West Indies batsman Nicholas Pooran has stepped down as white ball captain, in the wake of the team’s humiliating group stage exit from the ICC Men’s T20 2022 World Cup tournament. Pooran took up the reins on 3 May 2022, after compatriot Kieron Pollard’s sudden resignation as leader. However, West …
Read More »Dr Rowley: West Indies must find necessary skills within ourselves to halt cricket slide
“[…] What is it about us that after demonstrating our superior playing skills in these colonial and post-colonial islands we cannot now find it within our populations, the business, coaching and management skills to halt the decline of an activity where we dominated the world for a record-breaking almost two …
Read More »Adams: Shiv set and maintained “impossibly high standards” in struggling WI team
“[…] It is hard to quantify just how great your legacy is. You started in a winning team, and along with Brian Lara, as the team became less formidable, your personal contributions got greater and greater. It was a reminder that you can even rise above the fortunes of any …
Read More »CWI announces Simmons’ departure, days after Skerritt vowed “solutions will be found”
West Indies coach Phil Simmons appears set to pay the price for his team’s shambolic exit from the 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, as the Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced his impending exit today. Simmons, according to a CWI release, “will be stepping down from his role as head …
Read More »Adams: We won’t compromise team’s ability to prepare! WI drop Hetmyer after two missed flights
The Cricket West Indies (CWI) selection panel has cut talented batsman Shimron Hetmyer from its ICC T20 World Cup team, after the 25-year-old cricketer’s apparent reluctance to board a flight to Australia. Hetmyer, according to a CWI press release, missed two flights to Australia and wore out the patience of …
Read More »Dear Editor: West Indies lack the variety of qualities necessary in a good cricket team
“[…] Whether or not we change Phil Simmons is irrelevant to me. Don’t get me wrong, I think he reached his peak and is unable to progress our players further… My point is there aren’t many coaches around the world who can mould our players into a cohesive unit. “[…] …
Read More »Early Bird: Kamla, West Indies, Paul… but why is nobody discussing Qatar World Cup?
Nobody, it seems, is enraptured with World Cup 2022, at least, nobody I know. Nobody at all is sounding really excited about it. Not even Wired868. Do the math. Mere weeks ago, in late July, three months, three weeks, three days, three hours, three minutes and three seconds separated us …
Read More »Saluting Sir Garry Sobers (Pt 3): A second look at one of WI’s most controversial captains
Calypsonians are as cantankerous as they come. So when Relator suggests that Sir Garfield Sobers was no great shakes as a captain, we have to take that with a pinch of salt. Yet it is there, on the record, in his 1972 hit “Gavaskar”. So we have to deal with …
Read More »Saluting Sir Garry (Pt 2): Batting for Collie—the monkey Sobers carried on his back
Twenty-six centuries and 30 half-centuries. That, according to the official record, is what the legendary left-handed batsman Garfield St Aubrun Sobers has produced for West Indies. But in Sobers’ mind, his record of achievement with the bat is seven 100s and nine 50s, less than half of what the record …
Read More »Saluting Sir Garry Sobers—Post-script: Have WI given the legend his just deserts?
“Did I entertain?” Garry St Aubrun Sobers never asked his fans that question. The answer would indisputably have been an emphatic, unanimous, unqualified yes. Those three words actually came out of the mouth of Brian Charles Lara at the end of a stellar 18-year career. Sobers, a West Indian sporting …
Read More »Saluting Sir Garry Sobers: Happy birthday to cricket’s unique ‘six-tool player’
Born 86 years ago today on 28 July 1936, Garfield St Aubrun Sobers became simply, as Sparrow sang, “the greatest cricketer on Earth or Mars”. Hyperbole? Calypsonians, we know, are so prone. Still, it isn’t easy to dismiss the claim made by the Calypso King of the World on behalf …
Read More »Dear Editor: Is CWI conceding home advantage by selecting pitches to suit visiting cricket teams?
“[…] I had zero issue with the pitch in Guyana. My main problem is when we choose to play there. “We can’t put sub-continent teams to play on pitches that are slow, low, and spin-friendly, as that is playing right into their hands. They play on those pitches every day …
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