The best time to be in front is at the end. So that now that the final warming-up is done and the real business has begun, expect Australia, England and India to be out front in a league of their own. Two vowels are left but one place. Either Oman …

On another day, it might have gone another way; the boot might well have been on the opposition’s foot. Yesterday, however, Jason Holder’s West Indies kicked some butt, embarrassing Pakistan with a rapid, convincing seven-wicket defeat. On a lively pitch in not unhelpful conditions, the West Indian pace attack exploited …

We’d love nine wins! But six wins and three losses would be enough; with that round robin tally, Jason Holder and his 14 acolytes can feed the millions of West Indian mouths which have long hungered for World Cup cricketing success. That would be a miracle, you say? And so? …

One of these days, truth be told, cricket might well have a new GOAT. Much of India’s massive cricket-mad population is likely to bristle at that suggestion; for them, Sachin Tendulkar’s place as the greatest batsman of all time has never really been in doubt…and never will be. Maybe they …

Karma, they say, is a bitch. History’s reputation, as far as I am aware, is not quite so negative. But we are admonished not to ignore it; those who fail to heed its lessons, we are warned, are condemned to repeat it. Beaten by the West Indies in the first …

“Often the bridesmaid,” a television commentator summed up England’s performance in the 11 World Cups so far contested, “never the bride.” The comment put a broad smile on my lips. And immediately afterwards, a disturbing thought in my mind. It wiped the smile completely off. Although the evidence, in my …

When Jason Holder abandons the beaten track, it is to get back on to the main road. Conservative rather than adventurous, the West Indies all-formats captain opts for an oviparous style of captaincy, putting a premium on small gains and largely eschewing the daring that often yields success in shorter-format …

“A man who took a wicket,” Richie asked, as West Indies captain Jason Holder summoned Fabian Allen to bowl over number 20 in Friday’s Tri-Nation Series final against Bangladesh, “to give himself a bowling average of 168 could be the key to Windies winning this?” “Crazy!!” he responded to his …

Did you see Monday evening’s World Cup programme or last week’s promo for it? The one in which ex-WI captain Darren Sammy matter-of-factly asserts that ‘West Indies are winning the World Cup’? I mean, really matter-of-factly. As if he were saying ‘The sun rises in the east.’ Promo and programme …

Brian Lara on song, cricket connoisseurs the world over agree, is an arresting, cathartic spectacle; it belongs, in the words of CLR James, who does not only cricket know, ‘with the theatre, ballet, opera and dance.’ A Brian Lara pull, right knee lifted high and torso swivelling rapidly but gracefully …

South Africa’s embattled Caster Semenya is black. And she’s a mighty middle-distance runner, having accumulated 30 victories on the trot in the 800m between 2007 and last Friday. The Court of Arbitration for Sport, the sports world highest jurisdiction, last week ruled against the two-time Olympic champion. If she wants …

Columnist Earl Best concludes his series on legendary West Indies and Trinidad and Tobago batsman Brian Lara with an imagined interview with the Prince of Port-of-Spain: Earl Best (EB): Shane Warne calls some of Sachin Tendulkar innings “pretty amazing” and calls some of yours “unbelievable.”  “I think if you wanted …