It is looking as if Kieron Pollard’s Trinbago Knight Riders will give the nation a belated but welcome Independence gift. As 2020 CPL action shifts back to the Brian Lara Academy in Tarouba tomorrow, TKR are firmly in the driver’s seat. For those fans with short memories, that is precisely …
Read More »Best: Will resentment ruin redemption time for Holder’s men against ‘relentless’ England?
‘Resentful,’ yes. Try as I might, however, nowhere in the dictionary could I find ‘relentfull’ or ‘relentful.’ But if I were West Indies coach Phillip Simmons, I would have minted one or the other word to use in my post-match comments on the third day of the decisive Third Test …
Read More »Asterisks and parentheses; why we shouldn’t write off WI’s Wisden chances
That cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties is, though never irrelevant, a very tired cliché. That Test cricket is the most severe examination a player can get, though not clichéd, is not exactly new. West Indies did learn a new cricketing truth today, however. It is that, even when …
Read More »Best: Will West Indies keel over and die? Holder to the rescue against Root’s rampant England
Conventional wisdom holds that Stuart Broad’s Sunday evening new ball spell killed off the West Indies chances in the Second Test at Old Trafford. The truth, however, is that, had Jason Holder been at the top of his game on Monday morning, he might have found a pulse where the …
Read More »Best: Holder’s West Indies to win the Wisden Trophy? You bet!
I am willing to wager more than a few quid on a West Indies victory. Only a handful of England’s actors (skipper Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad) remain on the 2020 set. But Jason Holder has no fewer than seven of his 2017 West Indians, including …
Read More »As Pollard’s WI head for Sri Lanka, is headstrong Hetmyer headed for the exit?
Having sent the Irish home with the taste of defeat fresh in their mouths, Kieron Pollard’s victorious West Indies troops are preparing to fly out to Sri Lanka this weekend. After Afghanistan, India and Ireland, the resurgent Caribbean cavaliers must feel fairly confident of their chances of yet another victory …
Read More »Too early to promote Hetmyer? Too late to rethink bringing back DJ Bravo et al?
Blank Bravo. Drop white ball Holder. Hand Hetmyer a promotion. If the West Indies are serious about moving towards the top of international cricket anytime soon, now is certainly the time to make bold moves. And, thankfully, it looks to me as if that is the direction in which we …
Read More »MEDIA MONITOR: CPL cricket maths matter, mea culpa, ad nausea and missing Machel
People living in glass houses, we have heard over and over, have to careful bout pelting stone. As a long-time Wired868 contributor, I have made it a major mission of mine to monitor the media’s many mistakes. And my parents, teachers and multiple mentors—God rest all their souls—have made me …
Read More »Blessed are the ignorant WI for they shall not know what hit them
No reports have so far emerged to tell us just how Jason Holder’s West Indies spent the bonus off-day they got on Monday following their 318-run four-day defeat by Virat Kohli’s India. But you don’t have to be a sceptic to doubt that some significant fraction of the extra 24-hour …
Read More »A hello from Headingley; lasting lessons for WI to learn from Australia’s loss
There is never, I don’t think, a good time to lose a Test match—especially if you really don’t have what Viv Richards liked to call the winning habit. But if learning is the name of the game, then the management of Jason Holder’s West Indies side should be grateful that …
Read More »If WI-shes were horses, Holder wouldn’t have to worry about hurricanes
Buoyed by the recent receipt of awards and bestowal on him of new accolades, Jason Holder may well believe that the home side he leads can match the visitors in the two-Test series which starts in Antigua today. I honestly hope he does not. Named West Indies Test Player of …
Read More »W/Cup addict comments: Whither Windies? When will we write off witless ODI captain Holder?
Call it arrogance if you like; I really could not care less. Whether or not Phil Simmons, Michael “Whispering Death” Holding or anyone else agrees with me, I re-affirm that Jason Holder is not the man to lead West Indies out of the ODI doldrums. I have long been very …
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