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.

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.

No Surprises in Squad for English Tour

The West Indies squad to tour England was announced today on the recently retired (forced into retirement?) Brian Lara’s 38th birthday. Given the pool of players to choose from, it comes as no surprise that there were not any major changes from the World Cup team. However, I think the selectors made some key mistakes by the inclusion/exclusion of some players. Why is there no back-up wicketkeeper? On what basis was Sylvester Joseph selected? It certainly cannot be because of his poor performance on the A’ team tour to England last year. Darren Sammy is more suited to the one-day game. He does not strike me as a genuine batsman or bowler and someone like Ryan Hinds or Narsingh Deonarine would have been better options being authentic batsmen who also bowl well. I am also not sure why Collymore was picked. He never seems like he will take a wicket and he rarely does. I think it is time to move on with respect to Collymore. On a tour to a country that favours swing bowling, Pedro Collins would have been a more appropriate selection. Samuels deserved to be omitted based on his attitude and I would have also liked to see Chris Gayle dropped!