Five overs. For an ODI captain, those 30 balls are sometimes a real test. Think West Indies Test captain Jason Holder bidding just to keep the ball in the park when AB De Villiers took a liking to his bowling in the ICC World Cup in Sydney in 2015. Five …
Read More »Best: Happy with Harper? Emotions high, expectations low as WI head for Bangladesh
As the West Indies second-string cricketers prepare to fly out to Bangladesh for a three-ODI, two-Test tour, expectation levels are way, way down. Unsurprisingly, not too many people seem terribly optimistic about the account this depleted bunch will give of itself. And it’s not just the man-in-the-street who’s making little …
Read More »Dear editor: Brathwaite as captain? No Ambris or Chemar on Test team? Lunacy!
“[…] Judging from [Roger] Harper’s statement before the New Zealand tour, one would have to assume that [Kraigg] Brathwaite’s batting performances on the England tour and the matches immediately preceding the New Zealand series were of concern to the selectors. “Given his scores in New Zealand, how does the move …
Read More »Pollard, Holder, Pooran among 12 withdrawals from Windies’ Bangladesh tour, amidst Covid concerns
West Indies Test captain Jason Holder and One-Day International captain Kieron Pollard are among 10 cricketers who rejected call-ups for next month’s tour of Bangladesh due to ‘Covid-19 related concerns or personal fears’. The other players who ‘declined the opportunity to tour’ for similar reasons are: Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, Roston …
Read More »Best: Holder has to go but is captaincy really WI cricket’s problem?
A cricket match, a very wise man once wrote, is played in the minds of the opposing captains. The leader’s performance between the two sets of stumps may well contribute to the eventual outcome of any given match. But if he fails to perform consistently between the ears, his team …
Read More »Dear Editor: My dad, Sheldon Gomes, epitomised grace, humility, and generosity…
“[…] His departure was both sudden and unexpected. One could say it was in his nature. The only person who could truly say they knew Dad’s movements […] was his travel agent…” The following Letter to the Editor on the passing of former Trinidad and Tobago cricketer Sheldon Gomes—a former …
Read More »Sport and the Budget: More attention on stadia, less on sportsmen and women
Minister of Finance Colm Imbert outlined the Trinidad and Tobago Government’s Budget for 2020-2021 today, as a bid to ‘ensure that our economic recovery is as strong as possible’ and with ‘diversification of the economy [as] our highest priority’. Sport earned two mentions in Imbert’s 142-page Budget statement, although it …
Read More »Little difference between Gomes and games; Best remembers Sheldon—his QRC teammate
When I told Sheldon Anthony Gomes that Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards had reminded me of him, his response was immediate. “He as good as you?” I had asked in jest. “Nah, skip,” he responded, “ten times better—at least!” Richards had singlehandedly run out three Australian batsmen in the 1975 World …
Read More »Ex-Mayor: Arima was always so proud of Sheldon Gomes—rest in peace
“[…] Arima was always proud of this versatile son of the soil who hailed from a sporting family that also produced West Indies cricketer Larry Gomes, his younger brother, while his elder brother, the late Lester Gomes, who was well known in lawn tennis circles…” The following is a tribute …
Read More »Best: Warne fiddles with T20 bowling rules while Gower burns; how will ICC respond?
The beauty of art, it has been said, is the concealment of art; England’s right-handed middle-order batsman Mike Gatting and left-handed opener Andrew Strauss are certain to agree. Neither saw the threat Australia’s artful Shane Warne posed to his continued survival until it was too late. The first lost his …
Read More »Lyndersay: Where’s Brian? A review of 501 Not Out
“[501 Not Out is] a romantic reminiscence of the closing of a golden era in West Indies cricket, a sparkling reminder of the power of the region’s cricketers and the stunning individual achievement of [Brian] Lara at the wicket. “It’s also an odd little film, one that focuses almost determinedly …
Read More »West Indies T20 star Pollard not good enough? England’s David Gower fails QED test
“A Worrell innings knows no dawn. It begins at high noon!” “He never played an ungrammatical stroke.” Those two sentences describing the batting of the West Indies greatest ever captain Sir Frank Worrell were penned by Neville Cardus, the doyen of English cricket writers. “Clive Lloyd.” That, so the story …
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