Late on Day Four of a see-saw First Test at Sabina Park on Sunday, Kraigg Brathwaite’s West Indies held their nerve and rode their luck to eke out a narrow one-wicket win over Babar Azam’s Pakistan. In a low-scoring game, number 9, Kemar Roach, and number 11, Jayden Seales, came …
Read More »Dear Editor: Whatever happened to our cricket commentary standards?
“[…] Who selects our commentators? What prerequisites should potential commentators have before qualifying as commentators, and being unleashed on the helpless listeners? Is a facility with the English language one of these prerequisites?” The following Letter to the Editor on the standard of West Indies cricket commentary was submitted to …
Read More »T2021 W/C: With unselective six-seeking, Pollard’s ‘Fab Four’ musketeers can go wrong—Best’s WI dream team
Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D’Artagnan. Remember them? One for all and all for one? French figments of Alexandre Dumas’ fertile 19th Century imagination. How many of us have seen ourselves in these swashbuckling heroes? Sixty thousand Frenchmen cannot be wrong, right? Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell. …
Read More »Bonner, Brooks back in WI Test team but recovery breaks for DM Bravo, Gabriel
Right-handed middle-order batsman Nkrumah Bonner has been recalled to the West Indies 17-member provisional Test squad announced by the Roger Harper-led selection panel on Monday. The 32-year-old Jamaican, who earned a middle-order spot on the starting XI with his consistent performances in Bangladesh earlier this year, has fully recovered from …
Read More »T2021 W/C: ‘Fab Four’ (Pt 2)—Roneil picks Hetmyer, Pooran in dream WI’s XI to counter spin threat
Now that the West Indies’ ‘Fab Four’, the ‘Real McCoy’ and Fabian ‘Bucket Hands’ Allen are out of the way, let us take a close look at the composition of the rest of the WI T20I squad. Unlike in the Test arena, where WI seem to be on a never-ending …
Read More »T2021 W/C: Roneil says ‘Fab Four’ of match-winners can make all the difference for WI
Guest contributor Roneil Walcott offers the first of a two-part look into his own dream West Indies Team, as Wired868 continues its look ahead to the T20 Cricket World Cup: Remember the name! What a moment! What a team! The West Indies have done it again. They have defended their …
Read More »Weather sees Pakistan walk away with 1-0 win, denies Bravo chance to sign-off in style
Babar Azam’s Pakistan on Tuesday won the four-match series 1-0 but it was the weather that once again had the last laugh at the National Stadium in Providence, Guyana. Pakistan managed as many as three complete overs against Kieron Pollard’s West Indies. It was better than the eight balls the …
Read More »T2021 W/C: Jackman calls for DJ Bravo as pinch-hitter, Ramdin in reserve and Gayle exit
“[…] Let me here recall the late Sir Alf Ramsey’s explanation of how he managed England to their only major football title, the 1966 World Cup. The former wing-back said he did not have the players to fit any existing system so he developed one to fit his players. “[…] …
Read More »Pakistan assured of share of T20I series as second West Indies match washed out
The nine overs completed in Wednesday’s First T20I between Pakistan and the West Indies at Kensington Oval in Barbados did not seem like a lot then. On Sunday at the National Stadium in Providence, Guyana, they did as the two teams were unable to get in as many as nine …
Read More »Brilliant Pooran almost denies Pakistan their 7-run win over WI in 2nd T20I
Pakistan’s 7-run win over West Indies in the second T20I at the National Stadium in Providence, Guyana, on Saturday turned on six elements: Pakistani skipper Babar Azam’s beautiful batting, rain’s inopportune 17-minute interruption, Man-of-the-Match Mohammad Hafeez’s miserly bowling, Evin Lewis’ untimely injury, WI skipper Kieron Pollard’s uncharacteristic lack of timing, …
Read More »T2021 W/C: Tino Singh names nine batsmen, including Gayle and Hetmyer, in his dream WI XI
“[…] I strongly feel the under-rated off-spin of the ‘Universe Boss’ will be a back-up weapon and will work in WI’ favour. “I am bold enough to predict that [Obed] McCoy will emerge as one of the leading wicket-takers in the tournament. He is one of the most improved bowlers …
Read More »Rain reigns as weather puts damper on start to West Indies vs Pakistan series
No sooner had the strains of the Pakistan national anthem finished washing over the Kensington Oval in Barbados than the skies opened and began to empty themselves on to the venue. And by the time the rains had subsided long enough to allow Kieron Pollard’s West Indies batsmen to hustle …
Read More »