March 2022. The Apex Second Test in Barbados. Garfield St Aubrun Sobers sat, as he has long sat, beside his queen atop the Kensington pavilion, monarch of all he surveyed. But frail-, fragile-, feeble-looking even. I felt for him. I feared for him. Through my mind flashed an image of …
Read More »McWatt: Brathwaite, Da Silva, Mayers, Seales… heroes everywhere in wonderful weekend for West Indies cricket
What a wonderful weekend it has been for West Indies cricket! First, the women secured their qualification for the 2022 World Cup. Then, to double the enjoyment, the men created history by securing a 1-0 series victory against England to become the first-ever holders of the newly minted Richards–Botham Trophy. …
Read More »B&B Ep 22: Michael Holding: West Indies cricket icon, ‘Whispering Death’, unplugged
Legendary West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding, nicknamed ‘Whispering Death’, talks to the Burdie and Barney Show about his rise as an elite cricketer and then commentator, epic battles on the pitch and good times off it, decolonisation and how to rescue and revive regional cricket. Subscribe for free to …
Read More »WI back to winning ways; Player-of-the-Series Brathwaite warns against complacency
One brilliant one-handed catch from former captain Jason Holder. Some 60-odd deliveries with the ball, eight of them from lead pacer Kemar Roach that yielded two wickets. Just about 30 deliveries with the bat, 21 of them yielding 20 runs for skipper Kraigg Brathwaite. That was all the West Indies …
Read More »Da Silva goes all the way for WI, then ‘Midas’ Mayers leaves England on the brink
At the Masters in Georgia, they call Saturday ‘moving day’. At the National Stadium in Grenada today, a masterly maiden Test century by wicketkeeper/batsman Joshua Da Silva first moved Kraigg Brathwaite’s West Indies into the saddle of the Third Apex Test. Then, with the first innings lead 93, allrounder Kyle …
Read More »B&B (trailer): ‘Brian Close was sooo tough…’ Holding on Greig’s ‘grovel’ quip and the inimitable Close
Legendary West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding, nicknamed ‘Whispering Death’, revisits England captain Tony Greig’s ‘grovel’ quip and shares the reasons why batsman Brian Close was as tough as they came. Look out for our full interview with Holding on the Burdie and Barney Show this Sunday, as we discuss …
Read More »Determined Da Silva’s fighting half-century gives WI slim first innings lead
Joshua Da Silva had a steely glint in his eye as he acknowledged the plaudits of the crowd on Day Two of the Third Apex Test at the National Stadium in Grenada today. The wicketkeeper scored a critical, unbeaten, rear-guard 54 to push Kraigg Brathwaite’s West Indies past the 204 …
Read More »Mayers rocks England top order but WI fail to skittle tail on Day One of Third Test
For a session and a half on the opening day of the Third Apex Test at the National Stadium in Grenada today, Kraigg Brathwaite’s West Indies were firmly in the driver’s seat. But by the end of the day, with numbers 10 and 11 their top scorers, Joe Root’s side …
Read More »B&B (trailer): Michael Holding: ‘Use cricket and sport to take gunmen off the street!’
Legendary West Indies cricket fast bowler and inimitable analyst Michael Holding suggests how regional administrators can breathe new life into youth sport—by marrying it to crime prevention measures. Look out for our full interview with Holding on the Burdie and Barney Show this Sunday, as we discuss cricket and the …
Read More »Apex Peek: Fresh England ready to fire; are resilient West Indies ready to resist?
The message on arrival and departure couldn’t be clearer. At the airport, large Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, Air Canada jets and more lined the runways. As I boarded Caribbean Airlines on departure after the Test match, busloads of visitors were still being shuttled in. Yesterday, on the ocean front, I …
Read More »Early Bird: Caribbean cricket’s reality check; today’s WI can’t afford to change a team that didn’t lose
Its impact on the Third Apex Test against England starting on Thursday in Grenada isn’t guaranteed to be significant. Nor is its impact guaranteed to be obvious when the West Indies next take the field in the Netherlands in May. But there appears to be a shift in selectoral policy …
Read More »We ‘had a moral and/or social duty to publish’; Wired868 denies Mason’s legal claim over ‘Reds’ Perreira letter
“Attorney for Andrew Mason: ‘[…] These statements [from Joseph ‘Reds’ Perreira] are misleading as they portray the impression to the ordinary, reasonable reader that our client is refusing to pay the commentators who worked the Jamaica matches and/or that our client is trying to defraud those commentators’…” “Attorney for Wired868: …
Read More »