It turns out that it might be a good idea after all to attach the brand “Trinidad and Tobago” to a competition which attracted, according to the Limacol Caribbean Premier League (CPL), over 250,000 spectators and a global television audience of 36 million last year. So, the Trinidad and Tobago …
Read More »Open Letter to Bravo: Windies names ODI squad for Pakistan
I don’t know about you, Dwayne, but I got a bit of a surprise when I read the WICB’s media release announcing the squad for the upcoming One-day Internationals against Pakistan. The first thing that struck me was not the absence of Denesh Ramdin’s name. Nor was it the omission …
Read More »Faltering West Indies could miss tri-series final
If the West Indies find themselves mere spectators at Thursday’s Celkon Mobile Tri-Nation Series Cup final, they will have to blame their batsmen, with the exception of Darren Bravo and Lendl Simmonds. Set a revised 230 to get off 41 overs after rain again intervened, Kieron Pollard’s side reached 190 …
Read More »Kohli forces West Indies’ hand in Celkon Mobile Tri-series
India yesterday breathed new life into the Celkon Mobile Tri-series with a convincing 102-run Duckworth/Lewis victory over the West Indies at the Queen’s Park Oval. Asked to get a challenging revised total of 274 in 39 overs in response to India’s imposing 311 for 7 off 50, Dwayne Bravo’s side …
Read More »T&T Red Steel vows to overcome talent drain
Having already lost power-hitter Kieron Pollard and mystery spinner Sunil Narine, Trinidad and Tobago continued the haemorrhage in the June 5 Caribbean Premier League (CPL) draft in Montego Bay in Jamaica. That does not seem to bother officials of the local franchise, the Red Steel, who claim not to be …
Read More »Ramdin, Broad and the anti-West Indies agenda
A white ’ooman name Miss Black, a black ’ooman name Miss White, a red ooman name Miss Green is the funniest ting I’ve seen. A narrow-minded referee name Chris Broad… The calypsonian did not actually sing those lines half-a-century or so ago. But if, like me, he has followed the …
Read More »Captain Caribbean: Bravo’s blueprint for brilliance
Not for nothing were West Indian teams prior to Kerry Packer’s crucial intervention in the late 1970’s ritually called “Calypso Cricketers.” Sparrow’s “Slave” contains a line that perhaps epitomizes the regional attitude to the game. In that classic tune, the Calypso King of the World as first person narrator describes …
Read More »Bravo’s thoughtful Windies captaincy undone by Trini traits
7.45pm, June 14, 2013, The Kennington Oval. It is drizzling steadily but West Indian ODI captain Dwayne Bravo and his immediate predecessor Darren Sammy decline to leave the field. AB de Villiers and his South Africans, who looked hard-pressed to salvage a much-needed win, have long since disappeared into the …
Read More »The great bungle: The real reason for West Indies’ flop
So the reigning T20 champions will miss out on the June 23 Edgbaston Champions Trophy final which, with luck, could feature India and South Africa. But it was neither Mother India nor Mother Africa that did the West Indies in, as the conspiracy theorists might argue. No, say the apologists, …
Read More »Denesh delusions: Talk to the Shotter, Bravo
The conspiracy theorists are having a field day; according to them, India’s easy win on Tuesday was set up by the two-match ban on West Indies wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin. I have heard no suggestions about the use to which the sanctioned wicketkeeper’s match fee has been put but I feel …
Read More »Stabilising the West Indies cricket team
The West Indies cricket team’s 3-0 One-Day International (ODI) triumph against Zimbabwe marks the 16th time that the regional team has swept an opposing nation since a 1976 whitewash away to England under legendary captain Clive Lloyd. There is little similarity between those two emphatic series. Zimbabwe is clearly a minnow …
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