The Golden Isles - A West Indies Career.

[Imager36]

For those of you who don't know, I did a story in ICC 2009 of the West Indies with relative success. (I was 2-0 up in tests with Australia at one point before it all came tumbling down!)

Due to my need for occasional writing and structured games, it is time to revive the West Indies for the second time. Just before we start, I represent a new WICB, elected on April 1, 2011. This being the case, I currently have no beefs with Sarwan, Chanderpaul or even Gayle, and will prepare to pick what I feel is my best team, with or without them. In this opening post, I will keep a little archive of the Season Preview pages, which will turn into results pages as I progress through the season.

Season 2011/12 Preview/Results

[cardassian]

good luck dude.
love the preview of the season and the detail you've gone into without even starting yet.
look forward to reading more.

[Dom]

Good detail as previously mentioned. It's nice to see some stories to keep things interesting arund here. Keep it up and I look forward to seeing more updates.

[Major]

Good detail as previously mentioned. It's nice to see some stories to keep things interesting arund here. Keep it up and I look forward to seeing more updates.

Really like the detail myself and can't argue too much with the team except that with a new WI Board I assume minus Hunte as President I would have removed Sammy as Captain and picked Andre Russell instead of K Pollard even though that would hurt my heart some what.

[Imager36]

2011/12 - Preview/Results (Results in bold)

Pakistan in the West Indies

1 T20I - Lost 0-1 Match 1

5 ODIs - Won 3-2 Match 1 Match 2 Match 3 Match 4 Match 5

2 Test Matches - Won 2-0 Match 1 Match 2

India in the West Indies

1 T20I - No previous series.

5 ODIs - Lost 2-1 in 2009.

3 Test Matches - Lost 1-0 in 2006.

West Indies in Bangladesh

2 Test Matches - Won 2-0 in 2002.

3 ODIs - Won 2-0 in 2002.

2 T20Is - No previous series.

West Indies in New Zealand

2 Test Matches - Drew 0-0 in 2008.

3 ODIs - Lost 2-1 in 2008.

2 T20Is - Drew 1-1 in 2008.

Pakistan in the West Indies

3 Test Matches - Previous result determined earlier in season.

5 ODIs - Previous result determined earlier in season.

So, looking at that rather large list, let's pick off some potential victories. India are the best team by far that we will face this season, so we'll write those matches off almost from the start. (Then again, in a one-off T20I, I think we have the ability to pick up some points!) There is a definite chance of Bangladesh picking up world rating points in that series in the middle of the year, and we'll have to play well to replicate the 2002 performance, however, if we can, I fancy our chances against a weak New Zealand side straight afterward.

So, onto our first challenge. The good thing about playing Pakistan twice at home in the same year is that is doesn't matter how badly I ruin us first time round, and we should be adjusted by the time they return! Bearing in mind that I need to figure out a team, and that the T20I will not be repeated at the end of the season, I went in with this squad:-

D. Smith (O)
A. Barath (O)
C. Gayle (O)
S. Chanderpaul (BAT)
R. Sarwan (BAT) (VC)
DM. Bravo (BAT)
C. Baugh (WK)
DJ. Bravo (ALL)
K. Pollard (ALL)
K. Roach (SEAM)
S. Benn (SPIN)
A. Russell (SEAM)
D. Bishoo (SPIN)
R. Rampaul (SEAM)
D. Sammy (SEAM) (C)

I haven't made a thoroughly controversial pick in there, but when I inevitably do I will explain it

Picked from this is the team for the first match of the season, the single T20I of the year against Pakistan, with 2 World Ranking points on this single match.

C. Gayle
A. Barath
S. Chanderpaul
R. Sarwan
DM. Bravo
DJ. Bravo
C. Baugh (K)
D. Sammy (C)
S. Benn
K. Roach
D. Bishoo

Wish me luck, folks of the forum!

[Imager36]

Well, we've started with a loss, but it's not as bad as it could have been.



Called tails, won the toss, chose to bowl first. We started rather nicely in the field, with 3 Pakistani wickets going down in the first 3 overs, Umar, Alam and Younus Khan out cheaply. Pakistan then went rather quiet and rebuilt, (Sammy bowled a maiden over for the 8th!) but when Bishoo got Yousuf for 11 off 15 balls, it looked like wickets might keep falling at the right times for us. 47/4 swiftly became 133/4, however, as opener Shehzad and Zulqarnain Haider put on 86 for the 5th wicket. Roach came back to finish his spell and took a couple more wickets to end up with 4, but the damage was already done as Pakistan made a score of 168/8, a score that looked rather good after their start.

We got off to a similar start to Pakistan, but without one of the openers surviving the opening burst. The ever-explosive Gayle hit a six but only mustered 18, and as Barath, Sarwan, Chanderpaul and Darren Bravo fell cheaply also, the score soon faltered to 59/5. By this point the game was as good as gone, as we needed 10 runs an over, and the batsmen played on for pride. Dwayne Bravo impressed with 46 from 35 balls including 6 boundary fours, and Baugh made a nice cameo of 27 off 15, but these efforts were nowhere near good enough to secure a victory. It did, however, make the result look respectable.

Good Points

• Roach's 4 wicket haul.
• Bravo and Baugh's fighting batting display.
• Sammy's economical bowling.

Bad Points

• Weak top and middle order batting display.
• Letting Pakistan off the hook after their terrible start.
• Sulieman Benn's 23 runs conceded off 2 overs, albeit against Haider in full flow.

(Belated) Team News
The squad remains the same for the ODI series, and the team for the first ODI has one change, Andre Russell in for Sulieman Benn, as the pitch is not conducive to spin, so Bishoo and Gayle's part-time stuff should suffice in that department.

[Imager36]

"It's not the despair. I can take the despair. It's the hope I can't stand."



We lost the toss. That was a shame, but we felt confident that we could post a good total and make Pakistan work. Chris Gayle was dropped at first slip on the second ball of the innings, and we thought the luck might be on our side for once. The run rate started low, as Gayle wasted balls and after he had fallen, Chanderpaul did the same. Ade Barath made a lovely 51 off 78 balls, with 9 fours, and ran out Chanderpaul, which may have proved useful for the innings!

Almost as soon as the run out, however, Barath himself was caught behind off Wahab Riaz, bringing Darren Bravo to the crease alongside Sarwan. They started by building slowly, and then got into their stride and built the run rate of around 3.8 into one more closely resembling 4.5 and a decent total. Sarwan went for 33 off 53, and Dwayne Bravo quickly followed for 10 off 10. Carlton Baugh came in and played a similar cameo to in the T20, and the run rate got to over 5 an over for the first time, as Bravo smashed 12 off the over after Baugh was out. 18 off the last 2 helped get the Windies up to the target of 261, which looked good on this pitch.

The Pakistani openers started well, and it wasn't until the 9th over that Russell made the breakthrough, leaving them at 61/1. Fawad Alam and Younus Khan fell cheaply, but Taufeeq Umar continued batting until he finally got out for 58 off 46, bowled by Sammy, after a significant quick dent in our total.

Then Pakistan slowed up. Mohammad Yousuf made 53 at a leisurely pace, and the star of T20 Haider only made 11 off 23 deliveries before Bishoo bamboozled him. Pakistan were still well in control, and a partnership of 51 between Yousuf and Tanvir showed this, but when those two and Wahab Riaz fell in the space of 4 overs, it was the West Indies who were on top. It was then that the luck turned against us. The ever-dangerous Yasir Arafat started hitting boundaries, and in the 43rd over, with around 35 left to get for Pakistan, Arafat and then Gul were dropped in consecutive balls, first in the slips and then in the deep.

These two then progressed to the total with relative ease, as the plucky West Indians were inflicted with a defeat they really didn't deserve.

Good Points

• Kemar Roach's 4 wickets.
• Devendra Bishoo's 2/31 from 10 overs.
• Darren Bravo's commanding 83.
• Ade Barath's solid start to the innings.
• Carlton Baugh's second cameo in 2 matches.

Bad Points

• Letting Pakistan again escape from a bad position to win the match.
• Russell, Bravo and Sammy were all expensive.
• Chanderpaul's slow start to the innings.

Team News
No changes to the side for the second ODI.

[nilet]

Pollard is underrated and can't bowl for shizzle, he would boost the team so much, problem with the game is the big time players for each nation are not all correct and it just favours Aus and England mostly

[Major]

"It's not the despair. I can take the despair. It's the hope I can't stand."



We lost the toss. That was a shame, but we felt confident that we could post a good total and make Pakistan work. Chris Gayle was dropped at first slip on the second ball of the innings, and we thought the luck might be on our side for once. The run rate started low, as Gayle wasted balls and after he had fallen, Chanderpaul did the same. Ade Barath made a lovely 51 off 78 balls, with 9 fours, and ran out Chanderpaul, which may have proved useful for the innings!

Almost as soon as the run out, however, Barath himself was caught behind off Wahab Riaz, bringing Darren Bravo to the crease alongside Sarwan. They started by building slowly, and then got into their stride and built the run rate of around 3.8 into one more closely resembling 4.5 and a decent total. Sarwan went for 33 off 53, and Dwayne Bravo quickly followed for 10 off 10. Carlton Baugh came in and played a similar cameo to in the T20, and the run rate got to over 5 an over for the first time, as Bravo smashed 12 off the over after Baugh was out. 18 off the last 2 helped get the Windies up to the target of 261, which looked good on this pitch.

The Pakistani openers started well, and it wasn't until the 9th over that Russell made the breakthrough, leaving them at 61/1. Fawad Alam and Younus Khan fell cheaply, but Taufeeq Umar continued batting until he finally got out for 58 off 46, bowled by Sammy, after a significant quick dent in our total.

Then Pakistan slowed up. Mohammad Yousuf made 53 at a leisurely pace, and the star of T20 Haider only made 11 off 23 deliveries before Bishoo bamboozled him. Pakistan were still well in control, and a partnership of 51 between Yousuf and Tanvir showed this, but when those two and Wahab Riaz fell in the space of 4 overs, it was the West Indies who were on top. It was then that the luck turned against us. The ever-dangerous Yasir Arafat started hitting boundaries, and in the 43rd over, with around 35 left to get for Pakistan, Arafat and then Gul were dropped in consecutive balls, first in the slips and then in the deep.

These two then progressed to the total with relative ease, as the plucky West Indians were inflicted with a defeat they really didn't deserve.

Good Points

• Kemar Roach's 4 wickets.
• Devendra Bishoo's 2/31 from 10 overs.
• Darren Bravo's commanding 83.
• Ade Barath's solid start to the innings.
• Carlton Baugh's second cameo in 2 matches.

Bad Points

• Letting Pakistan again escape from a bad position to win the match.
• Russell, Bravo and Sammy were all expensive.
• Chanderpaul's slow start to the innings.

Team News
No changes to the side for the second ODI.

Cool stuff and a very realistic end with the Windies snatching defeat from the jaws of victory by shelling two catches due to nerves. I take it you haven't found room in your team for Pollard due to your playing both Sammy and Bravo?

[Imager36]

We've leveled the series! But it should have been much easier...



Call Tails, Win Toss, Bowl. It's the perfect start for me to any one day match, and this one went to plan. Pakistan got off to a decent start, with Shehzad really starting brightly. Russell got Umar with the score at 49, and Fawad Alam made 28 off 29 before he and Shehzad (67 off 84) also fell, to leave Pakistan 128/3. After this good start, however, when a 250+ total looked likely, Pakistan faltered. Bishoo was the one who started and continued the faltering, his 4/30 starting with the wicket of Shehzad, and taking out the dangerous Younus, Haider and Tanvir before they could get going. Gayle also helped slow down the batsmen with his 2/42 off 10 overs.

None of the lower Pakistan order offered resistance, except Haider who made 19 and their previous saviour Arafat, who got 21 with the tail. Pakistan were finished off by Sammy and Roach, and we thought a target of 209 was easy enough compared to what it could have been when Pakistan were 124/1.

Gayle survived his now mandatory first over chance, in this case, he edged behind off Yasir Arafat on a free hit ball. He didn't last too much longer, however, going for 16 off 17 balls. Chanderpaul also made 16, but Sarwan stuck around longer, allowing Barath at the other end to get into his stride in a 55 partnership. When Sarwan got out, Darren Bravo continued his good work in earlier matches for a 67 partnership of which he got 43, and he and Barath secured foundations from which the West Indies were almost certain to win the match. Almost.

4 wickets fell for 21 runs, and Carlton Baugh and Andre Russell were left needing 23 to win from 3.3 overs. Off the first 1.3 overs, they managed precisely 5, meaning they needed 18 from the last 2. It was the 49th over that almost secured the match, with 3 boundaries moving the target to only 3 off the final over. Single off the first ball, single off the third. Baugh made it nervy by playing and missing at balls 4 and 5, before clipping one off his legs and running to secure the match. It should never have got that close.

Good Points

• We won! My first win in this career!
• A solid all-round bowling performance, save a bad 5 overs from Russell.
• The spinners control in the middle overs, especially Bishoo.
• Barath's composed 67
• Darren Bravo's building 43
• A 3rd cameo from Baugh, this time matchwinning.

Bad Points

• Russell's bad bowling.
• The failure of sanity halfway through our innings.
• Gayle, Chanderpaul and Sarwan again failing before scoring decently.

Team News
Due to his expensiveness so far in these matches, Andre Russell is replaced by Ravi Rampaul.

Cool stuff and a very realistic end with the Windies snatching defeat from the jaws of victory by shelling two catches due to nerves. I take it you haven't found room in your team for Pollard due to your playing both Sammy and Bravo?

Yep, also, I don't really rate Pollard, myself, see him as a poor man's Shahid Afridi He might make it in if I have to drop Gayle due to poor form though.

[Imager36]

You can say what you like about ICC11, but the Pakistan team seem pretty realistic.



Batting like that, it's hard to remember quite how they won the first match of the series. Anyway, we won the toss and bowled on a pitch that might offer something to the faster bowlers, but it ended up offering far more than we expected! Sammy took 2 wickets with the 1st and 2nd balls of the third over, removing Umar and the yet-to-fire Alam for 1 off 5 and a first baller respectively. Shehzad stuck around a bit longer, and the score had moved onto 36 by the time he was caught in double Bravo trouble. Younus also went, for 23, and as Yousuf and Haider joined him in the pavilion, the Pakistan score became 40/6. Tanvir and the victor of the first game Yasir Arafat built a nice partnership of 42, before Tanvir went LBW to Bravo for 23 and Yasir was caught at slip off Bishoo for 19. Rehman and Ajmal put up no resistance to the on fire Bravo, and the innings was over within 2 hours.

Chasing a target of only 89, Barath and Gayle set out to win by 10 wickets. Gul's second over brought the only West Indian wicket, Barath bowled by a trademark yorker from one of the best one day bowlers. Gayle and Chanderpaul had few problems, however, Gayle bringing up his half-century and then the two running sensibly to win the game for the West Indies by 9 wickets, with exactly 160 balls remaining. Now can all matches be like this one, please?

Good Points

• Well, now you come to mention it, pretty much everything!
• Every bowler took at least one wicket.
• Bravo to Bravo for his 4/18.
• I have more faith in Gayle and Chanders after that batting display.

Bad Points

• Do I have to do these for this match? Ah well, it's tradition, I suppose.
• Barath showed that sometimes he fails too... very disappointing
• Kemar Roach went for an unsightly 5 runs an over!

Team News
What did you expect? The exact same team will play the next match!

[Imager36]

Well, I know Pakistan aren't great at the moment... but I didn't think I'd have demoralised them this much.



To be honest, I'm ashamed that Pakistan haven't put up a fight in the last two matches. In the first two, it looked like this could be an entertaining series, but it appears that we've won it with a game in hand after two walkovers... they're a shambles. [/RANT]

We won the toss, and again chose to spend our time in the field first. Roach, newly promoted to opening the bowling, took Shehzad's wicket with his third ball to leave Pakistan 3/1, and like a shark, the West Indian bowlers sensed blood. Fawad Alam (one 2 digit score in 5 matches) was next, beaten by Roach and nicked to slip. Sammy picked up the wicket of Umar, and Pakistan were left tottering again at 16/3.

Yousuf went to Roach for 7 in the final over of his first spell, and then, 8 overs and 20 runs later, Younus Khan was caught in the deep off Bravo. Haider played nicely for 23, but was removed in the 22nd over by Sammy. Then followed the two best partnerships of the innings, firstly Tanvir with an unusually stodgy Yasir Arafat (who made 7 off 40 balls) and then the same Tanvir with an exciting, and often off strike, Wahab Riaz. Tanvir eventually went LBW to Bravo, and, as he was the only real resistance, Riaz and Shah crumbled to Rampaul's line and length.

The West Indian innings was basically a mirror image of the match 4 days previous. Barath was out early again, to Gul again, at which point Gayle upped the ante to get a stylish half-century and Chanderpaul plodded along (although this time he sped up towards the end to try and record a 50 himself). It was another walkover, and although the points are welcome, I would have preferred a proper test to get them.

Good Points

• We've secured the series! My first ranking points of the story!
• All the bowlers. Even the wicketless Bishoo went for 16 from his 10 overs, and everyone else got 2+ wickets.
• Again, Gayle and Chanderpaul's solidity in batting.
• Another great performance from the team.

Bad Points

• Letting Tanvir get 48 despite the rest of the side crumbling.
• Barath's second failure in 2 matches.
• The state of the Pakistan side.

Team News

Due to the series win, 4 changes to the side which will play the next match to test out players. Devon Smith, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell and Suliemann Benn replace Chris Gayle, Shiv Chanderpaul, Darren Sammy and Devendra Bishoo.

[Major]

Well, I know Pakistan aren't great at the moment... but I didn't think I'd have demoralised them this much.



To be honest, I'm ashamed that Pakistan haven't put up a fight in the last two matches. In the first two, it looked like this could be an entertaining series, but it appears that we've won it with a game in hand after two walkovers... they're a shambles. [/RANT]

We won the toss, and again chose to spend our time in the field first. Roach, newly promoted to opening the bowling, took Shehzad's wicket with his third ball to leave Pakistan 3/1, and like a shark, the West Indian bowlers sensed blood. Fawad Alam (one 2 digit score in 5 matches) was next, beaten by Roach and nicked to slip. Sammy picked up the wicket of Umar, and Pakistan were left tottering again at 16/3.

Yousuf went to Roach for 7 in the final over of his first spell, and then, 8 overs and 20 runs later, Younus Khan was caught in the deep off Bravo. Haider played nicely for 23, but was removed in the 22nd over by Sammy. Then followed the two best partnerships of the innings, firstly Tanvir with an unusually stodgy Yasir Arafat (who made 7 off 40 balls) and then the same Tanvir with an exciting, and often off strike, Wahab Riaz. Tanvir eventually went LBW to Bravo, and, as he was the only real resistance, Riaz and Shah crumbled to Rampaul's line and length.

The West Indian innings was basically a mirror image of the match 4 days previous. Barath was out early again, to Gul again, at which point Gayle upped the ante to get a stylish half-century and Chanderpaul plodded along (although this time he sped up towards the end to try and record a 50 himself). It was another walkover, and although the points are welcome, I would have preferred a proper test to get them.

Good Points

• We've secured the series! My first ranking points of the story!
• All the bowlers. Even the wicketless Bishoo went for 16 from his 10 overs, and everyone else got 2+ wickets.
• Again, Gayle and Chanderpaul's solidity in batting.
• Another great performance from the team.

Bad Points

• Letting Tanvir get 48 despite the rest of the side crumbling.
• Barath's second failure in 2 matches.
• The state of the Pakistan side.

Team News

Due to the series win, 4 changes to the side which will play the next match to test out players. Devon Smith, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell and Suliemann Benn replace Chris Gayle, Shiv Chanderpaul, Darren Sammy and Devendra Bishoo.

Can't wait to see how the new look team fairs. Can the ICC version of Devon Smith master off spin bowled from around the wicket? You might want to consider including the forgotten skiddy speedster Jerome Taylor in your test squad. You might also want to include Marlon Samuels and Nash in your test batting line up.

[Imager36]

With 4 of the best players out of the side, winning the series 4-1 was always going to be tough.



We lost the toss this time, but Pakistan let us bowl first anyway. Roach started the bowling positively, removing both Shehzad and Umar early in the innings, but then Pakistan began to get away from us. After my continuous taunts of Fawad Alam, he made a delightful 62 off 70 balls in this dead rubber, and was ably supported in a partnership of 99 by Younus Khan's 44. Yousuf came in and made 38 before being run out, and Haider managed 29 with the tail, Roach getting rid of Tanvir, followed by Russell taking 3 and Roach returning to snap up Haider as the 10th wicket. The Pakistani total of 214 looked decent but not unbeatable, as we looked to inflict a thrashing to the Pakistan line-up.

We were 20/2 before we knew it with both Barath and Smith falling cheaply to Tanvir. Sarwan made a spirited 30 off 29, and Darren Bravo stayed at the crease for an uncharacteristic 14 from 39. Pollard failed, getting 7 off 13 balls, but Dwayne Bravo stuck around longer. His 41 off 48 was the best score of the innings, with 3 fours and 1 six. Baugh, Russell and Rampaul all failed with the bat, but the second largest partnership of the innings was the 10th wicket one. Suliemann Benn made 24 in 20 balls, with 4 fours and 1 six (22 of his 24 came in boundaries!) and Kemar Roach made 19 off 27 with 4 boundary fours, but Ajmal got Benn LBW before a remarkable turnaround could be made.

Good Points

• Roach's 4/41 off 9.4 overs, a special bowling display.
• Andre Russell's 3/26, shows he can play at this level.
• Dwayne Bravo's fighting 41.
• Not giving up, even when numbers 10 and 11 were batting.

Bad Points

• Rampaul, Bravo, Benn and Pollard looked toothless in the bowling department.
• Failure to bat down a fairly modest total, Barath, Smith, Darren Bravo and Pollard especially.

[Imager36]

Last Words - ODIs with Pakistan

Overall, the series has been a great success, and a boost to my confidence, which before the series said we'd never get anywhere! This should hopefully give confidence to give India a run for their money in ODIs, before we smash Bangladesh and New Zealand.

Batsman of the Series

Hard to separate Barath, Bravo, Chanderpaul and Gayle, but I've given the award to Darren Bravo for his 83* in the first game and 43 in the second. You could say that Gayle was the top man, but in the first two vital games, he did nothing, only in the two formalities did he perform.

Bowler of the Series

Yet again, very hard to separate the main bowlers in this series, with Rampaul, Roach, Sammy and Bishoo all performing admirably in every match they played. Due to taking twice as many wickets as anyone else, however, (14,) Kemar Roach gets my vote.

And so, the one day matches over, we turn our attention to the 2 test matches. Here is the 12 man squad for the first.

A. Barath (O)
C. Gayle (O)
S. Chanderpaul (BAT)
R. Sarwan (BAT)
DM. Bravo (BAT)
B. Nash (BAT)
DJ. Bravo (ALL)
C. Baugh (WK)
D. Sammy (SEAM)
R. Rampaul (SEAM)
D. Bishoo (SPIN)
K. Roach (SEAM)

The controversial pick is really Bishoo over Benn, chosen because of Bishoo's brilliance in the ODIs and Benn's failure to perform in the T20I and the final ODI.

The unlucky 12th man in the first test squad is Brendan Nash, as my confidence in the bowlers is not good enough to select a 4-man attack.