Twok! Twok! Twok! Twok! Four remarkable, meaty blows that sent Ben Stokes’ balls sailing over the boundary and unexpectedly won the 2016 T20 World Cup for West Indies. So, heeding Ian Bishop’s order, I have remembered the name Carlos Brathwaite. Likewise, clearly, the selectors. Three years after that unforgettable April …
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, …
Read More »CPL 18: In defence of DJ Bravo (Part 3): Inside the mind of the TKR captain
Steve Smith had not bowled in a competitive match for at least two years before Barbados Tridents’ captain Jason Holder called him up to bowl in the August 22 game against the Jamaica Tallawahs. Smith claimed two crucial wickets, conceded a mere 19 runs in his three overs and thus …
Read More »Mind games: Why Holder’s Windies need men to lead them—on and off the field
If I didn’t so hate the taste of hair, I would recklessly have cocked a snook at Joel Garner and damblayed my much lamented, disastrous, so-far-off-the-mark post-First Test wager. At Lord’s, I was certain, Jason Holder’s West Indies were going once more to be blown out of the water. In …
Read More »Windies won, yes, we won! Best changes tune after 5-wkt win and a Brylcreem sandwich
Spflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflfllflflflflllllllllllll! Oh, I beg your pardon; that was my last mouthful. Even with a liberal coating of Brylcreem, hair doesn’t taste too good—although, given a choice, I’d take it any day over KFC. And cold turkey. And boy, am I ever glad I got rid of my maroon Richie Richardson …
Read More »Can West Indies no-hopers spring a surprise? Not a chance, says Best
Glorious uncertainties notwithstanding, If Jason Holder’s West Indians save the Second Test against England currently in progress at Headingley, Leeds, I shall eat my hat and shave off all my hair. If WI win it, I shall eat all the hair as well. After the major cutarse the home side …
Read More »Media Monitor: Whoa, whoa, woe! West Indians wince as WI walloped
“The loudest sound in current West Indies cricket is the sigh people emit when they talk about the old days.” That’s a quote from Jarrod Kimber, whose 2,300-word story about the dark day/night test that the Cricket West Indies XI failed abjectly contains a kind word or two—although you might …
Read More »Best to Big Bird: Stick to tweeting; only weather will stop WI whitewash
A little birdie told me that nothing could be more certain than that Jason Holder’s West Indians will “get their arse properly wash up in England—whitewash in the three Tests! If deh lucky, deh might get a bligh in the T20 but deh cut-tail book in the other games.” “Big …
Read More »PITT STOP: ODI numbers don’t lie; WICB must stop running its own cricket team out!
“The supply of cricketers is not nearly as great here in the West Indies as in Pakistan, say, with its almost 195 million or India (1.2 billion) or even England (55 million). “Inexplicably, however, we have found a way to reduce the supply of players available for international cricket by …
Read More »Who will lead WI away from the abyss? Vidale urges fans to rally for the team we deserve
“It is bad captaincy that is causing us to be scrambled, everybody is whispering and shrugging shoulders. ... In this campaign I shall spare nobody… I hereby give notice; I shall not let this question rest until it is corrected… This fooling with the West Indies captaincy has gone on too …
Read More »Anatomy of a back-stabbing: Live Wire looks at WICB’s treatment of Simmons
If Phil Simmons didn’t care whether West Indies won or lost cricket matches, he would still be in a job today. But he did. So he isn’t. From the moment Simmons chose to retain the notion that, as West Indies cricket coach, he deserved the best players available to win matches, …
Read More »