West Indies One-Day International (ODI) vice-captain Brandon King is in line for his Test debut against Australia, after the 30-year-old Jamaican batsman was named in a 16-man squad to face Australia in a three match Test series in the Caribbean. King is one of eight changes to the West Indies …
Read More »1975 CWC: “Crap!” “A necessary evil!” “A vibrant carnival of cricket!”—the ODI tourney divides opinion
(Part 40.) Competing views “This one-day cricket is crap!” That was the view of Stephen Hearst. Who was (he passed away in 2010) Stephen Hearst, you ask? Well, at the time of the 1975 Cricket World Cup in England, he held the title of Controller on Radio 3 of the …
Read More »“I wish team nothing but success”; Pooran retires from West Indies cricket
Trinidad and Tobago cricket star Nicholas Pooran has retired from the international game at the relatively tender age of 29. Pooran, who recently declined an invitation to represent the West Indies in a T20 series against England and Ireland, said he thought “long and hard” about his decision, but did …
Read More »1975 CWC: Australia and New Zealand open with statement wins
(Part 39.) Winning starts for Aussies and Kiwis. They may be neighbours and both former British colonies in the Southern Hemisphere, but there is a world of difference between Australia and New Zealand; on and off the field of play. Brash and confrontational to the point of being obnoxious at …
Read More »1975 CWC: Gavaskar’s go-slow—“by far, the worst innings I’ve ever played”
On the day the 1975 Cricket World Cup got underway in England, the West Indies’ demolition of Sri Lanka by nine wickets with almost 40 overs to spare in Manchester was not the only no-contest of the four matches being played simultaneously. At Lord’s, in front of a near full-house, …
Read More »1975 CWC: Julien swings Windies past outclassed Sri Lankans
(Part 37.) West Indies too professional. With 14 days to go to the 50th anniversary of the West Indies victory over Australia in the 1975 World Cup final, Tony Cozier reports on the Caribbean side’s opening match of the tournament against Sri Lanka, which was carried originally in his celebratory …
Read More »Dear Editor: WI got bowling tactics wrong in ODIs; give Alzarri the new ball!
“[…] The West Indies tacticians, in their wisdom, chose to give the new ball to Matthew Forde to accompany Jayden Seales in the first two games. In the third game, even with Forde missing, they again overlooked Alzarri and entrusted the new ball to Shamar Joseph. That, I believe, was …
Read More »1975 CWC: Windies omit Greenidge for five bowlers, in opener against Sri Lanka
(Part 36.) Down to business. After all that build-up, with historical context, player profiles and a few other bits and pieces, the countdown to the 1975 World Cup final is now truly on ahead of the opening day of competition in the eight-team event. So, with 15 days to go …
Read More »Hosein, Goolie and Chase affected by UK visa issue; CWI blames “administrative challenges”
Veteran spinner Akeal Hosein and rookie batsman Jyd Goolie both look set to miss out on West Indies’ upcoming T20 International series against England and Ireland, due to the Cricket West Indies (CWI) failure to land visas for the cricketers. West Indies play the first of three T20I matches against …
Read More »1975 CWC: From Ollivierre to Sobers—Fazeer reviews WI’s first 12 England visits
(Part 35.) No unlucky 13. Clive Lloyd’s 1975 Cricket World Cup squad marked the first time that a West Indies team toured England to play limited-over matches exclusively. It was also the 13th visit there by a Caribbean side—certainly no ill omen as it turned out—in the 75 years since …
Read More »1975 CWC: Does the Caribbean care about Windies history? Does the CWI?!
(Part 34.) Because we forgot. As this 50th anniversary series approaches the actual days of competition at the 1975 World Cup, a question from the latest interviewee prompted today’s piece, which focuses inwards on our general attitude towards history—and, in this specific case, an historic sporting occasion that can serve …
Read More »1975 CWC: How Jeff Charles represented Dominica in historic WI moment
(Part 33.) Pride of Dominica. Tony Cozier and Joseph ‘Reds’ Perreira were the two prominent members of the broadcast team bringing “live” radio ball-by-ball commentaries to the Caribbean audience of the five West Indies matches at the 1975 Cricket World Cup. But there was a third member of the team, …
Read More »