West Indies to tour England n 2009

[andruid]

The West Indies have apparently agreed to play a Test and ODI series against England in place of the collapsed Zimbabwe tour, in place of Sri Lanka, who had been the initial replacements.

As far as the crcinfo article goes it frees up the Sri Lanka players to go and make their fortunes n the IPL and sorts out the issue of that nicely however, aren't some of the West Indies players also intendng to be making their forune in the same IPL. Does this put paid to all hopes that English players will be allowed to take part in the IPL or does this mean that both sides will field rather weakened sides? If that is the case why not offer the matches to the Netherlands for example. They will not require a 100% strong England side
to beat and they could use the extra preparation for the World T20 championships, as well as the money and leverage of the ODI series against a full member of the ICC for sponsorship purposes.

 

[Goughy]

England will not field a weakened team.

The players are under contract and the ECB has a contract with SKY for these Tests.

 

[andruid]

England will not field a weakened team.

The players are under contract and the ECB has a contract with SKY for these Tests.

So No IPL for KP..., still it was an opportunity to spread the love ODI wise lost.

 

[G.I.Joe]

I don't see Chris Gayle having a problem skipping the IPL, now that he's made his million in the Stanford game. Sarwan might be iffy. Did Bravo play in the Stanford game? I don't imagine anyone other than these three are contracted IPL players from the West Indies?

 

[krkode]

Chanderpaul too. Ironically in the same team as other thumping batsmen such as Dravid and Kallis.

 

[G.I.Joe]

Chanderpaul too. Ironically in the same team as other thumping batsmen such as Dravid and Kallis.

Ha! Did he get a game? A line up of Jaffer, Dravid, Kallis, Chanderpaul must have been a mouth watering sight

 

[krkode]

Ha! Did he get a game? A line up of Jaffer, Dravid, Kallis, Chanderpaul must have been a mouth watering sight

Yeah! I'm not sure if he played, though, I imagine he did. Only reason I heard about it was the owner of the Bangalore team basically had a hissy fit mid-season because his team was doing so poorly and blamed it on Dravid for selecting such a team.

Sadly enough, the Deccan (Hyderabad) team with such hotshots as Gilchrist, Symonds, Gibbs, Styris and Afridi did even worse than Bangalore.

 

[Richard]

Wasn't this announced like 3 months ago?

 

[Woodster]

Another pointless, meaningless two-Test series coming up. What is the point ? From an England perspective, a little bit of practice before the Ashes. A general waste of time for everyone though.

 

[zaremba]

Another pointless, meaningless two-Test series coming up. What is the point ? From an England perspective, a little bit of practice before the Ashes. A general waste of time for everyone though.

Excellently put.

An Australian tour of England deserves a season to itself. And two-Test series are only appropriate against emerging nations. Against India or the West Indies? It's sacrilege.

Want to cut down the amount of superfluous international cricket played? Simple: stop playing this kind of crappy ersatz Test series.

 

[krkode]

Sadly, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan all play way too many 2-test series. I think India has played one 5-test series since 2000 and I don't think SL has ever played a series with more than 3 tests...

 

[zaremba]

Sadly, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan all play way too many 2-test series. I think India has played one 5-test series since 2000 and I don't think SL has ever played a series with more than 3 tests...

I wasn't aware of that. I'm astonished. Are either India or SL particularly bothered about this, or are they more concerned that they keep up their quota of interminable bloody ODIs?

 

[Richard]

Excellently put.

An Australian tour of England deserves a season to itself. And two-Test series are only appropriate against emerging nations. Against India or the West Indies? It's sacrilege.

Want to cut down the amount of superfluous international cricket played? Simple: stop playing this kind of crappy ersatz Test series.

Sadly, while the seven-Tests-per-season TV contract remains, this will remain.

I hated to see the Pakistan series in 2001 which was just 2 Tests long as well. Sadly, though, it's currently unavoidable.

 

[Uppercut]

Excellently put.

An Australian tour of England deserves a season to itself. And two-Test series are only appropriate against emerging nations. Against India or the West Indies? It's sacrilege.

Want to cut down the amount of superfluous international cricket played? Simple: stop playing this kind of crappy ersatz Test series.

Agree with the sentiment, but most notable is the fantastic use of casual German WW1 references.

 

[HMas]

I don't see Chris Gayle having a problem skipping the IPL, now that he's made his million in the Stanford game. Sarwan might be iffy. Did Bravo play in the Stanford game? I don't imagine anyone other than these three are contracted IPL players from the West Indies?

whyy not???when you become a millionaire, you want to be a billionaire.

 

[Craig]

Sadly, while the seven-Tests-per-season TV contract remains, this will remain.

I hated to see the Pakistan series in 2001 which was just 2 Tests long as well. Sadly, though, it's currently unavoidable.

Make the Ashes 7 Tests long then

 

[roseboy64]

Wasn't this announced like 3 months ago?

That was England in WI I'm sure.

 

[Goughy]

Sadly, while the seven-Tests-per-season TV contract remains, this will remain.

Make the Ashes 7 Tests long then

The point about TV contracts is correct, though I like the idea of 7 Test summers.

It does mean that the breakdown has to be 7-0, 6-1 or 5-2.

The old way would have been to have had a minor nation play 1 test at the beginning or the end of the summer. However, a 5-2 split is marginally better IMO.

 

[Precambrian]

The point about TV contracts is correct, though I like the idea of 7 Test summers.

It does mean that the breakdown has to be 7-0, 6-1 or 5-2.

The old way would have been to have had a minor nation play 1 test at the beginning or the end of the summer. However, a 5-2 split is marginally better IMO.

England play England?

West Indies players can still participate in the IPL for a week or two, as the test series start in May 6 only. The Australian players did like that last time around, and I think this time English players will also get a week or two in the IPL.

 

[Richard]

That was England in WI I'm sure.

Nah, that was announced years ago. The fact that WI would replace SL who replaced Zim this summer was announced a couple of months back, I'm absolutely certain.