Asked to name a West Indies all-time best squad, Lloyd Best, a serious and respected commentator on all things West Indian, selected him first. The role played by the doyen of West Indian cricket writers in the promotion of regional cricket, Best was making the point, was more important than …
Read More »T2021 W/C PM: Why Carlos Brathwaite puts the peerless Prince in 2nd place
We does win, dem does lorse. Mathematically, defending champions West Indies were knocked out of the 2021 T20 World Cup when they failed to beat Sri Lanka on Thursday 4 November. In fact, Kieron Pollard’s side were effectively out of the World Cup after they could only muster 55 in …
Read More »T2021 W/C PM: Six! The exhi-LARA-ting story of the peerless Prince of Port-of-Spain
Arithmetic and algebra are not two sides of the same coin. You can be great at one, a complete dud at the other. Take, for example, Roger Harper. In defending the selection of tearaway pacer Oshane Thomas, the West Indies lead selector identified him as ‘an X factor’. But in …
Read More »‘Reds’ and McWatt: WI must overhaul white-ball teams, starting with captain, coaches and selectors
“[…] The win-loss results of the Phil Simmons-led coaching staff also suggest they should be immediately replaced. Of the 36 T20 International matches played since Simmons’ October 2019 reinstatement as head coach, West Indies won 14 and lost 17 while five ended as no results! “[…] Our replacement suggestions would …
Read More »T2021 W/C: ‘Reds’ and McWatt call for WI selectors, coaches and captain to pay for disastrous campaign
“[…] Prior to the World Cup’s commencement, West Indies selection panel chairman Roger Harper expressed his belief that the chosen 15-member squad was good enough to successfully defend their title as reigning champions. The actual results have now, however, clearly demonstrated the absolute lunacy of Harper’s thinking. “[…] The West …
Read More »T2021 W/C: Romanticising Carlos Brathwaite; how 2016 torpedoed Pollard’s WI in UAE
History, they say, is written by the victors. For just over a week, we still enjoy the title of defending T20 World Cup champions. Let us, therefore, while we still can, rewrite history. Not, like Christopher Columbus and the Spaniards and all the self-serving colonial powers, with a view to …
Read More »Solozano gets maiden WI Test call-up for Sri Lanka tour, Harper: ‘good depth in all departments’
Twenty-six year old left-handed opening batsman Jeremy Solozano was the only uncapped player selected in the West Indies 15-man squad announced today, when the Cricket West Indies selectors named their tour party for the two-match Test series in Sri Lanka. Solozano, who hails from Arima in Trinidad and Tobago, forced …
Read More »T2021 W/C: If the ‘Boss’ could play, why not the Prince? Why Lara was, inadvertently, right about Gayle
It is an intriguing idea. But I reject it. Out of hand. There is, as the Americans, no there there, dear. Writing in April 2007, just before Brian Lara’s final white ball game for the West Indies in the World Cup of that year, under the headline ‘The last king …
Read More »T2021 W/C: ‘Mission Improbable’! ‘Reds’ and McWatt blame selectors for uninspiring WI showings
“[…] Thus far, the West Indies selectors’ most controversial picks, Messrs Chris Gayle and Ravi Rampaul in particular, have done absolutely nothing to justify the faith expressed in their respective abilities to perform with merit during the tournament. “[…] Some of the West Indies final XI choices were equally bizarre. …
Read More »T2021 W/C: Holder is in! Former WI captain can face Bangladesh, after replacing McCoy
Former captain Jason Holder has been added to the West Indies’ World Cup team and is eligible to play against Bangladesh at the Sharjah Stadium from 6am on Friday, after the Cricket West Indies (CWI) selection panel this evening named the talented all-rounder as a replacement for injured left-arm fast …
Read More »CWI selects 24 players for Best v Best match-up, ahead of Sri Lanka tour
The West Indies Test team will continue preparations for next month’s tour of Sri Lanka with two three-day fixtures in a ‘Best v Best’ match-up of the top red ball players in the region. The teams are led by Kraigg Brathwaite and Jermaine Blackwood and will do battle at the …
Read More »T2021 W/C: If WI ever needed you is now; Pooran makes Best change his tune
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 …
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