Rain, No Play

Yesterday's commanding victory by the West Indies to seal the 3 match ODI series 2 - 1 must have been a joy to watch for West Indies fans all over the world. The scenes of jubilation by the players on the field and by West Indians in the crowd demonstrated just how much this win meant.

The 93 run victory marked the first series win for the West Indies in Tests or one day cricket since beating Zimbabwe and India in one day series in the West Indies last year and their first away series win since winning the ICC Champions Trophy in 2004.

One of the stark differences between the players in the limited overs series and their performances in the Test series must have been the unbridled joy that they showed on the field. To be true, there wasn't much to celebrate in the Test series, losing 0 - 3 with one loss being the largest ever margin of defeat for a West Indies Test team, but there certainly was a noticeable change in the level of energy and passion on display during the Twenty20 and ODI matches. The scenes of joy yesterday certainly capped off months of frustration. The ebullience of Dwayne Bravo, Fidel Edwards and yes even Mr Cool himself, Chris Gayle, were in stark contrast to the almost lack of effort that was seen at times in the Test matches. Why the change?  read more »

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 »

On the eve of next week's Twenty20 Internationals and ODI series against England, the above scorecard from Cricinfo's Slogout must be any West Indian's dream. I can almost see the look on Monty's face as he gets hit for 196 runs off his 9 overs. Slogout's got some way to go, including making the players more life-like (how about some non-white players Cricinfo?), but if you've got a few minutes to spare, it's entertaining, at least until you get bored with its repetitive nature.

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 »

Shivnarine Chanderpaul once again fought alone.

At Riverside in the fourth Test, Shiv Chanderpaul continued his valiant, almost singled handed effort in fighting for West Indian pride. Unfortunately, as has been the case for so long, his fight was in vain as the other members of the team rolled over and played dead before a rampant English squad.

With Gayle and Chanderpaul resuming the from the overnight score of 83/3, still 30 runs behind England's first innings total, batting out the day should have been the goal. The first session went well enough, with only Gayle (52) losing his wicket, edging one of his expansive drives to slip. The post lunch session, however, was horrible for any West Indian as the Windies lost 6 wickets for 88 runs to put England in the match winning position. The manner in which many of the batsmen got out left much to be desired as in addition to Gayle and Runako Morton on the previous day, Dwayne Bravo (44) and Daren Powell got out to absolutely ridiculous shots. Denesh Ramdin and Marlon Samuels fell cheaply as well, but at least they got decent deliveries from Monty Panesar. Chanderpaul was last man out for 70, leaving the English the small total of 110 to chase. England then raced to 111/3 with all of 30 overs remaining in the days play.  read more »

Shivnarine Chanderpaul continued his "Mighty Mouse" impersonation in this series and came to the Windies rescue again today. Dwayne Bravo joined him and the pair featured in an unbroken 77 run partnership for the fifth wicket on second day of the fourth and final Test at Chester-Le-Street.

The Test match started after lunch on the second day after rain had washed out the opening day. Put in to bat, the Windies were in trouble right away as Ryan Sidebottom had Daren Ganga's wicket with the first ball of the match. Ganga was slightly unlucky in that he turned a fullish delivery straight into the chest of Alastair Cook at bat pad. Maybe he should heed Sir Everton Weeke's famous advice of not hitting the ball in the air next time. The other three wickets that fell were all due to poor shot selection. Chris Gayle (28), already suffering a poor tour, went for an almighty heave-ho against Matthew Hoggard and was plum lbw when he missed the ball. Gayle looked out of sorts as he tried to blast his way out of his rut by going for big shots. Devon Smith's heart must have sunk when he left a straight one from Sidebottom only to hear the deadly sound of timber rattling behind him. He made only 4. Smith was probably expecting the ball to swing away from him, given the prodigious swing that Sidebottom had earlier extracted, but you can't just leave a ball that's headed straight for your stumps, swing or no swing. Runako Morton (6) did his best to outdo Gayle for the worst shot of the day when he tried to drive a shortish ball from Steve Harmison and gave a simple catch to Sidebottom in the covers.  read more »

[Austin Richards, Jr. courtesy of www.stanford2020.com]

The WICB have named a 14 member squad for the limited over matches in England and Ireland this summer. Presumably that includes the two Twenty20 internationals between the West Indies and England.

One notable inclusion in the squad is Antiguan opener Austin Richards Jr. Richards is a young 23 year old left handed opener who has played 10 first class matches since 2004 with and average of 37.88. In the past Carib Beer series, he slammed a maiden first class century of 183 against the Windward Islands. He is yet to make his debut for the senior West Indies team. Out-of-form Dwayne Smith has also found his name in the squad as well. Chris Gayle has been named the captain after the about-face by the WICB.

The squad:

Chris Gayle (captain), Shivanrine Chanderpaul (vice captain), Dwayne Bravo, Fidel Edwards, Runako Morton, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Austin Richards Jr, Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Devon Smith, Dwayne Smith.  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 »

The West Indies fell 61 runs short of achieving what would have been a miracle victory against the Englishmen today. No team had ever made as much as 455, the Windies' target, to win a Test match batting last. Shivnarine Chanderpaul's dogged 116 n.o. must be rated his best Test innings as he gave hope to the seemingly impossible victory chase.

Needing a further 154 runs to get at the start of the fifth and final day, and with 5 wickets in hand, the Windies had a decent chance of pulling off the win. They managed to get through to lunch with only the loss of Denesh Ramdin and Darren Sammy, but the tail could not wag enough to get the Windies home. Steve Harmison was the destroyer of the tail enders as his post lunch snorting deliveries that claimed Jerome Taylor's and Fidel Edwards' wickets killed off any hope the Windies had. Monty Panesar again proved to be a handful, taking six wickets in the innings and 10 in the match.

The Windies have regained some pride though, if nothing else. No one would have placed a bet on them making anywhere close to 394. There must have been some nervous individuals in the English dressing room as the Windies crept closer to the target before Harmison and Panesar wrapped up the tail. That though, is little consolidation, as the Windies came agonisingly close to winning a match for the first time in almost two years. What must also be equally agonising is the fact that the West Indies should have won this match. Here are three instances that could have and should have turned the match in the Windies' favour.  read more »

UPDATE: After thinking this one over, I had a change of heart because of the fact that Samuels did not intend for his letter to be leaked to the public. So it is apparent that he was not seeking attention for his perceived problem, but was writing to the authorities to seek redress over a perceived wrong - a right that he is entitled to. My advice to him in the final paragraph still stands though. The original piece follows below.

West Indies middle order batsman, Marlon Samuels has written to team manager, Mike Findlay, and WICB President Ken Gordon, claiming that he has been discriminated against by current West Indies coach Aussie David Moore and his predecessor Bennett King.

Samuels claims that he was discriminated against because he was not given an opportunity to bat until all the other players including bowlers, had batted. By then the net bowlers were tired and not able to bowl properly to Samuels. Marlon has also claimed that he experienced the same thing in Malaysia and India under previous coach King.

Now it certainly seems odd that Samuels would bat last, behind the bowlers, given that he is a recognised middle order batsman. And if this has been happening more than once, I too would feel like Marlon that something was amiss. But my words of advice to Samuels have nothing to do with whether he is being discriminated against or not, but rather as to how he is being perceived. The press, particularly in the Caribbean, often make references to indiscipline when they speak of Samuels. Samuels was apparently almost sent home from India in 2002 and the label of "indiscipline" has relentless stuck with him since. This perception has been built up to the point that it is generally accepted that he is an indisciplined player and yet people have a hard time pointing to specific incidents. Certainly Samuels' attitude to his batting continues to need improvement, but we haven't received recent news reports of specific incidents about his supposed "indiscipline". Samuels' writing to the WICB about his real or not, discrimination will only fuel the flames of those who would want to see the end of Samuels.  read more »