Mr. Benn confuses the Aussies

Sulieman Benn has shown considerable promise for some time (even to the extent of me noticing), so it’s gratifying to see him stepping up when his team need him, taking 5 for 155 (including the wickets of Watson and Katich, who started the day having built a 174-run partnership) as the West Indies dismissed Australia twelve runs short of their own first innings total.

The West Indies could really do with a top-class spin bowler at the moment, as their bowling attack has struggled against the Aussie machine, and if Benn can maintain the same standard in the second innings at Adelaide, where the pitch is starting to deteriorate, then who knows what could happen?

There, I didn’t mention his height once. I didn’t say that he’s taken giant strides forward, or that he’s reached new heights, or even that he was head and shoulders above the rest of the attack.

Read Full Post »

Should the West Indies still be a Test side?

Kim Hughes doesn’t think they should continue to play Tests, but does the Windies’ recent run of poor form (although not too long a run, they humiliated England less than a year ago) and apparent lack of appetite for five-day cricket undermine their long history of Test greatness?

Read Full Post »

A tale of two teens

Two 19-year-olds have made Test centuries in the last week, both on Test debut, and both in a losing cause.

Umar Akmal, younger brother of Kamran, made 129 from just 160 balls in his first ever Test innings, which he followed up with a creditable 75, the highest individual score of anyone in Pakistan’s second innings total of 218, during the First Test against New Zealand. The youngster impressed observers with performances such as his century for Pakistan A in an unofficial Test against Australia A, and from what I have seen, he looks very promising indeed.

Adrian Barath made just 15 in his first Test innings for the West Indies against Australia in Brisbane, but he followed it up with 104 of the Windies 187 as the tourists fell to an innings defeat. Barath was one of the stars of Trinidad & Tobago’s Champions League adventure, and Brian Lara is a longstanding fan, so Adrian could be another star of the near future.

Here’s hoping these two are delighting cricket fans for many years to come.

Read Full Post »

Australia vs West Indies: Test Series Preview

Australia go into their first Test series since the Ashes with a strong desire to bounce back, and one could hardly dispute that the West Indies are in need of a boost following their recent troubles, so both sides should be sufficiently motivated for the three Test series which starts on Thursday.

For Australia, the side is fairly settled, with Doug Bollinger confirmed as the 12th man for the First Test. Mitchell Johnson will be hoping for a return to form following his well-publicised struggles over the English summer, whilst Stuart Clark now seems to have been cut adrift indefinitely. As for the batting line-up, Shane Watson is well established as Katich’s opening partner, and the rest of the top and middle order is similarly predictable. Anything other than a series win for the hosts is unthinkable for captain Ponting, who will desperately be trying to shake off the disappointment (and the stigma) of a second Ashes defeat under his stewardship.

The tourists will be boosted by the return of Chris Gayle from Jamaica in time for the First Test. Much, as ever, rests on the captain’s shoulders, as well as those of Chanderpaul and Dwayne Bravo, with the latter hoping to translate his good form for Trinidad & Tobago across to the Test format. Meanwhile, 19-year-old Adrian Barath looks set to open the batting alongside Gayle in a partnership that will have to gel quickly in the face of the formidable Aussie pace attack, not to mention the pace-friendly conditions at the Gabba. The Windies face an uphil struggle, to say the least.

Read Full Post »

Who should captain the West Indies?

It looks like Chris Gayle’s future as West Indies captain is far from certain, with Daren Ganga widely touted as a possible replacement after his success with Trinidad & Tobago. But who deserves the job?

Read Full Post »

Who will win the Twenty20 Champions League?

With the Twenty20 Champions League now down to the last four, who’s going to win the thing?

Read Full Post »

WICB and WIPA sort it out

It seems that sense may be about to prevail, as an agreement appears to have been reached between the WICB and the WIPA over their long-running and bitter contract dispute.

The agreement came after “a three day meeting between Dr. Julian Hunte and Mr. Dinanath Ramnarine” (presumably with frequent toilet breaks), and means that the forthcoming tour to Australia should feature the likes of Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, rather than Tino Best and a load of people you’ve never heard of.

Read Full Post »

Twenty20 Champions League Preview: Part Two

Part two of the Twenty20 Champions League Preview:

• The Bangalore Royal Challengers have almost as many South Africans in their squad as the sides representing that country (even without the injured Kevin Pietersen). Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher and Dale Steyn all feature, whilst Rahul Dravid demonstrated in this year’s IPL that there’s a role for him in Twenty20 cricket which doesn’t simply involve driving down the run-rate.

• Somerset‘s preparation has been dominated by Marcus Trescothick’s return to India, with some of the coverage seemingly willing him to suffer a breakdown. Assuming all is well with Trescothick, he and Justin Langer make an experience opening pair, with possible future ‘England’ wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter also capable of making quick runs. It’s difficult to assess how well the English sides will do, but at first glance it seems a mighty task for Somerset to win the tournament.

• Sussex have a reasonably balanced side which was impressive during the English domestic Twenty20 Cup, with the batting of Michael Yardy and Ed Joyce and the bowling of James Kirtley particular highlights, with Luke Wright and to some extent Yasir Arafat capable both of adding runs and taking wickets at crucial moments. The side may struggle against some of the millionaire IPL teams, but perhaps greater experience of Twenty20 cricket will count in their favour.

• Trinidad & Tobago are arguably considerably stronger than the side which is representing the West Indies at the moment, with Dwayne Bravo one of the stars of the (now presumably defunct) Stanford 20/20 competition alongside spinner Dave Mohammed, and with Windies wicketkeeper Dinesh Ramdin also in the side.

• Wayamba have the experience of Mahela Jayawardene and the magic of Mendis. The latter will most likely bamboozle a number of players who are missing international experience, although he didn’t quite live up to his billing for Kolkatta in the IPL. The side look more like dark horses than front-runners, but, as I’ve already said, anything could happen over 20 overs.

• Victoria might suffer for the loss of Dirk Nannes, but David Hussey and Brad Hodge have the class to make an impact with the bat. Bryce McGain has another chance to make an impact outside of Australia following his disappointing Test ‘career’.

Read Full Post »

Champions Trophy: Group A Preview

The second most prestigious tournament in everyone’s third-favourite format of the game is nearly here. Can you contain yourself? Here are the Group A runners and riders:

• Australia will no doubt have had a confidence boost from driving a steamroller over England over the latter part of the summer, but doubts remain over how they will perform when faced with tougher opposition. Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson are a potent combination with the ball, and there seems to be no shortage of batsmen able to make runs (foremost amongst which, of course, is Ricky Ponting).

• India may be missing Virender Sehwag, but will be amongst the favourites as they look to improve on their last showing at a 50-over tournament, when they didn’t make it past the first round of the 2007 World Cup. Since then, however, India have won an ICC tournament in South Africa – the same year’s World Twenty20 – and there is enough quality in the side to beat any opponent on the right day.

• Pakistan don’t go into the tournament with the best of 50-over form, having lost series against Sri Lanka (twice) and Australia, but players such as Umar Gul, Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Yousuf retain the ability to produce match-winning performances. Like India, memories of a disastrous World Cup two years ago will be difficult to dispel.

• The West Indies go into the competition still in disarray, with a side full of reserves as the contract dispute rumbles on. Although progress seems to have been made on that front, this competition is likely to be little more than a further embarrassment for the WICB.

Read Full Post »

Windies Call Up the Reserves

The boycott by the West Indies Players’ Association has meant that the West Indies’ side for the First Test against Bangladesh has a distinctly unfamiliar look to it. Floyd Reifer (who has played four Tests, the last of them more than a decade ago) comes in as captain of a side that features such relative unknowns as Kraigg Brathwaite, Chadwick Walton and “Combined Colleges and Campuses’ Ryan Austin“.

Whether or not this means Bangladesh win finally win a Test against a team that isn’t Zimbabwe remains to be seen. The Windies do have the experience of Tino Best (returned from ICL exile) and Darren Sammy in the side, and the rain seems to be holding things up at the moment.

Read Full Post »

India slump to heavy defeat

India evidently used up all their runs in the First ODI against the West Indies, as they only managed 188 at the same ground as they slumped to defeat in the second match. Of the 188, 95 were made by Dhoni, sharing a century partnership with RP Singh to rescue the tourists from the depths of 82/8. For the hosts, the bowlers ran riot, with Ravi Rampaul’s 4-37 doing a large chunk of the damage.

Chasing down such a meagre total was child’s play for the Windies, with the tourists cruising to victory with nearly 16 full overs to spare. Runako Morton made 85 not out and Gayle blasted 64 from 46 balls as the hosts levelled the series at the halfway stage with surprising ease.

The best and worst of India has been on display already in this series, and it is only two matches old. Meanwhile, the West Indian bowlers may just be starting to get going.

Read Full Post »

West Indies vs India: One Day Series Preview

After the sugary delights of the World Twenty20, it’s back to the slightly more balanced diet of 50-over cricket for the West Indies and India with the four-match ODI series which starts tomorrow at Sabina Park.

The tourists have been hit by injury (Sehwag, Raina) as well as the desire to give some key players (Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan) a rest, but a ‘weak’ Indian side still contains the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Ishant Sharma and Gambhir. Whilst their performance at the World Twenty20 was a disappointment, a disappointed India often bounce back strongly, and the inclusion of fresh faces may well prove to be the catalyst for a revival of their fortunes. Dhoni, as ever, will be key.

For the West Indies, an encouraging home Test series (at least in terms of results, the WICB‘s reputation took a bit of a beating) against England was followed up with a seemingly jaded performance against the same side away from home, and the contrast between the Chris Gayle who grumbled and griped his way thought that series and his swashbuckling Twenty20 alter-ego was vivid. The Windies will be hoping that they have the latter at their disposal for the next couple of weeks, as well as his partner-in-boundaries Dwayne Bravo (who is joined by brother Darren in the West Indies side for the first time). Sulieman Benn is also likely to have to play at his best, as he will face a tough examination of his bowling from the side who are traditionally considered the best in the world at playing spin.

Read Full Post »