The Golden Isles - A Third Time Lucky West Indies Story

[Imager36]

Wow, they crumbled again.



Early wickets gave us real hope in the match, with NZ being 9/3 before really getting on the pitch! Williamson and de Boorder rebuilt a little, but they both fell to leave the black caps 35/5. Two good partnerships left them 89/6, but another collapse meant they were soon 100 all out.

The openers made a slow 53 partnership, but this was not a problem. Shiv came in, and guided us to a simple victory.

Series State - West Indies lead 1-0 with 1 to play.
Batting Award - Chris Gayle - 38 from 37 balls to make our win easy.
Bowling Award - Narine/Holder - 3 wickets apiece, good economy from both. Brilliant.

Team News - None.

[Imager36]

And only 3 wickets, but 12 balls left.



New Zealand were again in early grief at 37/3, but an attacking partnership between Williamson and de Boorder rescued them. Another collapse followed, proceeded by another revival, this time by Watling and Southee, and despite our best efforts, we couldn't bowl them out.

128 was always a below-par total, but as Simmons and Chanderpaul went to their first ball each, we were in trouble. Darren and Gayle rescued us with a partnership of 61, but they were both out and Burton, Pollard and Dwayne failed to take us to victory. When Holder came in, we needed 28 more runs to win. Luckily, he hit his first 2 balls for sixes, and never looked back, scoring 27 from 10 balls in what turned out to be a partnership of 30 with the passive Russell.

Series State - West Indies win the series 2-0.
Batting Award - Jason Holder - 27 from 10 balls is quite an effort, and if he had been out early, we would have lost.
Bowling Award - Pollard/Narine - Returned figures of 3/20 and 2/17 from their 4 overs respectively. As such, impossible to separate.

Next up, a challenging home 3 Test series against England. We won't roll over as easily as we did in England last year. Here's the 12 man squad for the first test.

C. Gayle (OASP)
L. Simmons (OK)
S. Chanderpaul (BAT)
K. Edwards (BAT)
Darren Bravo (BAT)
B. Nash (BAT)
Dwayne Bravo (ALL)
A. Russell (SEAM)
R. Rampaul (SEAM) (C)
J. Holder (SEAM)
D. Bishoo (SPIN)
S. Narine (SPIN)

I suppose the controversial decision there is the omission of Ramdin in favour of Simmons and the extra batsman, but he kept well enough in those NZ tests to warrant inclusion. The pitch report says spin is likely to be a bit rubbish, so it is Bishoo who misses out.

[Imager36]

A disappointing match in so many ways.



We won the toss and batted, but were in trouble as Gayle went early. Simmons and Shiv rebuilt until Lendl was out for 59. Edwards came and went, but Shiv continued to build until he was struck on the head by a vicious bouncer from Finn and felled. Shell-shocked, Bravo, Nash and Bravo slowly continued, but did not go on from their starts, and the tail was removed speedily.

Our seamers didn't manage a single wicket between them in England's 125.4 over innings. Sunil Narine only managed 3 himself, from 31.4 overs, but the seamers were tragic. Apart from Holder, they all went at over 4 an over. We never had even a chance against the English batsmen. They declared at just over 500, where I was expecting them to go on toward 600, but we didn't have a chance however they played it.

With over 2 days left, we tried to get as many runs as we could, with our first target being to make them bat again. With Chanderpaul still unfit to bat we'd lost our best player, and wickets fell at regular intervals to ensure we never stood a chance of making the game interesting.

After we were all out though, the game went as well as it could have. Holder managed to injure Andrew Strauss when he was on a duck, putting one of their batsmen in the hospital bed next to Shiv, with the same complaint.

Series State - England lead the series 1-0 with 2 matches to play.
Batting Award - Shiv Chanderpaul - Batted once in the match, but still deserves this for his unbeaten century.
Bowling Award - Jason Holder - Injured Andrew Strauss. Good revenge, Jason.

Both of the injured men are out for 3 weeks, meaning Shiv could be back for the T20I against England, and subsequent T20 World Cup.

Squad/Team News - An experienced head is required, and Ramnaresh Sarwan replaces Shiv for the 2nd test. He will bat at number 5, with Darren Bravo at 4 and Kirk Edwards at 3. Andre Russell also leaves the eleven, and is replaced by Devendra Bishoo.

[GrahamB]

You're really up against it in England. Their batting is immense and their pace attack deadly.

[Imager36]

A very similar match to the first.



Our innings was steady. Despite getting 284 all out, our highest partnership was 67. Gayle was in great form with his century, Sarwan made 31, Nash 48, Dwayne 33 and Holder 24. Finn and Anderson were our main destroyers. All was disappointment.

This time, however, we managed to get England all out. For just under 500. Narine was impressive, but still went for almost 30 runs per wicket. Holder and Rampaul took 2 wickets each, and Bishoo only managed one. Dwayne did not manage any, but wasn't really given the chance to.

Unfortunately we suffered another big injury at the top of the 2nd innings. Chris Gayle suffered a nasty blow and has a fracture of... something. Steve Finn was again responsible. We were effectively 140/5 when Sarwan fell for 57, but Brendan Nash reliably hit a hundred and Dwayne Bravo smashed 63 from 80 balls. The rest of the tail gave no resistance.

Rampaul picked up the wicket of Trott, but that was the only reason for positivity as England strolled to victory.

Series State - England win the series 2-0 with 1 match to play.
Batting Award - Brendan Nash - 148 runs in the test, and only out once.
Bowling Award - Sunil Narine - The only man up to a standard similar to the one he should be at.

Squad/Team News - In a move which devalues test cricket, I am removing my frontline one day players from the range of Steve Finn. As such, the squad is incredibly different, and it's easier just to list the team for you.

Team for 3rd Test - Barath, Powell, Sarwan, Nash, Burton, Dwayne Bravo, Browne (K), Sammy, Rampaul (C), Miller, Pascal.

So that's test débuts for Burton and Browne, and chances for Powell, Barath, Sammy, Miller and Pascal to push their claims.

[Imager36]

Play a weakened side - Fare severely better than did in first two matches.



We won the toss and batted, and at 1/2 with both openers gone, that looked a howler! Sarwan and Nash put on 101, however, and whilst Burton and Darren went cheaply, Browne put up a resistance of 32 not out while the tail crumbled around him.

They started with a collapse of their own. Rampaul got one and Sammy three as they fell to 22/4, and then Dwayne joined in for 50/5. Nuggety Wainwright and Bresnan put on 72, however, and Rampaul removed the tail after Miller got his first test wicket.

A lead of 43 felt substantial in this low scoring affair, but we could not make it pay. In our second innings, only Powell made above 14, and the rest were rubbish. That is all.

We got 2 early wickets to leave them 26/2, but partnerships from Bell with Pietersen and Bresnan secured that they won the match.

Series State - England sweep the series 3-0.
Batting Award - No-one - They don't deserve it.
Bowling Award - Darren Sammy - A good return to the Test arena, may get another chance in the future.

Right, so... 3 ODI series against the strong English, with no Gayle or Chanders.

Oh wait... Oh bugger. In my 'defense against injuries', where some of the high profile players didn't play that last test... vice-captain Kirk Edwards got injured for his island and is out for what amounts to the rest of the season. 3 frontline batsmen down... come on youngsters.

A. Barath (O)
L. Simmons (OK) (C)
Darren Bravo (BAT)
R. Sarwan (BAT)
S. Burton (BAT)
M. Paul (BAT)
K. Pollard (ALL)
M. Browne (K)
R. Hinds (ASP)
A. Russell (ALL)
J. Holder (SEAM)
D. Bishoo (SPIN)
K. Roach (SEAM)
S. Narine (SPIN)
N. Pascal (SEAM)

Barath, Roach, Bishoo and Holder miss out, Holder simply because he is too erratic to be in a 5 man attack without the safeguard of Gayle in the side. With no Barath, Burton opens, and Browne is in the side so Simmons can focus on his vice-vice-captaincy.

[Imager36]

Didn't do too badly, considering.



England got off to a very good start, having won the toss. Before you could get a cup of tea, they were 92/0, and then 197/2 as Cook, Bell and Trott slaved. Luckily, Narine and Hinds stemmed the flow of runs in this second partnership, or they were on for well over 300. Wickets fell to Pascal and Pollard in the last ten overs, and England ended with a total of less than they would have wanted half way through.

Simmons was out early to Steve Finn, Burton and Darren put on 95 in slightly slower time than they should have. In the end, Darren's 45 came from 60 balls and Burton's 70 from 90 balls. Something quick and special was needed from the lower order, and despite the best efforts of Paul (21 from 34), Pollard (29 from 26) and Browne (31 from 21), we never looked like getting over the line and were all out with 18 balls remaining.

Series State - England lead the series 1-0 with 2 to play.
Batting Award - Shane Burton - Gave us a good platform, but unfortunately got out at the wrong time.
Bowling Award - Kieron Pollard - 10 overs, 3/46, our best performer with the ball.

Team News - Holder in for Sarwan.

[Imager36]

It's a real shame... I feel as though with Gayle and Shiv we'd have been competitive.



It was their opening partnership which worked to win the game, in retrospect. 133 runs at a good pace, before the spinners came on to strangle the charge. Their combined figures were 3/66 from 20 overs, which probably tells you more about how poor the remaining bowlers were! A flurry of wickets fell towards the end, as is the usual, making Nelon Pascal have good figures.

Simmons was out bowled 3rd ball to Finn, and Darren went not long after to leave us in real strife at 11/2. Soon this became 125/6, and our game and series was over, despite resistance from Paul and Russell.

Series State - England win the series 2-0, with 1 match to play.
Batting Award - Mike Paul - His first international 50, and a good omen.
Bowling Award - Narine/Hinds - Tied the innings up in the middle and deserve it as much as each other.

Team News - Bishoo in for Holder.

[Imager36]

And then we rolled over and let them tickle our tummies.



I'm not going to comment on our performance in this match. The bowling was adequate, but the batting meant that had no chance of winning us the match, or even taking it close.

Series State - England win the series 3-0.
Batting Award - Darren Bravo - The only batsman to get in, but also got out.
Bowling Award - Sunil Narine - 5 overs, 9 runs, 1 wicket.

Okay. A one-off T20I against the English, which will be followed by the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh. I'll do the squad from scratch so everyone knows where we stand. As a side note, whilst the T20 tournament starts on the 12th, our first match isn't until the 17th, when we're hopeful both Gayle and Shiv will be available. Unfortunately, we have to do without them for this game. To make everything more fun, I've constructed a 30-man provisional squad for the World T20. You know, like they do in real life. Although, being the West Indies, there are a lot of players who don't have a hope of making the final squad. Kirk Edwards is unlikely to feature due to his injury, but we'll see. ( * = In the XI for the England match.)

Openers

C. Gayle (SPIN)
L. Simmons (K) (VVC) *
A. Barath
K. Powell
N. Parris *
Devon Smith

Batsmen

S. Chanderpaul (C)
Darren Bravo *
K. Edwards (VC)
B. Nash
R. Sarwan
S. Burton *
M. Paul *

All-Rounders

N. Deonarine (SPIN)
K. Pollard (SEAM) *
Dwayne Smith (SEAM)
Dwayne Bravo (SEAM) *
R. Hinds (SPIN) *
A. Russell (SEAM) *

Wicket Keepers

M. Browne
S. Katwaroo

Seamers

J. Holder *
K. Roach
N. Pascal
D. Sammy
C. Brathwaite
R. Rampaul

Spinners

D. Bishoo
S. Narine *
S. Shillingford

The numbers of players in each group does not necessarily reflect the number that will be in the final 15, just the level of competition in each group. For the England match, Browne is left out, in favour of the extra batsman and vice-vice-captain Simmons' keeping. Nekoli Parris makes his international début in place of Gayle.

[Imager36]

The team lacked the firepower to chase the total.



The seamers were poor, which was a disappointment ahead of the World Cup. Only Narine, from all 6 bowlers, went at under 8.5 an over, which was a real surprise. 186/6 was a good total on a wearing pitch, and Trott, Bopara, Bell and Hales laid into our bowlers.

We didn't really look like we had a chance at any stage of our reply. Both the openers fell early, leaving us 28/2 and still behind the run rate. Burton did his level best to give us a chance, with his 39 from 28 being the mainstay of our innings and his highest T20I score to date. All the middle and lower order got in, but did not do their damage quickly enough. Hinds' 26 from 11 not out at the end made it look respectable.

Series State - England win the series 1-0.
Batting Award - Shane Burton - Did his best. It wasn't good enough.
Bowling Award - Sunil Narine - The most economical, and most dangerous, of our bowlers.

Next up, it's that T20 World Cup. I think I might write a preview. I'm getting ahead of myself, but I like it.

[Imager36]

2014 T20 World Cup Preview!

Okay! Right. This is happening. Let's go through the teams group-by-group, and decide on each team's chances in the tournament? That sounds fun, right?

Group A

Australia

Summary - Have chopped and changed their T20 side so much this year, with only Peter Siddle having played all 7 of their matches. Nathan Coulter-Nile is in the squad, and uncapped in any form for the Aussies. Tom Cooper is in the squad, and may well play his former side in the group stages.

Key Player - Shane Watson - The one all rounder in their squad, Shane will need a good tournament for Australia to have a chance.

Prediction - 3rd in Super 8 group.

Netherlands

Summary - Of course, no data exists for the Netherlands team, but they have always been the 3rd most dangerous of the minnows, and will look to cause an upset against the erratic Pakistan.

Key Player - Ryan ten Doeschate - We presume. Probably him.

Prediction - Comfortably last in Group A.

Pakistan

Summary - Cricket's most mercurial international side have played 6 T20Is so far this year. Their bowling unit, all 7 of them, have played a total of 6 T20I matches between them this year. Both their frontline spinners are totally uncapped, and one of them is 19. Cracking.

Key Player - Umar Akmal - When the man is good, he's brilliant. It's just when he's poor, he's rubbish.

Prediction - 4th in Super 8 group.

Group B

England

Summary - The 2010 champions are always a force to be reckoned with, and after a steamroll of the Windies, are in good form. Uncapped Danny Marsh makes the final 15.

Key Player - James Anderson - So far this year, 4 T20Is played, 12 overs, 10 wickets for 6.7 runs apiece. And an economy rate of 5.58. Cracking.

Prediction - Winners.

Kenya

Summary - I don't know how they've qualified. They're a rubbish side compared to the likes of Ireland, Afghanistan, and even Scotland!

Key Player - I don't know, do I? Ragheb Aga. He played for Sussex once. Rubbish player, but he may well turn out for Kenya. Odoyo? He's Kenyan, right? What's the point?

Prediction - Last, last, hopelessly last.

Sri Lanka

Summary - A good solid team, but they again have been dogged by inconsistent selection. Two wicketkeepers, Chandimal and Sanga, are likely to line-up for them, despite Sanga's recent record being poor.

Key Player - Gayan Maneshan - Has averaged almost 50 in his 10 T20Is this season, and leads the line for the Lankans.

Prediction - 3rd in Super 8 group.

Group C

Bangladesh

Summary - Rock bottom of the World Rankings, play very few T20Is, really don't have as much of a hope as we all thought they would have by now. They're the hosts though, so hopefully that'll help them.

Key Player - Farhad Reza - An unfamiliar name, a dangerous medium pacer, with a penchant for the niggly cameo in the lower order.

Prediction - Bottom of Group C.

New Zealand

Summary - Whilst being stronger on paper than the tigers, they will struggle to touch many of the other teams they will face in this competition. They won't give up, with that relentless team spirit always making them dangerous. Will boast long batting orders, with no quality at top or bottom.

Key Player - I would have said de Boorder, but they've dropped him. Never mind. Doug Bracewell. Definitely Doug.

Prediction - Bottom of their Super 8 group.

Seth Efrica

Summary - The perennial chokers that are the Saffers actually won the tournament last time around, and of course bring bags of quality, especially in the bowling department.

Key Player - AB de Villiers - With so much talent in the bowling ranks in the form of Steyn, Philander and Pienaar, AB will be the man tasked with chasing those totals down.

Prediction - Choking in the semis, where they belong.

Group D

India

Summary - The self-proclaimed owners of the T20 format come into the tournament with a fairly settled team, and a good one at that. They're down in the rankings, at 7th, but expect them to fire here.

Key Player - Jagat David - The young regen all rounder has been impressing many onlookers with his pace bowling, particularly in this form of the game for Chennai.

Prediction - Runners up.

West Indies

Summary - I think we're the dark horses of the tournament, but then again, I would, wouldn't I?

Key Player - Shiv Chanderpaul - Captain, legend, and best batsman. May well be his last cricketing action.

Prediction - Cheeky semi-finalists.

Zimbabwe

Summary - Better than Bangladesh according to the rankings, but the subcontinental conditions may set them off their stride.

Key Player - Keegan Bloody Meth - I still haven't told you my Keegan Meth story. Maybe another time, if you all shout loud enough.

Prediction - Last in Group D.


Wow. It's over. Awesome. I'll check those predictions out at the end so you can all laugh at me! Anyway, it's time to name that West Indies squad. Here it is, fellas.

N. Parris (O)
C. Gayle (OASP)
L. Simmons (OK) (VC)
S. Chanderpaul (BAT) (C)
Darren Bravo (BAT)
S. Burton (BAT)
M. Paul (BAT)
K. Pollard (ALL)
Dwayne Bravo (ALL)
R. Hinds (ASP)
A. Russell (ALL)
D. Sammy (SEAM)
J. Holder (SEAM)
D. Bishoo (SPIN)
S. Narine (SPIN)

Okay, that's the travelling party. Now, in the first action from our group, Zimbabwe rather lived up to their expectations.



We play India first, for a confidence sapping defeat, before thrashing Zimbabwe to make it through. Paul, Hinds and Holder miss out through non-selection, and Gayle does through injury. He may be back for our second match though.

[GrahamB]

Key Player - Keegan Bloody Meth - I still haven't told you my Keegan Meth story. Maybe another time, if you all shout loud enough

Do tell! Is he good or useless?

[Imager36]

Do tell! Is he good or useless?

Well when playing my main career save as Sussex, I signed him as my T20 specialist for the 2014 season. His stats were good, and I think it was 35k or so, and I had it spare! I had to drop him after 6 matches - he'd taken 2 wickets and was going at 10 an over!

To make it even worse, he went on international duty straight after the group matches had finished, and performed pretty brilliantly for the national team. Damn Meth.

[cricfan1]

Interesting to have fixtures of matches

[Imager36]

I didn't realise previously, but this is the first time I've faced India with my WI side. Good start then.



We lost the toss and were promptly inserted. I must find a better way of saying that. Anyway, Parris and Simmons made a slow but steady start, putting on 26 in 24 balls before Parris went for 19. Shiv was not himself, making 18 from 25 balls, before he perished, but Darren Bravo came in and bossed the innings alongside Burton. The pair put on 40, and when Burton fell for 22 from 15, less than 5 overs remained. Pollard hit 12 from 10, and Dwayne Bravo hit 10 from 5, letting us finish with the respectable total of 154.

We made very early inroads. A wicket from each of the pacemen, plus an unessecary run out, left them teetering at 38/5. The match was pretty much won for us at this point, but we still put the spinners on and allowed them to rebuild before closing it out at the death!

Series State - Well, we beat India... Zimbabwe next!
Batting Award - Darren Bravo - 36 from 25, gave our innings impetus.
Bowling Award - Darren Sammy - 4 wickets which closed the match out.
Key Opposition Player Watch - Jagat David - Lived up to expectations by delivering 4 wicketless overs that went for 45, and being out for 7 from 8 balls.

We're 2 matches in to each group, so it's other results in the competition time! (Including notable performances in brackets!)

Group A

Australia beat Pakistan by 43 runs
Australia beat the Netherlands by 8 wickets (Siddle 4/17, Hussey 52*)

Australia are through with 2 wins, and Pakistan play the Netherlands for the other spot. No idea.

Group B

England beat Sri Lanka by 8 wickets (Cook 60*)
England beat Kenya by 9 wickets (Broad 4/9)

Kenya batting first made 45 all out! A play off between SL and Kenya will decide who goes through with England... but I know who my money's on.

Group C

Bangladesh beat New Zealand by 3 runs (Hom 75*, Shakib 53, Williamson 79*)
New Zealand beat South Africa by 2 wickets (Rudolph 54, Oram 4/19, Boam 4/10)

Both of these matches have been thrillers, and my predictions could still be right if SA beat Bangladesh by a decent margin, as expected.

Group D

India beat Zimbabwe by 10 wickets (Pandey 56*, Singh 62*)
West Indies beat India by 25 runs (Sammy 4/26)

You'd expect us to thrash Zimbabwe in the next game and easily qualify. Even if we lose, it looks unlikely that they'll overturn the Net Run Rate difference.

Team News - In order to get them right for the Super 8, Shiv and Gayle are both rested for the match, with Paul coming in to the XI. This is risky and may backfire, but I feel it's worth it, they can't contribute well at current fitness. (Note - This may change later if I realise it's a stupid idea before I come back to it!)