Back in Action, West Indian Resistance and West Indian Folly

I was out of commission for a few days as my laptop had to pay another visit to the office to get fixed. Apparently nothing was wrong with the wireless adapter because it functioned normally there. Now that I have it back, it is working but not consistently- annoying situation!

The West Indies surprised everyone with a great fight back after being thrashed for the first half of the third test even though in the final analysis they lost yet another overseas test. Chanderpaul continued to highlight his worth to the team while Darren Sammy who I did not think should have been on the tour made a remarkable start to his test career. Will he build on this performance or will he go the way of so many players of the past decade who showed promise and then regressed? Only time will tell. Even though Fidel Edwards’ final figures did not look impressive, his extra pace made a difference and at least we did not have to bear the sight of Pieterson charging down the pitch to one of our “fast” bowlers like he has been doing to the rest, especially Collymore.

Tony Cozier and Andrew Miller wrote two good articles on the last test and Chanderpaul respectively so have a read.

While on the field the team was fighting against England, off the field the West Indian administrators were fighting among themselves on the choice of captain for the one day series that follows the tests. The selectors chose Gayle but the WICB Executive Committee rejected that choice and instead headed by Ken Gordon advised the selection panel to appoint Darren Ganga (who was not even selected as part of the one-day team)and Dinesh Ramdin as captain and vice-captain respectively. The latest news seems to be that the selection panel has refused and so yet again the Caribbean fulfills the stereotype of a bunch of inefficient fools who can't manage the simplest of tasks. While I would hate to see Gayle captain the team, Ganga with his inability to make the one-day side and even struggling in the test team is not exactly a much better choice!

The absence of West Indian fans at cricket grounds during the Caribbean team’s tours has been noticeable in recent years. In addition, besides Alex Tudor a few years ago, there have been no black players on the England team unlike the 1980s and early 1990s. Two interesting articles about this can be read here- 1 and 2. Fellow blogger Colonise This! also writes about the issue here.

Feeling Loss and Further Confinement

I was out of commission for a few days- my laptop needs a new wireless adapter and so I give it to a colleague on Monday morning so that it could be fixed. Three days without internet and I felt extremely loss! No access to email, all my favourite alternative news sites, cricket news, msn, bank etc. Should I be concerned that I am so dependent on the internet?

The laptop was returned this evening, unfixed, because of unforeseen circumstances. Needless to say I will have to resend it at a later date and for now I will have to contend with an immobile laptop.

I will not comment on the record West Indian loss in the second test except to say how unfortunate it is that Sarwan has been ruled out for the remainder of the series because of injury and that Sidebottom’s performance only serves to highlight the value of playing regular competitive matches. West Indian cricketers play a few regional matches each year along with playing in their domestic competitions. The level of domestic cricket throughout the Caribbean is poor and does not serve to improve the skills of our cricketers. The short regional tournament’s standards are not much better! Sidebottom is no genius with the ball but playing regular cricket at a certain level day in and day out means that he has been able to hone his skills and professionalism. He simply translated this onto the test match arena, bowled a certain line and length and achieved success.

On another note vice-captain Ganga will likely be named captain and it should be distressing to any true West Indian fan to see a West Indian captain with a batting average of 27!

My friend Steve had a barbeque on Memorial Day so I spent most of Monday at his place in Long Island. It was refreshing to be out of my apartment even if it was just for the day! The usual highlights the past few months have been doctor/ therapist appointments and this state of affairs seems likely to continue for another few weeks.

I went to the doctor today and while there is progress- I can now wear the sneaker for most of the day and can actually walk a bit without the cane- I still have some tendonitis and cannot bear too much weight. The latest verdict is that I should keep on taking it gradually as I have been doing, slowly increasing the bearing of weight, lessening the dependence on the cane and discarding the boot- the new date for my return to work has been pushed forward by four weeks to July 9th. I don’t miss the UN or my office but I am so sick of being confined to this place that I would return to work tomorrow if I could! I had what has become the norm- cortisone shot- and the physical therapist told me that I had gotten approval for a further twelve sessions of therapy. My usual therapist is on vacation for a month and his colleague who has been working with me and who is more aggressive, succeeded in persuading the middle man company to approve more sessions. Kudos to him!

Another Day, Another Cricket Massacre

Unlike the journalists writing after the first test about a turn around, a new era etc. I did not allow myself to get carried away and my approach to the 2nd test was, as has become the norm, one of pessimism. Yes, it still hurts and frustrates to see the team performing so poorly and getting a whipping but at least I don’t have to suffer the huge disappointment that comes after such high expectations are not rewarded. It is my way of coping.

At the end of the day, the West Indian bowling attack is pathetic and at no point during the current series, or for that matter most series recently, has it looked capable of bowling out England. We can argue about the inclusion of Pedro Collins or Dave Mohammed, but I am sure the England batsmen would still run amok. The batting, with one batsman having an average over 40, and prone to collapse, is almost as weak. With that batsman injured and the captain seemingly out for the rest of the series, the batting looks worse than most county line-ups! When Sylvester Joseph, Runako Morton, Darren Ganga, Chris Gayle and Devon Smith are the crème de la crème of regional batting, one could as well quit test cricket!

Like any true West Indian fan, I will continue to follow the team, get frustrated, angry, depressed, lose the ability to speak at certain points during a game, come to the brink of tears and swear. I will hope for a win or even a fight, but I will not be so naïve to see some new dawn on the odd occasion of a reasonable performance nor will I let my hopes get so high that the disappointment after a thrashing is unbearable. I’ve had enough of that in the past decade and I learnt my lesson a long time ago.

West Indian Fightback, Monty's Magic and Malcolm X

It was wonderful to see the West Indies fight back today. I was expecting the usual collapse and at 187-5 it seemed business as usual. Excellent innings by Bravo, Chanderpaul and Ramdin along with a gritty knock by Ganga ensured that the follow-on was avoided. Monty who many did not even expect to be selected to play on a pitch thought to be seamer friendly weaved his magic, but West Indians will feel that he was ably assisted by umpire Asad Rauf who give out three batsmen LBW in contentious circumstances. Some umpires have only recently begun giving batsmen out when struck in front playing forward to spinners. I believe that cricket is a game between bat and ball, I hate to see batsmen playing with their pads and I think in the past spinners have been disadvantaged by batsmen lunging forward with their pads in the knowledge that they will not be given out. However, if there is going to be a change it has to be across the board and it has to be implemented consistently- by each umpire every time he is called upon to make a decision and by the entire panel of international umpires. Yesterday Rauf made a mockery of the game- he had denied the West Indies a plumb LBW decision against Collingwood on the first day but then decided to undertake his experiment in interpretation of the rules when the West Indies were batting. I don’t want to appear paranoid but one must wonder if he has something against the West Indies.

West Indies did a lot yesterday but the game is still far from saved. It would have been ideal if one of the top order had made a significant contribution and Ramdin had not gotten out a couple of overs before end of play. England will still feel they have a chance of winning while West Indies will need to keep fighting hard to save the match- they will have to bat till lunch and reduce the England lead to fewer than 100. One plus for the Windies is Harmison’s miserable bowling performance. The man who destroyed us in 2004 was made to look just as bad as our bowlers looked during England’s first innings! Hopefully his confidence will be severely affected for the remainder of the series!

On May 19th, 1925 one of the greatest men of the 20th Century was born- Malcolm X, also known as Malcolm Little, Detroit Red and El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. I read his autobiography when I was about 14 years and it has been a source of inspiration for me since then. Besides the fact that he had the courage to stand up and tell it like it is without any thought of the consequences for himself, what is outstanding about Malcolm is that firstly, unlike any of the other black leaders of his time, he made the link between the fight of blacks in America for their rights and the international fight of colonised people for freedom and secondly, he was man enough to stand up in public and say that what he believed when he was a member of the Nation of Islam cult was wrong. Not many people and furthermore those in the public eye have the guts or the humility to admit in public that they were wrong. His bravery in defying the status quo would ultimately lead to his murder but his message continues to inspire and enlighten millions.