Antigua, 375, April 1994 & 400, April 2004: Scaling Everest… because it is there “Awesome.” For Geoffrey Boycott, the former England opener, a single word suffices. “Amazing,” Ian Botham concurs. “One helluva innings.” “[I]ncredible physical stamina,” gushes David “Bumble” Lloyd, “a beautiful technical innings. Memorable. Magnificent.” It is April 2004, …
Read More »BC Lara’s Great GOAT Debate: Sachin statistical score settled, Bradman left a little bit behind?
“In all,” observes Jon Hotten in The Meaning of Cricket, “he faced 19, 753 balls in Test cricket and another 13,086 in one-day internationals before he retired in 2007. Only 483 of those resulted in his dismissal, so 32,356 did not. “Put differently, just 1.47 per cent of the deliveries …
Read More »Best revisits BC Lara’s Great GOAT Debate: The Don, Sachin T or me?
“A man of genius,” CLR James says, in writing of Garry Sobers, “is what he is, he cannot be something else and remain what he is.” There is another West Indian left-hander, born a generation after Sobers on May 2, 1969, to whom James’ encomium applies unadjusted. Superlatives abound in …
Read More »Music to WI ears: the Fat Lady prepares to sing for Windies coach, Richard Pybus
It didn’t take long, did it? Mouth open and ’tory jump out. Not one mouth, four mouth—not counting Dr Ralph Gonsalves who mouth cyar stay close when is West Indies cricket people talking bout. So first, it was Phil Simmons, who has never felt he wasn’t free to speak his …
Read More »An open letter to ex-CWI president: Thanks but no thanks, Mr Cameron; forget I’ll-be-back talk
“You may not think there is anything wrong with all of that,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff repeatedly told the Republican members of his committee earlier this week, “but I do.” “All of that” is a longish, itemised list of some of the most egregious actions—not to say ‘crimes’—already …
Read More »What ‘set up’?! Best counters Wattley’s claim of treachery in Skerritt’s CWI triumph
Newly elected Cricket West Indies President Ricky Skerritt is under no illusions about the pace at which he will be able to effect change. But is that what he should be worried about? Might there not be other, more pressing concerns that should give him pause? If Garth Wattley is …
Read More »Cricket elections: Cameron dictates CWI pace, says Skerritt, but he’s no dictator
Cricket West Indies President Whycliffe Dave Cameron is not a dictator. He would arguably like to be a dictator and probably even sees himself as a dictator. But, according to former West Indies team manager Ricky Skerritt, Cameron is NOT a dictator. That is what the CWI presidential hopeful told …
Read More »Media Monitor: Maraj and Maharaj tell why we jamming the criminals but we still in a jam
“Why should people be sacrificed so as to allow others, wrongdoers, to prosper? That is what we are being called upon to do, colleagues, […] What we are being called upon to do by a small clique of people in the country is to support wrongdoing, pretend not to know …
Read More »Gibbons’ new calypso drama: Voices from the ghetto to sing de chorus?
What, I asked myself, might a Part IV of “Sing de Chorus” look and sound like if the dramatist decided to write one? What quality material would he have to draw on? Would any such production be what a recent Express story about an upcoming concert called “an ode to …
Read More »Media Monitor: “Disgrantle” resident and “prioritarise-ing” minister star in messy flood coverage
The one thing that disaster should never be is haha funny. Regrettably, nobody bothered to tell TV6. Or sister OCM station i95.5fm. On yesterday’s 7pm TV news, there was this guy from Greenvale fuming about the inadequacy of the $15,000 grant that Government has offered certified victims of last weekend’s …
Read More »Media Monitor: Pitchoil on WI embers (Pt 2); Holder on high horse as Windies walloped again
Unlike his top batsmen, West Indies cricket captain Jason Holder appears to be quite upbeat; he’s feeling pretty good about himself, it seems. Not without reason, it has to be said. Tuesday’s Trinidad Express reports on Page 59 that he is “into bowlers’ top 10, third among all-rounders.” And twinned with …
Read More »Media Monitor: Indian press pours pitchoil on West Indies embers; Express fans the flames
Current West Indies captain Jason Holder was back in the headlines on Monday—not for the first time, for the wrong reasons! “Not Enough” the Express declared on its back page, with a strap saying “Holder blames the obvious as WI succumb in three days again.” Holder, cricket followers will remember, …
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