“At a time when aggressive, proactive international captaincy is in short supply,” writes Ian Chappell, in discussing Ajinkya Rahane’s leadership in the absence of Virat Kohli, “India are fortunate to have two leaders who both understand the value of taking wickets over containing the opposition.” At a time when aggressive, …
Read More »Change at the top! Humble pie for Cameron/Nanthan as Skerritt/Shallow take CWI cake
Like two man-rat, humility and Jamaican Whycliffe ‘Dave’ Cameron cannot live in the same house. But the now former Cricket West Indies (CWI) President was humbled in his own backyard yesterday. New Cricket West Indies (CWI) president Ricky Skerritt and his vice-presidential running mate Dr Kishore Shallow both confessed to …
Read More »Cover Drive (Video): Brian Lara on ingredients for greatness and epic Brett Lee showdown
Brian Lara, West Indies cricket legend and multiple record holder, discusses the ingredients necessary to be a sporting legend, his favourite batting partners, and THAT showdown with Australian pacer Brett Lee en route to his first Test century in Port of Spain, in the fifth episode of Wired868 cricket series, …
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 »West Indies should replace Chanderpaul with Usain Bolt
If it is true that a cricket match is played in the minds of the opposing captains, then the Second Test between Michael Clarke’s Australians and Denesh Ramdin’s West Indies which begins today in Jamaica is likely to be a mismatch. That conclusion is based not on the tourists’ flattering …
Read More »Chanderpaul’s axing: Has the WICB tamed a ‘toothless’ Tiger?
They call him Shiv, they call him Chanders, they call him ‘Tiger,’ they call him just plain old Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Whichever name you use for him, you will not see it on the 14-man list of players named by the West Indies selectors for the two-Test series against World Champions …
Read More »The Chanderpaul conundrum: Should ‘Tiger’ tail wag WI cricket dog?
Shivnarine Chanderpaul thinks, I am hearing, that West Indies cricket has not given him the send-off he deserved. I agree. 100%. Shivnarine Chanderpaul also thinks, I am hearing, that West Indies cricket has not given him the send-off he deserves. As does Brian Charles Lara. I disagree. 100%. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, …
Read More »Bravo and Blackwood sing WI captain Ramdin’s redemption song
“Now yuh in front de stand, yuh stiffing yuh chest, yuh waving yuh hand, yuh lifting yuh dress. Eh-eh, lady, how yuh have so much zest?” Darren Bravo and Jermaine Blackwood are now giving England’s Joe Root and Mooen Ali thunder at Kensington Oval. Having defied the spearheads of the …
Read More »Will CPL form propel West Indies to batter Bangladesh?
Earl Best examines current CPL form and looks at the implications for the West Indies’ imminent home series: It’s hard to say today just which team will emerge victorious in the 2014 Limacol Caribbean Premier League. Any one of the top three can still do it. Despite one or two …
Read More »Lara makes no name for himself at Lord’s
“Indian fans declare excitement,” a pre-match tweet announced, “over chance to see Sachin and 21 other guys whose names escape me.” The source does not identify the tweeter but it could have been ESPNcricinfo Assistant Editor Allan Gardner, the writer of an online preview to yesterday’s pompously named Marylebone Cricket …
Read More »Will Lara upstage skipper Tendulkar in Lord’s exhibition?
Old prejudices die hard. So, given a choice between missing an England World Cup win and a typical Brian Lara century, Khrystine, a sports-loving second-generation England citizen, born in London and raised there during the Clive Lloyd/Viv Richards era, never hesitated. “England might be in Russia again in 2018,” she …
Read More »Beyond the maroon: Race, identity, history and West Indies cricket
I was, as a young boy, obsessed with cricket. Up until age nine, I was still an only child and had learned to occupy myself for hours on end by imagining entire Test series played out in the backyard of my grandparents’ house. I knew by heart the rosters and …
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