The Golden Isles - A Third Time Lucky West Indies Story

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2016/17 Season Awards

Right, here I go again, I've made up some new awards this year because the season was short and none of the award awards make too much sense to me!

Most Capped - Mike Alford - 24 matches - I overuse the young man, but he does sometimes do wonders. His bowling in particular has been a highlight this year.

Breakthrough Player - Jason Holder - Made a comeback in the Pakistan tests, and forced his way into the limited overs sides for the Zimbabwe tour.

Most Awards - Mike Alford - 8 awards - I was expecting this award to go to Narine as it would normally, but he fell out of test favour, and with batting awards included, Alford takes the spoils! (Full list of awards attached!)2016 Awards.txt

Young Player of the Year - Mike Alford - I'd like not to give him everything, but as the top under 23, he's only 21 and his season has been superb this year.

Player of the Year - Impossible to call. No player was consistently brilliant in any format, let alone across them. We scored 2 centuries all year, so batsmen were out, and whilst Kev McClean took bags of test wickets, he was inconsistent in shorter forms!

Best Eleven - Barath, Simmons (K), Bravo (C), Burton, Paul, Alford, Sarwan, Khan, Holder, McClean, Narine.

And with that, we move to the fixture list for next season! One unhappy note is that Ryan Hinds has retired from cricket at the age of 35. His tying down of an end in limited overs cricket, along with his high class batting, will be an option I miss.

2017/18 Season Preview

7th April - 1st May - Pakistan - Home

2 Tests - Last series tied 1-1.
3 ODIs - Last series won 5-0.
2 T20Is - Last series won 2-0.

A lot to lose on these series, especially judging how badly our own tour of Pakistan went last year. A few newly blooded players though, and a bit of a clearer direction to go in for the team, and we might keep some of our points!

6th May - 14th June - England - Away

2 FC friendlies
2 Tests - Last series lost 3-0.
3 ODIs - Last series lost 2-1.
1 T20I - Last series lost 1-0.

Well at least here we have nothing to lose! Last time we were in England we even lost the tour match to Sussex, so we hope not to have a repeat of that, and maybe to grab some points in the short limited overs series.

2nd November - 5th December - New Zealand - Away

3 Tests - Last series lost 2-0.
5 ODIs - Last series won 4-1.
2 T20Is - Last series won 2-0.

This is the tour for the year we have decent hopes on. I'd like to beat New Zealand in all formats to assert that we've moved on and we're now competing in the tier of teams above them.

1st - 23rd March - Bangladesh - Home

2 Tests - Last series tied 1-1.
3 ODIs - Last series won 2-1.
2 T20Is - Last series won 2-0.

And the final series of the year against a smaller team. We were rather ashamed of losing one of the tests at home in 2014, and we hope to redress that balance by whitewashing them in March when this tour comes around.

So that's a tough start to the year, hopefully followed by a decent second half. First up we've got Pakistan here, who were rather dominant in their tour match with Guyana, though it ended in a draw. Our squad of 12 follows.

A. Barath (O)
K. Edwards (BAT) (C)
Darren Bravo (BAT) (VC)
M. Paul (BAT)
S. Burton (BAT)
M. Alford (ALL)
D. Francis (K)
M. Nixon (SEAM)
I. Khan (SPIN)
J. Holder (SEAM)
K. McClean (SEAM)
S. Narine (SPIN)

The player to be left out, on a pitch that looks like a turner, is youngster Mark Nixon. Francis keeps his place for the time being, and Kirk Edwards opens as we continue to experiment with those berths.

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I really do feel sorry for them.



We never let them get going, and the seamers took a wicket each early on to start that process. After that, Zimbabwe were utterly destroyed by the spinners, who took 3 wickets apiece and all but sealed us the match.

We lost Powell, Simmons and Bravo early, but some hitting from Pollard and some stoicism from Burton managed to seal us the win with a paltry 45 balls left in the tank. One more, then this torture can stop.

Series State	West Indies lead 1-0 with 1 to play.
Batting Award	Kieron Pollard - Came in when we were 21/3 and just tonked it.
Bowling Award	Ryan Hinds - Took 3/9 from 4 overs. No, I'm not joking.
Team News	No changes.

Harder, but still a victory.



I don't feel too bad for them now! They lost Tichana for a duck, but Taylor started attacking, taking 21 off the 4th over and denting us then further. Alford got Maunze, and Pollard followed that up with the crucial wicket of Taylor falling to the part-timer. Davids and Waller played well together, but when they fell the innings crumbled, and they limped over the 120 line.

Simmons came out with intent, hitting 50 from 33 balls in a delightful innings from the opener. Slow play made the match a little from won, but we only needed 3 from the last couple of overs... they took us 9 balls to get, but the win was on the cards for a long time.

Series State	West Indies win the series 2-0.
Batting Award	Lendl Simmons - Got us well above the required rate and played very well.
Bowling Award	Holder/Alford - Both bowled well to keep us out of trouble and win us the series.

And that, rather abruptly, is the end of the 2016/17 season! Next up, Award awards and the 17/18 schedule. I'm very excited.

Aside - I'm at home now and thus have nothing to do. Except this, obviously.

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Another easy victory.



We bowled first. At the start, they seemed to be getting on top of bowling a little, but when Narine came on at the end of the powerplay that changed! He bowled superbly, only 3 runs and 2 wickets coming from his first 5 overs. More came from the second 5, but he ended that spell with the very important wicket of Taylor, who had just started to get going. They did no more of that though, as the seamers came back to make the game an open and shut case.

The batting was much easier for us. Barath and Francis' opening partnership was worth almost half our total, and Bravo and Burton knocked off the rest that they could not manage. Too easy.

Series State	West Indies secure the series 2-0 with 1 to play.
Batting Award	None given - Had Barath not got out with the scores level, he'd have had this.
Bowling Award	Sunil Narine - Got 3 of their top 4 and kept runs down.
Team News	For the dead rubber we try 4 pacemen, with McClean in for Khan. Paul also comes in for Sarwan. They make no change.

Another easy win.



We bowled them out for 162 thanks to Narine and McClean, with Alford chipping in the other 2 wickets.

We were reduced to 43/3, but thankfully a partnership of 103 between the reliable Bravo and the in-and-out Paul steadied the ship, and Mike Alford took us over the line with a massive 6!

Series State	West Indies win the series 3-0.
Batting Award	Mike Paul - Scored his 51 at a strike rate of 74 and it was a welcome return for him in coloured clothing.
Bowling Award	McClean/Narine - Both equally excellent at dealing with their poor batting.
Squad News	Powell, Brathwaite and Stoute come in for Barath, Francis and McClean
Team News	Powell, Simmons, Hinds and Sarwan replace Barath, Francis, McClean and Paul. Lovely.

Aside - I've been doing a hell of a lot of acting this week. That's mainly the reason this is brief!

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Another regulation victory. I'll focus on us.



We lost the toss and were put into bat. Until Barath and Francis both fell early and cheaply, we didn't really have any reason to fear. After that, our fears were dispelled again, with Darren Bravo being joined by Shane Burton, and the two putting on an exquisite partnership of 168. Bravo reigned in his attacking instincts until the latter part of his innings, but Burton really showed why it is I pick him in all formats, his 109 came in 88 balls and was brilliant, with 18 fours and a six meaning he scored over 70% of his runs in boundaries! Whilst the left hander got the second ODI century of his career, when Bravo was out we struggled. Burton followed not long after, and trying to press in the last 10 overs, and utterly failed in that regard, managing only 45 runs before we were bowled out in the 49th! Sarwan made most of those in his 26*, with Pollard, Khan and Narine all getting first ballers.

The bowling was fairly regulation, with Nixon impressing especially with early wickets of Tichana, Taylor and Davids. There is no easier début tour than Zimbabwe. Next year may be when we really learn about him!

Series State	West Indies lead 1-0 with 2 to play.
Batting Award	Shane Burton - Flowing, faultless batting. Love him.
Bowling Award	Mark Nixon - He's started well. Averages under 6 in ODI cricket for a couple of days!
Team News	We don't change. For them, Muzhange comes in for Chatara.

Aside - I missed out my aside! I really am in a bad way at the moment.

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In the end, we were glad he maintained his record...



We won the toss this time around, and our first innings wasn't dominated by anyone in particular. Our highest partnership was 59 between Barath and Bravo, but Burton played well for his 4th test 50, and that was all backed up by a lovely 47 from 66 balls from keeper Dan Francis, who led us over the 300 line from the precarious 189/5. Paul, Nixon, Khan and Holder all produced lower-order cameos to lead to this eventuality, showing the advantages of having a tail that can severely wag!

We bowled well first time round to give ourselves a decent lead. They were 33/4 at one point after McClean and Holder took a couple of wickets each to put them in disarray. Luckily for them, Kirsten and Waller put on a partnership of 147 to really rescue their innings, and keep them in contention. Thankfully for us, we dealt with the tail well, with McClean wrapping up his 7th Test five-for in only his 21st match as we kept a first innings lead.

We didn't start well again. The top order really does need addressing in this form of the game, but it's hard to know who to take out when they're all doing poorly. This time it was Alford and Paul who managed to make things respectable for the middle order, but when Alford fell and Paul was still in, the score became 120/5. Francis' job this time was more remarkable, playing and missing a couple early on but not offering too much else as he went to 88 from 165 balls, ably assisted by a gritty Mark Nixon performance of 59* from 144. Nixon took up the attack himself when Francis fell, and between he and Imran Khan we took our lead over 400.

The fourth innings did not go entirely to plan. We expected to roll them out for 200-250, but failed entirely in this, number 3 Davids carving himself a groove and batting for a mammoth 508 minutes in order to secure a draw for his side. Meth stayed with him for the best part of 3 of those hours, but an honourable mention must go to their last 3, who survived over 2 hours between them to seal the result. They were only 50-odd away from the win!

Series State	The West Indies win the series 1-0.
Batting Award	Dan Francis - Yep. I was expecting him to fail this time around. He hasn't yet.
Bowling Award	Jason Holder - 6 wickets. Not too bad for our new consistent seamer.

So next up we've got 3 ODIs against the same side, as usual. Here is how the two teams line-up in the series and first match. More Nixon! More Holder!

Zimbabwe	West Indies
A. Tichana	A. Barath
K. Maunze	D. Francis (K)
B. Taylor	Darren Bravo (C)
S. Davids	S. Burton
M. Waller	R. Sarwan
T. Taibu (K)	K. Pollard
K. Meth	M. Alford
A. Manyumwa	M. Nixon
W. de Villiers	I. Khan
S. Mugava	J. Holder
T. Chatara	S. Narine
Reserves	Reserves
C. Kidwell	M. Paul
R. Chakabva	L. Simmons
D. Tripano	R. Hinds
S. Masakadza	K. McClean
G. Kirsten	-
N. Mushangwe	-
R. Muzhange	-

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Yeah, we won. I don't take much pleasure in it.



We lost the toss, so they batted first. Soon, with both openers gone and Kidwell out for a golden duck, all to Holder, they were 19/3. Davids tried to rebuild things, but he only stopped them from being quite so broken, the score being 91/6 with the fall of his wicket for 39. Tatenda Taibu was brilliant though, the little keeper smashing 96 from 133 balls to put his side back in the game and give them a score that might be competitive. Holder got his first test five-for, and the wicket of Graeme Kirsten was Nixon's first at test level. He also got rid of Meth.

Our innings was a strange one. All of our top 6 batsmen passed 40, which I was pleased with, but only 2 of them, Alford and Paul, made it past that 50 mark ten runs later. We had an opening partnership of 111, which seems like it could be the highest in recent memory, but both of them were out for 47. Alford hit 76 in rather flowing fashion, while Paul's 72* was a little more reserved, keeping strike with the tail. The latter was his highest test score though, and his 5th 50 so far in 15 innings. Good, eh? Nixon and Khan played good foil roles to him, scoring 24 and 29 respectively, and we ended up with a rather large lead.

In their second innings, wickets just seem to fall at all the right times. McClean got Tichana early, after which he really hit his stride, getting 3 more top order wickets with his extra pace on a very uneven track. Holder got the vital wicket of Taibu, and Nixon wrapped up Waller and the tail to get his first test five-for and put us in place to win the game easily, which we did with ten wickets to spare.

Series State	West Indies lead the series 1-0 with 1 to play.
Batting Award	Mike Alford - Should have had a century, but I couldn't argue with how the boy played.
Bowling Award	Jason Holder - A very tough choice, but 5 wickets to reduce them to 91/6 really took us the match on the first morning.
Team News	Dan Francis comes in for Max Browne. I can't have him having the highest Test batting average of any playing West Indian!

Aside - Why do I always start these weird format points that die before I end them?

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A regulation draw with a weak side.



We took regular wickets in the first innings, with Nixon taking 3 wickets and Narine 6. Our top order went poorly in the first innings, but Burton played very well and Sarwan did too. Shane was very good indeed, and he was very unlucky to fall 2 runs short of his 7th first class century. Sarwan's 77 not out also went well. Mashonaland fought back in the second innings, Zhuwao, Gupo, Raza and Mahlunge scored well to push the victory out of our hands. Barath was out for 4 from 32 balls, but he was the only wicket we lost.

For the actual first test, I've decided Nixon is worth a look. Sarwan's good knock doesn't get him a place in the side as we prefer youth. That leaves the side looking like this... Note that I can never decide who to open with Barath!

A. Barath

K. Edwards (C)

D. Bravo

M. Alford

S. Burton

M. Paul

M. Browne (K)

M. Nixon

I. Khan

J. Holder

K. McClean

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A couple of dreadful T20 matches to send us packing from Pakistan.



In this match, we bowled first. We took regular wickets, but Salahuddin evaded us and started scoring heavily off Alford and Hinds. Rizwan fell first ball after Shafiq was run out, but Shah batted well for his 20*, and even after Salahuddin fell, kept up the rate and led them to 150.

We thought we had a chance, but our aspirations were dealt some horrible blows early. We were 25/3 soon, and then 52/6 with all the top 6 dismissed, the top score being 16. Alford and Hinds batted really well, but left with 40 needed from 4 overs, we just couldn't start clearing the boundary regularly. We needed 20 from the final over, and while McClean got us close, a win wasn't really on at that point!

Series State	Pakistan lead 1-0 with 1 to play.
Batting Award	Mike Alford - Led our counter-charge, just didn't do enough.
Bowling Award	Carlos Brathwaite - Went for only 17 runs in his 4 overs at the start and death. Lovely.
Team News	Mike Alford is replaced by Kev Stoute in order to improve our bowling.

The second was almost even worse.



We were invited to bat first, and we just never really got going, somehow. Every time we thought we might get away a bit, we lost another wicket, in a good position, 67/2 after 10 overs, we lost Simmons for 40 and really lost our way. Stoute had a good go later on to get us up above 120, but we'd really faltered.

The less said about trying to defend it, the better. We needed quick wickets, and we didn't get a single one through the entire innings. Never mind. On to Zimbabwe!

Series State	Pakistan win 2-0.
Batting Award	Lendl Simmons - We need some more runs, but he played okay.
Bowling Award	None given - Dreadful.

As I said, to Zimbabwe we go in our final series of the year. As usual, this sort of trip should lead to 3 series victories, and with that in mind, we'll pick a couple of new young players in our squad of 18, to at least play the tour match.

A. Barath (O)
L. Simmons (O)
S. Burton (O/BAT)
R. Sarwan (O/BAT)
Darren Bravo (BAT) (VC)
K. Edwards (BAT) (C)
M. Paul (BAT)
M. Alford (ALL)
M. Browne (K)
D. Francis (K)
K. Stoute (ALL)
C. Brathwaite (SEAM)
M. Nixon (SEAM)
I. Khan (SPIN)
M. Matthew (SEAM)
K. McClean (SEAM)
J. Holder (SEAM)
S. Narine (SPIN)

Not a great pool of talent out there at the moment, and as such, the only man entirely new to international cricket is Mark Nixon, a 21 year old right arm seamer. He also bats, averaging 27 in FC cricket. Edwards, Alford, McClean and Khan sit out the warm-up against Mashonaland due to being certain picks, with the team therefore being Barath, Simmons, Bravo (C), Burton, Paul, Sarwan, Francis (K), Brathwaite, Nixon, Holder and Narine. I don't believe Francis is a better keeper or batsman than Browne, but we'll keep him going for a little while.

Aside - So the Champions' Trophy has started. I don't know why, but 5th to 8th in the World Rankings (SL, Pakistan, NZ, WI) seem more likely to win than 1st to 4th (India, Australia, England, SA). Actually, India look pretty decent, but still.

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Well halfway through I was hopeful!



We chose to bat first, and started slowly. Francis was bowled for 7 by Nadir, but Burton and Bravo batted cautiously. Burton began to accelerate, and was playing beautifully as he went to his 10th ODI 50 in his 52nd match. He looked good for his 2nd century, but unfortunately he edged behind off Nadir to give him a second wicket. Darren stayed in, but failed to press any sort of advantage, falling for 53 from 104 balls with 10 overs left in the innings, making the score 181/4. There were good cameos in the lower order from Pollard (32 from 26), Sarwan (36 from 22), Alford (18* from 16) and the impressive Imran Khan (26* from 17) to drag us up to 266/6.

The openers again looked like making mincemeat out of us, building a partnership of 135 against the quicks at a rate well ahead of our curve, and only a little behind the required run rate. When Salahuddin did fall, Alam came in and smashed us all around the ground, really putting the result beyond doubt. They achieved their target with an over to spare, and won the series with it.

Series State	Pakistan win the series 3-1 with 1 to play.
Batting Award	Shane Burton - Our top innings, had it been Bravo to fall when he did we could have had 290+
Bowling Award	Mike Alford - 10 overs, 2 maidens, 1/38. Decent figures, even if they weren't winning ones.
Team News	None made.

I rushed through the final ODI in order to move on, and that didn't help the result!



We lost the toss and batted first. Burton was out early, but Francis and Bravo shared a century stand, and when Francis was joined by Paul, they added another 76. Wickets fell quickly as we tried to accelerate at the end though, Pollard making 22 from 18 but no-one else hitting anything much.

Although in the end they only crossed the line with 6 balls to spare, the result was never really in doubt. The openers and Alam played well again, and chasing a small total already they took them to within a hundred of victory. The spinners and Alford took a few late wickets to impinge their progress, but we didn't feel like we were getting close to a win, and they got the final runs pretty easily.

Series State	Pakistan win the series 4-1.
Batting Award	Dan Francis - Another good performance... the chances he was giving suggest he might not be up to this level though.
Bowling Award	Narine/Khan - Kept the middle overs tight and got 3 wickets between them. Shame we hadn't got enough of a score on the board.

And so, next up, 2 T20s against those same opponents. Barath, Paul and Benjamin drop out of the squad, with Stoute, Powell and Blackwood, whose T20 record is actually rather good, coming in. In terms of the team, Paul, Francis, Burton and Khan are replaced by Powell, Simmons, Blackwood and Hinds. Kev McClean plays his first T20I for almost 2 years.

Aside - First post not to come after midnight since the middle of May!

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More late-night Golden Isles action kicks off with a loss.



We lost the toss, and Salahuddin and Shehzad put on 158 for the first wicket at a relatively stable pace. We chopped and changed bowlers, but we just couldn't find a way to break the partnership, or even make them take risks, and couldn't until the 38th over, when Khan bowled Salahuddin to open up one end. The issue with that is that it opened up one end for a succession of more aggressive batsmen. Fawad Alam made the major attacking cameo, with 21 from only 9 balls, but Jamshed and Nadir were also successful and dragged their team up to over 240.

The openers had both come and gone by the time 7 balls had passed, leaving us 3/2, and whilst after that the run rate didn't really become an issue, wickets continued to fall on a regular basis and despite a nice innings from Burton and some hitting from Pollard, we were soon 121/7. Brathwaite provided rather good entertainment for the crowd, but the result wasn't in doubt, and we fell 38 runs short of our target.

Series State	Pakistan lead 2-1 with 2 to play.
Batting Award	Carlos Brathwaite - His début ODI 50 couldn't have come at a more pointless time.
Bowling Award	Mike Alford - Bowled well in the second powerplay and at the death, a confident performance.
Team News	The out of form Barath is replaced by the in-form-but-not-as-good Paul. Burton opens with Francis.

Aside - Halfway through playing the 4th ODI, but was distracted and now 4 hours have passed. I shall return to it tomorrow!

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A really poor performance to start this series.



We won the toss and put them into bat. They put on 97 for the first wicket, Salahuddin was cautious, but Shehzad managed to pile on runs and when they were both out, almost at the same time, Alam and Jamshed joined forces to create another good partnership, this time 109. They both played well and aggressively too, to take the run rate up above 5 against the spinners, Narine being picked out for special treatment. When McClean returned he got rid of both of them, but Rizwan hit 39 from 27 balls to put them way ahead of the curve.

And... we failed to really put up any resistance. Simmons made a duck to condemn himself to 12th man duties for the next match, and while Barath, Burton and Sarwan put up a bit of a fight, everyone else pretty much crumbled easily to allow them a win and a 1-0 lead.

Series State	Pakistan lead the series 1-0 with 4 to play.
Batting Award	Darren Bravo - 65 and then run out. Well batted sir.
Bowling Award	Imran Khan - Only man to go for under 5 an over, going at 3.3!
Team News	As above, Francis replaces Simmons and opens, and Pollard and Brathwaite replace Hinds and Benjamin.

The second game, however, was far more satisfying.



We chose to bat first, as we simply don't go well batting second against certain teams, and I felt Pakistan might be one of them! We started well, with Barath and Francis making 42 from the first 10 overs, and Barath falling for 20 soon after. Francis continued apace though, ending on 57 from 72 balls, despite giving a few chances. Bravo joined him and slowly accumulated 30 from 56. Unfortunately they both fell at pretty much the same time to leave us 114/3, and Burton joined them 2 runs later. Pollard came in, and he and Sarwan added 48 before Sarwan went to Shah for 22, and Alford and Khan left us in the lurch at 172/7 after 38 overs. Pollard was still there though, on about 30, and was joined by Brathwaite. The latter held out for 37 balls to score 29, and the former went on a rampage like he did in the good old days! After a slow start to his innings, he suddenly went to 70 from 58 balls, with 9 fours and a six. He'd given us a rather decent total, 249.

Our defence didn't start too well, as Shehzad teed off in an opening partnership of 78, but due to Salahuddin's inability to get the ball off the square, we stayed a little ahead on the required run rate for this period of the innings. Alam and Jamshed both got starts and then out, but even as the wicket of Rizwan left them 153/5, Sohail was looking dangerous. Brathwaite removed Shah after much effort, and the bowlers fell at just the right times, Sohail going for the 9th wicket to McClean, and Ashfaq being removed by Brathwaite to cue our celebrations.

Series State	West Indies level the series 1-1 with 3 to play.
Batting Award	Kieron Pollard - Back to how he was a little while ago in this innings, showing he's still a force for good.
Bowling Award	Brathwaite/McClean - Economical at the start, deadly at the death. Worked in tandem well.
Team News	No changes!

Aside - Graham Napier's 4 from 4 balls today was rather splendid. Inswinging yorkers really are the way to go at the death.

[Imager36]

Low scoring test matches are always more fun! No good for averages though. Or the heart.



They won the toss and, as expected, chose to bat first again. The pitch was looking green, so I hoped for early wickets with the new ball, but was disappointed as Salahuddin and Shehzad stockpiled a solid 56 from the first 29 overs of the innings, at such a slow pace I couldn't work out whether the seamers were doing well to keep them down or badly to not have put them out of their misery yet! Then I introduced the spin of Imran Khan for a different angle, and as soon as I could blink it was 74/5, Khan with a five-for and showing I should never trust the pitch report! The next two wickets went to Holder to put them 110/7, but the tail led a revival. Nadir scored the extra 3 runs this match to make his maiden test 50, and Bhatti hit a pretty decent 36 to put them back in contention. 213 looked a decent score on a horrible pitch.

Our opening partnership was worth 32, until Barath was out for 23 to Bhatti. Sarwan was really struggling though, his 17 from 70 balls was a rate that even Johnathan Trott would have thought took the piss. Burton fared poorly in his début at number 3, but Kirk Edwards was assured as always. His test average is over 50, and he showed why in his 19th test half century (13 tons). Wickets kept falling at the other end though, and when Francis was out, we were 132/6. Captain Kirk and Khan managed a 44 partnership, and when Edwards was out, Imran continued to steer the ship, reaching 34 before falling to Ashfaq and leave us 196/9. Matthew and McClean managed a 63 partnership from somewhere, though, Kev hitting his straps and hitting an unbeaten 41 from only 36 balls before Mervin was struck LBW to give us a lead of 46.

Kev also hit his straps with the new ball, removing both openers by the time the scores were level to give us an advantage. Sohail and Shafiq fell soon after to Holder and Khan, and Mike Alford getting Alam left them 102/5, only 56 in front. Jamshed and Rizwan played sensibly, and well, to add 77 runs, but as Jamshed went to Khan, Rizwan was left with only the tail to work with. They all stuck around a little while, but in the end Rizwan himself fell for 79 and we were set the challenging but not insurmountable 201 to win the test and tie the series.

We made a poor start as Sarwan was out in the first over, and Barath and Burton put on 26 before Burton was LBW to Bhatti. Edwards fell remarkably quickly and Barath followed to leave us 75/4, but thankfully Mike Paul showed composure and style as he scored 61 in partnerships with Alford (25) and Dan Francis, who was the ideal foil for him. That partnership took us to within 40, but Paul went to Ashfaq, and it was left to Francis to attack and Imran Khan (18*) to stick in to take us to the total we needed, which they, happily, did.

Series State	West Indies and Pakistan tie the series 1-1.
Batting Award	Mike Paul - A tough one, this, but his second innings won us the game from a tough position.
Bowling Award	Imran Khan - No-brainer when a guy takes 10 wickets. We're not missing Narine since I dropped him for Khan!

Next up, 5 ODIs against Pakistan... more great escapades to come for the Golden Isles?

A. Barath (O)
L. Simmons (O/K)
Darren Bravo (BAT) (C)
S. Burton (BAT)
R. Sarwan (BAT)
M. Paul (BAT)
K. Pollard (ALL)
M. Alford (ALL)
D. Francis (K)
D. Benjamin (ALL)
R. Hinds (ASP)
I. Khan (SPIN)
C. Brathwaite (SEAM)
K. McClean (SEAM)
S. Narine (SPIN)

Lovely, so basically, Dolston Tuit is dropped for this series, with Burton coming back in after injury and Francis making the squad due to his aggressive tendencies and form. Paul, Francis, Pollard and Brathwaite are the 4 excluded from the first ODI, as we employ 3 spinners again.

Aside - I was at the Rose Bowl for the England/New Zealand ODI today. Eurgh. Guptill's innings was magnifique, however.

[Imager36]

One poor innings of bowling led to our demise in the first test.



We lost the toss and thus had to bowl first at a strong batting line-up. McClean took 2 early wickets to get them 13/2, but they fought back well through opener Salahuddin and Asad Shafiq. When Shafiq fell to Alford to give Dan Francis his first international dismissal, Alam and Jamshed quickly followed to Imran Khan's spin, leaving them in trouble at 133/5. Keeper Rizwan came in and was a real thorn in our side, scoring 75 as Salahuddin and then Nadir kept going at the other end. Even when he was out, it wasn't over, as Nadir kept it up, the bowler eventually staying not out on his highest test score of 47, taking Pakistan to a decent total.

We came out to bat and made the track look an absolute minefield. Burton fell to Bhatti, and Bravo followed the next ball to leave us in trouble early on. Barath went for 21, and Paul for 12 to leave us 53/4 and staring defeat in the face already. Edwards and Alford built for a while, but they both fell soon enough, with Stoute and Imran Khan following to leave us 130/8, not having met the follow on target yet! Francis and Holder eaked out those runs... and then just kept going! Their partnership was worth 133 and was practically chanceless, spanning most of the evening session of day 2 and the morning session of day 3, with débutante Francis finally falling for 84, just 16 runs short of something Max Browne hasn't yet managed in 17 tests, a century. Batting all the way to 11 sometimes has its perks, and it did again here as McClean and Holder put on another 63 to take us to within 10 runs of the Pakistani score. McClean eventually fell for 31, leaving Holder stranded on 79, his highest score and second 50 in all cricket.

Then came our poor innings. We tried everything to get wickets, but their openers managed a 136 partnership, the second wicket was worth 107 and to add insult to injury, the third was worth 85. After that we took wickets swiftly as they searched for quick runs, but the damage had really already been done, and all we were helping were our bowling averages. They declared just before tea on day 4, leaving us 4 sessions to bat to save the game, or 441 to win it.

Our opening partnership was stodgy and worth 88, giving us hope we might actually save this thing, but wickets fell quickly after that. Alford (44) and Francis (40 from 35) put on entertaining cameos for the crowd, but the result never looked possible. Imran Khan batted 104 minutes himself in the last 2 partnerships, which were worth 89 in total, but the final wicket fell with just over an hour and a half to play, and we knew we'd have to bowl better in the next test.

Series State	Pakistan lead the series 1-0 with 1 to play.
Batting Award	Dan Francis - First test match, 124 runs, 6 catches. Not bad at all.
Bowling Award	Jason Holder - Wasn't exciting in getting his 5 wickets, but grafted. Bowled well in both innings.
Team News	No recovery from Browne, but Mervin Matthew comes in for the totally out of form Kevin Stoute and Sarwan replaces vice-captain Bravo and opens, with Burton at 3.

Aside - That latter change is probably more significant than it sounds in that rushed text above. Darren's only averaged 22 from his 6 test innings this year. We could have swapped out Paul instead, but he scored a double hundred in his only domestic FC game so far this year so is in form.

[Imager36]

Glad we'd already won the series here!



We batted poorly except for Sarwan, Alford and Bravo, and even Darren was a bit stodgy as we looked to resurrect our innings and rather failed to do that. The lower order were actually decent, and pushed us up to a score that would have been good at other places in the series.

Wilson and Smith put on a quick 161, and when that had happened, we'd pretty much lost, unfortunately! Never mind... I sort of rushed through this one through, I have to say.

Series State	West Indies win the series 3-2.
Batting Award	Ramnaresh Sarwan - Top scorer... poor innings all round.
Bowling Award	Sunil Narine - The only bloke who had an economy under 5, and it was 3.8
Team News	For the first of the T20s, Stoute, Powell and Bascombe replace McClean, Barath and Tuit. In terms of the team, Powell, Bascombe and Stoute replace Barath, Benjamin and Paul.

And we were back on form again to nick at least a point off them in the first T20!



We removed Wilson for 18 from 11 balls, but just couldn't shake Smith. He stayed in 64 balls to make a mammoth 98, and de Villiers at the other end just held up the end and finished 38 from 39. De Kock came in at the death and made a rather good 24 from 11 balls, with all the seamers and Imran Khan coming in for hefty punishment at various points in the innings.

We thought we had no chance of chasing a total that large, and that reduced when Powell fell to the first ball of the innings from Philander. Simmons and Bravo though, despite me discrediting the wicketkeeper especially from time to time, looked in superlative form. They put on a partnership of 116, with Simmons the man to fall at the end of it, his 66 from 41 balls coming in really good time and keeping us up with the rate and really in the game. Darren Bravo was also batting well, but possibly a little more in check, as Bascombe came and went. He put on 40 with Sarwan, beginning to accelerate as we had to, but when Sarwan fell there were 2 overs left and we still needed another 21 to win. He hit 3 consecutive fours off the start of the next Steyn over to put victory within our grasp, and then perished trying to hoik another one over mid-off. Alford and Stoute knocked off the 9 from 9 with little difficulty.

Series State	West Indies lead 1-0 with 1 to play.
Batting Award	Simmons/Bravo - I give it to two bowlers sometimes, this is only fair. Both strike rates over 160, both meant we won the game.
Bowling Award	None given - None of the bowlers were actively good... 2 wickets taken and economies were high.
Team News	This pitch doesn't look like it'll spin... Kieron Pollard replaces Hinds for 5 bowlers and a part-timer/pinch-hitter. He'll move up and down the order as I see fit.

And... What do you mean we won?!?



South Africa got off to a decent, if not stunning, start. Smith went well again, making 47 of the opening partnership worth 63, before falling to Kev Stoute in the 7th over. Wilson and de Villiers were steady until Narine had DW stumped, and the innings continued in a rather sedate fashion til the end, with the spinners rather doing their work well in the middle overs, and Carlos Brathwaite bowling exceptionally at the death to keep them down under 8 runs an over overall.

We felt this was a target we could chase after our last success, but we soon started losing wickets. Simmons and Bravo fell after 8 balls each, Pollard went for a golden duck when I sent him out to try and help the already inflating required runrate, Bascombe went not long since, and after Sarwan came in Powell was trapped in front by Morkel for 36, the highest score from the top 5 by 26 runs. Sarwan found partners hard to come by. Mike Alford only managed to stay in 7 balls for his 5, but Sarwan removed the middleman and made this partnership worth 34, the highest of the innings. He was keeping us up with the run rate though, and while Stoute made 8 from 5 balls, it was arguably Imran Khan's 8 from 13 that was more useful, occupying whilst Sarwan mopped up the remaining runs. Brathwaite came in and hit a boundary to take us safe, and Sarwan fittingly hit the winning single.

Series State	West Indies win the series 2-0.
Batting Award	Ramnaresh Sarwan - One of the best T20 innings I've seen on this game... kept strike well with the lower order, won us the game.
Bowling Award	Carlos Brathwaite - 1/23 from 4 overs ain't bad against a top-class side.

And to finish for today, a reminder that next up for us is a 2 test series in Pakistan, for which the following 18 (excessive, much?) has been selected.

A. Barath (O)
S. Barrington (O)
L. Simmons (O) (K)
S. Burton (O/BAT)
Darren Bravo (BAT) (VC)
K. Edwards (BAT) (C)
R. Sarwan (BAT)
M. Alford (ALL)
M. Paul (BAT)
M. Browne (K)
D. Francis (K)
K. Stoute (ALL)
C. Brathwaite (SEAM)
I. Khan (SPIN)
K. McClean (SEAM)
J. Holder (SEAM)
M. Matthew (SEAM)
S. Narine (SPIN)

I think that's about the strongest 18 for test match cricket we've ever had. Daniel Francis, 22 year old regen keeper, makes the squad due to an injury to Browne and not being significantly worse, statistically... 2 week injury, but I have no idea whether he'll be back for the second test or not! So many quality batsmen, really makes it difficult to pick an XI. I have done so, however. Sarwan misses out to promote the youthful Burton, and Jason Holder gets another chance in place of Matthew, Brathwaite or Narine because he really deserves one with his averages.

A. Barath

S. Burton

Darren Bravo

K. Edwards (C)

M. Paul

M. Alford

D. Francis (K)

K. Stoute

I. Khan

J. Holder

K. McClean

Aside - After last day of uni exams, massive GI post. What did you expect?!

[Imager36]

The one where Alford lived up to the hype.



Graeme Smith almost stole his limelight, but he wasn't having any of it. We lost the toss and were sent in to bat first, and got off to one of our usual poor starts. Adrian Barath fell for one to leave us 3/1. Surprisingly, however, this was followed by a pretty decent partnership, 72 between the almost shotless Tuit (21) and Lendl Simmons, who hit a lovely 57 from 65 balls and hogged the strike. The run rate was around 4.5 an over and we were going well, but as soon as Dolston fell, Lendl followed to leave us 83/3 and with 2 new men at the crease. Sarwan faired worse, making only 7 before departing LBW to Morkel, but this only brought our 21 year old wonderkid Mike Alford to the wicket, in what was his 50th (wow, I probably have overused him) ODI. Alford hit his unbeaten 78 from 77 balls, and whilst wickets and hold-ups appeared at the other end (Benjamin took 40 balls to fall for 23), he batted on and reached his highest ODI score (by one run!) in the final over. His hitting had opened up the game, and given us the highest score of the series so far from a poor position.

When we came back onto the field to bowl, Alford was still looking a little jaded, but was happy to take up his newfound new ball duties nonetheless. I'm not entirely sure who gave him some form of beast mode, but in his first 4 overs he took 2 wickets for only 4 runs, and those the important ones of the double 'de's. (Too proud of that pun to let it lie in normal sized font.) Add that to Brathwaite's dismissal of Wilson earlier, and we had SA on the ropes at 14/3. They did fight back though, as ever. Smith was playing beautifully at one end, and both Amla and Duminy managed to stay with him for decent amounts of time, taking SA to 127/5 and almost putting them back in with a chance. Philander and Eccles fell quickly to leave them still over 90 runs away with 7 down, but yet again Morkel batted well, his 30 from 35 against the spinners was only broken when Alford returned for the death and had him caught and bowled. Steyn made 16 before falling to Alford, and with victory only 12 away when Paterson came in, Mike claimed the final wicket to make him undisputed man of the match, and possibly the series.

Series State	West Indies win the series, 3-1 up with 1 to play.
Batting Award	Mike Alford - Showed his potential.
Bowling Award	Mike Alford - Showed it's not just potential.
Team News	With the series in the bag, I gamble on changing a winning side. The shotless Tuit is replaced by Paul, who shuffles down to number 4 in the order.

Aside - Unsure whether to continue this story when ICC13 comes out or not... if the international online includes save games as it probably won't, I might change and give people the (occasional so as not to ruin the flow) chance to take me on.