The Golden Isles - A Third Time Lucky West Indies Story

[Imager36]

I may forever refer to this at that test match.



What can I say about that match? Well yeah, maybe I could tell you what happened, you're right. We won the toss and took the easy decision to bat on a pitch that would be dodgy late in the match, but we made what can only be described as an inconspicuous start, as Barath, Burton and Edwards fell early to make it 20/3, and then Sarwan went for 24 to make it only 67/4. Then, however, the comeback started, with two 70+ partnerships involving number 6 Mike Alford. Darren Bravo was the first man to join him, and left for 49, but keeper Browne came to the crease and hit 37 to take us to 209/6 when he fell. Alford went soon after for his well constructed 77, and the tail fell away more quickly than we'd have liked.

We started well, and with them at 142/5, we felt we should bowl out Australia with maybe even a small lead on our hands, but it was not to be. The dangerous Phil Hughes was still at the crease, and after he'd put on 69 with Smith, 50 with Bird and 70 with tail-ender Siddle, it seemed like we'd thrown our chance to win the match away. They had a lead of just over 100, and the scoring was only going to get more difficult.

Burton was again out early to leave us 9/1, but Barath and Edwards restored some pride as they returned us to 92/2. A couple more wickets though, again left us in the mire at 121/4. Cue Mike Alford again. He put on 51 with the still-hanging-on Captain Kirk, and despite Browne's failing, put on another 52 with débutante Stoute. Even when Mike fell though, we were only 130 ahead, not really enough to challenge the mighty Aussies. Lucky then that Imran Khan and Kev McClean put on a partnership of 58 that was both plucky and incredibly entertaining.

Australia needed 204 runs to win the first test. They didn't quite get them. They started well though, with the aggressive Shane Watson taking them to 98/1, 67 from his own bat. From then on, the result hung in the balance. We came back through the spin of Sunil Narine to make them 156/6, but with Peter Nevill at the crease still we felt venerable. We removed Bird and Siddle quickly to keep the dream alive, but Nevill and Pattinson put on 15 to almost scupper us at the last... thankfully, Nevill was outdone by the pace of McClean, and Putland was dismissed by a ball that pitched well outside off and would have hit leg from Narine. Brilliant test.

Series State - West Indies lead 1-0 with 1 to play.

Batting Award - Mike Alford - 137 runs from the match was more than any of the rest of our team, and especially valuable in the comeback situations.

Bowling Award - Sunil Narine - Won us the match on the 4th and 5th days. Brilliant spin bowling.

Team News - Squad stays the same, but on a pitch with less turn, Sammy replaces Imran Khan.

[Imager36]

One of the reasons for this delay was because nothing could ever live up to the last one... still a good match though.



Strangely, after winning the toss, we made a decent start, with out opening partnership totalling 62... which it should be more often, really, but never mind! Burton was keen to press on after that, and reached his 50, but only after the loss of Edwards and Darren, and then gave away his own wicket for that half-century, his 2nd in test cricket (2 100s) and first decent score this year. It did, unfortunately, leave us struggling at 101/4. Alford, once more, was the man to kickstart the comeback. He hit a 74 partnership with Ronnie S where he dominated the scoring, and after Browne was out cheaply again, Kevin Stoute showed how useful a player he is in this side. He put on 72 with Alford to start with, Mike falling for 79 when looking good for another hundred, but still his 6th 50 in tests (2 100s) and 3rd in 3 innings this season! Stoute continued from 248/7 with Sammy, who made a useful 24*, to make his first test 50, and help us almost all the way to 300.

It didn't feel like enough at all though, with Warner and Watson striding to the crease. The two of them quickly had 126 on the board, and 500 would have looked too few. The next two partnerships were worth 11 each though, and at 148/3, we felt we were back in. Phil Hughes then took that brief glimmer of hope away from us with a beautifully composed 108, and Clarke and Forrest almost had a half-century each... but in the end didn't get them. The tail hung around a bit though, and the last stand between Siddle and Putland was worth 45 seemingly crucial runs to take them well over 400 and make some West Indian heads drop.

Burton had a game of similar sounding scores, with a fifteen to add to his fifty, and when Barath went for 27 too, the worst was yet again feared. The next partnership was a good one, as captain Kirk compiled a lovely 59 including consecutive sixes whilst Darren watched from the other end quite a lot in a partnership eventually curtailed after 78 runs. It felt good, but then we realised we were still behind them and it felt less so. Darren stuck at it though. Sarwan made a resiliant 21, and Alford a slap-dash 16 from 12 balls, but the match was still drifting. Call the keeper. Max Browne turned up with his batting gloves on for once, and his 56 from 77 balls (also his first 50 in Test cricket) went a long way to making up for the catch he had dropped earlier in the day. They put on 75, and then when he had fallen, flaying and bowled, Darren re-took centre stage in a 76 partnership with Stoute, who hit out at the end to reach 41 before his wicket fell. Sammy and McClean offered little resistance, and Narine stuck around for not much longer, but Darren had quietly gathered 129*, from a mammoth 397 balls, to basically save the match for us and get his 7th test century.

With the match practically safe, we felt obliged to push for the win. McClean bowled well first up to leave the Aussies 23/3, but Hughes and Clarke scuppered that victory march. Still. We beat Australia in a test series. HELL YEAH. For the next series, I'm considering dropping Kirk down the order to 5, moving Darren to 3 and Alford to 4, in a Kallis-style role. Thinking on that one, forumers?

Series State - West Indies win the series 1-0.

Batting Award - Darren Bravo - Saved us the game with his century. Notable mention to Kevin Stoute, the only man to really score in both innings.

Bowling Award - Sunil Narine - I hate to be boring again, but he was just the best... back to his best, with it.

Squad News - Next up, a 3 match ODI series against those same opponents. Having dissected the stats from the World Cup tournament, Kevin McClean drops out of that squad and similarly quick Andre Russell replaces him.

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

Team News - In terms of changes to the line-up from that world cup final, only one is made, on the non-turning pitch, dartsman Hinds loses his place to Shane Burton, with Pollard likely to have a bowl. The other squadmen to miss out are Edwards and Pascal (who despite going to Aus/NZ, didn't play a single match) and Andre Russell. Hinds may return in a re-shuffle for next match.

Edit - On reflection, that bit above was 2am talk. From that, Russell comes into the side and Burton drops out again.

[Imager36]

*Double checks that game isn't set to easy*



Well, I won the toss and chose to bowl and... Australia collapsed. Russell picked up 2 wickets and Brathwaite 1 as they were reduced to 8/2 and then 19/3, and they never really recovered from that onslaught. Watson was out to Stoute while Alford tied up the other end, and then when the spinners came on, after a brief spell of rebuilding through Nevill and Hughes, Imran Khan was in a destructive mood. He dealt with the aforementioned pair as well as a stumping of all-rounder Bird, and then Narine got rid of Siddle and Pattinson to keep lower-order resistance to a minimum. Khan finished it off by dismissing Putland, and Australia were all out, with 63 balls to spare.

For a while it looked like the victory might be 10 wickets large, but Simmons was out for 33 when the partnership was 77. Barath was also out soon after, but Darren and Pollard had no problem guiding us to the win. Where have Australia gone?

Series State	West Indies lead 1-0 with 2 to play.
Batting Award	Adrian Barath - Doesn't really deserve one, but top-scored.
Bowling Award	Imran Khan - 9.3 overs, 1 maiden, 4/18. Give the man a medal.
Team News	Everyone played well, everyone stays in.

[Imager36]

Of course, the honeymoon period couldn't last forever.



We won the toss and bowled first, following our success in the previous game, and when Watson was out for a duck, we felt like the improbable might occur again. After all that hope, the next partnership was worth 237 runs. Warner and Burns just took our bowlers to pieces. The spinners had economy behind them early on, but soon after they got hit as well, and the seamers were brought back. As soon as Burns was felled LBW by Alford, two more fell quickly to him, but the damage had already been done, both to his figures and our chances.

We didn't really ever have much of a chance of chasing down the large total, but we gave a valiant effort. Barath and Simmons built together, but Simmons was out just as he was about to explode into life and runs. Bravo gave a cameo of 20 from 17 balls, and whilst Barath remained strong, Pollard and Paul also fell quickly to leave us in a hole at 118/4. Mike Alford came in at 6 and gave his best in a partnership of 68 with Barath, who eventually went to Putland for 86 from 109 balls. Stoute was out quickly, and then Alford went too, for a brisk 41 from 40 balls. Imran Khan hit 20 from 17, but it was in vain as we got nowhere near.

Series State - Level 1-1 with 1 to play.

Batting Award - Adrian Barath - Anchored the innings well. Shame no-one bothered to help him out.

Bowling Award - Mike Alford - Expensive in the overs near the end of the innings, but the man who made breakthroughs at the end, which will hopefully mark a return to bowling form.

Team News - On a pitch with far more turn, Ryan Hinds replaces Andre Russell.

[Imager36]

So near, but yet so far.



Ryan Hinds opened the bowling with Stoute and this proved successful, as he bowled well and Stoute was taken for runs! Alford and Brathwaite then came into the attack, as usual, and toward the end of his opening spell, Alford broke the first partnership, Watson out for 46 to leave Australia 98/1. Burns came in, and the spinners came on. Burns didn't accelerate as he may have been hoping to, and it was up to Warner to make the most of the strike. Narine and Khan only took 1 wicket between them in their 20 overs, but they went at just over 4 runs per over each, and so did their job. As the most successful bowlers earlier, Alford and Hinds returned at the death, and while Alford got another wicket he was rather expensive in doing so, although a lot of these runs were conceded to edges. Hinds, though, was again great, and ended with the best economy of all our bowlers, at 4.1.

264 looked like a tough but achievable target against a good Australian side, but the early wickets of both openers to leave us 23/2 did not help our cause. Darren Bravo smacked it around a bit and hit 8 fours in his 52, but when he was out it was 99/3, and Kieron Pollard hadn't yet hit third gear. Mike Paul smashed a four and a six and was then out for ten trying to hit an eight over cow corner. Mike Alford, however, proved to be a good foil to Pollard. By this time, Pollard was hitting consistently, but it was Alford who dominated the partnership, and brought the required rate back under 7 and into the controlled zone. Pollard got dug in though, and was eventually out for 64 from 72 balls. The required rate was still high though, so Alford had to keep hitting, and did so. Kevin Stoute struggled and then was out, Hinds hit well and then was out, but with 4 overs to go we had needed 40 runs, and despite Alford's best (and he ended on 77* from 71 balls) we couldn't get over the line.

Series State	Australia win the series 2-1
Batting Award	Mike Alford - His highest ODI score to date, and one which shows he can perform at this level. Also takes his ODI career strike rate above 100.
Bowling Award	Ryan Hinds - Best economy of the side when bowling up front and at the death. And he's a spinner.

Next up, we've got 2 T20Is against the Aussies. In the only squad change, Dwayne Bravo comes in for Russell. In the team changes, Burton comes in for Barath to open with Simmons and Dwayne replaces spin hero Hinds. Stoute is to make his T20I début.

[Imager36]

Hello everyone! It's Christmas time and so I'm no longer at uni and am bored again! Bad news for me, great news for all fans of Mike Alford. Which is also me. Anyway, on to business.

I can't believe I just got away with that...



We lost the toss, but batting first was no issue, or so we thought... Burton got out first ball after Simmons had knocked a single, and attacking instincts still entrenched, Darren, Pollard and Lendl all fell quickly after to leave us at a frankly poor 26/4. Paul and Alford did a bit of a rebuilding job with a partnership of 35, and Mike top-scored with 30 runs from 27 balls. Paul fell, and Dwayne and Mike followed soon after, but Kevin Stoute made the most of the balls remaining to score 23* from 23 and get us up over 100. Still a poor total though.

Bravo and Stoute opened up economically, and the first changes, Alford and Brathwaite, took an early wicket a piece to leave Australia in trouble at 35/2. Then the spinners came on and tied the Ozzies down, 8 overs, 2 wickets for 42 between them, a very good effort to up the required run rate to 7. Brathwaite and Stoute came back and took 4 wickets in the 17th and 18th overs to leave them at 92/8, and they needed 15 from the last over to win. Pattinson gave it a go with a couple of boundaries, but we had sealed the win!

Series State	West Indies lead 1-0 with 1 to play.
Batting Award	Mike Alford - Came in when we were struggling and rescued us a bit.
Bowling Award	Carlos Brathwaite - 3/15 from 4 overs. Nice work, Chuck.
Team News	Bowling attack working well as a 6 man unit, so they all continue.

[Imager36]

We batted just as badly... however they batted much better.



We won the toss and batted first again, but this time got off to a decent start - Our opening partnership was worth 35 before Simmons was out LBW for 14. Unfortunately, Darren got a first-baller and Kieron survived only until a second ball. Paul then ran out the on-form Burton (22 from 16), and Alford went first ball too to leave us in the dirt at a seriously below-par 39/5. Paul and Dwayne rebuilt, however, with a slow but considered partnership of 59 bringing us back into the game, and making it look like with a late order dash we might make it to 130/140. This didn't materialise though, and when Mike Paul was out, Stoute, Khan, Brathwaite and Narine all followed cheaply to leave us struggling with 107 all out.

After the third ball of the innings, when Watson was pleasingly bowled Bravo caught Bravo for 0, Australia had no issues reaching their target. Warner and Burns both put on half centuries, and did so just slowly enough to tease us. Damn them.

Series State	The series is drawn, 1-1.
Batting Award	Mike Paul - After running out Burton he needed to play well, and he did to manufacture us a position.
Bowling Award	Sunil Narine - 4 overs, 0/19. Not his best figures ever, but better than the rest out there.

Next up, a full-blown tour of Zimbabwe. First up are the set of 2 tests, for which the batting order shall be shuffled, allowing Alford to bat at 4 for his first series! A nice easy start for him in that position, hopefully, in way of easing him in. Here is the full 18... a couple of uncapped players to try out if the first test is a walkover.

A. Barath (O)
S. Barrington (O)
S. Burton (O/BAT)
L. Simmons (OK)
Darren Bravo (BAT) (VC)
M. Alford (ALL)
K. Edwards (BAT) (C)
R. Sarwan (BAT)
J. Blackwood (BAT)
M. Browne (K)
K. Stoute (ALL)
A. Russell (ALL)
C. Brathwaite (ALL)
Imran Khan (SPIN)
D. Sammy (SEAM)
M. Matthew (SEAM)
K. McClean (SEAM)
S. Narine (SPIN)

Okay, so the three novices there are Shemroy Barrington, an opener with an average but good for a West Indian FC average, Jermaine Blackwood, whose taste of ODI cricket didn't end too well but has been much better in the 4 day game recently, and Mervin Matthew, who has been in phenomenal form for Yorkshire, and whose stats must have passed me by multiple times when I've previously re-shuffled my seam attack!

In terms of team news, Burton keeps his place opening with Barath but may lose out to Barrington for the second match anyway, and in the bowling department, Mervin Matthew makes his début. The 7 to miss out, therefore, are Simmons, Barrington, Blackwood, Sammy, Khan, Russell and Brathwaite, on a pitch that looks like it will offer a lot for the seam bowlers.

[Imager36]

Slightly tougher than I'd have hoped, but a win is most definitely a win.



Zimbabwe won the toss, and subsequently made bowling tough for us. The openers were composed, and Bothwell Chapungu, playing his début test, made a masterful 141 - actually his first century in long-form cricket full stop - and frustrated us for a brilliant 421 minutes. His partner Tichana was also good, and fell 5 short of his second test century. In all, they put on 242 for the first wicket, against all the bowling resources we could offer. After we got rid of Tichana though, wickets luckily fell freely. Stoute went through 3 of the top order, and Alford got 3 of the middle/lower lot to make sure they didn't get the great total they should have managed.

We made a dreadful start in reply. Barath and Darren both fell to Meth, and at 12/2, we were really fearing the worst. Luckily, our well of batting was deep. Burton and new number 4 Mike Alford put on a useful partnership of 136, Alford's 60 being stodgy but resilient and Burton being slightly more free-flowing at the other end. When Mike was eventually removed though, we had the brilliance of the demoted captain Kirk to thank for our 100+ run lead. His 155 came from 311 balls, with support coming from the tail end of Burton's knock, a staunch defensive 22 from Stoute, and a less defensive 41* from Kev McClean.

He followed up his knock by hitting Tichana hard and forcing him to retire hurt. He got Brendan Taylor too, as they were reduced to effectively 40/2. A couple of useful partnerships helped them to 157/3 and a lead, but 3 quick wickets, including 2 from Stoute, took them to a more realistically hard place of 158/6. The tail struggled valiantly, but in the end could provide us with a target of only 140.

Barath and Burton both lost their wickets early on in the chase, but Mike Alford decided enough was enough and got on with it. His not out 69 was his 10th test score above 50, took him over 1000 test runs and also was his 5th half-century in 6 innings this year. Consistency.

Series State	West Indies lead 1-0 with 1 match to play.
Batting Award	Kirk Edwards - Captain Kirk led from the front with a great 155.
Bowling Award	Kevin Stoute - Didn't bowl badly at all - 7 wickets for 143.
Team News	Confident of a win, Barrington replaces Barath, Blackwood comes in for Sarwan and Brathwaite gets another chance in place of the consistent Kev McClean.

[Imager36]

A more regulation victory, despite only Brathwaite of the replacements looking the part.



We won the toss, and I batted, of course. Burton run out Barrington, his potential enemy, for one, but got out for 25 himself, not really doing himself any favours. However, the next partnership, between Darren (92) and Mike Alford (73) was worth 146, and was rather good. Alford's knock came from 110 balls, and for a test in this series, that is remarkably quick. When they were both out though, Kirk Edwards also made some runs. Blackwood on debut stuck around but only made 16, and all the rest were around for just long enough that we could build a total of 360, which would seem like a good total on that track.

Matthew got a quick wicket of Chapungu, but Taylor and Kidwell stuck around to put on 101 and seem to threaten our lead. After another partnership of 27 though, there wasn't one higher than 14 for the rest of the innings. Alford and Narine took a couple of wickets each, but again it was Kevin Stoute who was the stand-out, taking 4/50 from among the middle order and tail.

We came back out to bat straight away in order to set a target, and were in trouble at 64/3 with the openers and Alford gone. The next partnership allayed our fears though, 215 runs between Darren Bravo and Kirk Edwards, who both scored tonnes, their 8th and 13th respectively in tests. We kept batting after they were both out, for a bit of fun, but we kept losing wickets. Never mind. When we declared, with 5 sessions left in the match, we led by 487 runs. Which we felt would be enough.

Thankfully, it was. There isn't much to say about the last innings of the match, it was a bit of a walkover, and with 3 wickets each for Matthew and Brathwaite, 2 for Narine, and 1 each for Stoute and Alford. Chipare and Taibu resisted a bit... but not really very much. A win by 332 runs. Not bad.

Series State	West Indies win the series 2-0.
Batting Award	Darren Bravo - One almost century, one completed one. Nice going Dazza.
Bowling Award	Kevin Stoute - Was really a team bowling effort, but he did best in the crucial first innings.

Okay, so next up we have 3 ODIs against the same opponent. Pollard, Paul and Hinds come into the squad, Barrington, Blackwood, Sarwan, Browne, Sammy and Edwards go out of it. I'll list the XI for the first ODI below, or it'll get confusing.

A. Barath
L. Simmons (K)
Darren Bravo (C)
K. Pollard
S. Burton
M. Alford
K. Stoute
A. Russell
I. Khan
M. Matthew
S. Narine

[KieranA91]

Nice Test win over my team! No doubt you'll beat them in the ODI's as well bless them!

[Imager36]

Nice Test win over my team! No doubt you'll beat them in the ODI's as well bless them!

Haha, thanks... I always prefer a fair fight, but never mind!

This result was actually in doubt for a while, but it ends up looking comfortable...



We won the toss and batted, and our start was solid, if not spectacular. The openers put on 41 in about 13 overs, but then Darren B came in and started livening things up, including hitting a straight 6 from his first ball! Simmons was still being slow though, although the pair of them put on 69 in another 13ish overs before Darren opened up a little too much and was bowled by Chigumbura for 42 from 44 balls. Pollard hit 12 from 18 but was quickly undone, and when Simmons decided to up the tempo he was stumped for 56 from 102. The rest of the innings was a succession of bit-parts, getting us up to a positive total. Burton got 18 before his cameo was over, Alford 22, Stoute 17 (from 15, run out) and Russell 13 from just 6 balls. The 9th wicket partnership was impressive though, 36 runs, of which number 10 Matthew scored 21 from 12 balls. Imran Khan added to his previous tally to make a career best 31* from 27 balls, and we had a good total on our hands.

As I have mentioned though, it was in no way plain sailing from there. The seam bowlers were not the most economical bunch, and Kevin Stoute, despite taking 2 early innings wickets, was particularly bad, going for over 7.5 an over in his 5. 4 good partnerships saw Zimbabwe, after 25 overs, 150/3, and looking like they would stroll to their victory target at 4 runs an over. Imran Khan, however, had other ideas. He tied the Zimbas down, and then in knots, taking 4 wickets in his last 4 overs to make sure the middle order couldn't hit out at the target, and the tail would have to try. Matthew and Alford returned, and took a wicket apiece to put the game to bed, and the series at 1-0.

Series State	West Indies lead the series 1-0, with 2 matches to play.
Batting Award	Darren Bravo - Decent score, good strike rate. More of a team effort.
Bowling Award	Imran Khan - Tied them up, then knocked them over. The traditional tactic.
Team News	Carlos Brathwaite comes in for Andre Russell in a rotational move.

[Imager36]

They aren't much better when they bat first...



We knocked over both the openers pretty sharpish, but a partnership of 70 between Waller and Kidwell threatened to lift them to a decent total, even though they were getting on with it slower than snails. When Imran Khan broke that partnership though, it became a bit of a free-for-all, with Matthew grabbing a couple of quick wickets and Stoute smashing 4 to limit Zimbabwe to 178, with 3 balls unbatted.

The openers put on 83, but the ball after Barath went for 46, Bravo was out for a golden duck at the hands of Chigumbura. Kieron Pollard was stodgy, but battling out of his slight slump this year after a brilliant season last year, and Shane Burton hit 6 boundaries in his 34 as we chased the total with over 6 overs in the tank. Mike Alford also made 6 not out.

Series State	West Indies win the series 2-0 with 1 to play.
Batting Award	Lendl Simmons - 58 from 87, a well-paced half century.
Bowling Award	Kevin Stoute - 10 overs, 4/31. Not too shabby, Kev.
Team News	With the series won, Paul and Hinds come in for Pollard and Narine. Alford bats at 4.

[Imager36]

Never get overconfident, kids.



Bothwell Chapungu hit his 3rd ODI half century, and with it made Zimbabwe a decent total... however, with efforts from Matthew and Imran Khan proving particularly effective in the bowling effort, it should have been in no way insurmountable.

After a partnership of 72 between Alford and Burton, taking us up to 133/3, it looked like we would stroll to victory... they had other ideas, however, removing both the set batsmen, and then not letting anyone else get settled at all. Paul, Stoute and Hinds all failed in trying to dig in and nudge us over the line, which is disappointing. Next up, 2 T20Is against the same opponent, which I will also rush through a bit!

Series State	West Indies win the series 2-1
Batting Award	Shane Burton - Showed some skill before getting out too early.
Bowling Award	Mervin Matthew - His best performance of the series. Shows promise.
Squad News	Dwayne Bravo and young all-rounder Dean Benjamin come in for Barath and Kev McClean

S. Burton
L. Simmons (K)
Darren Bravo (C)
K. Pollard
M. Paul
M. Alford
D. Benjamin
K. Stoute
C. Brathwaite
M. Matthew
S. Narine

Because, in all honesty, where better to properly blood a new player than in T20s against Zimbabwe?

[Imager36]

A squeaky win, but a win nonetheless. (Forgot to save the image, but you'll never know. )



We started badly, with Simmons gone quickly, and Burton only a couple of overs later, leaving us 14/2. Kieron Pollard only managed to survive 6 balls to get 5, but Darren Bravo had decided to control the strike so much the partnership was worth 32 and brought us back from the brink! Paul was out for 1, leaving us having more pain again at 51/4. Mike Alford played a good innings from trouble, hitting 20 from 18 balls, but first out was Darren, with his 41 from 30 balls definitely the best innings for us. At 91/7, we looked like we were severely struggling, but Stoute and Brathwaite hit a quickfire partnership of 36 to pull the innings out of the fire and set us up with a decent total to defend.

We bowled well. Stoute and Matthew got a wicket apiece early on to reduce them to 19/2. Waller was also out quickly to leave 37/3, but Chigumbura and Kidwell put on a partnership that we thought may lead to a Zimbabwean win. 61, in a low-scoring game such as this, is always crucial. There was to be no victory for them though. Mervin Matthew cameback to bowl 2 of the last 3 overs, and disposed of the lower order, not letting them score either. Narine had already got rid of Kidwell, and Chigumbura just couldn't get them over the line.

Series State	West Indies lead the series 1-0 with 1 to play.
Batting Award	Darren Bravo - 41 from 30 balls, looked like he was playing on a different pitch to all the other batsmen!
Bowling Award	Mervin Matthew - Bowling at the death is always tricky, but Mervin did it to perfection, getting wickets and not conceding anything much.
Team News	Unchanged team.

A much more comfortable victory, and a much better batting performance.



Again losing the toss and being put in, Burton went early for 11, leaving us 15/1 in the 2nd over. Simmons and Bravo picked things up, with their partnership of 38 doing wonders for us, but it was over too soon. When it was, with Simmons wicket, Darren followed soon after, and the unreliable Pollard and Paul didn't last any longer, leaving us 78/5 and in trouble again. Luckily, a rookie and someone who is fast becoming world class saved us. A 69 partnership between the aggressive Benjamin (43 from 31) and Alford (32 from 26) made us feel like we should win the match, and although Benji was out in the very last over, the job was already done, and we had a score approaching 150.

We came out of the blocks brilliantly, with a team hattrick in the second over, where LBWs for Kev Stoute were split by a run out of Brendan Taylor to leave the struggling Zimbabweans at 11/4. When Waller went for 14 that became 35/5, but a couple of partnerships including tiny keeper Taibu lifted them to 102/6, but they couldn't get over the line as the seamers returned.

Series State	West Indies win the series 2-0.
Batting Award	Dean Benjamin - 43 from 31 balls, revived our innings and made sure the win wasn't in doubt.
Bowling Award	Kevin Stoute - 3 for 21, the team hat-trick meant we got an amazing start to the innings and won easily.

So next up, a full tour of Sri Lanka! Lovely. We have a 3 day tour match first, so some selections to the 18 man squad have been made so that they can play in that!

A. Barath (O)
S. Burton (O/BAT)
S. Barrington (O)
Darren Bravo (BAT) (VC)
M. Alford (ALL)
K. Edwards (BAT) (C)
S. Burton (BAT)
M. Paul (BAT)
R. Sarwan (BAT)
G. Sylvester (BAT)
D. Benjamin (ALL)
M. Browne (K)
K. Stoute (ALL)
C. Brathwaite (ALL)
I. Khan (SPIN)
D. Sammy (SEAM)
M. Matthew (SEAM)
K. McClean (SEAM)
S. Narine (SPIN)

And for that tour match we rest most of our test regulars, with the team looking a little like this...

A. Barath (C)
S. Barrington
S. Burton
G. Sylvester
M. Paul
D. Benjamin
M. Browne (K)
I. Khan
D. Sammy
M. Matthew
K. McClean

With the exception of Sarwan, those left out are very likely to appear in the first test. That means that Sammy, Matthew and McClean are fighting it out for one spot in the bowling line up.

[Imager36]

Well, that was eventful... not...



Things we learnt from that friendly:

• When it rains here, it pours. Day 2 was a complete washout!
• Sinhalese are nice. They declared first thing on Day 3 to let us bat a bit.
• Sinhalese are quite good. 6 of their XI had played international cricket.
• None of the quicks did that well. The pick was actually Benjamin's 2/36 from 12 overs.
• Barrington can score. His 131 came in 279 balls and for me was the stand-out.
• Sylvester didn't take his chance.

So, bearing all those pointers in mind, here is the XI for the first test against the Sri Lankans... if it's all the same to you I'll rattle that one off tonight as well!

A. Barath
S. Barrington
D. Bravo
M. Alford
K. Edwards (C)
S. Burton
M. Browne
K. Stoute
C. Brathwaite
M. Matthew
S. Narine

Lovely. So the things to watch are Barrington, Burton batting at 6, Alford at 4 against a good attack and Matthew keeping his place. Cheers then!