*Official* Zimbabwe in West Indies

[Prince EWS]

Well put. On the point of Lamb he looks to be more of a bowling all-rounder. Should be nowhere near the top order given how useless he looked with the bat. Elton deserves a promotion to six and playing the likes of Sibanda because he dominates first class cricket isn't working. Get the likes of Williams in there i.e. cricketers who have shown some ODI competency.

Believe Zim next series is against India.

The funny thing about Lamb is that he averaged about 60 with the bat and 70 with the ball in the Logan Cup. It's not like they were underbowling him either; he got plenty of opportunity to take wickets and just never did.

 

[WindieWeathers]

Look at the series stats, Windie....

The return of some players has strengthened the side, but even though the WI won 4-1, it was not an impressive performance, except in one ODI. Clearly, when Sarwan and Taylor are fit, they should be able to walk back into this side.

How did the guys do in this series?

With the bat, Gayle once again led the way with 273 runs at an average of 54, with Deonarine making 138 runs at an average of 46, while Shiv had 140 runs at an average of 35. All the other batsmen were inconsistent with the bat, given that this was little Zimbabwe they were playing....

The bowling looked better. Gayle was the most economical (one wicket at 2.5), and Rampaul did well (four wickets at an average of about three), while the leading wicket-takers were Sammy and Roach (eight each), while Big Bravo and Miller were not far behind (seven each). Benn's bowling was disappointing....

Pollard was not consistent enough with either bat or ball, averaging just 17 with the bat against mighty Zimbabwe, and only taking three wickets at an average of nearly five. Sarwan's impending return to the ODI side threatens Pollard's place most of all.

My point is judging Darren Bravo on the evidence on one innings isn't fair Mike!! , i'm confident had he played at least another two games he would have done well, Chanders still doesn't look back to his best imo, apart from that 70 he didn't really pull up any trees, that's why it's vital that we give some other players a chance to shine before we face South Africa imo, i also believe Deonarine may have taken Nash's spot in the side, he's shown he can carry the side when we need him and when you couple that with his ability to bowl spin then i think he'd bring more to the side than Nash does, which is what i was saying before the Zim series even started and you and others started moaning!! .

As for the bowling, i think Taylor, Roach and Bravo are gonna be very dangerous for us, we just need to add one more pacer to complete the set, Gibson is having a bowling clinic soon so lets hope the likes of Holder, Johnson and Gabriel impress, i also hope that Kantasingh and Khan do well in the A-team because we need more spin options, i still don't think Miller is good enough to take us forward.

 

[maxtop123]

Let's not talk nonsense. Deonarine has not taken Nash's place.Nash and Deonarine shared a partnership in excess of 100 runs in the final Test in Australia. Additionally Nash averaged over 40 inclusinbve of a 90 odd in the series. Nash is the incumbent and has done nothing so far for Deonarine to take his place. Deonarine will more than likley always be a part of the squad and should be ready to play given injury or severe loss of form to one of the middle order players. He will simply have to wait his turn.

As for bolwers Holder has yet to play an FC match but should be worked with. I notice you continue to mention Gabriel but continue to fail to mention Dawes. From the commentators in the match in which they both played the commentators were impressed with both.

In fact one commentator whenever referring to Dawes continued to use the word impressive. So we have bowlers with potential and we need someone to work with them to fulfill that potential.

N.B. You also forgot to mention Bess.

 

[WindieWeathers]

Let's not talk nonsense. Deonarine has not taken Nash's place.Nash and Deonarine shared a partnership in excess of 100 runs in the final Test in Australia. Additionally Nash averaged over 40 inclusinbve of a 90 odd in the series. Nash is the incumbent and has done nothing so far for Deonarine to take his place. Deonarine will more than likley always be a part of the squad and should be ready to play given injury or severe loss of form to one of the middle order players. He will simply have to wait his turn.

As for bolwers Holder has yet to play an FC match but should be worked with. I notice you continue to mention Gabriel but continue to fail to mention Dawes. From the commentators in the match in which they both played the commentators were impressed with both.

In fact one commentator whenever referring to Dawes continued to use the word impressive. So we have bowlers with potential and we need someone to work with them to fulfill that potential.

N.B. You also forgot to mention Bess.

I see another jamaican is standing up for their man (Nash) !! , bottom line is Deonarine has earned his spot in the middle order, he's the younger man who also offers something in the bowling department which is why i believe he's the better option right now, btw Holder made his Fc debut in 2009 and took 2 for 19, for some reason he never got a game last season but he certainly is a massive talent, Dawes only came good towards the end which is why i've barely mentioned him, him and Andre Russell are obviously options that should be looked at, i'm sure most of the names we've talked about will be at the bowling clinic Ottis Gibson has lined up soon.

 

[Athlai]

Wow Nash is a far better player than Deonarine at this stage.

 

[GotSpin]

Why aren't the curators preparing fast tracks? Doesn't make any sense.

 

[WindieWeathers]

Wow Nash is a far better player than Deonarine at this stage.

Nash has done a steady job, he hasn't set the place on fire and for me Deonarine has better strokes in his make-up, Nash is too slow with the runs imo.

 

[Athlai]

Nash has done a steady job, he hasn't set the place on fire and for me Deonarine has better strokes in his make-up, Nash is too slow with the runs imo.

The last thing the West Indian Test team needs is a guy who scores faster IMO. Nash is great for sticking around and building partnerships. Lets the strokemakers go about their business around him.

 

[WindieWeathers]

The last thing the West Indian Test team needs is a guy who scores faster IMO. Nash is great for sticking around and building partnerships. Lets the strokemakers go about their business around him.

Have you seen Deonarine play? because he can also "stick around" as he demonstrated twice in the recent ODI's, when him and Nash built a partnership against Australia in the tests Nash was a joke imo, he just wasn't making any runs at all and put all the pressure on Deonarine, that was the game which showed the difference in class between the two of them, even under pressure Deo was able to make his shots and change the strike, while Nash just stood at the crease and done nothing for over an hour.

 

[NasserFan207]

Nash is one of the only proven test class batsman the Windies have. Deonarine may have talent but he's still unproven, I'd stay with Nash.

 

[shivfan]

Nash clearly deserves his place in the Test side. His stats in the last Test series show that.

Deonarine has earned his place in the ODI side. But he hasn't cemented his place in the Test side yet. Windie, you're saying he's 'cemented' his place on the basis of just one innings. His overall Test average is still inferior to Nash's....

Darren Bravo clearly needs more time before we talk about him as a WI player. maybe when Zimbabwe return for two four-day games against a WI A team, then Lil Bravo will get some games against them. Only after he's scored heavily in those matches can we talk about promoting Lil Bravo to the Test team.

I would also like to see Pollard playing in that A team as well. He clearly needs some more time in the middle, to earn a right to challenge the incumbents in the WI Test side.

But at present, the way I see it, Gayle, Barath, Sarwan, Nash, Shiv and Dwayne Bravo are automatic picks for the Test side, with Ramdin taking the glvoes. Deonarine should be in there at six, IMHO, with Bravo batting at seven, because his batting just isn't consistent enough. However, I'm not sure that Gibson sees it that way. If not, Deonarine will probably be on standby in case Sarwan doesn't recover his fitness in time for the series.

 

[Beamer]

My West Indies A side to face the Zimbabweans in a few weeks time:

Kraigg Braithwaite
Omar Phillips
Andre Fletcher
Darren Bravo
Andre Creary
Kevin Stoute
Devon Thomas (wk)
Imran Khan
Kevin McLean
Lionel Baker
Brandon Bess

Reserves:

Kieron Powell
Shane Dowrich
Jason Holder
Davendra Bishoo

I do not envy the selectors, they have a very difficult job when it comes to selecting batsmen for the A team. I think they have no choice but to give the better Under 19 players a chance. These 4 day matches will basically be a spin clinic for the young batsmen and that can only be a good thing.

 

[Aritro]

Nice to see Imran Khan putting the creams on for another comeback. Although to be fair, his last one in South Africa's ODI team wasn't too impressive.

 

[WindieWeathers]

Nash clearly deserves his place in the Test side. His stats in the last Test series show that.

Deonarine has earned his place in the ODI side. But he hasn't cemented his place in the Test side yet. Windie, you're saying he's 'cemented' his place on the basis of just one innings. His overall Test average is still inferior to Nash's....

Darren Bravo clearly needs more time before we talk about him as a WI player. maybe when Zimbabwe return for two four-day games against a WI A team, then Lil Bravo will get some games against them. Only after he's scored heavily in those matches can we talk about promoting Lil Bravo to the Test team.

I would also like to see Pollard playing in that A team as well. He clearly needs some more time in the middle, to earn a right to challenge the incumbents in the WI Test side.

But at present, the way I see it, Gayle, Barath, Sarwan, Nash, Shiv and Dwayne Bravo are automatic picks for the Test side, with Ramdin taking the glvoes. Deonarine should be in there at six, IMHO, with Bravo batting at seven, because his batting just isn't consistent enough. However, I'm not sure that Gibson sees it that way. If not, Deonarine will probably be on standby in case Sarwan doesn't recover his fitness in time for the series.

This is a new dawn Mike, i don't think anyone "deserves" to be in the side unless they are either world class or they've won us some games recently, as i said Nash has done a steady job but he's far too slow making the runs which puts pressure on his partner, for me it should be either Nash or Shiv in the side, not both, you say i'm judging Deo from "one innings"? erm no i'm judging him from his brilliant form in the FC over the last few years, his very good knock in Autralia and him winnings us two games in a row in the recent Odi's, the guy will only improve from here imo,

Even in Darren's only innings you could see he had class at the crease, i agree that he should be in the A-team and if he does score runs he should challenge for Nash or Shivs spot, the only certs in my side would be Gayle, Barath, Sarwan, Roach, Taylor, Deonarine and Dwayne Bravo, i'm really hoping some other young players can stand up over the next few months, i still believe Jahmar Hamilton can challenge Ramdin's position, Ramdin is far too comfortable for my liking.

 

[WindieWeathers]

My West Indies A side to face the Zimbabweans in a few weeks time:

Kraigg Braithwaite
Omar Phillips
Andre Fletcher
Darren Bravo
Andre Creary
Kevin Stoute
Devon Thomas (wk)
Imran Khan
Kevin McLean
Lionel Baker
Brandon Bess

Reserves:

Kieron Powell
Shane Dowrich
Jason Holder
Davendra Bishoo

I do not envy the selectors, they have a very difficult job when it comes to selecting batsmen for the A team. I think they have no choice but to give the better Under 19 players a chance. These 4 day matches will basically be a spin clinic for the young batsmen and that can only be a good thing.

My team would be

Kraigg Brathwaite
Omar Phillips
Kiaran Powell
Darren Bravo
Kirk Edwards
Kevin Stoute
Jahmar Hamilton (wk)
Jason Holder
Shannon Gabriel
Delorn Johnson
Kavesh Kantasingh

Reserves

Imran Khan
Leon Johnson
Shane Dowrich
Jason Dawes

 

[maxtop123]

Do you understand cricket? Nash has DONE the business. Deo HAS NOT. Deo has played one decent test innings and will most likely get a run with the squad. He CANNOT at this point in time repalce Nash. This has nothing to do with being Jamaican.

Dawes came good towarDs the end because that wAS the first time he actually got an opportunity to bowl more overs as spin was doOng the business in the previous matches and Ja's scores were poor.

Let us see who aRe the peopLEthe selectors chose. Some people here are choosing players based on their stats but have not actually seen them. The selectors were watching the games so don't be surprised if someone who has lesser stats is chosen over better stats.
Russell did well in his one match no doubt but in spite of his wickets, commentators seemed more impressd with Dawes but he's another one with potentail. Still only 21.

I am not saying Imran Khan should not be selected but like all the other spinners Itake his results with a grain of salt. In the Ja match the commentators mentioned the Jamaican batsmen throwing their wickets away against Khan and we saw the problem in the recent series against Zim with us throwing away wickets to spin.

Unlike Beamer I am pessimistic about the quality of our spin bowlers.On the other hand I think there are a number of promising pacers-Holder, Bess, Dawes, Johnson, Gabriel etc. Hope Holder can increase his pace as the years go by.

 

[WindieWeathers]

Do you understand cricket? Nash has DONE the business. Deo HAS NOT. Deo has played one decent test innings and will most likely get a run with the squad. He CANNOT at this point in time repalce Nash. This has nothing to do with being Jamaican.

Dawes came good towarDs the end because that wAS the first time he actually got an opportunity to bowl more overs as spin was doOng the business in the previous matches and Ja's scores were poor.

Let us see who aRe the peopLEthe selectors chose. Some people here are choosing players based on their stats but have not actually seen them. The selectors were watching the games so don't be surprised if someone who has lesser stats is chosen over better stats.
Russell did well in his one match no doubt but in spite of his wickets, commentators seemed more impressd with Dawes but he's another one with potentail. Still only 21.

I am not saying Imran Khan should not be selected but like all the other spinners Itake his results with a grain of salt. In the Ja match the commentators mentioned the Jamaican batsmen throwing their wickets away against Khan and we saw the problem in the recent series against Zim with us throwing away wickets to spin.

Unlike Beamer I am pessimistic about the quality of our spin bowlers.On the other hand I think there are a number of promising pacers-Holder, Bess, Dawes, Johnson, Gabriel etc. Hope Holder can increase his pace as the years go by.

You're contradicting yourself, first you claim "Nash has to stay in the side over Deo because he's done the business" but then try to justify Dawes inclusion in the A-team who hasn't done any better than the likes of Shannon Gabriel?!!! as i said a typical jamaican bigging up his players , furthermore Deo has been in good form in more than "one innings", incase you didn't notice he also done well in a few Odi's in Australia and also won us two vital games against Zimbabwe, not to mention he's been better than Nash in our domestic competition, as i said it should be either Shiv or Nash, both of them in the same side doesn't make sense to me.

 

[shivfan]

The last Test series that the West Indies played was against Australia....

1) Nash was the fourth best run-getter on both sides. His 250 runs came at a good average of 41, and was only beaten by Gayle (346), Katich (302) and Watson (263). To drop him after such a good performance with the bat would be ridiculous!

2) Test cricket is played over five days. This is not 20/20 cricket. It doesn't matter if Nash scores slowly. Shiv can also score slowly. Dravid scores slowly in Test cricket. Larry Gomes used to score slowly. All are/were great Test batsmen....

3) None of the Tests were drawn as a result of slow batting. So, both Shiv and Nash can play in this WI side, if they deserve their places.

 

[shivfan]

This would be my XI for the A team against Zimbabwe....

1) Kraigg Brathwaite
2) Kirk Edwards
3) Justin Guillen
4) Andre Fletcher
5) Darren Bravo
6) Kieron Pollard
7) Jahmal Hamilton
8) Imran Khan
9) Kavesh Kantasingh
10) Lionel Baker
11) Brandon Bess

Reserves
Omar Phillips
Jason Haynes
Jason Holder
Odean Brown

 

[Beamer]

This would be my XI for the A team against Zimbabwe....

1) Kraigg Brathwaite
2) Kirk Edwards
3) Justin Guillen
4) Andre Fletcher
5) Darren Bravo
6) Kieron Pollard
7) Jahmal Hamilton
8) Imran Khan
9) Kavesh Kantasingh
10) Lionel Baker
11) Brandon Bess

Reserves
Omar Phillips
Jason Haynes
Jason Holder
Odean Brown

Pollard will be in India for the duration of the A team matches. As for the wicket keeper surely if Devon Thomas is fit it has to be his spot? He scored a century in his last A team match and kept very tidily indeed.