If Jack Warner is not crooked, neither is the Lady Young Road. I so declare completely mindful of the presumption of innocence. Let it be very clear that I am not saying he is guilty of any of the crimes with which he has recently been charged. But I am …
Read More »Time to rewrite ‘Rally’? Keeping faith in WI and reactive Ramdin
I am willing to bet that there is a West Indian native or a West Indian supporter in the stats department at espncricinfo. That would explain why somebody tried to take shame outta we face on Sunday after Michel Clarke’s Aussies rolled over Denesh Ramdin’s West Indies with almost five …
Read More »West Indies should replace Chanderpaul with Usain Bolt
If it is true that a cricket match is played in the minds of the opposing captains, then the Second Test between Michael Clarke’s Australians and Denesh Ramdin’s West Indies which begins today in Jamaica is likely to be a mismatch. That conclusion is based not on the tourists’ flattering …
Read More »The Chanderpaul conundrum: Should ‘Tiger’ tail wag WI cricket dog?
Shivnarine Chanderpaul thinks, I am hearing, that West Indies cricket has not given him the send-off he deserved. I agree. 100%. Shivnarine Chanderpaul also thinks, I am hearing, that West Indies cricket has not given him the send-off he deserves. As does Brian Charles Lara. I disagree. 100%. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, …
Read More »Bravo and Blackwood sing WI captain Ramdin’s redemption song
“Now yuh in front de stand, yuh stiffing yuh chest, yuh waving yuh hand, yuh lifting yuh dress. Eh-eh, lady, how yuh have so much zest?” Darren Bravo and Jermaine Blackwood are now giving England’s Joe Root and Mooen Ali thunder at Kensington Oval. Having defied the spearheads of the …
Read More »Simmons to West Indies: To kneel or not two-nil
Columnist Earl Best looks at the chances of Denesh Ramdin’s men drawing level with England in the three-Test series, which the tourists already lead 1-0: Pride, the old saw tells us, goes before a fall but there’s no adage that I know of which tells us when pride comes back. …
Read More »Will Cooke’s England draw a blank against the poor WI?
As Jason Holder and Kemar Roach battled manfully to stave off defeat on Friday evening, a friend of mine sent me a sarcastic text. “No chance of West Indies winning,” it read, “but not a soul has left the stadium. My, my! The excitement of playing for a draw.” Almost …
Read More »Remembering Alloy Lequay: Cricket’s antidote to Jack Warner
As Austin Jack Warner was to Trinidad and Tobago football so was Alloy Remigus Lequay to Trinidad and Tobago cricket. The two men give the lie to the old adage that insists that politics and sport don’t mix. They do, they did—felicitously in the case of Lequay, who devoted his …
Read More »The belly of the WICBeast: Analysing Cameron’s election win
It only defies logic for a moment. As soon as you begin to think about the possible reasons why the West Indies Cricket Board would have re-elected outgoing president Dave Cameron, it makes perfect sense: it’s not cricket because it’s not about cricket. Read Raffique Shah’s column on page 14 …
Read More »Remember 19/11: Gally’s post-Strike Squad torment
Strike Squad coach Everald Cummings talks to Earl Best about what he felt on November 19, 1989, what he feels now and how he has been treated. PART II: Bitterness does not enter the picture when Strike Squad coach Everald “Gally” Cummings discusses the events of November 19, 1989; when …
Read More »Remember 19/11: When Gally mashed Jack’s corns on Road to Italy
Strike Squad coach Everald “Gally” Cummings talks to Earl Best in the first of a two-part interview about the Road to Italy and an explosive fall-out with TTFA general secretary Jack Warner PART I: “The sun,” Michael Maurice said about his failure to stop Paul Caligiuri’s long-range left-footed shot on …
Read More »Can Bangladesh push West Indies in two-Test series?
Earl Best comments on what the fans can expect in the two weeks ahead: To the extent that performances in the three ODIs are a reliable guide to what to expect in the two-Test series which starts tomorrow, Mushfiqur Rahim’s touring Bangladeshis are deep in trouble. Obviously, statistics do not …
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