When bad light ended play at the end of Day Four of the Second Apex Test at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite’s led all scorers with a 710-minute, 489-ball 160. But all the other numbers seemed to say a draw. There were three sessions …
Read More »Slim pickings for WI bowlers; Lawrence misses out but Root gets Test ton number 25
Had gun-shy West Indies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite decided to risk a review off the last ball of the 20th over in the Second Apex Test at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados today, England might have found themselves—not for the first time—in a spot of bother before lunch. He did not …
Read More »‘We have a fighting chance!’ Bonner solidifies West Indies, as hosts take charge against England
After a 354-ball, nine-hour marathon that had yielded 123 runs at a strike rate of 34.64, Nkrumah Bonner found himself at bat with only 14 more deliveries left in the day’s play. All arms and legs, part-timer Dan Lawrence ran in and served up an off-spinner that spun down the …
Read More »Roach, Seales give West Indies quick start but Bairstow stops them in their tracks
Kemar Roach and Jayden Seales got Kraigg Brathwaite’s West Indies quickly out of the blocks on the first day of the first match of the Apex Three-Test Series. But it was the in-form who built three successive partnerships to ensure that Joe Root’s England endured to the last, recovering from …
Read More »Phillip shines, ‘Hetty’ struggles; McWatt and ‘Reds’ use form to name preferred WI Test squad
“[…] There would have been at least two major disappointments for West Indies selectors Desmond Haynes and Ramnaresh Sarwan. For starters, the prodigiously talented Shimron Hetmyer has now not played a Test match for the West Indies since November 2019. “[…] Hetmyer endured a most miserable time [in the four-day …
Read More »Lawrence: The right and wrong way to develop WI batsmen, judging Phil Simmons, and the Da Silva example
“[…] The Guyana Cricket Board in conjunction with the Government of Guyana has had the foresight to acquire the services of former West Indies great Curtly Ambrose to conduct a fast bowling clinic, while, in T&T, the TTCB has launched a T10 cricket festival. “[…] When a regional board doesn’t …
Read More »‘Hand of Hetty’ prompts Guyana collapse, Solozano shines for Red Force, Jamaica defy Barbados
Shimron Hetmyer was one of the most talked about West Indies cricketers this year, without actually playing for the West Indies—owing, according to the Cricket West Indies (CWI) selectors—to his fitness issues. Today, the talented 25-year-old stole the show again despite facing just one ball from Leeward Islands Hurricanes pacer …
Read More »Bryan Charles shines for Red Force at BCL Academy, while Barbados and Windwards start well
The Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, named after iconic West Indies and Trinidad and Tobago batsman Brian Charles Lara, belonged to 26-year-old off-spinner Bryan Charles today. Confused? So were the Jamaica Scorpions, as Charles finished with 6/48 with the visitors skittled out for 141. Scorpions stars Jermaine Blackwood and …
Read More »Red Force revival: Lawrence sees positive signs in T&T roster for West Indies Championship
“[…] This isn’t just another regional season about to begin for the Red Force, it’s the beginning of a new era. The squad selected is a good one with core players that one can describe as youthfully experienced—young players with enough first-class experience, led by the veteran leg-spinner Imran Khan. …
Read More »Media Monitor: Maroon maulings, batting blues but blackout on WI batting coach Monty Desai
Where, pray, is Monty Desai? And what, pray, does the current West Indies batting coach contribute to regional cricket? I think those are two questions that need urgent answers. But I really don’t know whether—should we decide to direct them to CWI media officer Dario Barthley or through him—they will …
Read More »McWatt and Reds: Brilliant Permaul, stubborn Blackwood and SOS for a leg-spin coach after Sri Lanka series
“[…] The very first order of business […] must be for us to immediately place our order for a very large double serving of curried crow, with some Guyanese plain rice on the side […] following the totally unanticipated, on our part at least, outstanding Second Test bowling performance of …
Read More »Ineffective spinners and poor strike rotation! McWatt and ‘Reds’ suggest WI changes against Sri Lanka
“[…] The inability of both Rahkeem Cornwall and Jomel Warrican to be anywhere close to as effective as Sri Lanka’s spinners on the benevolent Galle Stadium pitch should now establish once and for all their inadequacy as Test match bowlers. “The same pitch on which they toiled so ineffectively to …
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