“[…] Thus far, the West Indies selectors’ most controversial picks, Messrs Chris Gayle and Ravi Rampaul in particular, have done absolutely nothing to justify the faith expressed in their respective abilities to perform with merit during the tournament. “[…] Some of the West Indies final XI choices were equally bizarre. …
Read More »T2021 W/C: Is West Indian mindlessness a mere figment of Mark Nicholas’ imagination?
Tuesday morning in the Caribbean. South Africa are on the verge of victory in the second of the West Indies five Super 12 games in the 2021 World Cup. England’s Mark Nicholas is saluting the pair at the wicket, whose 83-run partnership will soon steer the Proteas to their crushing …
Read More »T2021 W/C: Are Pollard’s men finally ready to change the tune, after ‘collapso’ mess?
At 25 for 1 in the fourth over of England’s pursuit of 55 in the West Indies’ opening match of the 2021 T20 World Cup campaign, Win Predictor gave Kieron Pollard’s side a 1% chance of victory. On commentary on television at the time, former England captain Michael Atherton questioned …
Read More »T2021 W/C: If WI ever needed you is now; Pooran makes Best change his tune
October, which sees the start of the 2021 T20 Cricket World Cup, is also Calypso History Month. So it makes sense to me, if we are going to be clear about what this is all about, to allow David Rudder to tell us. In his ‘Rally’, he has found just …
Read More »T2021 W/C: Pressure does buss pipe; Best considers the strain on Pollard’s troops
Today, I want to return to the subject of Chris Gayle’s angry public reaction to perceived provocation by Curtly Ambrose. Obliquely, not frontally. I want to suggest that, heated though it was, it may well conceal a submerged iceberg. We might properly begin with West Indian royalty. But it seems …
Read More »T2021 W/C: WI have explosive batsmen and wily death bowler, but large boundaries can be factor
“[…] No fewer than eight of the 15 players chosen, namely Evin Lewis, Lendl Simmons, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran, captain Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell and Fabian Allen, have repeatedly proven themselves to be fully capable of winning T20 matches on their own, with their very powerful, often destructive …
Read More »Under pressure: Best looks at Viv’s measured approach to Gayle’s ‘Ambi’ swipe
A guilty conscience, those who grew up in Trinidad in the second half of the 20th century would often have heard, needs no accuser. Christopher Henry ‘Scrempy’ Gayle grew up in Kingston, Jamaica in the second half of the second half of the last century. But he probably heard it …
Read More »T2021 W/C: Simmons’ bonding concern, body blows and bruised egos, as WI prepare for T20 title defence
“Dive, boy, dive!” Many of the details which were reported here on Wired868 at the time escape me now. But who can forget Dwayne Bravo’s ringing exhortation to his younger brother to give 100%? Or forget the exasperated four-letter word that subsequently came through the stump mike when Darren Bravo …
Read More »T2021 W/C: Narine shows what WI will miss as post-CPL lessons continue in IPL play-offs
It would not be accurate to say that West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine almost single-handedly put the Kolkata Knight Riders into the IPL semi-final on Monday. Why? Because accuracy requires that we say ‘former West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine’. Mr Roger Harper and his selection panel were well aware that, …
Read More »T2021 W/C: Fitness fears haunt WI fast men; should Gayle mirror India’s MS Dhoni?
I wish to leave veteran West Indies batsman Chris Gayle aside for the moment and turn my attention to a not unrelated issue. My interest in the fitness of West Indies players and the granting of medical exemptions has been further piqued with the recent injury struggles faced by the …
Read More »T2021 W/C: A tale of two Gayles—veteran’s IPL exit might make Harper’s defenders blush
He was once the best of them. But don’t blush, baby! He may now be the worst of them. Or close to it… The day was 21 September 2021 and the self-proclaimed ‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle was celebrating his 42nd birthday. It was the first game of the re-started IPL …
Read More »T2021 W/C: Jackman sees flawed logic in calls to drop Gayle and add Holder to WI squad
“[…] For years the destroyer of bowling attacks, Chris Gayle is but a shadow of the fearsome figure he once was. His run production rapidly declining in recent years, he has endured a near-barren 2021 for both WI and the Patriots. “[…] If, as the multitude insists, Gayle cannot be …
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