***Official*** West Indies in England

[BoyBrumby]

Gayle's nothing if not a self-contradiction.

Explain.

Would've gone for "left-handed opening batsman and occasional off-spin bowler" myself, but Dicko's right. He's listed as "self-contradiction" on his cricinfo profile.

 

[shivfan]

A half-century and two wickets for allrounder Dave Bernard....

Has he done enough to play in the first Test at Lords?

And if so, who does he come in for? Does he replace Baker, or should he come in for Smith, with Simmons opening, and Nash batting at four?

 

[oitoitoi]

A half-century and two wickets for allrounder Dave Bernard....

Has he done enough to play in the first Test at Lords?

And if so, who does he come in for? Does he replace Baker, or should he come in for Smith, with Simmons opening, and Nash batting at four?

How does Smith keep getting picked? Barath should be on this tour, sod 'he's not ready'. Should have played in the series just gone too.

Don't think they're very keen on Chanders and Nash batting together.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Barath isn't ready.

And Pascal is probably the most shocking selection since Lionel Baker for New Zealand last year, or Adam Sanford years back.

 

[roseboy64]

Smith gone for 1. Unfortunately there's every chance he'll play the first Test.

 

[Beamer]

Barath isn't ready.

Barath is more ready than Smith will ever be.

 

[Richard]

Explain.

He's one of those few people who's capable of being good-boy and bad-boy at the same time. He can do stuff that's totally outrageous, be forgiven instantly, and pretty quickly have it found that the "sin" wasn't really all that heinous ITFP.

In short, whenever Gayle does something that might seem inappropriate for a captain, it generally turns-out OK.

 

[Briony]

Windies are struggling agains the English Lions.

 

[Richard]

Barath is more ready than Smith will ever be.

What's to be gained by throwing someone in when so many think he's not ready? Barath appears, from what I've heard of him, to be a little on the special side - something West Indies haven't had for a while.

There's nothing to be gained by bringing him in and having him average 30 where Smith might average 27. But there is plenty and plenty to be gained by waiting a bit and having him come in when he's ready and average 50 from the word go and keep doing it for the next decade.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Barath is more ready than Smith will ever be.

There's nothing to suggest that. Smith has scored more consistently at domestic level than Barath, and was poorly handled when he appeared to be at his best. You probably forget, but Devon Smith was an enormously successful player for West Indies at age level. So Barath's credentials, while impressive for his age, do not confirm that he's ready. And he still does seem to have some problems against good fast bowling. He would've been eaten alive in England.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Regarding the current match, there can't really be any excuses for this performance. In the last match it was a very weak batting and bowling lineup. In this one, it's a Gayle short of a full strength batting lineup and they're struggling against one of England's third string bowlers. Not to say that Woakes isn't talented, because I've never seen him, but he is technically third string.

I would have much preferred too for Dale Richards and Andrew Richardson to play this game, ahead of Chanders and Pascal. The former being proven Test class, in English conditions, and the latter being rubbish (at this stage).

 

[Beamer]

There's nothing to suggest that. Smith has scored more consistently at domestic level than Barath, and was poorly handled when he appeared to be at his best. You probably forget, but Devon Smith was an enormously successful player for West Indies at age level. So Barath's credentials, while impressive for his age, do not confirm that he's ready. And he still does seem to have some problems against good fast bowling. He would've been eaten alive in England.

Barath averages 47 in FC cricket. The highest FC average Smith has ever had is 42. I saw Devon Smith dominate an Under 19 tour of England and I really thought he was special but he has been immensely disappointing.

Richard has a point about keeping Barath back because he is special and we do not want to ruin him but Devon Smith should be put out to pasture. Play Richards for 2 tests on this tour and if he stinks up the place bring in Barath to debut against Bangladesh.

I just think Barath should have been brought on tour to play the FC matches and Devon Smith has been a completely wasted pick.

 

[roseboy64]

He's one of those few people who's capable of being good-boy and bad-boy at the same time. He can do stuff that's totally outrageous, be forgiven instantly, and pretty quickly have it found that the "sin" wasn't really all that heinous ITFP.

In short, whenever Gayle does something that might seem inappropriate for a captain, it generally turns-out OK.

Oh well he gets lambasted for stuff from Jamaicans and other islands.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Barath averages 47 in FC cricket. The highest FC average Smith has ever had is 42.

Actually...

Barath:

2007 - 392 @ 49
2008 - 184 @ 46
2009 - 845 @ 44.47

Smith:
2007 - 93 @ 46.50
2008 - 334 @ 55.66
2009 - 359 @ 51.28

I just think Barath should have been brought on tour to play the FC matches and Devon Smith has been a completely wasted pick.

I wouldn't have minded Barath on the tour, but definitely not to play any internationals. What I take issue with is the assumption of people that Barath is a better player than Devon Smith. That considering that Smith's credentials are as impressive, if not more so, outside of the highest level. Yes, Barath has extraordinary talent, but so does Smith, and we shouldn't take it for granted that he's going to be any better. Certainly we shouldn't fast track him into the team. He's still a teenager, after all.

 

[Beamer]

I meant his overall FC average, not his yearly performances.

Smith earned the right to play at test level and messed up even more comprehensively than Daren Ganga (and that is quite an achievement).

Now Barath is the most impressive opening batsman not to have been given a chance yet. The fact that he is 19 does not bother me as he has now done very well in 2 full FC seasons and performed pretty well in the other.

He may not be better than Smith but he has earned the right to be tested out at the highest level. When you say he is not ready I hope you are not listening to loudmouth Jamaicans on caribbeancricket.com who have never seen him bat going on about the short ball?

 

[sammy2]

Glad you agree.

lol@you thinking eng is better than WI. so funny. only a few days ... I can't wait.

 

[Manee]

Plunkett took the last four wickets, leaving him with 4/30. Calm down everyone.

 

[Beamer]

To collapse from 150/4 to 179 all out with only one of the big 3 missing is shockingly bad especially when the overhead conditions are not bad for batting.

Idiotic team selection from Dyson to play both bits and pieces players instead of a proper batsman. It has not only left us extremely likely to lose this match but also denied Deonarine or Richards the chance to earn a test match place.

Now I am officially worried about the test series, especially if they continue to pick such weak batting lineups.

 

[aussie]

Barath isn't ready.

And Pascal is probably the most shocking selection since Lionel Baker for New Zealand last year, or Adam Sanford years back.

Personally from what i saw of Pascal & Baker in the standford t20. Pascal has real pace & talent, Baker is the wild selection for me.

 

[oitoitoi]

Windies having awful preparation for this series. Still, hopefully they'll pull themselves up by their bootstraps come the first test.