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 »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: In spin-friendly conditions, will WI miss Hosein? Did Ramdin pay for ‘un-West Indian approach’?
It is time, some say, for Romario Shepherd to be on the side. Some suggest that he should have got the nod over Ravi Rampaul, a soon-to-be-37-year-old seamer whose once-blossoming international career nose-dived in the wake of injury and weight issues. That was then. Now he is back, in a …
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 …
Read More »T2021 W/C: F Warner muses over CPL stars who forced their way into WI plans—and those who should have
“[…] 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: ‘The best of the available candidates’, you say?! Best on differing value of the Bravos
Darren Bravo is a gifted left-hander who, for years, was the best batsman in the region and a clone of his cousin, Brian Charles Lara, the best batsman the country has produced. But that was once upon a time. Darren Bravo vintage 2021 is not vintage at all. On merit. …
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 »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: Powell’s Tallawahs in trouble, du Plessis’ Kings, Pooran’s Warriors leave Patriots fourth
Saturday’s two early games at Warner Park in St Kitts and Nevis saw a somewhat surprising reshuffle in the middle of the 2021 CPL pack. In the morning game, Faf du Plessis’ St Lucia Kings moved easily past the consistently struggling Barbados Royals by 14 runs, leaving Jason Holder’s side …
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 …
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