Tag Archives: Earl Best

West Indians, were you watching the second Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants thriller? With two ex-Maroon Men, Sunil Narine and Nicholas Pooran, up against each other in Sunday’s IPL eighth round clash in Lucknow? Both gentlemen, no one needs to be reminded, players who prematurely called time on …

What will history remember about Carnival 2026? Not the mas, for sure! Post-Minshall, mas has been eminently forgettable. Most, especially the Catholic Church, will remember the sex toy distribution and forget what Tribe played. Pan? Perhaps. The narrow Exodus win, their sixth in all, over a consistent Renegades, leading the …

Columnist Earl Best imagines himself a fly on the wall in the West Indies dressing room in Mumbai: “Reckless!” As though discarding a chewed up plum seed, West Indies all-formats coach Daren Sammy spat the word into the middle of the dressing room. For what seemed like an eternity, he …

When Roston Chase dived forward at deep midwicket to snaffle the low catch offered by Adil Rashid, England were still all of 30 runs short of the West Indies’ challenging 196. And just like that, with Nepal and minnows Italy still to be faced, Daren Sammy’s unfancied squad had solidified …

When, with all of six balls left, Nepal needed a mere 10 runs for a historic win over England, a fervent prayer went up to heaven. “Seigneur, non,” it said, “please, I beg you. Je t’en prie.” England white ball coach Brendon McCullum is a New Zealander. He speaks no …

October and Calypso History Month are behind us now. February and Season 2026 beckon. What lies ahead? What is in store for us in the tents—if tents there are! No official Independence celebration, remember?—in Skinner Park and eventually in the Savannah? What we know is that, barring the unforeseen, Helon …

I’ve been going through files from the West Indies Cricket Board of Control from the 1950s. I was fortunate to get access to these rare documents which go back 75 years, and I am revisiting them because I feel a sense of responsibility to put the information surrounding the career …

If David Rudder had had his way, there would be no scary future awaiting West Indies Test cricket. “Pretty soon the runs are gonna flow again like water,” he  declared, “bringing so much joy to each and every son and daughter.” Easy as it is to get the wrong impression, …

Cricket connoisseurs had little doubt. If, in the last 15 years,  anybody was going to break Brian Lara’s 400 not out highest individual innings record, the hero would be one of five players. Who are the Fab Five? The first two are Australia’s Steve Smith and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson, …

Boasting the most feared and most formidable bowling foursome in contemporary world cricket, Australia need no assistance to best Roston Chase’s now-struggling-to-find-their-feet West Indies. In the first match of the three-Test series, they won by 159 runs in Barbados last week, and they seemed to get it anyway. From an …

Take a bow, Romario Shepherd. At a time when the Caribbean front-runners aren’t exactly covering themselves in glory, the Guyanese allrounder has given the CWI contingent a boost. In case you missed it, Rajit Patidar’s Royal Challengers Bengaluru beat MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings by two runs on Saturday. Without …

Former West Indies T20 captain Nicholas Pooran has been in sublime form in recent times. But is there enough in it to justify comparisons to the ‘Universe Boss’, Chris Gayle? There is at least one writer who seems to think so. Against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens in Kolkata …