Rain, No Play

The West Indies' selectors today named the 15 man squad for the Twenty20 World Cup which begins on September 11 in South Africa with the hosts taking on the West Indies. The squad reads:

Ramnaresh Sarwan (captain)
Chris Gayle
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Devon Smith
Marlon Samuels
Runako Morton
Denesh Ramdin (wkt)
Dwayne Bravo
Darren Sammy
Dwayne Smith
Ravi Rampaul
Daren Powell
Fidel Edwards
Narsingh Deonarine
Pedro Collins  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 »

Monty Panesar's left arm spin gives the England attack a dimension that the Windies' sorely lack.

The Windies ineptitude with the ball in the first seven days of Test cricket on the England tour has only highlighted the need for a specialist spinner in the Windies side. In the first Test at Lord's the Windies pace quartet of Daren Powell, Jerome Taylor, Dwayne Bravo and Corey Collymore each went for over a hundred runs as England piled up a massive 553/5 declared in overcast conditions that should have favoured the seamers. Four England batsmen: Alastair Cook, Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell and debutant Matt Prior picked off centuries against the largely wayward and rusty Windies pace attack - with 'attack' being used very generously.

Contrast that with the success of Monty Panesar against the Windies, who took six wickets in their first innings and of Chris Gayle, who took 3 English wickets in the second innings, wouldn't a specialist spinner have been useful for the West Indies?  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 »

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 »

Now that the Ramnaresh Sarwan has been officially named as the captain of the West Indies team, even if under probation, lets take a shot at what the 15 man Test team to tour England will look like. Some changes will probably be made for the ODI series to follow the Test series.

1) Ramnaresh Sarwan (c)
2) Daren Ganga (vc)
3) Chris Gayle
4) Shivnarine Chanderpaul
5) Denesh Ramdin (wk)
6) Daren Powell
7) Jerome Taylor
8) Dwayne Bravo
9) Corey Collymore
10) Devon Smith

The first 9 should pick themselves. Devon Smith should also be in there as well due to his recent form and after Gayle and Ganga, he's probably the best opener in the West Indies.

11) Marlon Samuels
 read more »

The West Indies named its 15 man squad for the World Cup today. The squad reads Brian Lara (captain), Ian Bradshaw, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Corey Collymore, Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan (vice captain), Lendl Simmons, Devon Smith, Dwayne Smith, Jerome Taylor.
 
Also named as reserves were Fidel Edwards, Sylvester Joseph, Dave Mohammed, Runako Morton, Darren Sammy.
   read more »

The West Indies Cricket Board has named a 30 man squad in preparation for the Cricket World Cup in March. By and large, the usual suspects are all there with no shocking exclusions. The one surprise has to be the inclusion of Rawl Lewis. With Omari Banks and Dave Mohammed firmly established ahead of him, and with Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels both used regularly as spin options, it becomes difficult to justify this selection. Keep in mind, this is the man who sports a bowling average of 48.28 in 20 one day matches. This is also the spinner with a miniscule economy rate of 5.19. Given that Lewis is a spring chicken at the tender age of 32, one can only assume that the selectors need someone to captain one of the sides during split squad matches.  read more »