Well what can i say? yet again after we had Australia on the ropes and got the early wickey yesterday we let them off the hook and let Hussey and Pattinson build a partnership!!!..so typical
, thank god Roach got the job done in the end, Shilly also done well and Deo looks a better bowler than Samuels which is a huge bonus to us right now,
Now let me speak about certain players, Fidel Edwards is such a waste of space it's unbelievable, he's been absolute garbage for the last four tests and how he's still in the side is beyond me, unless he does something out of this world in the next innings he has to be dropped for the next game, it's as simple as that, then we have the "captain" himself Darren Sammy, is this guy for real?
he claims he's the "workhorse" of the bowling attack and yet in the last test Deonarine bowled more than him and yesterday is was the same again, WHAT EXACTLY HE IS DOING IN THIS TEAM?
We all know his position place in the team has been a joke from the start but at least he was capable of getting a few wickets here and there, but even that seems to be fading now, last but not least there is Carlton Baugh, i think the hype got to his head, his glovework was brilliant in the first game but just when we needed him he lets Hussey off the hook twice and his whole game went to pot, it's just crazy,
Australia are on top but if Shiv and Darren build a partnership then i think things could get interesting, one thing is for sure though going into a test without several of your best players is gonna hurt any team, let me list the players that are missing in this test..
Gayle (best opener)
Kirk Edwards (averages over 50)
Rampaul (best pacer last year)
Narine (by far our best spinner)
Ramdin (best wicket-keeper imo)
Samuels
All of them would be in the team today but for injury and the IPL (only Samuels's position wouldn't be certain due to Deonarine's recent form)
Then we have a few others who could have played
Taylor (injured)
Pollard (possibly could have made his debut if he didn't go to the IPL)
Tha's EIGHT potential first team players, i can't think of many teams who could survive with such a long list of absentees.
P.S. A claim on WI forums is no team has actually won a test match at Queens Park Oval with spinners dominating on the 4th and 5th day, it's usually the pacers who have got the job done, even the likes of Murali and Swann wasn't effective apparently, so it's gonna be interesting to see how effective Beer and Lyon our when we bat last...
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