Cosmos Hamilton

Long before the advent of batting armor like helmets and chest pads, and before the glamour of color coordinated cricket gear, a gifted 16-year- old schoolboy named Garfield St.

In the aftermath of the highly competitive Ballr Cup Tri-nation tournament in which West Indies fought tooth and nail to the bitter end with talent-laden top tier nations and ultimately capitulating in the final to the reigning ODI world champions, it is evident that though mired close to the bottom of the ICC standings, the regional team somewhat enigmatic is possessed of considerable potential but lacks the consistency and the rigid discipline that is necessary for the development of a winning attitude to propel them up the rankings.

For Trinidad & Tobago and West Indies pacer Shannon Gabriel playing in only his second One Day International it was ‘D’ Day at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Friday as West Indies took on South Africa to secure a place in the final of the Bellr Tri-Nation tournament where they will face world champions Australia today.

For long suffering Caribbean cricket fans the roller-coaster ride continues as the Bellr Cup tri-nation series moves into the decisive phase 3 at Kensington Oval in Barbados with South Africa occupying the top spot on the points table with 10, (prior to yesterday’s match) followed by the world champion Aussies on nine points, and hosts West Indies currently in third place with eight points.

Now that South Africa, Australia, and West Indies have completed the first leg of the Bellr Cup tri-nation series of matches at Providence it is safe to say that International Cricket Council-sanctioned cricket is back on track in Guyana.

As one of many thousands of Guyanese who returned to the scene of the time when the majestic Golden Arrowhead was raised on the north side of Georgetown at the National Park on May 26, 1966 by Guyana Defence Force (GDF) lieutenant Desmond Roberts to mark our country’s independence from British rule, by calculation I admit to being well over 50-years-old.

There are precious few iconic dates and times in one’s lifetime that come to mind with total recall as to when and where one was when a particular cataclysmic event took place.

On April 21st a beloved Queen turned 90 years old, an iconic purple Prince who in his relatively brief sojourn of 57 years revolutionized music and positively affected his society with uncommon humaneness and generosity in anonymity, died, and a venerable organization 88 years old with rich history and tradition but now struggling for survival in the face of internecine conflict, West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) got a new lease on life from the Board of Control for Cricket India (BCCI) as they waived the $41.97 million dollar claim imposed on the organization for abruptly aborting a tour of India in 2014.

They come from far-flung lands across the vast expanse of the Caribbean Sea, from the shadows of the majestic Blue Mountains of Jamaica to Guyana, the jewel atop the crown of the continent of South America and all of the disparate lands in between, but somehow for lo these many decades since 1928 under the aegis of a geo-political designation called West Indies under which umbrella they have come together – men and women with a unique characteristic flair, finesse and flamboyance to play a game called  cricket as no other nation in the world can.

Just when you thought that the 2012 ICC World T20 champions West Indies had gotten their groove back by defeating three formidable opponents, England, Sri Lanka, and South Africa in Group One of the 2016 T20 ICC championship tournament in India, we were rudely fed a dose of reality on Sunday when they suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Afghanistan at Nagpur.

Says Cosmo Hamilton   Just as the leadership of the APNU+AFC coalition with some measure of prescience presented the electorate with a poignant if simple mantra   “It Is Time” -that would appropriately signal the end of the 23 year reign of the PPP/C in government, the very same theme, though for a very different reason is applicable to bring closure to the stellar 21 year career of the illustrious son of the soil West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

By Cosmo Hamilton   The incisive grace of his scintillating stroke-play, his calm demeanor and assured application in the face of fearful odds against one of the better attacks in world cricket as he crafted his maiden Test and first class century – 103 not out against England last Friday in the First Test at Sir Vivian Richards (SVR) stadium in Antigua & Barbuda, suggests that all-rounder Jason Holder is blessed with a rare natural gift of the art of batsmanship.

The wild roller coaster ride for the West Indies at the carnival that is the International Cricket Council’s 2015 World Cup continues and they are hanging on for dear life.

 By Cosmo Hamilton In a cable from London to the Associated Press in 1897 in response to erroneous news that was being circulated, Mark Twain the lamented American author once said “The report of my death has been grossly exaggerated”.

The battle for the championship of the world of One Day International cricket gets underway in Pool A at Christ Church between strong contenders and co-hosts New Zealand and former World Cup champions Sri Lanka on Saturday, while later that same day – St Valentine’s Day, just across the Tasman Sea at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), favorite co-hosts Australia take on arch rivals England in a match in which there is no love lost between the teams.

Call me ‘old school’ or maybe even ‘naïve’,  but the strident comments directed at the West Indies Selection panel including legends Clive Lloyd and Courtney Walsh by senior player and former Windies captain Chris Gayle regarding the non-selection of ‘world beaters’ Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard who boast an ODI batting average of 25.36  from 164 matches and 25.20 from 91 matches respectively, to represent the West Indies at the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand next month, reeks of pure arrogance and a lack of respect for the institution of West Indies cricket in general, manifests a poor example to aspiring young regional cricketers, and unbridled disdain for the two aforementioned icons who have been entrusted with the responsibility of restoring West Indies cricket to its former glory at least for the short term.

It has been almost a month since the self-centered myopic decision taken by the West Indies players aggressively led by Dwayne Bravo to abruptly abandon their tour of India due to a pay dispute.

It has been almost a month since the self-centered myopic decision taken by the West Indies players aggressively led by Dwayne Bravo to abruptly abandon their tour of India due to a pay dispute.

So the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is in damage control mode once again, this time attempting to mend fences with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) one of the behemoths of International cricket.

By Cosmo Hamilton With a focused, feisty, furious skipper Dwayne Bravo literally leading from the front, a typically unpredictable West Indies team turned a dire situation into a hearty triumph as they fashioned one of their more convincing limited over victories in recent times, winning by 124 runs against a likely over-confident world champion India team in the town of Kochi, nestled just beyond the verdant hills of Kerala in beautiful south India on Wednesday.