At least is wasn't 4-0!

At least West Indian fans can console themselves with the fact that it was a 3-0 and not a 4-0 whipping! From a dominant position at the start of the fourth day to fighting for a draw at the end and ultimately losing today in a match that lost a day and a half to rain! Poor captaincy and bowling enabled England to pose a lead and the continued poor batting of the top order meant that defeat was going to be the only result. Chanderpaul continued his defiance but even he couldn’t stave off the obvious.

Hopefully this series will have proven to Ganga fans that he is not a test class player and the appointment of a man as vice-captain who can’t even justify his place on the team was a ridiculous move by the selectors. Devon Smith still looks out of place, Sylvester Joseph does not convince me that he knows how to bat, Runako Morton is neither here nor there, Marlon Samuels is a waste of time and Chris Gayle needs to be dropped for his attitude and poor performances not rewarded with the one day captaincy! Ramdin has promise but he needs to work hard to improve his wicketkeeping; some proper competition for his place would force him to raise his game and be more consistent. The bowling is pathetic with the exception of Edwards but even he needs to work to improve his mediocre returns. Powell looked a different bowler from the one who played in the World Cup and he obviously is lacking in the brain department since there can be no other explanation for his playing the same nonsensical shot in both innings. Taylor has been struggling for a while and I think he needs a rest while Collyslow has gone past his sell by date. The only positives from the series were the immovable Chanderpaul, Bravo to an extent although he needs to convert his starts and stop throwing away his wicket and Darren Sammy’s debut.

Chanderpaul has received a lot of praise for his performance this series and it is richly deserved. If only the heart and fight he has demonstrated was replicated by a few more of his teammates! This is another article written about him in the UK Guardian.

So another series and another dismal performance. The solutions to the problems plaguing West Indian cricket are rather obvious but as long as they entail disturbing the status quo and restructuring the corrupt and inefficient old boys network- WICB- nothing will happen.