No improvement in Super50, argues Sir Andy

ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Pace legend Sir Andy Roberts has his doubts about the quality of the just concluded Regional Super50 and does not expect any major change in West Indies’ fortunes for the One-Day International series against England starting here Friday.

The outspoken Antiguan especially warned about reading too much into the big totals during the tournament staged in Barbados and in Antigua, contending they were achieved at the small Coolidge Cricket Ground here and against “weak” sides, and therefore did not necessarily represent an improvement.

Andy Roberts

“If your opponent is weak, then you are going to see these scores, and playing at the Coolidge Cricket Ground, the boundaries are not the biggest, so you are going to get big totals,” Sir Andy told the Observer newspaper here.

“What were the totals like on the bigger grounds in Barbados, and what were the totals like up at Sir Viv (Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium)? All the teams that played here in Antigua played at both venues, but you don’t see that kind of score up at Sir Viv.”

The tournament was widely regarded as one of the best in recent years, with several outstanding performances coming from teams and players.

Jamaica Scorpions established a new regional List A record of 434 for four in the first semi-final against Trinidad and Tobago Red Force at the small Coolidge ground.

There were also three totals of over 300 and 14 over 250, while 11 centuries were registered, with the Leeward Islands Hurricanes captain Kieran Powell getting three of these.

Two of the 300-plus totals also came at Coolidge.

Sir Andy, a former selector, said batsmen needed to work harder to develop themselves as they were still committing the same mistakes.

“Our players do not work hard enough at harnessing their talent, and until they do they will never improve,” said the 66-year-old who took 202 wickets from 47 Tests.

“All of us have faults and we all have strong points and weak points, and your strong points you would continue to have because it comes natural to you, but your weak points are the ones you have to try and eliminate.”

He continued: “[As a batsman] you may not be able to score much runs, but you should not get out in the same area, innings after innings and that is what is happening.”

West Indies face England at the Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium in the first two of three games, with the final ODI set for Kensington Oval next Thursday.

And Sir Andy said he was not expecting a reversal of the regional side’s recent performances.

“I don’t expect anything new until I can see some improvement in the quality of play on the international level,” Sir Andy stressed.

“I am not going to judge based on the performances in our domestic cricket, because the standard of our domestic cricket is not of the highest.”