The Windies and the Return of Calypso Cricket

[Nottsboy118]

We head to New Zealand then, first up is a Test series. Jerome Taylor is dropped almost certainly ending his international career, Cornwall is also dropped due to the lack of spin on offer in New Zealand. Sunil Ambris and Raymon Reifer are the replacements leaving the squad as: Holder (c), Ambris, Bishoo, Brathwaite, Bravo (vc), Brooks, Chase, Cummings, Dowrich, Gabriel, Hetmyer, Hope. K, Hope. S (wk), Joseph, Reifer, Roach, Singh, Warrican

We make two changes to the XI from our last match; Brooks is replaced by Hetmyer and Gabriel drops out for Roach. The New Zealand team looks seriously strong although, astonishingly given the amount of cricket we’ve played, this is their first test of the year hopefully that gives us a slight advantage. We win the toss and bat.



There was promise to this innings but we fell short again; three fifties but not a score higher than 56 is very disappointing. However there is no doubt this is a tricky wicket and a score of 231 leaves us very much still in this match with a good bowling performance.

Well we were taught a lesson there, with wickets only really falling towards the end of their innings as they looked to go overtly aggressive. Warrican again impressed in conditions not suited to spin bowling 40 overs at an economy of 2.7 a whole run less than any other bowler. Thus we faced a deficit of 272 runs after the first innings with over two days left.

Well we were absolutely blown away by Boult and co. to cap a really disappointing performance all round. A resounding loss of an innings and 137 runs.



Test match awards:

5 – Holder, a solid bowling effort as usual and the single only person to offer any resistance in the final innings.

3 – Warrican, an impressive bowling performance as he fulfilled a different roll compared to previous tests

1 – Singh, of the three fifties scored in the first innings his was the most impressive

***

We have two further games to go in the series and we need to produce a far superior performance if we are to get any positive results. We opt to make no changes, as do New Zealand. New Zealand win the toss and generously put us in to bat.

A better performance this time round but ultimately we finish below par. However there were some very pleasing individual efforts; Chase falling just short of a fantastic century, Hope knuckling down for a hard earned 60 and Hetmyer showing promise in the longer format with a nice 45.

There were two sublime hundreds by Williamson and Taylor which really sunk our chances, but outside of those innings’ we did bowl well, but sadly we came across two world class batsmen today. Some bowling again by Cummins and Warrican resulted in 450 all out.

Well we respond to the tricky first innings deficit with a very pleasing second innings effort. Brathwaite, who has had a very underwhelming season, responded with a gritty 78 however we were soon reduced to 182-6 but then up stepped Hetmyer and Holder with a lovely 138 partnership to drag us to 339 all out, given New Zealand a chase of 178.

We gave it a great go but we just couldn’t get over the line. A loss by two wickets after an absolute smashing the previous test represents a great turn around. Yet again Warrican was brilliant, ably supported by all three seamers in a very impressive all round bowling display.



Test awards:

5 – Warrican, 7 wickets, the best bowling in both innings, just another great performance

3 – Hetmyer, very good contributions in both innings give him his first Test points

1 – Holder, gets this point entirely for his batting as his bowling still isn’t offering enough

***

We’re 2-0 down in this series then, which is the score line from our last tour down here, heading into the final test match. We make one change; dropping Kyle Hope at the top of the order, pushing Hetmyer up to that position and bringing in Bishoo. We are therefore playing five bowlers then and relying heavily on the top 7, which now includes Captain Jason Holder. New Zealand are unchanged and put us into bat under very cloudy skies.

We lost three early wickets before the last two sessions were rained out. Then, in better batting conditions Chase, Hope and Holder stepped up to get us to a good score. Hope finally getting a match-defining score after continuously getting out after making starts was very pleasing, as was Holder hitting a good half century after being promoted to the top 7.

Again our bowling unit, even with 5 options, just didn’t have enough about it to cause a top international team too many problems as they coasted to 495-8dec. We were therefore up against a lead of 154, with a little over a day to play.

Again we were just blitzed as is the case far too often, when one or two wickets fall we just fold far far too easily. A few experiments have failed here; Hetmyer at the top of the order in tests and a five man bowling unit.

New Zealand knocked off the 45 required to win and complete a series whitewash with ease.



Awards:

5 – S. Hope, a maiden century test match century, brilliant effort

3 – Singh, got his runs in a tricky situation which I prefer and rate much higher

1 – Chase, twice in two games he has been out above 95 but not got a century, good innings nevertheless

End of a series, another loss but again positives to take out. However at this point we need the ‘positives’ and the ‘promise’ to result in better performances against the better side and we need to challenge much more regularly.

[Nottsboy118]

Next up on this tour is a 5 match ODI series in which we are defending a point from our last visit to these shores. We make a few changes from our previous squad; Narine is dropped for Bishoo, Powell for Brathwaite and Ambris for Joseph. Narine’s form has been declining of late and we opt for the leg spin of Bishoo to partner our now lead spinner; Warrican, Carols Brathwaite has started well in the shorter stuff and is putting together a strong domestic season so gets a go in the 50 over squad, and finally Ambris drops out more in a squad re-shape than any other reason as we opt for an extra bowler in the squad.

Our squad for the series is thus as follows; Holder (c), Bishoo, Brathwaite, Bravo, Carter (vc), Cornwall, Gabriel, Hetmyer, Hope (wk), Joseph, Lewis, Primus, Reifer, Samuels, Warrican

We field a team that is starting to take shape as my first choice, a solid top 6, a few handy all-rounders in Cornwall and Holder and then a selection of bowlers that alters depending on form and conditions at the moment. New Zealand’s batting looks pretty frightening; particularly with Taylor averaging just short of 100 this year, but the bowling looks weak to me. We lose the toss and bat, I think at the end of the year I might work out how many tosses we’ve won I reckon it’s about 25%.



The usual tale of nice 30s and 40s followed then, and given Samuels and Bravo are the most experienced and probably talented batsmen in the side the fact that they were most at fault in that regard is very frustrating. Ultimately there is no one around who will score as many runs or get a better average than Samuels but I’m starting to wonder whether there might be someone who wins more games.

Our bowlers had no right to make this as close as it was, and whilst in wasn’t as close as the scorecard suggests there was a brief window where New Zealand would have been nervous. Our pace bowlers were a tad disappointing upfront but Cornwall and Warrican pulled things back brilliantly to give us a glimmer but sadly a glimmer was all it was.



Awards:

5 – Cornwall, no one stood out significantly but the wicket of Latham and the run out of Williamson exposed Warrican to new batsman which he then made the most of

3 – Warrican, struggled when he first came on against settled batsmen but tied things down and looked dangerous when faced with fresh batsmen at the crease

1 – Holder, solid with the ball and valuable lower order runs at an impressive rate

---

Despite playing well in the last game the conditions result in Cornwall being replaced by Primus, who just edges out Brathwaite for a place in the XI. New Zealand are unchanged, we win the toss and decide we want to chase.

We bowled okay to keep New Zealand to 257, however if not for a good sixth wicket partnership by Ronchi and Munro it could have been much less. Primus was solid on his debut, perhaps not bowling as well as his figures suggest but promising and yet again Gabriel bowls lovely but collects just 1-52.

Given we were at 136-1 and up with the rate at one point, this was terrible. Given the squad I’ve picked I don’t have a lot of wiggle room with the batting line-up on this tour and that is extremely lucky for a few. Lewis is very close to being dropped, Carter too, who after his great start has done nothing for a long time now. Hetmyer was the star hitting a great 71 despite pressure from Lewis and Samuels’ poor scoring rates.



Awards:

5 – Hetmyer, without doubt, a lovely innings from a very promising player

3 – Gabriel, bowled very well but as is becoming a habit for him didn’t get the rewards, hopefully he will go on a run of five-fors soon to make up for it

1 – Holder, given there are no batting options it goes to another bowler who produced a very tidy if unspectacular 10 overs

[Nottsboy118]

Two changes for us, Primus and Reifer out and Brathwaite and Joseph in. I’ve defintley underplayed Joseph this year so I’ve decide to start making amends here and will give him some significant playing time. New Zealand are unchanged, and the look of the toss is starting to favour us at last: New Zealand to bowl.

Fantastic. 314-8, a great effort and that is with a poor final five overs or so too. 133 partnership to start then a 96 one too follow before Lewis was ran out on 99, which was a blessing in disguise in some ways because Bravo was brought to the crease to hit a rapid 50. The top four were all brilliant to get us our first score over 300 this season and give us a real shot at beating a team that isn’t Zimbabwe.

Early wickets were the order of the day and under cloudy skies the captain took two, however the change bowlers were poor and New Zealand countered well, but then up stepped Gabriel to take that five-for I have been forecasting for about 20 games. It was a great bowling spell and whilst it looks a touch expensive that really didn’t matter in a game that was never going to go the full 50 whatever the result. Absolutely chuffed with this result.



The hardest set of awards yet:

5 – Gabriel, we posted a good score but we still needed someone to step up against a serious batting line-up, Gabriel did and then some with the first five-for by a West Indian this year in this format

3 – Lewis, not as destructive as the others in the top four but anchored the innings very well, unlucky not to get the 100

1 – Bravo, these three have been hard to select but the sheer speed and destructiveness of this knock deserves recognition

Honourable mentions to Samuels and Holder who were brilliant too

***

We make one change opting to replace a specialist spinner in Warrican by a more part-time/all-round on in Cornwall. New Zealand worryingly bring in Anderson and Boult for Broom and Henry. Against this improved New Zealand we lose the toss and field.

In good batting conditions we did really well to limit New Zealand to just 226. Brathwaite was undoubtedly the pick but all the bowlers contributed; Cornwall helped turn the innings whilst bowling in tandem with Brathwaite, Joseph took the important first wicket and Gabriel and Holder bowled very well at the death.

Well then, we really did try our very best to lose this game but just avoided it. We decided that the best way to approach the small total was to get a fast start and really beat the back of it early, sadly however that resulted in us being reduced to 55-4, Samuels and then Hope both played very handy innings before getting out with the job still not done. Leaving Brathwaite to cap a great all-round game by hitting 47 not out and guiding us home with an unbeaten partnership of 53 with Holder. So out of nowhere we get back level with one too play, can we do it?



Awards:

5 – Brathwaite, easy. 3-31 and 47*, just brilliant.

3 – Hope, a very nice fifty when I was beginning to think all was lost

1 – Jospeh, could have gone to any of the other bowlers but the young lad impressed me so gets the point

***

So the decider I really never saw coming. Clearly I am very pleased with the team regardless of the outcome of this game but how I’d love to get a third win on the bounce and an incredibly unlikely series win. Both teams are unchanged. We win the toss and decide to bowl.

And again we produce a seriously good bowling performance to limit New Zealand to another below par score, this time of 239. Holder and Cornwall got the wickets, but Joseph bowled a brilliant spell for no reward and a few overs by Carter as the sixth bowler got us Guptill’s wicket thus demonstrating the team nature of the bowling performance.

240 in 50 overs to beat New Zealand in an away ODI series 3-2 after being 2-0 down, can we do it? In short, no. Again we decided the best option for chasing a smallish total is to attack it get on top of the rate early and then ease home ideally, and again that didn’t go to plan. We were reduced to 59-4 by some great Boult bowling and from there we couldn’t recover this time. It’s a shame that the ODI leg of the tour ends with a bit of a drab batting effort is a shame as overall this has been a great tour with two fantastic wins.



Awards:

5 – Holder, another lovely opening spell and wickets at the death

3 – Cornwall, chipping away with wickets at good times to produce his best figures yet

1 – Bravo, a solid fifty but just couldn’t push on with partners falling and the rate rising

[Nottsboy118]

So a two match T20I series to end a reasonably successful tour with nothing to lose given we lost the last series 2-0. The big news is Sammy doesn’t return, perhaps sadly signalling an end to his international career. In other news Pooran is replaced by Simmons, Charles is left out after two innings and two golden ducks this year, Primus is left out too and Powell and Andre Russell are brought in. Russell is still a fortnight away from a return so that is more in hope that he may be fit for the second game.

Therfore the squad is; Gayle (c), Badree, Brathwaite. C, Bravo. Dw (vc), , Hetmyer, Joseph, Lewis, Narine, Pollard, Powell. R, Reifer, Russell, Simmons (wk), Samuels, Williams

Are team largely picks itself, we opt for Joseph over Reifer, Williams and Powell in the only real place of contention. New Zealand of course look strong in the shortest format but on a spinning track we might have a chance. We win the toss and bat first, hoping to strangle them in their chase with the spinners on a wearing pitch.



Gayle went early before Lewis got off to a flyer, however apart from a painfully slow fifty from Samuels there wasn’t much else to offer as New Zealand dragged us back very well. On that surface 162 looks a good total but it could and should have been more, somewhere in the region of 180, after the start we had.

Never in it after about three overs, a really poor bowling effort. Narine was economical and Bravo bowled well but overall not impressive at all. They cantered home really against what should have been a challenging attack on a challenging wicket defending a challenging total.



T20I awards:

5 – Bravo, the only bowler who looked threatening, and boy did he, lovely bowling to take all four wickets to fall

3 – Lewis, gave us a very bright start just a shame no one lower down the order could add to his effort

1 – Samuels, I didn’t want to include this because it really was almost a hinderance it was that slow but there is literally nothing else to pick so he scrapes one point

***

The optimism is for nothing as Russell is not fit. But we do make changes anyway; Joseph in a straight swap out for Williams, and due to the pitch Narine and Bishoo out for Reifer and Powell. New Zealand bring in Boult for Santner with both sides clearly reading the pitch the same, we win the toss and bowl first.

This was a ‘we’ve had a long tour we’re ready for a break’ performance if I’ve ever seen one. Rubbish from start to finish. This was never a 180 pitch, it was barely a 150 pitch for my reckoning. A very disappointing way to end the tour, this series, especially given there were realistic points to be gained here.

Well we gave it a damn good go, from a rapid fire 30 from Gayle to a well-made 60 from Samuels and useful 20s from Simmons and Hetmyer but the poor bowling left us in a position where even a very good batting effort resulted in a comfortable loss. Not happy to lose this series 2-0, and a resounding 2-0 at that. I find myself in the unexpected position where theT20I team is perhaps causing me the most problems, it’s just not functioning at all.



Awards:

5 – Samuels, deserved his points this time without a doubt, very well played

3 – Gayle, got us off to a flyer not for the first time, but he’s yet to go on something we need him to rectify

1 – Bravo, again the only bowler who can look himself in the mirror after that shambles.

[Nottsboy118]

And thus we march onto the last series of the year, and if we’re being honest one that will define said season. So far we’ve been well beaten in all forms by Pakistan, India and England as expected, beaten Zimbabwe in the longer format but struggled in the shorter ones albeit away from home, and given New Zealand a competitive tour. All of that means I reckon we’re on about a C+/B- grade, so a good last series here could give us a successful season, but a bad one could do the exact opposite. We’re defending series wins in Tests/ODIs and a draw in T20Is so a lot could change in the rankings if we lose here.

First up we have two Test matches. Picking the squad was tricky, the bowlers largely picked themselves, but the batsman proved a more difficult affair; who to open K. Hope or Hetmyer? Bring Dowrich to replace S. Hope given his great domestic form? A combination of the two? We eventually opt to leave Hetmyer out and give him some game time in the domestic circuit. We win an important toss and bat first.




We were soon reduced to 49-4 in a disappointing top order display, but a fantastic hundred from Singh and two good combinations from Hope and Dowrich got us to a respectable score on a pitch that was deteriorating quicker than expected. 283 looks a bit light but as has been said the pitch is becoming much harder to play on and a fourth innings chase will be tricky, so bowl well up next and you never know.

And we’ve been batted out of this sadly. We made a good start reducing them to 67-3 and then 131-4 but we just couldn’t keep up the pressure and three good innings by Haque, Al Hasan and Mahmuddullah took it away from us. Warrican again bowled well, but the fact he took 8 wickets was mainly down to the fact that no one else looked like they’d take any so it was him or no one.

Facing a deficit of 155 we’d have to score over 250 to make the overall result respectable, and 400 to have a chance. And we just about scraped to 227. This game hasn’t been a disaster, the bowling hasn’t been awful, the batting not useless, ultimately we’ve just not been as good as them in all departments which is worrying given we’re playing Bangladesh at home.

They knocked them off without a worry in double quick time, however Gabriel did force Iqbal to retire hurt so maybe they will be a touch weaker in the next test as a result.




Awards:

5 – Singh, brilliant century in the first innings

3 – Warrican, the only bowler who even looked like taking wickets, luckily for us he looked like taking 8

1 – Dowrich, toss-up between him and Brathwaite but the difference was Brathwaite’s runs came when the game was gone

***

The squad is unchanged but the line-up probably won't be. And it isn't; Bishoo in for Gabriel. Das comes in for the injured Iqbal, as we again win the toss and bat first.

In tough conditions we edged slowly towards 385 with a brilliant century from Bravo, and another good innings by Dowrich, who fell short of a century for the second game in a row by upping his scoring rate for the team; with his good form he puts Hope’s place more in doubt given he takes the gloves.

Yet another brilliant performance from Warrican and yet another awful performance by everybody else. I’m starting to think some drastic changes are needed to this team, but sadly I also know that there just isn’t much more to come in from the talent pool available to us. Given the slow nature of our innings we are now into day 4 28 runs behind, with the draw looking the most likely result.

I'm starting to think a few more games until the end of the season and then I need a break from this team… 143 all out and the game presented on a lovely silver platter to Bangladesh. Dowrich the single only batter to show some heart, with the bowlers the only other people to do as such.

I opened with Warrican, because who else is going to get wickets and he thus took two for me, and predictably no one else got one. Somehow we’ve been resoundedly beaten in a game we were in a position after our first innings where we had bat the loss out of the equation.



Awards:

5 – Dowrich, performed in both innings and very well in both, a very fine second coming

3 – Warrican, just simply unstoppable this chap if only he got an ounce of support

1 – Bravo, lovely century in the first innings

[Nottsboy118]

We move on to the ODI series next, we leave out Hope and Primus and bring in Dowrich and young batsmen Goolie.

Thus our squad is; Holder (c), Bishoo, Brathwaite, Bravo, Carter (vc), Cornwall, Dowrich (wk), Gabriel, Goolie, Hetmyer, Joseph, Lewis, Reifer, Samuels, Warrican

We make one change to the XI; Dowrich in for Shai Hope, win the toss and put a talented Bangladesh line-up into bat.

On a pitch offering assistance we weren’t dangerous enough, consequently didn’t pick up enough wickets and as a result Bangladesh cruised to an over par score. Holder for the first time in a while in this format was poor, the other seamers were all decent but no one took the chance to shine as is often the case.

Well then early wickets, strangled by the seamers and a late charge was far too late. I think this is exactly how Bangladesh would have planned the innings and its exactly what we did. I enjoyed that New Zealand tour, being a half decent team was fun… we’re most certainly back to reality here, as only some good late hitting by Holder and Brathwaite resulted in our loss being poor as oppose to bloody awful.




Awards:

5 – Samuels, batted very well when all around him was either getting out or scoring at a strike rate of 50

3 – Brathwaite, bowled nicely for no reward but was very economical and then hit some lusty blows late on with a very fast 30, he’s nailing a place down in this XI and making me regret not picking him sooner

1 – Gabriel, struggling in the longer format and may not be picked for a while in that, but he’s produced another good 10 overs here

***

On a flat deck we decide we need some variation to our attack so bring in Bishoo for young Joseph, Carter is also dropped after some truly awful form and replaced by the promising youngster Goolie. We lose the toss and bowl first.

Well we responded to the disappointing first game brilliantly here. Gabriel ripped through their top order taking 3-22 from his initial 7 over spell, before the duo of spinners gave Bangladesh a taste of their own medicine by strangling them and thus allowing Holder, Brathwaite and Gabriel again to pick up wickets as they looked to up the rate. Gabriel taking 6 this time, a superb performance.

205 to win on a flat deck, surely a series leveller here for us. After previous poor chases when we went to hard too early we decided to take this one more slowly, however we were soon in a rut and couldn’t get out. The rate edged up past six but thanks to the accelerator being pushed by Samuels and Dowrich and a fine unbeaten cameo by Holder we got over the line with time to spare in the end. Given us our second winner takes all ODI series decider in a row.




Award time:

5 – Gabriel, easy decision, crippled their top order then mopped up their lower order/tail, fantastic bowling

3 – Samuels, anchored the chase again, our best ODI batter by a country mile this year and that is including the fact of him infuriating me at times

1 – Holder, batting a place higher to give Goodie more of a shield on debut he scored 30* off 17 to guarantee us the win, on top of another solid 10 overs bowled


***

We go into this game unchanged, Bangladesh muddle with their team as they have done all series. We win the toss and invite Bangladesh to set us a score.

This was a strange innings in many ways, we bowled well but not threatening at all really however we didn’t let them get away and although they reached 111-0 then 153-2 we were never out of this. And then suddenly Warrican took three very quick wickets and we were arguably on top and as they tried to up the rate we stayed calm and picked up wickets regularly and kept them to the small total of 224-8.

But none of that matters when you are reduced to 20-4, does it? Or does it? In steps Carlos Brathwaite to make that World T20I final look like child’s play. 124* off 92 balls. First hundred of the year for us, first series win of the year for us (in this format), just bloody outstanding. Honorouable mentions to Bravo with a good rebuilding effort to set the platform and Goolie with a valuable 22, his first knock in international cricket, in a partnership of 95.




Award time, I wonder who?:

5 – Brathwaite, what a man!!! 10 overs for 32 runs and then 124*! Just a truly special performance. Fantastic

3 – Warrican, whilst he was outbowled by Bishoo for large parts his three wickets in 7 of his balls truly changed the game

1 – Goolie, it was a slow not truly convincing innings to be honest but Brathwaite needed someone to stand at the other end and he did a dam fine job at that battling hard and showing true character

A series win against Bangladesh is no small achievement and I’m delighted, especially after a really poor first match. There is still room for improvement but just as I was beginning to get really drained from this save I experience a truly remarkable moment. Onwards and upwards, come on the Windies!

[Nottsboy118]

So two games left of the season, can we keep this strong finish going. We drop Lewis and Williams, and bring in Andre McCarthy and Andre Fletcher. Both new players are north of 30 but have had good domestic seasons and we need added batting depth to this XI so needs must.

Our squad is this then; Gayle (c), Badree, Brathwaite. C, Bravo. Dw (vc), , Fletcher, Hetmyer, Joseph, McCarthy, Narine, Pollard, Powell. R, Reifer, Russell, Simmons (wk), Samuels

We make a few changes to our side; Badree is dropped as he just doesn’t seem as good a player as in real life, Hetmyer is left out due to some poor form and most importantly Andre Russell is back and McCarthy debuts too. We win the toss and bowl.



We started well and had them on the ropes at one point but couldn’t land that knockout punch thus they got up to 155 thanks to Al Hasan’s good fifty. Still we should knock these off really.

Awful batting again. This batting line-up is full of talent, bursting at the seams but it refuses to score runs. Absolutely nothing here, Pollard top scored but that was about as shaky a innings as you are likely to see.



Awards:

5 – Joseph, got the first two wickets which put Bangladesh in a position where we should have ran all over them

3 – Narine, peformed the choke roll superbly with a low economy rate and two wickets to boot

1 – Bravo, another good bowling performance by our go-to bowler and a lower order cameo too

***

McCarthy looked well out of depth and is replaced by Fletcher and Badree comes in for Powell on a spinning track. Bangladesh are unchanged as we win the toss and bat first.

Gayle finally showed up batting through the innings, although given that information surprisingly only making 80*. However 160 odd on this pitch with Narine and Badree in our attack, we should level the series.

Well we looked dead and gone at one point, but great tight bowling from Bravo, Narine and Russell gave us a chance, putting us into the positioning of defending 3 for the win and 4 for the draw off the last over. And up stepped Brathwaite to concede one run and take two wickets, great stuff. A very nice way to end the season.




The final Awards of the season:

5 – Gayle, the only batter to perform as he produced our best T20I innings of the year

3 – Brathwaite, others set him up but he coped with the pressure brilliantly to seal the win

1 – Narine, 2-20 off four when they were cruising turned the game for us, lovely stuff

So the season is all done, an in-depth review will follow as will some awards, and then a break from the Windies will come I think.

[Nottsboy118]

So a quick summary of the year would be to outline our ranking positions and ratings at the start and end of the year, these were:

Tests, 8^th 11 points --- 9^th 8 points

ODI, 9^th 11 points --- 9^th 10 points

T20I, 5^th 16 points --- 6^th 15 points

So we’ve lost ground in all three formats, but this is a simple way of reviewing the year so we need to go into more detail.

Test Matches:

1-4-8 was our record. And honestly giving the quality of our XI this probably wasn’t as bad as it looks. We produced some very good batting performances alas very inconsistently and that is probably where the problem most lies; all of our regular top 6 players, except K. Brathwaite, scored at least one century. The bowling however was significantly worse as our unit looked incapable of taking wickets unless very helpful conditions with no one averaging below 48 except for Warrican. We’ve come out of this year with promise and potential but also a poor record.

Our players who featured in the top 50 of Test rankings are:

Batsmen; Singh (24), Bravo (25), Chase (31), Brathwaite (45), Holder (46), S.Hope (47).

Bowlers; Warrican (4), Cummings (36), Bishoo (48).

And a few stats: Highest team total; 557 (vs Pakistan), team hundreds; 11, team fifties; 33, team five wicket hauls; 8, team ten wickets [in a match]; 1, highest score; 178 (Bravo), most runs; 1145 (Bravo), best figures; 8-66 (Warrican), best figures [match]; 14-164 (Warrican), most wickets; 51 (Warrican)

ODI Matches:

5-1-18 was our record. Relatively happy with this year’s efforts, especially the progress that we made throughout the year. The Zimbabwe series was the only blip other than that we challenged New Zealand hard, beat Bangladesh and looked like we might nick a win off Pakistan/India/Engalnd. The main weaknesses with the team is the lack of real standout match winning performances with only one century and two five wicket hauls over the whole year. The batting was the worse of the disciplines for us with only Samuels averaging over 40 of players who played more than 6 games.

Our players who featured in the top 50 of ODI rankings are:

Batsmen; Samuels (6), Bravo (37), S.Hope (41), Hetmyer (48).

Bowlers; Holder (1), Gabriel (2), Warrican (44), Bishoo (49).

And a few stats: Highest team total; 314 (vs New Zealand), 300 plus scores; 1, team hundreds; 1, team fifties; 28, team five wicket hauls; 2,highest score; 124*(Brathwaite), most runs; 1061 (Samuels), best figures; 6-40 (Gabriel), most wickets; 43 (Holder)

T20I Matches:

2-0-6 was our record. This was a disappointing year in the shortest format, as it was a format I expected to be competitive in even against the bigger nations. I think part of this was down to gameplay not replicating real life perfectly; big hitters like Badree being very poor, and others like Pollard and Gayle not living up to billing. But equally part of it is probably me getting used to the team and format too. The balance of the team is the main issue with the team as I am spoilt for choice with all-rounders I think I am perhaps picking too many, however in saying that there aren’t too many batters/bowlers putting their hands up and forcing me to stop doing that. However as it seems with all the formats there is promise here, there is talent in the Caribbean.

Our players featured in the top 50 of T20I rankings are:

Batsmen; Gayle (10), Samuels (16), Pollard (22), Bravo (34), Lewis (45), Hetmyer (48).

Bowlers; Bravo (2), Narine (22), Powell (41).

And a few stats: Highest team total; 178 (vs India), 180 plus scores; 0, team hundreds; 0, team fifties; 6, team five wicket hauls; 0,highest score; 80 (Gayle), most runs; 215 (Pollard), best figures; 4-27 (Bravo), most wickets; 15 (Bravo)

[Nottsboy118]

And now Ladies and Gentlemen we have arrived at the annual WICB award bash. There is outrageously expensive wine, tickets for any relatives of board members and an Ice sculpture of Whycliffe ‘'Dave'’ Cameron for some reason… but it’s all above board, they’re efficient hard working sports administrators and they deserve all this. I mean look at the state of West Indian cricket they’re clearly doing a sterling job.

Before the big awards are giving out a few lesser ones will get us started:

The Darren Sammy likeable player of the Year Award: Hetmyer

--- For no real reason I’ve taking a liking to Hetmyer, he’s young, scores freely without trying and has yet to miss International cricket for the IPL – all big ticks for me.

The Denesh Randim 'Yea Viv Talk Nah' Villain of the Year Award: Andre Russell

--- With no obvious candidate it goes to Russell for missing most of the year due to a doping violation – plonker.

The Brian Lara Test Match Innings of the Year Award: Dwayne Bravo, 113 vs Zimbabwe (1^st Test)

--- There were bigger innings’, there were more fluent innings’ but there were none more important. A monumental effort when all around him was falling to set up our first and only Test Match victory.

[Honourable mentions: Chase; 141 (vs England), Bravo; 178 (vs England), Singh; 142 (vs Bangladesh)]

The Michael Holding Test Match Bowling Performance of the Year Award: Jomel Warrican, 8-66 vs Zimbabwe (1^st Test)

--- A simply wonderful performance and statement from Warrican in his first test of the season, and one he never looked back from as he motored to 4 in the world. After Bravo’s heroics we needed someone to really perform, especially given Bishoo was injured, and boy did he.

[Honoroubale mentions; Cumming; 8-88 (vs England), Warrican; 8-147 (vs Bangladesh), Bishoo; 5-118 (vs Pakistan)]

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And now for the main awards:

Young Player of the Year Award (U23): Shimron Hetmyer

--- Somewhat through lack of options, we’ve given debuts and game time to lots of 24/25/26 ages but not many younger than 23. Somewhat through promising performances in all three formats with averages of; 21.83/ 28.19/ 30.33, 5 international fifties and high strike rates in the limited over stuff. A strong year for the 21 year old and hopefully there is more to come.

The Christopher Gayle T20I Award:

-- In third place with 11 points is Chris Gayle

-- In second place with 14 points is Sunil Narine

-- And the winner is… Dwayne Bravo with 15 points

The Sir Vivian Richards ODI Award:

-- In third place with 25 points is Marlon Samuels

-- In second place with 26 points is Shannon Gabriel

-- And the winner is… Jason Holder with 27 points

The Sir Garfield Sobers Test Match Award:

-- In third place with 14 points is Shai Hope

-- In second place with 17 points is Darren Bravo

-- And the winner is… Jomel Warrican with 17 points (winning due to playing in less tests)


So the three main men are: Bravo, Holder and Warrican. Bravo was deadly with bat and ball in the short stuff, Holder regularly took wickets early and late in 50 over cricket and Warrican was a revelation in Test Match cricket. And thus brings a close to my first season in charge, and onto the second one we go.