After a battering by, above all, Ben Stokes in Bridgetown, Barbados today, Kraigg Brathwaite’s West Indies remained unbowed. And Brathwaite and Shamarh Brooks will resume the West Indian first innings in the Second Apex Test on Day Three tomorrow with one number uppermost in their minds: 308. That is the …
Read More »Apex Peek: Lawrence upstages centurion, Joe puts down roots, Brathwaite loses it and Alzarri poops
Day One of a Test match spawns an almost indescribable feeling. I was only one of probably 200 West Indians at the Kensington Oval in Barbados, the venue for the Second Apex Test; the other 25,000 or so packed in were unmistakably English. Near capacity! The Barmy Army announced their …
Read More »Slim pickings for WI bowlers; Lawrence misses out but Root gets Test ton number 25
Had gun-shy West Indies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite decided to risk a review off the last ball of the 20th over in the Second Apex Test at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados today, England might have found themselves—not for the first time—in a spot of bother before lunch. He did not …
Read More »Bonner, Holder hold off England; Brathwaite praises 1st innings centurion after drawn Test
Nkrumah Bonner pulled the 48th ball he received in the West Indies’ second innings of the First Apex Test at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound today to the midwicket boundary for four. That took his team, chasing an unlikely 286 off 71 overs to beat Joe Root’s …
Read More »‘We have a fighting chance!’ Bonner solidifies West Indies, as hosts take charge against England
After a 354-ball, nine-hour marathon that had yielded 123 runs at a strike rate of 34.64, Nkrumah Bonner found himself at bat with only 14 more deliveries left in the day’s play. All arms and legs, part-timer Dan Lawrence ran in and served up an off-spinner that spun down the …
Read More »“It’s evenly poised!” Brathwaite seeks bright WI start as Holder and Bonner defy England
Rain interrupted proceedings five times in the course of the second day of the First Apex Test match at the Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound in Antigua. But at the end of the kind of day that frustrates West Indian cricketers, thanks largely to an unbeaten 75-run partnership between …
Read More »Early Bird: Root’s record plus weak West Indies bowling put Lara’s record under threat
Sonny Ramadhin’s recent death reminded us that more than once MCC tinkered with the rules. The changes may have helped England in 1957 but they certainly haven’t really helped them do all that well in the Caribbean at any time. Their last away series win in the 20th Century came …
Read More »Brathwaite posts record 276 against Jamaica; Red Force, Leewards win by an innings
Grovel! That was the message England captain Tony Greig sent to the West Indies 46 years ago as Clive Lloyd’s West Indians prepared to visit English shores. In words. The West Indians won that series 3-0, Vivian Richards blasting 291 and Michael Holding taking 14 wickets in the Oval Test. …
Read More »‘Hand of Hetty’ prompts Guyana collapse, Solozano shines for Red Force, Jamaica defy Barbados
Shimron Hetmyer was one of the most talked about West Indies cricketers this year, without actually playing for the West Indies—owing, according to the Cricket West Indies (CWI) selectors—to his fitness issues. Today, the talented 25-year-old stole the show again despite facing just one ball from Leeward Islands Hurricanes pacer …
Read More »McWatt and ‘Reds’: What will West Indies selectors do about abysmal batting, Bravo and Roach?
“[…] Jason Holder’s miserly 65-run aggregate was, incredibly, the highest among all the West Indies batsmen [in India]. “The aggregates and associated averages of the West Indies top five batsmen were far more in sync with numbers that would be called at a Bingo game than with those that would …
Read More »Alzarri, Evin, Mayers, Odean and Rovman drafted as 17 West Indians get IPL deals
Seventeen regional cricketers will line up in the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 competition this season—although almost one-third of them are not in the current West Indies squad. Jamaican bowling allrounder Odean Smith was today drafted by the Punjab Kings, coach Anil Kumble suggesting that he was suitably impressed …
Read More »India hold off Holder in final ODI to complete maiden series sweep over West Indies
Jason Holder’s third multiple-wicket haul in his last eight white ball matches should have earned the Nicholas Pooran-led West Indies some World Cup Super League points in the third and final game of the three-match day/night ODI series. But India’s challenging 265 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad again …
Read More »