With India unsteady on 43 for 3 in the 11th over, the Nicholas Pooran-led West Indies looked to have a sniff in the second ODI in the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad today. But after that, the visitors smelled only leather as Rohit Sharma’s batsmen powered their way to 237 …
Read More »Skerritt’s ‘introselection’ explained; why CWI presidents want no West Indies sole selector
Sick! Toxic! CWI president Ricky Skerritt has not actually uttered those words in public. Not yet. But two recent references to ‘mischief-makers’ tell us that this quiet, even-tempered Kittitian gentleman has had it up to here with what goes on behind closed doors in CWI. And in plain sight in …
Read More »Pollard: “We have to find a way!” West Indies whipped by India, despite Holder half-century
Player-of-the-Series against England Jason Holder continued his return to world number one allrounder form at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad today—this time with the bat. But his six-speckled half-century could only get a disappointing West Indies batting line-up to 176 all out in 43.5 overs in the first of …
Read More »Best: CWI cramping Haynes’ style; shouldn’t he be given full control of WI selection?
Unlike his departed predecessor, I’ll bet my hat that Desmond Leo Haynes won’t be announcing that he has to see Nicholas Pooran—or anyone else—play red ball cricket before he considers him for a place on the Test team. Already, he has announced he’ll be doing things his way; his panel …
Read More »Best: A selection reflection; if Haynes’ knowledge is ‘second to none’, why does he need a partner?
Recently retired former West Indies ODI captain Dwayne Bravo is not happy with the way CWI does business. “From top level, he explained to SportsMax in a post-World Cup interview, “the politics is so strong. It doesn’t matter who is the president or who is the CEO, they have the …
Read More »Media Monitor: Unamusing musings the morning after Holder’s WI miracle the night before
Although they may not admit it, people do not like to be wrong; certainly, nobody likes to be seen to be wrong. Sometimes, however, you rejoice that you did not get it right. And you are overjoyed that you resisted the temptation to rush into print to share the view …
Read More »Best: Regional rumblings rock CWI; mea culpa: me, mischief-makers and my big mouth
It was, I swear, a completely innocent comment. But the cricket coaches at Queen’s Royal College in the 1960s must take some of the blame. They taught us to try to see any cricket match through the eyes of the opposing captains. On 22 January in Wired868, this paragraph appeared …
Read More »Ali and Adil double-act puts brakes on West Indies, as Betway Series still alive for game five
Mooen Ali came to the party today, bringing his fastest half-century in T20Is and a couple of wickets to get England to 193 for 6 and restrict West Indies to 159 for 5. His 63 off 28 balls and 2/28 Man-of-the-Match performance helped his team beat Kieron Pollard’s West Indies …
Read More »West Indies U19 batsmen fail to show as UAE push home side out of W/Cup Plate final
Led by an outstanding rear-guard 93 from Man-of-the-Match Aayan Afzal Khan, the UAE moved past a disappointingly feckless West Indies U19s by 82 runs in the Plate semifinal of the ICC Under-19 World Cup at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad today. In reply to the UAE’s 224 for …
Read More »Sparkling Nandu century takes WIU19 into Plate semis; England trounce South Africa
A rapid, Man-of-the-Match century by stand-in West Indies U19 captain Matthew Nandu was enough to leave a hapless Papua New Guinea floundering in the plate quarterfinals of the ICC U19 World Cup in Diego Martin today. And not content to have taken the opposition bowlers for 128 off only 134 …
Read More »Best: One short! Why Hosein joins Brathwaite and Lara on the long-lasting WI memories list
I think I ought to apologise to Hayden Walsh Jr. But I know I owe Akeal Hosein an apology. Romario Shepherd, the allrounder who shared the spotlight with Hosein in Game Two of the Betway five-match T20 series in Barbados on Sunday, had an essential message for the West Indians …
Read More »Holder, King power West Indies to 9-wkt win over England in Betway series opener
Man-of-the-Match Jason Holder sent back four batsmen for seven runs to dismiss top-ranked England for a paltry 103 in the first of five ODIs at Kensington Oval in Barbados today. And then Brandon King, continuing the rich vein of form he re-found in Pakistan, hit a confident half-century to push …
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