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 »T2021 W/C: WI batsmen smothered in 7-wkt warm-up loss to Pakistan, despite late Pollard cameo
In Dubai today, in the first of two warm-up games before their opening T20 World Cup cricket contest, Kieron Pollard’s West Indies failed to get going. In a comprehensive defeat to Pakistan, they managed only 130 for 7, going down by six wickets with 27 balls to spare. The ‘Maroon …
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 »CPL 2021: Evin Lewis spoils Hetmyer’s party; Patriots bid to stop Kings in first title battle
It was not even close. A no-contest. Shimron Hetmyer thumped a hat-trick of sixes in the final over to add substance to what would otherwise have been a very undaunting Guyana Amazon Warriors final score. And although it allowed Nicholas Pooran’s soldiers to troop off Warner Park in St Kitts …
Read More »T2021 W/C: Abdulah wants Chase, Akeal, Rampaul in his dream WI XI; Gayle, Ramdin get in 15
“[…] At number three, my choice is Roston Chase. He is showing that he can hold an innings together—which is crucial in a team of big hitters—and his run rate is not bad at all. He has good technique, which is crucial in all formats of cricket, T20 included, and …
Read More »T2021 W/C: Lord sees value in Cottrell, Fletcher and Narine for WI dreams; but wary of dot balls
“[…] I want at least six bowlers in my XI; you never know when somebody will have an off-day and be offering lollipops to the opposition like if it’s Christmas or Easter or somebody’s birthday. “[…] If Sunil Narine is available—he is featuring in the CPL so…—there is no chance …
Read More »CPL 2021: Pooran’s Warriors seal double over Pollard’s TKR in Super Over thriller
Akeal Hosein thought he had won it with a magnificent, one-handed catch on the cover boundary in the 18th over of the second innings of regulation play. Shimron Hetmyer thought he had lost it with a fumble on the mid-wicket boundary on the fourth ball of the super over. In …
Read More »T2021 W/C: MPD selects Hope to open with Lewis in WI XI but Gayle goes only as mentor
“[…] Age catches up with the best of us. In [Chris] Gayle’s case, that has meant waning hand/eye co-ordination, considerably less energy in the field and greater proneness to injury—all factors that have led to inconsistency in scores and fewer innings of note. “The Australia half-century—his first since 2016!—was nothing …
Read More »T2021 W/C: Hope, Hetmyer, Walsh are in Persaud’s WI dream team but Simmons out starting XI
“[…] My opening batsmen will be Evin Lewis and Shai Hope. I say with utmost confidence that no one will argue with my selection of Lewis to lead the charge. The left-handed opener has the proven capability to destroy any bowling attack that he may be faced with. “The right-handed …
Read More »CPL 2021: Vice-captain Pooran bests skipper Pollard as Warriors stop TKR winning streak
The Trinbago Knight Riders, led by West Indies white ball captain Kieron Pollard, proved unbeatable throughout the 2020 season, winning all 12 of their Caribbean Premier League games. In the opening encounter of the 2021 season on Thursday at Warner Park in Basseterre, St Kitts, the Guyana Amazon Warriors, astutely …
Read More »T2021 W/C: Thompson has Gayle, Fidel and McCoy in dream WI team—but wary about too many lefties
Let me say from the outset, like Michael Holding, I think the only thing missing from a T20 match is (in our case) a case or two of Carib and a pot of pelau, some bottle and spoon and a DJ, plus some ‘winer gyul’ (the IPL & the CPL …
Read More »T2021 W/C: Grant-Perez wants Chris Gayle, Khary Pierre and Sunil Narine in well-knit WI squad
“[…] Khary Pierre is perhaps my surprise pick. He’s never expensive and, like Chris Gayle, has the ability to stop the haemorrhaging of runs. “He could be the silent sniper with the wherewithal to take out the best teams in the world…” Anthea Grant-Perez, a recent graduate from the Ken …
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