*Official* England in West Indies

[roseboy64]

So u had some digicel gals dutty winding on you then... always preferred the carib girls tbh, they were the original!

Nah was saving that for later tonight when Carnival season starts but too out of it to go out tonight.

 

[Jigga988]

Nah was saving that for later tonight when Carnival season starts but too out of it to go out tonight.

Yeah, my brother is taking a week off work to go on holiday to Tinidad solely for carnival (btw the best carnival in the World) with his white girl friend, really annoyed I'm not going, would've been jokes watching the white girl try and grind with all these big black mamas in their huge costumes.

 

[FBU]

And the thing with Harmison is that if he were to be discarded, I could script the next 6 months of his career:

Goes back to Durham.
Starts ok in the County Championship.
England win Test Series vs West Indies unconvincingly. At least one member of the Sky commentary team in the 2nd Test will bemoan the lack of Harmison.
Starts finding his rhythm bowling for Durham.
England lose 1st Ashes Test, with Harmison simultaneously taking near career best figures.
Harmison bowls consistently at 90+mph in a televised County 1 dayer. His actual bowling performance will be irrelevant.
The phrase "Harmison needs to be bowling plenty of overs to find his rhythm" will be heard, probably from Nasser Hussain.
England lose 2nd Ashes Test, with one member of the pace attack bowling at c. 80mph, taking match figures of 1-150.
Harmison is recalled for the 3rd Test. Bowls an excellent first spell, taking 2 key wickets. Rest of his match performance is average. Proclamations of Harmison being "back to his best."
Does little with the ball in the remaining 2 Tests, save for 2 glorious fast yorkers.
Bowls suprisingly well in the ODI series, largely because the Aussies are knackered from their international schedule, and still drunk from the post Ashes victory party. Sky commentary team remind us that this is why Harmison is so vital to the team.
Starts well, and fades in the Champions Trophy.
Has dreadful start in first tour game in South Africa. Goes wicketless, leaks runs at 3-4 an over. Continues dreadful form into first 2 Tests.
Harmison's place in England squad is again questioned.
Dropped for final test, amid rumours of the selectors losing patience.

And so on, and so forth.

 

[tooextracool]

The people that are on Harmison's back, Id seriously like to have what you guys are smoking. Youd think some people on this forum were better than just looking at the speedometer to determine a bowlers effort. Theres little point bowling at 90 mph when the ball only makes it on 2nd bounce to the keeper. Its not a question of effort, its a question of effort vs reward. Ask any bowler how deflating it can be to run in and hit the pitch as hard as you can only to watch it sit up an barely reach waist high.

We knew what we were going to get with Harmison when we selected him. Hes a man not suited to slower wickets and is far better when there is a bit of pace/bounce or sideways movement. To suddenly wake up and come to the realization that he's not capable of beating the bat when the ball doesnt bounce is to be 3 yards behind the rolling ball. He isnt Super Freddie and hes never likely to be. Its unfortunate for him that in the 3 tests that he has played since his return, 2 of them have been on dead flat wickets.Dropping him now would just defeat the purpose of selecting him in the first place. If you put him back on Sabina Park 2004, I would not be surprised if he took 7/12 yet again.

 

[Uppercut]

Actually i think all the fast bowlers deserve some credit today. Even Stuart Broad, who has had his name removed from the filter due to merit (still shouldn't be playing though). Really, realllly hot day, a match with a lot to claw back and a stubborn batting lineup. Windies still ahead but not by as much as yesterday. Good day for England.

 

[tooextracool]

The patterns are slightly different but are similarly predictable and similarly infuriating.

Disagree. Id like to hear what Anderson has done wrong since last summer, I really would. You could accuse the Anderson of old for being wayward and inconsistent when the ball is not swinging, but I do not see how the new Anderson going for 2.5 runs an over in India is considered to be the same. Like Harmison, I wish people would come to the realization with Anderson in that hes not a man for all seasons. When the ball is swinging or seaming hes always been as dangerous as can be, but like Harmison, his bowling style is just not suited to bowling on slow,low wickets. What hes improved in his most recent stint is his line and length when the ball is not swinging, so that hes still able to bowl economically and hold one end up.

When people think of Anderson and Harmison, they think of those booming outswingers and throat balls in the respective cases. However you have to realize that when the ball isnt swinging, Anderson does not have the ability to beat the bat and when there is no bounce Harmison does not have the ability to create uncertainity for the batsmen. They are limited bowlers, not Mcgrath type bowlers for all seasons. Which is why I have always rated Simon Jones above the 2 of them.

 

[tooextracool]

Actually i think all the fast bowlers deserve some credit today. Even Stuart Broad, who has had his name removed from the filter due to merit (still shouldn't be playing though). Really, realllly hot day, a match with a lot to claw back and a stubborn batting lineup. Windies still ahead but not by as much as yesterday. Good day for England.

I still believe that Stuart Broad has a very bright future as he has all the fundamentals right to succeed at the test match level. What he needs is a dose of experience for his club in county cricket where he can hone these skills. Whether you like Vaughan or you dont, he doesnt exactly go around calling everyone he sees as the smartest bowler hes played with.

IMO Hoggard should be in the side ahead of Broad while Anderson should be playing ahead of Sidebottom. Personally, I have never been convinced about Sidebottom, and I dont think he has the tools to be a test class bowler across the world. Hes steady but nothing special IMO and the people who keep putting him out there as one of the best bowlers in the world will be disappointed one way or another.

 

[social]

If someone said "Harmison didnt bowl badly but he was down on pace" Id think that it was a rhythm things and one of those things that happens a lot to genuine quicks.

If someone said "Harmison didnt bowl badly and he intentionally cut his pace" Id think they were bat**** crazy.

I buy into Harmison. I can handle the terrible days. I can handle the decent days when he is down on pace. As long as he is charging in.

There are 2 things you cannot coach in pace and height. If he is freely giving one of his natural talents away then Id be worried.

I dont mind an off day as he is a rare talent but the guy has to come hard every innings.

Spot on

 

[aussie]

Yea real talk TEC. Said it before myself. Outside Flintoff, since Jones has been injured on flat decks. Harmison & Anderson become uselss because they dont have the variety to bowl on these decks.

Although i do feel eventually Anderson could bowl well on flat decks, since he can reverse swing it naturally. Hoggard would have made a difference (but then again Sidebottom is doing the role he would have done anyway).


But as i stated before the series started, we might as well play two spinners given:

- The quicks as it has proven to date except for Fred aren't going to be that potent.

- Monty being a passenger since SRI 07. Swann should play on these slow WI surfaces so they cant battle out for the main spot, for the Ashes.

 

[Precambrian]

Cricinfo - Broad enjoys a different sort of pay-day

Did Broad bowl that well to merit an article in Cricinfo extolling his virtues??

 

[cowboysfan]

i see an england win in this match-its too much to hope than windies can score any more than 200 in the 4th innings on this pitch.

 

[shivfan]

That will improve, the bottom line is when he's in the mood he's as dangerous as a lot of other top class bowlers.

Some will say that Bravo is more of a batting allrounder....

Personally, I'm hoping he will improve both his batting and his bowling over the next couple of years.

 

[Uppercut]

Fun fact about Suillemann Benn- he insists, in good spirits of course, that only senior members of a squad he plays in call him Suillemann. To everyone else he is "Mr. Benn".

 

[wpdavid]

Fun fact about Suillemann Benn- he insists, in good spirits of course, that only senior members of a squad he plays in call him Suillemann. To everyone else he is "Mr. Benn".

Surely he's too young to remember this ...

YouTube - Mr Benn Intro

 

[Uppercut]

Surely he's too young to remember this ...

YouTube - Mr Benn Intro

Haha I remember that well, and I'm a lot younger than Mr. S Benn. Actually that was my exact response on hearing about it. I'm not sure whether he's aware of it or not.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Yeah, my brother is taking a week off work to go on holiday to Tinidad solely for carnival (btw the best carnival in the World) with his white girl friend, really annoyed I'm not going, would've been jokes watching the white girl try and grind with all these big black mamas in their huge costumes.

Haha. Interesting acknowledgment of race there.

Personally, not really feeling the Carnival spirit this year. The soca is disappointing so far.

Windies still ahead but not by as much as yesterday. Good day for England.

Better day for West Indies IMO. The number of times West Indies have collapsed from similar positions (on day two) would have meant it was virtually assured that they'd be bowled out on day three and for not much. And after those 4 cheap wickets that brought Ramdin to the crease, it seemed very much on.

But the performance of Ramdin and Nash was much more important than Chanderpaul getting a score and bailing West Indies out. The lower order showed character, which is a very encouraging sign. It started in New Zealand and continued well on day three here. After getting Gayle and Sarwan out for little more than 100 each and then Chanders for 20, England would be disappointed not to have bowled WI out for a lead, IMO.

i see an england win in this match-its too much to hope than windies can score any more than 200 in the 4th innings on this pitch.

Who's to say England will post a target in excess of 200? And this pitch is far from a minefield. It requires patience and watchfulness, but I've seen much worse pitches to bat on, even considering that only 3 days have gone.

 

[wpdavid]

Haha I remember that well, and I'm a lot younger than Mr. S Benn. Actually that was my exact response on hearing about it. I'm not sure whether he's aware of it or not.

I suppose there will be some solace in England being skittled by a children's TV character this afternoon. Especially if the Barmy Army can be persuaded to hum the theme tune every time he takes a wicket.

 

[Uppercut]

Better day for West Indies IMO. The number of times West Indies have collapsed from similar positions (on day two) would have meant it was virtually assured that they'd be bowled out on day three and for not much. And after those 4 cheap wickets that brought Ramdin to the crease, it seemed very much on.

But the performance of Ramdin and Nash was much more important than Chanderpaul getting a score and bailing West Indies out. The lower order showed character, which is a very encouraging sign. It started in New Zealand and continued well on day three here. After getting Gayle and Sarwan out for little more than 100 each and then Chanders for 20, England would be disappointed not to have bowled WI out for a lead, IMO.

Maybe that's true, but they scored remarkably slowly all day. Which may have been the right thing to do, but it makes the draw favourite, when yesterday an England loss seemed quite comfortably the likeliest outcome. In terms of what the West Indies can take from this match- the spirit they showed, the quality of their batting- maybe today was better, but in terms of their position in the match, they're worse off than they were yesterday.

 

[Uppercut]

I suppose there will be some solace in England being skittled by a children's TV character this afternoon. Especially if the Barmy Army can be persuaded to hum the theme tune every time he takes a wicket.

That would be hilarious.

 

[Precambrian]

Surely he's too young to remember this ...

YouTube - Mr Benn Intro

Very nice.