God alone knows what Roger Harper’s proclivities are as far as religion and politics go. There are, however, enough clues around, I submit, for West Indies fans to reach tentative conclusions about how the CWI lead selector’s cricketing mind works. Faith, says the Good Book, is the substance of things …
Read More »Hope joins illustrious WI centurion club, as hosts beat Sri Lanka in opening ODI
Openers Shai Hope and Evin Lewis set a new record opening stand of 143 runs against Sri Lanka today, as West Indies whipped the visitors by eight wickets in the first CG Insurance One-Day International at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. The partnership eclipsed West Indies’ previous best …
Read More »Small margins, big hits, near misses, close calls and the trick S/Lanka spin played on WI
Outskilled! Thus did England Test captain Joe Root sum up the reason for his team’s 1-3 defeat in the recently concluded four-Test series at the hands of Virat Kohli’s India. West Indies white ball captain Kieron Pollard, whose team eked out a narrow 2-1 victory over Angelo Mathews’ Sri Lanka …
Read More »Pollard scores six sixes in record over, as West Indies whip Sri Lanka in opening T20
West Indies limited overs captain Kieron Pollard became only the third person in international cricket to score six sixes in a single over, as he blasted Sri Lanka spinner Akila Dananjaya for a record spell at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua. Pollard finished with a match-winning 38 runs from …
Read More »Pollard’s Reds attack with full force; toothless Jaguars prove easy game
Losing cricket teams have been out-thought, out-gunned, out-batted, out-bowled and generally out-played. But yesterday in the Super50 Cup final at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua, for the first time Kieron Pollard’s Red Force simply out-talented the Guyana Jaguars by 152 runs. The game was essentially over once Lendl Simmons …
Read More »Gayle, Fidel and Akeal named in WI’s limited overs team; no space for Hetmyer, Narine and Cottrell
Veteran batsman Chris Gayle, 41, will wear the maroon strip next month, as he was recalled to the West Indies limited overs team, which will face Sri Lanka from 3 March at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua. Gayle joins experienced pacer Fidel Edwards, 39, as well as spinners Akeal Hosein, …
Read More »Best: Clive Lloyd puts GOAT mouth on Holder’s time as WI leader; will Pollard replace him?
Ahnhahn! “If I were a selector,” said Sir Clive Lloyd last week, “obviously Kraigg (Brathwaite) would be slightly ahead of Jason (Holder) because of what he has done with the team they have there.” “I’m sure Jason is not a guy,” he added, “who will say ‘I’ve got a bad …
Read More »Dear Editor: How Hugh Brisse can help Hetmeyer; my Windies ODI Team for Sri Lanka
“[…] The selectors have no room for sentimentality; in order to qualify automatically for the October/November 2023 World Cup in India, we have to get the points against Sri Lanka. We must pick the best 18-man squad from among all the available players. “I would go with three openers: Evin …
Read More »Can any of Mohammed’s white-ballers get into Pollard’s squad? Best selects WI T20/ODI team
When the West Indies selection panel meets to name the squads for the three-format series against the Sri Lanka Tigers, there will be an enormous elephant in the room. And such is the interest created by Kraigg Brathwaite’s side’s completely unexpected 2-0 clean sweep in Bangladesh that many a fan …
Read More »Open letter to Kieron Pollard: Ask not what WI can do for you…
Dear Kieron, Wherever you happen to be in the world, you would not have failed to watch the First Test action between Kraigg Brathwaite’s side and Bangladesh in Chattogram; my instincts tell me that. And that, along with so many of us, you steupsed loudly after Day Three when West …
Read More »Best: Whether with Pollard or Holder, WI spinning top in mud without CWI reform
For 32 years since Viv Richards’ West Indies beat Australia by nine wickets at the Gabba, no other country successfully breached that fortress. Of the 31 matches played there between that defeat and this year, the home side had drawn seven and won 24. But without its appointed captain and …
Read More »Waiting for Wehby action, WI wonders about Pollard’s promotion and the Peter Principle
It’s enough to wipe the smile off your face. Or make you disrespect anyone else who is within earshot. On the radio on Friday morning, the announcer broke the news this way: “As expected, Bangladesh defeated the West Indies by seven wickets in the second ODI earlier today.” That she …
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