The Golden Isles - A Third Time Lucky West Indies Story

[Imager36]

Do you ever get the feeling Kyle Hogg may be slightly overrated?



Hmm. We bowled well, but my batting was atrocious. 158? That's just rubbish, especially considering we chased 300 in the first game. This game deserves no more write up than this, really. It's a game for the first half we deserved to win, bowling to the mark, and only allowing them an under-par score as wickets fell at regular intervals. Bishoo and Narine were excellent in the middle overs, and Pollard's wicket-taking knack shone through.

The batting doesn't really deserve a mention, or paragraph. Barath was ordinary, as his 50 came in double slow time that piled the pressure on everyone else playing. I'm not happy, and I have every right to be. I'm not sure whether here it was tactics or just bad batsmen... I'm doing okay in other games batting like that.

Series State - England win the series 2-1.
Batting Award - Barath - There's no-one else.
Bowling Award - Kieron Pollard - Showed how he can be a thorn in the side in this form.

Series Awards

Batting - Shivnarine Chanderpaul - 192 runs at an average of 64, with a Strike Rate of 106.66 - Delivered the victory of the series, pretty much off his own bat. Very little help from the other top order members, with no-one else passing 100 runs in 3 games.

Bowling - Andre Russell - 9 wickets at an average of 16.22, and an economy of 4.87 - The stand-out bowler of the series. Roach also impressed with wicket-taking, and Bishoo with economy, but Russell had the full package.

Next up, a one-off T20I. How fun. For this match, Dwayne Smith comes into the squad and eleven, replacing Deonarine and also opening the batting. Darren Bravo also comes in, to replace Nash.

[Imager36]

Much more like it.



Before you lay into the bowlers again, may I just say that Russell, Roach and Bishoo were excellent in their 30 overs. It was mainly the other bowlers, all 4 of them, who conceded a grand total of 168 runs in their 20 overs. Not a bad T20 score in those overs, in truth. I need new bowlers.

Our batsmen could never really compete on a track which offered a lot for the seamers, although some late order resistance from Pollard and Deonarine threatened to make us look like contenders for a while. As soon as one, and then both of these, however, was out, the tail folded, and the series was level.

Series State - 1-1, 1 to play. That really is tight.
Batting Award - Kieron Pollard - Showed again what he is capable of, but the top order gave him nothing substantial to build on.
Bowling Award - Kemar Roach - Has disappointed so far for me, but really hit the money here.

Team News - Sunil Narine comes in for Dwayne Bravo, in a last ditch attempt to make those middle overs from one end not so costly.

[GrahamB]

Well done on your win in the ODI. Look forward to seeing how you get on in the remaining ones.

[Imager36]

Okay... this is getting scary now. It's all a dream, right?



Our bowling was, to be honest, poor, apart from Russell, whose 4/45 came from his full allocation of 10 overs. We started well, with the early run out of Cook, and Trott making Simmons take an excellent catch to get England 2 down. The game sort of meandered from here for a while, but Bell made a sizeable base for himself and then started playing more aggressively. His 171 in the end came from 153 balls, just over half the innings, and Bopara and Morgan both seemed to let him dominate, and played the defensive foil roles. In the last 10 overs, Russell came back into the reckoning, however, and skittled some middle and lower order batsmen to leave the total possibly 20 runs lighter than at some points it looked like being.

I still thought I had no chance, however, and that certainly was enforced when Barath, having lofted Broad for 6 first ball, was trapped LBW a couple of overs later. Simmons got a start and then got out trying to push on for 25, and the same could be said for Sarwan and Nash, who got out at points when it looked like the win might be possible, and sent it back to one batsman scoring and one struggling to get in. At 250/4, and going like a train with Chanders and Pollard at the crease, I felt sure I'd be reporting a victory. 3 overs later, with Chanders, Deonarine and Bravo all gone quickly, I thought a defeat was on the cards. Pollard knuckled down, oddly, and Andre Russell came in and smashed 20 off 13 balls, and the match was ours!

Series State - West Indies lead 1-0, 2 to play.
Batting Award - Shivnarine Chanderpaul, A beautiful 143, in only 116 balls, paving the way to victory.
Bowling Award - Andre Russell's 4/45 set up the total of 299, and without him in the attack, it may have been more like 320.

Team News - No changes, even though Deonarine feels like a very, very poor man's Chris Gayle at the moment.

[Imager36]

I won a one day match! Don't get used to that.



I like to bowl first, and we did so. Narine was probably the most disappointing bowler, going at 6.4 an over, and as such, he will probably be the one replaced by Dwayne for the first ODI. Simmons conceded 6 byes, an amount I think I will concede for the extra batting and stability he provides without Gayle in the team. Deonarine and Pollard were impressive, conceding 4 runs per over or less each in those middle overs.

Barath batted very well, making 60 off 66, but he, Simmons and Darren Bravo then quickly fell, leading to us being 85/3, and really struggling against a county for a second time this year. Chanderpaul made 53 off 68 to steady the innings, and Brendan Nash started solemnly, which meant that off the last 10 overs, with Chanderpaul gone, and Pollard having given himself a solid base, we needed 80 runs. I set the blasters to maximum, and it seemed to work. 15 boundaries in 7.1 overs sealed the deal easily, and Nash and Pollard really accelerated quickly.

Team News - Sarwan in for Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo in for Narine.

[Imager36]

Encouraging signs from the slightly altered team, but still not the final product.



In the end, I think it was probably that 130 from Broad that meant the game got away from us. If they had been all out for about the same as us, I fancied us to win, due to them batting 4th on a wicket that was beginning to turn copiously.

Our second innings was annoying as well... pretty much everyone got starts, but no-one converted it into the 80 or 90 we needed to really shepard our innings to a total of 300 plus and set them something decent. Also, Ravi Rampaul got injured in this innings, so I'll probably be looking for yet another captain for the one day series here.

It was actually a closer result than it looks there, as well. Pietersen got injured early in their second innings, so at one point it was effectively 141/7, and I was sniffing a return to the old England side, and a most unlikely victory, but it was not to be. Shame.

Series State - England win the series 3-0.
Batting Award - Kirk Edwards, Came into the team, and really showed what he was capable of.
Bowling Award - Devendra Bishoo, Exploited a turning wicket at the end to take the game much closer than it should have been.

Series Awards (because they're so much more easy and fun than ratings )

Batting - Brendan Nash, 204 runs @ 34. Not a phenomenal average, but not a great series for batsmen on both sides. Edwards gets an honourable mention for the only hundred of the series.

Bowling - Devendra Bishoo, 14 wickets @ 21.57. Close between him and Dwayne Bravo, but Bishoo takes it for his average. Fidel Edwards was particularly poor, with 4 wickets in 3 matches.

ODI Squad

Okay, so, I took test thoughts out of my mind, and drew together a squad for the One Day Internationals. Chris Gayle's injury said 2 weeks, so I thought it might be worth a shot for the last of them, but Ravi Rampaul said 4, so it was wisest not to include him. Based on this, and the fact Gayle will be absent for a couple of matches at least, I selected this squad.

C. Gayle (OASP)
L. Simmons (O/K)
A. Barath (O)
S. Chanderpaul (BAT)
R. Sarwan (BAT)
Darren Bravo (BAT)
B. Nash (BAT)
K. Pollard (ALL)
N. Deonarine (ASP)
Dwayne Bravo (ALL)
D. Ramdin (K)
A. Russell (SEAM)
S. Narine (SPIN)
K. Roach (SEAM)
D. Bishoo (SPIN)

For the Middlesex match, from that squad, Gayle is injured, Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo are rested because they are guaranteed starters in the first ODI, and I need to see how others play, and Ramdin is rested just to see if it is possible to play an OD match with Simmons behind the stumps.

[GrahamB]

Keep trying!

[cricfan1]

Someone give me some easier opponents right now? A couple of series against New Zealand and Bangladesh now would be more welcome than having them later in the year and dealing with people I can't possibly beat yet now!

Good Way to tell story but poor Played

[Imager36]

And all the way back to woeful again.



Someone give me some easier opponents right now? A couple of series against New Zealand and Bangladesh now would be more welcome than having them later in the year and dealing with people I can't possibly beat yet now!

I lost the toss, so the plan was sort of gone from there, but Bishoo's bowling made up for the disappointment incurred by the rest of them. Fidel Edwards has really not been as impressive and explosive as I was expecting him to be in these tests.

Our batting, however, was utterly dreadful, I'm afraid. Barath got a golden duck in the first, Simmons managed 4 runs in 2 innings, Chanders got out in the 10s twice, Bravo#1 ruined his tough 48 in the first by getting a first baller in the second, Nash was good, Dwayne did his best, Ramdin managed 6, and the rest should not be judged on their batting. Over the two innings, we were not a good batting unit. This seriously needs to be addressed.

Series state - England win the series and are 2-0 up with 1 test to play.
Batting Award - Brendan Nash, the only man worthy of it.
Bowling Award - Devendra Bishoo, the only man to cause any real problems.

Team News - Deonarine in for Permaul, Powell in for Simmons, (Kirk) Edwards in for Chanderpaul.

[KGKOOLKAT777]

I suggest you use Deonarine and Narine a bit more.

[GrahamB]

WestIndies has problem for their batting Side Bowling Side is good

Bring back Brian lara

Indeed!

[cricfan1]

WestIndies has problem for their batting Side Bowling Side is good

Bring back Brian lara

[GrahamB]

Good effort in the 1st Test. Better luck for the next one.

[Imager36]

It's very disappointing to get three quarters of the plan right, but not get it totally done.



Barath fell very early, having used up all his runs in the MCC game, but Lendl Simmons picked up where he left off there, scoring a tentative 84 despite never really looking settled, on a pitch that certainly favoured the bowlers. Chanderpaul put up resistance with Simmons, as did Nash, but after those we totally collapsed, 231 all out from 183/3.

Apart from Alastair Cook's brilliant knock of 108, England were poor in their first innings. They were 26/3 after some early wickets, and despite partnerships with Bell, Prior and Bopara, England failed to really push on, and Dwayne Bravo came on to sweep up the tail.

Our second innings was, to be kind to our batsmen, dismal. Darren Bravo was the only man to really score, and Barath the only other to get a start, underlined by the fact that we were 63/6 from 33/0 when Rampaul put up some resistance with Ramdin.

They knocked off the total fairly easily, but the bowlers again showed that they can put the top order to the sword, knocking out the top 4, and proving my 2 spinners plan wasn't as ridiculous as it seemed to me at the time!

Series State - England lead 1-0, 2 Tests to play.
Batting Award - Lendl Simmons, splendid effort in terrible weather on the first day.
Bowling Award - Dwayne Bravo, that five-for secures it, really.

Team News - Same team, let's see if they can produce a slightly better result!

[Imager36]

Good luck for the upcoming tests.

Thanks

Ravi Rampaul captain? Interesting...

Hmm, I know... but everyone else is too old, too young, too marginal in the team or Dwayne Bravo :/