The Golden Isles - A Third Time Lucky West Indies Story

[UTBash]

Cmon Imager! You've been on the same page for ages! We want more games

[Imager36]

Okayyy, okay, I'll speed up. I'll be at uni in 2 and a half weeks, and you should expect updates to slow to a trickle at that point, so let's get as much done before that as possible. Deal? DEAL!

Of course, this new attitude can only lead to doom.



I think it's fair to say the batting didn't go as well as I'd have liked. Early on in our innings, we were 31/4, and reeling after the start of their seamers. Paul rebuilt with Alford, and then Dwayne Bravo rebuilt with Hinds and Khan (15). Sunil Narine got two leading edges away for boundaries in the last over to give us a target not as below par as it should have been.

Mukund fell early, but Pandey and Mandeep Singh did their jobs to perfection against the spinners, milking Narine and Khan and hitting out against Hinds. They never got behind the rate, and needing 7 from the last over, hit a 6 and a single to finish us off.

Series State - India lead 1-0 with 1 to play.
Batting Award - Dwayne Bravo - Swifter than Paul, and was only run out.
Bowling Award - Imran Khan - Kept the runs down and nabbed a wicket.

Team News - Holder in for Hinds.

[UTBash]

Okayyy, okay, I'll speed up. I'll be at uni in 2 and a half weeks, and you should expect updates to slow to a trickle at that point, so let's get as much done before that as possible. Deal? DEAL!

Of course, this new attitude can only lead to doom.



I think it's fair to say the batting didn't go as well as I'd have liked. Early on in our innings, we were 31/4, and reeling after the start of their seamers. Paul rebuilt with Alford, and then Dwayne Bravo rebuilt with Hinds and Khan (15). Sunil Narine got two leading edges away for boundaries in the last over to give us a target not as below par as it should have been.

Mukund fell early, but Pandey and Mandeep Singh did their jobs to perfection against the spinners, milking Narine and Khan and hitting out against Hinds. They never got behind the rate, and needing 7 from the last over, hit a 6 and a single to finish us off.

Series State - India lead 1-0 with 1 to play.
Batting Award - Dwayne Bravo - Swifter than Paul, and was only run out.
Bowling Award - Imran Khan - Kept the runs down and nabbed a wicket.

Team News - Holder in for Hinds.

Poor excuse!! First year in uni is a chill year! Out of interest which uni are you going and what are you doing there?

[Imager36]

Poor excuse!! First year in uni is a chill year! Out of interest which uni are you going and what are you doing there?

This is true, I just hope not too much of my chilling will involve writing match reports for games on ICC12. Southampton, and Psychology.

[DaveK93]

This is true, I just hope not too much of my chilling will involve writing match reports for games on ICC12. Southampton, and Psychology.

It's the same here, with the return to uni, as much ICC needs posting as possible!

[Imager36]

This new forum style is weird, isn't it? Anyway, let's not let that get in that way of a thrilling last ball victory!



So, we won the toss and bowled. As you can tell from that scorecard, Mukund played rather well and no-one else did anything of note. The spinners really strangled the innings in the middle with figures of 8-1-39-4 between them, Narine taking 3 wickets and Imran Khan going for only 13 runs!

We felt 140 was below par, but when Paul was run out, he and both openers had gone to leave us 32/3 after yet another top-order failure on this tour. Luckily, Darren stayed strong to make 37 from 32, and he shared a partnership of 46 with the irrepressible Pollard (57 from 44), who then put on another 54 with Alford (23 from 18) to leave us only 9 short of our target, with 9 balls remaining. Alford went LBW, and after a single, Pollard went in the same style leaving us needing 8 from the last over with 2 new batsmen. 3 singles followed, and then, swiping across the line, Khan was bowled. Jason Holder needed 5 from 2 balls. And he edged a cut shot down to third man for 4, and then finished it off with a simple single! Series tied!

Series State - Series drawn 1-1.
Batting Award - Kieron Pollard - 57 from 44 balls. Good work that man.
Bowling Award - Imran Khan - He went for 13 from his 4 overs. THIRTEEN! And he got the wicket of Jadeja.

Okay, so next we have a tour of Seth Efrica. We start with the 2 Test match series. Here's an 18 man squad.

L. Simmons (OK)
A. Barath (O)
K. Edwards (BAT)
Darren Bravo (BAT)
S. Burton (BAT)
R. Sarwan (BAT)
M. Paul (BAT)
B. Nash (BAT)
M. Alford (ALL)
M. Browne (K)
C. Brathwaite (SEAM)
A. Russell (SEAM)
Imran Khan (SPIN)
D. Sammy (SEAM)
K. McClean (SEAM)
J. Holder (SEAM)
D. Bishoo (SPIN)
S. Narine (SPIN)

As you'll notice, as usual, I have a plethora of bowling options at my disposal. For the first test, we go in without the specialist keeper as Simmons is in prime batting form and so make up for his byes. Paul, Nash, Holder, Narine, Brathwaite and Bishoo also miss out. The Saffers go for a 4 man pace attack with no spinner, with young regen batsman Rindel at 7.

Also, just quickly, a serious question for you tacticians and readers out there - I'm obviously technique training Alford pretty much constantly, but would I best best making him an 'old Kallis' style top order batsman who bowls very competently, or a true all rounder in all forms?

[GrahamB]

Also, just quickly, a serious question for you tacticians and readers out there - I'm obviously technique training Alford pretty much constantly, but would I best best making him an 'old Kallis' style top order batsman who bowls very competently, or a true all rounder in all forms?

I've found it's hard to concentrate on developing both batting and bowling, whilst maintaining form at the same time. I'd develop what his strength is first and foremost.

[Imager36]

It's fair to say bat dominated ball here.



You wouldn't have believed we were 7/1 after winning the toss, would you? Barath and Edwards put on a mammoth 197 between them, Darren continued the good work with 42, Burton only grabbed 28 and Sarwan plundered 74, mostly in partnership with Alford, worth 103. Alford made it to 94 by the time we were 530/9, but his partnership with McClean was an all-time West Indies record of 132! Mike had hit his hundred off only 128 balls, but slowed considerably late on as number 11 McClean took 62 after a shaky start. It was Alfie's highest test score and second century in the form, and took his untroubled average to the point where it is the second best in the team.

South Africa started well, and in regen opener Dom Wilson they had a real aggressor. He smashed 107 from 130 balls to take SA up to 165/2, but after he fell, things fell apart for them. From there they collapsed to 196/7, with only the tail restoring some pride, Philander being involved in partnerships of 34 or more with the last 3 men. (By this point, Sarwan was bowling because it was turning round corners, and he bowled Dale Steyn with a googly. Which to me was amusing.)

We enforced the follow on, and despite grabbing Wilson and AB early, found things much harder. De Kock ground us into the ground with two partnerships worth 100 or more, and the first one with Smith really hurt us. Even when we felt we had broken through, well after lunch on the fifth day, with them at 441/7, Philander and Morkel put on an unbeaten 66 just to rub it in.

Their declaration gave us no hope of a chase, and at 10/3 I realised this.

Series State	Series level at 0-0, 1 match to play.
Batting Award	Mike Alford - You can't really overlook a guy who scores 161 not out, can you?
Bowling Award	None given - No-one did well or adequately in both innings.
Team News	Lendl Simmons conceded more runs than he scored, so he's replaced by Browne. Burton to open, Alford back to 6.
Other News	Lookie, I did a table! Teehee!

[Imager36]

I've found it's hard to concentrate on developing both batting and bowling, whilst maintaining form at the same time. I'd develop what his strength is first and foremost.

You're right on that, definitely, my only decision to make really is whether he's a good enough batsman already to cope at test level, i.e. bowling can be my focus for training. He's weird, great FC batsman, great OD bowler, yet to really showcase the opposite skill in either.

The second test was a lot like the first. Apart from one crucial factor.



We won the toss again, which certainly helped us. Our opening partnership was worth 142, and when Barath fell for a lovely 65, Burton continued. When Edwards went though, there was a mini-collapse, as Burton and Darren followed quickly after. Sarwan and Alford put this right with a partnership worth 132, Alford's 68 showing maybe he's not just lucky at this level! Sarwan kept on though, and put on 60 with the nuggety Browne and 75 with the free-flowing Russell to leave us 500/7. He dominated medium sized partnerships with numbers 9, 10 and 11 as well, and his brilliant 180 not out carried us to a mammoth 591.

As in the first test, we came out all guns blazing, and again, it worked. When Amla fell, we'd got rid of their top 5 for 77 runs between them, and we were through the toughest bit of the innings. Or so we thought. Rindel, at 6, was aggressive and it paid, his 80 coming from 112 balls, not getting stuck in the rut some, notably Smith, had been. Philander hit 50, mainly with Morkel, and South Africa's predicament was less grave than it should have been.

Again, we enforced the follow on, and again the home side countered. Smith and Wilson this time put on 201 for the first wicket, Wilson passing his hundred just before Khan knocked him over, and then did the same to Smith before he could reach his. AB de Villiers gave all he had, and after a mini-collapse of de Kock, Amla and Rindel, looked to be securing the draw in partnership with Petersen, but Sammy returned and bowled him. Philander and Morkel threatened to save it once more, but they were mopped up, and our target was low with over a session remaining.

Apart from the early wicket of Barath, we dealt with the target comfortably, and secured an unlikely test series win in South Africa!

Series State	West Indies win the series 1-0.
Batting Award	Ronnie Sarwan - 180 not out, a phenomenal innings to give us enough runs.
Bowling Award	Darren Sammy - 5 in the first, and crucially de Villiers in the second.

Okay, so with that brilliant Test series over, we turn our attention to the 3 ODIs, the final ones before the 2015 World Cup. With those in mind, we select a 30 man provisional squad (mainly so I can see our depth) and what we feel is our best 15 man squad for this tour. All at once. Fun, isn't it?

Batsmen

A. Barath* (O)
L. Simmons* (OK)
C. Gayle (OS)
S. Barrington (O)
D. Tuit (O)
S. Burton*
K. Edwards* (C)
Darren Bravo*
R. Sarwan*
M. Paul*
R. Currency
J. Blackwood

Keepers

M. Browne
S. Dowrich

All Rounders

K. Pollard* (RM)
M. Alford* (RFM)
Dwayne Bravo (RFM)
K. Stoute (RMF)
R. Hinds* (SLA)
Imran Khan* (SLA)
A. Russell* (RF)
D. Sammy (RFM)
C. Brathwaite (RFM)

Bowlers

K. McClean* (RF)
J. Holder* (RMF)
D. Bishoo (LS)
V. Permaul (OS)
K. Roach (RF)
S. Narine* (OS)
N. Pascal^ (RF)

* = In the South Africa fifteen.
^ = Injured as of squad selection for that fifteen.

All told, I don't think that's a bad squad of 30. I've put anyone with a batting average of over 20 in one day games as an all rounder, so there are lots of bowling all rounders there. That's probably our strongest area, batting and keeping our weakest.

Anyway, the 4 to miss out from the fairly predictable 15 are Sarwan, Narine, Hinds and Edwards, so Simmons captains from behind the stumps and Imran Khan is the sole spinner.

[Imager36]

Every so often, bad West Indies turn up.



Smith and Wilson both feel relatively early, but de Villiers and de Kock put on a mammoth 131 to ease South Africa into a great position. Amla came in late on with de K, and they spurted even more, with Hashim scoring 31 from 17 balls to hurt us.

The total was too big, but at 100/2 with Lendl and Shane ticking along nicely, I felt we had a chance. Unfortunately, we lost 4 wickets for 6 runs and were out of it. Imran Khan smashed a couple of boundaries late on to make it a little better to look at.

Series State	South Africa lead 1-0 with 2 to play.
Batting Award	Lendl Simmons - A competent 50 in a sea of fools.
Bowling Award	Imran Khan - Took no wickets, but kept the run rate below 4 in his spell.
Team News	With the need for 2 spinners apparent, and Narine out of form, Hinds comes in for Russell.

[Imager36]

Much better. Maybe batting first should be the idea come the World Cup?



We batted first after winning the toss, and lost both openers unfortunately early. Darren and Shane put on 75, slowly, but resurrecting the innings. Unfortunately, straight after Darren got out, Mike Paul ran out Shane to leave us in trouble again. After that, everyone chipped in, with Paul and Pollard both getting 24s and Khan hitting 17 not out. Holder was out off the last ball. McClean's 8 from 7 balls was the only single figure score of the innings.

We didn't really think this would be enough, and when Smith was out at 120/2, it didn't look likely. The spinners had kept them tied down though, going for 41 off 10 each, and they needed about 55 from the last 10 overs, bowled by McClean and Alford. With 3 overs left, they only needed 20 more, and it seemed likely that Duminy and Amla would see them home. McClean got Amla and gave away four runs in the next over, followed by Alford giving away only 4 also, and taking Duminy. The new pair never looked likely to get 12, and with Eccles flailing the bat, made only 2 in the last over.

Series State	Series level at 1-1 with 1 to play.
Batting Award	Shane Burton - Best of an average bunch.
Bowling Award	McClean/Alford - Inseparable really, both deserve an accolade.
Team News	None.

[Imager36]

Even I was not expecting this.



We lost the toss and so had to bowl first, meaning I wouldn't get another chance to try my new batting first tactics. Smith, de Villiers and Wilson really made that start pay, and hit 145 in just over 25 overs to put us rather firmly in the back seat. We grabbed some quick wickets, but a late partnership between de Kock and Philander seemed to render our efforts useless, as SA posted a mammoth 279.

We started in a spritely manner, with Barath looking in fine form during his 42 from 49 balls. Unfortunately, at the other end, Simmons and Darren couldn't stick with him, and that brought about his own demise to leave us 91/3. Shane Burton had already started to get going though, and it was his partnership of 56 with Mike Paul (23 from 25) that got us back on track with the run rate and feeling we had a chance. Unfortunately, Burton followed Paul back to the pavilion, bowled Steyn for 66 from 62 balls. We were 5 down, needing 120 runs from less than 20 overs.

Luckily, we had exactly the men necessary to mount the chase. Kieron Pollard has been in sensational ODI batting form for ages now, and with his partner as a man batting at number 6 in tests, and with two test hundreds, we still had a slim chance. They only bloomin' went and scored all 120 themselves. Pollard scored an unbeaten 62 from 65 balls, including 9 boundaries, and Alford managed a whopping 56 from only 41 balls, again with 9 fours. 13 balls to spare. Peasy. Bring on the World Cup.

Series State	West Indies win the series 2-1
Batting Award	Pollard/Alford - That partnership won us the series.
Bowling Award	Ryan Hinds - Vital wickets of Duminy and Wilson, and kept the scoring down too.
Squad News	Dwayne B and Sammy into the squad for McClean and Edwards
Team News	The XI for the first T20I is Simmons, Burton, Darren, Paul, Pollard, Alford, Dwayne, Imran Khan, Sammy, Holder and Narine.

[Imager36]

Why are we doing so well on this tour?



Won the toss and bowled, but struggled to keep the runs down. Smith hit well at the start, but we reduced them to 51/3 before the spinners came on, who between them went at under 7 an over. de Kock quickly rebuilt though, and with Wilson and Amla alongside, gave them a good score of over 8 an over.

We started awkwardly. Burton played and missed all over the place, and managed to run out Lendl at the second attempt. Darren joined him and started hitting more cleanly, before Burton eventually fell LBW to Morkel. They should have kept him in. Paul and Darren hit a quick 61 partnership, and we were back in the game, having needed 101 from the last 10 overs. That partnership elevated us to where SA had been at the same period, and when they were both out, Pollard hit 4 pull shots for 4 in the same over to give us a really good chance. He was out, overhitting, but needing 29, Alford came in and guided us to victory, with 20 from 13 balls, including 3 fours, 2 in the penultimate over.

Series State	West Indies lead the series 1-0 with 1 to play.
Batting Award	Darren Bravo - Held the innings together and started the fightback.
Bowling Award	Imran Khan - 1/24 from his 4 overs, good figures.
Team News	On a pitch offering spin, Hinds comes in for Holder to give us 3 options.

[Imager36]

In the end, the score was just too big.



We lost the toss and bowled first again. They got off to an amazing start. Smith was run out in the 5th over for 30 from 17, but Wilson and ABdV continued in the same vain, and even the spinners couldn't really slow them down. Narine got rid of Wilson and Duminy in quick succession, but ABdV and QdK kept going, and a score of 191 seemed insurmountable.

Our top 4 unfortunately fell early to leave us 66/4. Pollard and Dwayne however put on a very swift 72 partnership, making us feel we had a chance. We only needed 28 from the last 4 overs, with Alford and Hinds at the crease, but they both fell soon after, and Imran Khan and Sammy got nowhere near the target.

Series State	Series drawn 1-1.
Batting Award	Kieron Pollard - 46 from 23 balls, gave us a chance!
Bowling Award	Sunil Narine - 2/29 from his 4, the only bowler to keep economy below 8.

After that amazing tour of South Africa, I really don't want to leave, but the World Cup in Aus/NZ is next, and the next post will show you the selection process for the 15 man squad.

[Imager36]

2015 World Cup Squad Selection

Okay, so, we have 15 squad places in total for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Our general ODI eleven make up is openers, 3 batsmen, Pollard, 5 bowlers (most of whom can bat). An initial complication is that, as of squad selection, Russell is out for 11 days, which may totally undermine a possible squad position. Firstly, let's deal with the dead certs for the XV, along with their records this year.

Dead Certs

Darren Bravo - 15 innings, 620 runs @ 44.29 and a SR of 76.34.

Darren is really growing into his role as the team's main batsman this year, and is likely to go into the tournament batting at number 3.

Mike Paul - 11 innings, 381 runs @ 42.33 and a SR of 78.05.

Paul has had a revelation in one day international cricket this year, and batting at 5, he's been in great form with 3 50+ scores this year.

Kieron Pollard - 14 innings, 442 runs @ 44.2, a SR of 90.55, 80 overs bowled with 8 wickets @ 54 and an economy of 5.4.

Pollard's bowling has been poor this year in ODIs, despite being a good strike bowler the year before. His batting has been great though, and his 4 50s have saved us from tight situations. May be made to bat up the order.

Mike Alford - 13 innings, 290 runs @ 36.25, a SR of 95.7, 151 overs bowled with 35 wickets @ 21.51 and an economy of 4.99.

In his first season of international cricket, he's taken 20 wickets more than any other bowler in this form for us. Yeah. 20. I've persevered with him a lot, but he's deserved all his opportunities. He's still only 19.

Ryan Hinds - 89 overs, 9 wickets @ 35.89 and an economy of 3.62.

Mainly gets onto this list by virtue of his brilliant economy rate, and is likely to be battling with Narine for the final spinners spot, and may get in due to his batting.

Imran Khan - 76 overs, 11 wickets @ 28.27 and an economy of 4.09.

Khan has been very impressive in his short spell as an international player, and along with the other two spinners in the dead certs list, will play a vital part in tying down opposition.

Kevin McClean - 78 overs, 12 wickets @ 30.75 and an economy of 4.71.

Gets on to the definite list by the fact that his economy rate is much better than Pascal's. He's a quick man, and his bowling should be good at the start and at the death.

Sunil Narine - 112 overs, 15 wickets @ 30.2 and an economy of 4.04.

Sunil hasn't been in his best form this year, and the emergence of Khan has sometimes forced him out of the team. He's still been a good bowler and his economy of 4.04 has been useful for us.

So, that's 8 of our 15 chosen. 2 middle order batsmen, Pollard, 3 spinners and the twin seamers of McClean and Alford. That eliminates all other spinners from our 30, but 4 batsmen including keepers and 3 seam bowlers still need to be picked.

Firstly, the difficult choice of a keeper. Simmons is in very poor form, but unfortunately, the poor form of both Dowrich and Browne means he will play, and open the batting.

The other opener for the cup also must be chosen. Now, as far as the squad goes, I think Barath and Burton both make it into the fifteen, which gives me real options going forward.

Now, to the other seamers. Nelon Pascal has a good enough record this year to get into the squad... but in other names we are lacking depth. Dwayne, Stoute, Russell, Sammy, Brathwaite, Holder and Roach were the other men in the 30, and out of those, we've got to pick 2.

Russell's record this year is poor, and his injury keeps him out. Sammy and Holder both have worse records in ODIs this year, and their form isn't sensational. Roach has only played one ODI this year, and his form is poor, so he also misses out. Okay, two from Dwayne, Stoute and Brathwaite.

And out of that group, I'm getting rid of Dwayne. The other two have amazing OD records this year, and whilst Bravo has been okay, his bowling has been a bit weak compared to his all round strengths.

There's one final place to give. It will be a batsman, with my main choice between Kirk Edwards, who's meant to be captain of the country but has had a terrible year in limited overs cricket, and the brilliant 34 year old Ronnie Sarwan, who's never really turned into a good ODI player for me.

It's for that reason I take Edwards, but his poor form costs him the captaincy for the tour. Simmons will need to play every game as the keeper, so he slots into that role.

L. Simmons (OK) (C)
A. Barath (O)
S. Burton (O/BAT)
Darren Bravo (BAT)
M. Paul (BAT)
K. Edwards (BAT)
K. Pollard (BAT/ALL)
M. Alford (ALL)
K. Stoute (ALL)
R. Hinds (ASP)
Imran Khan (ASP)
C. Brathwaite (ALL)
K. McClean (SEAM)
N. Pascal (SEAM)
S. Narine (SPIN)

That looks like a competitive squad to me. To remind you, we play 6 matches in this order - England, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, South Africa, Kenya and Ireland. We only need 1 of our first 4 matches to be a win to have a realistic chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals.

Next up will be the now-regular World Cup Preview. FOR FUN!