“[…] In a T20 match, four tight overs are worth their weight in gold. In [Sunil] Narine’s two IPL games thus far, after he bowled a tight over during which the batsmen played him cautiously, the bowler at the other end got a wicket. The batsmen were forced to take …
Read More »T2021 W/C: Polls apart? CWI and Wired868 panels agree on Gayle, differ on Bravo, Holder
Allyuh tink dis selection ting easy? Allyuh know who Joshua Bishop is? No? Well, the 21-year-old Barbados Royals’ rookie left-arm spinner’s name somehow ended up on a list of three dozen West Indies players named by the 12 panellists asked to select their WI dream team for the 2021 T20 …
Read More »T2021 W/C: Gayle’s last dance: in defence of the West Indies’ pick for the ‘Universe Boss’
“Yes, I want to play for West Indies—that’s where my heart is,” veteran West Indies cricket star Chris Gayle told ESPN, during an interview in March 2021. “I am never going to turn down anything pertaining to West Indies cricket at this particular time. “[…] Hopefully I can perform, help …
Read More »CPL 2021: How a Champion and a ‘Dom’ gave the Patriots their champagne moment
“[…] Then came the finale, the most thrilling CPL final in the tournament’s nine-year existence. The home upstarts SKN Patriots, representing the Leeward Islands against the dominant St Lucia Kings, representing the Windward Islands. “[…] Videos were out, shade being thrown by all supporters. Memes galore. So much fun and …
Read More »CPL 2021: Anatomy of a cricketing coup; an insider details how the Patriots became kings
“[…] In these smaller islands, the level of insularity in cricket and other sports means that opportunities for our players and athletes are inherently less than those of our more endowed larger island nations of the archipelago. “I was always one to support the underdog against all odds so now …
Read More »T2021 W/C: A reflection on selection, concussion and Romario’s extraordinary exhibition
For a selector, concussion is an occupational hazard. All the more, as Ken ‘Jaiks’ Jaikaransingh has already noted above, if you are a West Indian selector. Let me remind you of a truth every Trini sports fan knows: in T&T for certain, probably in the West Indies as a whole, …
Read More »CPL 2021: Evin Lewis spoils Hetmyer’s party; Patriots bid to stop Kings in first title battle
It was not even close. A no-contest. Shimron Hetmyer thumped a hat-trick of sixes in the final over to add substance to what would otherwise have been a very undaunting Guyana Amazon Warriors final score. And although it allowed Nicholas Pooran’s soldiers to troop off Warner Park in St Kitts …
Read More »T2021 W/C: From ‘Universe Boss’ to Walsh Jr; Best looks at ups and downs of Harper’s WI picks
West Indies lead selector Roger Harper is pleased with his and his selection panel’s handiwork. Good for him. Not I. “I expect the team to do very well,” he confidently declared during the media conference called to defend his and his fellow selectors’ work on Thursday. “I think we have …
Read More »T2021 W/C: ‘Reds’ and McWatt slam ‘stupefying and bewildering’ WI picks, offer their alternatives
“[…] We are also in full agreement with Sir Andy Roberts’ expressed disgust at the appalling treatment the selectors have meted out to Jason Holder. Not only has he been omitted from the final 15 but, adding insult to injury, he was named by as one of the four reserves. …
Read More »CPL 2021: Evin Lewis gets sweet revenge, clouts unbeaten century vs Pollard’s TKR
If Evin Lewis brings the form he brought to Saturday’s penultimate St Kitts and Nevis Patriots game at Warner Park in St Kitts to Wednesday’s CPL 2021 final, new champions will be crowned. And thanks to a lacklustre showing by Kieron Pollard’s Trinbago Knight Riders in the late game on …
Read More »T2021 W/C: Come again, Mr Selector! One rule for Gayle, one rule for Rutherford?
“[…] On what basis does one exclude a player from meeting an absolutely necessary standard that is required for the rigours of an international tournament, particularly one that is fast-paced, intense and is likely to demand 40 overs of sustained pressure—the kind which this tournament is more than likely to …
Read More »T2021 W/C: Harper plays ‘rope-a-dope’ with media questions on Gayle, Darren Bravo and WI team
Roger Harper is tall, is built like a broad-shouldered boxer and was a great fieldsman and an off-spinner in his time on the cricket fields of the world. Relevance? At the media conference called to discuss—defend?—the 15-member squad selected by the West Indies lead selector and his panel for the …
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