Sultans of bling
Cozier on Sunday West Indies cricket continues to self destruct. Given the damage inflicted in the past couple of weeks, on and off the field, it seems to be getting ever more proficient at it. In that brief period, all of the afflictions that have dragged it to its present parlous state – the lack [...]
Losing mentality
As West Indies head coach, the latest in the wheel from which eight have spun off in the past 14 years, Ottis Gibson is more intimately involved with the players on a day-to-day basis than anyone else. In the post for three months, he would have already come to appreciate the depressingly candid points made [...]
Guyana, B/dos likely venues for WICB 20/20 tournament
The first regional Twenty20 tournament since the lucrative Stanford Series ended with the imprisonment of its sponsor in the United States on “massive fraud” charges has been scheduled by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) from July 22 to 31. Although venues are still to be announced, Barbados and Guyana have been reportedly chosen for [...]
‘Bring It’ T20 World Cup a ripping success
Acclaim for the World Twenty20 championship has echoed from every quarter. For Haroon Lorgat, the International Cricket Council’s chief executive, it turned out to be “a truly memorable event which showcased the unique culture and passion for cricket in the Caribbean.” West Indies Cricket Board president Julian Hunte declared that the people of the region [...]
Different call for Shillingford
After 10 years blocked from West Indies selection mainly by a suspect action, Shane Shillingford has come into the reckoning for the current home series against South Africa. The 27-year-old Dominican off-spinner’s performances for the West Indies ‘A’ team over the past month in the home series against Zimbabwe and on the current tour in [...]
Stability in batting needed
After two days of the World Twenty20, a few certainties have already been established. There won’t be any shocks this time from the two associate teams, as there were from the Irish in the 2007 World Cup and the Dutch in last year’s World Twenty20. On generally slow and low pitches, as at Providence and [...]
Windies ‘A’ team youngsters for High Performance Centre
The five youngest players in the West Indies ‘A’ team that swept all three matches against Zimbabwe in their recent short series in Grenada have been placed in the West Indies Cricket Board’s new High Performance Centre (HPC) in Barbados rather than included in the squad of 14 for the tour of Bangladesh May 2-25. [...]
WIPA should release its correspondence to WICB on Pollard
The West Indies Players Association (WIPA) has taken objection to a report that appeared in my column last Sunday concerning a letter it wrote to the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) on Kieron Pollard’s selection for the home series against Zimbabwe in February. The WIPA “laments” that I did not contact it “to clarify the [...]
So many sub-plots
There are a host of sub-plots to the ICC World Twenty20 Championship that starts at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence on Friday, cricket’s second global event in these parts since the World Cup three years ago. Some concern the overall organisation, others the players. For the former, as Sir Viv Richards noted yesterday, it [...]
A sign of the times
When details of the Indian Premier League (IPL) were first announced, Julian Hunte expressed his concern about its potential impact on West Indies cricket. Even though the IPL itself, as a part of the official Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and, by extension, the International Cricket Council (ICC), has ruled that the [...]
Potential wasted
Lendl Simmons and Dwayne Smith are two naturally gifted cricketers in whom the West Indies have invested a lot of time and money. Simmons, now 25, has represented the West Indies at all levels at home and overseas, from under-15s and under-19s to ‘A’ team and Tests and limited-overs internationals. He bats with the touch [...]
Hinds, Sarwan in Windies Twenty20 World Cup squad
One international career was once more surprisingly revived, a couple of others are ready to reboot after injury and a few more were terminally ended or put on hold as the West Indies yesterday named their squad of 15 for the imminent International Cricket Council (ICC) Twenty20 World championship in the Caribbean. Wavell Hinds, the 33-year-old [...]
At last – something is happening
At last some positive news from the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) with the prospect of more to come. The reactivation of the ‘A’ team, for the first time in three years, and its exhaustive, and potentially exhausting, schedule over the next few months, announced Friday, offers necessary international experience to the next generation of [...]
Windies, Zimbabwe begin series of significance
In the overall scheme of things, six limited-overs matches between two of international cricket’s weakest teams counts for little. As the West Indies, No.8 on the International Cricket Council (ICC) ranking list, and No.10 Zimbabwe, start their brief series with the Twenty20 International at the Queen’s Park Oval today, the present heavyweights, Australia, India, South [...]
A blessing it’s all over
Much like his batting, Chris Gayle’s reputation has gone through several phases these past few months. He arrived in Australia in November for the series of three Tests castigated by the Australian media as a villain, a reinstated captain who had openly dissed Test cricket in favour of Twenty20 and a pivotal figure in the [...]