes of Makhaya Ntini, the much-hyped Dale Steyn and Andre Nel. Lending strong support to Samuels were Shiv Chanderpaul(43n.o.) and Runako Morton (33).  read more »

Chris Gayle launched a massive onslaught against South Africa's bowlers today, making the first ever century in Twenty20 Internationals. His hundred came off 51 balls with 9 massive sixes and 5 fours. At 168/2 off 15 overs, the West Indies are threatening the highest ever score for a Twenty20 International (221/5). A word of caution though, the ground that this match is being played on is the same in which South Africa chased down 434 in a 50 over match in 2006.

UPDATE: Gayle was out for 117 off only 57 balls as the Windies made 205/6.

WICB CEO Bruce Aanensen and Chris Gayle

On Sunday, Cricinfo executive editor Martin Williamson wondered about the West Indies Cricket Board, How Low Can They Go? With events that have unfolded since then it seems that the WICB is desperately trying to find the answer to that question as well.

Last week Chris Gayle spoke his mind in his Cricinfo blog, calling out the WICB for the mess it created by first rejecting Gayle and then appointing him as stand in ODI captain, and for not having flown in the replacement ODI players in time for a practice match leading the board to have to draft in replacement players from local English leagues. Wrote Gayle:

First and foremost I am very disappointed with the West Indian cricket board (WICB) for not having the guys here in England already and ready to play.

He also expressed his hurt in how his nomination for captain was initially treated by the WICB:

As the captain I have to say that this is disappointing and it is not at all a good start. I also have to mention that I was hurt and disappointed that after I was nominated as captain by the selectors, I did not initially get the support of the board.

He also went on to say that the players wanted "change" and "the best" from the WICB:

The board is always talking about players needing to change but we, the players, need changes from the board as well. We can't be out in the wilderness all the time because we are the ones who are getting all the blame.

These are some of the things that we as players have to go through. The WICB says they want the best out of players but we also need the best out of the board.

Every word that Gayle wrote is true. He has not misrepresented the WICB in any way. However, strictly speaking, Gayle should probably have made these points privately with the board, after all, which organization would want its employees publicly criticising it?  read more »

For years, the West Indies Cricket Board has pointed its finger of blame at its players for the continued decline of the team's fortunes. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that the Board's actions have been a farcical attempt to further its power and take advantage of its employees.

Today, the WICB had to recruit West Indian players from local leagues in England to fill in for the players called up for the One Day series in England due to mismanagement of travel arrangements. Injuries to members of the Test squad meant that there was a shortage of healthy players to cover for the late arriving players. Claims of indiscipled players have been rampant for the past few years, and many West Indians (myself included) have been all too willing to heed the WICB's accusations and lay blame at the feet of the players. Incidents such as this latest fiasco demonstrate that there is more going on in West Indies cricket than immediately meets the eye.  read more »

In an about face, the WICB, according to CaribbeanCricket.com, will offer the ODI and Twenty20 captaincy for the current England tour to Chris Gayle. Previously the WICB's executice committee had rejected the selectors' choice of Gayle for stand in captain for the ODI and Twenty20 matches.

Apparently the WICB's executive committee led by President Ken Gordon wanted to clean house with the supposed "indisciplined" players. However, the selectors made it known Gayle has never been charged with "indiscipline" and that they would resign en masse if the board interfered with their decision. Good for them. Their job is to select the team and if the WICB doesn't like their performance then they should replace them when their terms are up, but stay out of the selection process, Mr. Gordon!  read more »

News has surfaced that the selectors had nominated Chris Gayle for the captaincy of the ODI and Twenty20 teams in Ramnaresh Sarwan's absence. However that proposal has been shot down by the WICB, who are apparently favouring Daren Ganga for the role. Now, Ganga has proven himself to be an astute captain, but can he claim a batting position in a ODI side? He wasn't even in the Windies' initial list of 30 for the World Cup.

Gayle's "too cool" personality has often irked many a Caribbean scribe - is that the reason for his snub? Kool kat or not, Gayle is clearly one of the most established players in ODI cricket for the Windies. Gayle, despite his poor run of form recently, averages a just shade under 38 with the bat and has made 15 ODI centuries - more than any other batsman in the team. His leadership ability was pointed out by Brian Lara as far back as 2004 when Lara suggested that Gayle could be a future Windies captain.  read more »

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 »