Well write this with stomach full of bitterness. But congratulations to NZ for a comprehensive victory, i said chickens shouldn't be counted after the first innings..but ironically that's exactly what won the match in the end.
Today lies a very dark cloud over our cricket..the selctors keep getting it wrong, the coach doesn't inspire confidence and we keep giving failures chance after chance...will this be a watershed moment? we'll see.
Here are my throughts
Powell= done..was poor all through 2013 but was the selectors "pet project" and they still went with him despite Brathwaite dominating at both first class and A-team level
Gayle= one of the few to really attack Craig..he stays for now
Samuels= finished..had a brilliant 2012 and virtually won us the t20 title single handidly,..sorry it's ended this way Marlon.
Edwards= position in major doubt..the guy is too lax and tbh to faling against a rookie spinner twice is unforgivable..he's in trouble.
Darren Bravo= Not in any danger but he better get his act together...we need him to fire if we are to turn this series around..will be on his home turf next game so it's a good place to start.
Chandepaul= Same old Shiv...how he was given out in the secon innings i don't know but hey that's how it's going for us these days
Ramdin= Stood up like a captain should..now he's got a lot of work to do to gee up his troops
Shillingford= Gibbo has already cast doubt on his position...all depends in Narine comes back or not
Benn= Bowled really well in spells...the kind of guy who Narine could feed off more than Shilly can imo
Taylor= Showed his class in the second innings...and tbh i'm expecting him to get better and better
Roach= First innings well under cooked, second innings we saw what he can do when he gets overs under his belt...next game i suspect he'll improve even more
One shining light is we can say is we won the "second half" of the test match if one wanted to use a football analogy. It looked quite interesting to see our attack finally put NZ on the backfoot in the second digg..
Players likely to come in and replace Powell, Edwards and Samuels are
Brathwaite= no brainer..been one of the best bats in the caribbean over the last two years and is high on confidence.
Blackwood= been sensational of late..very aggressive and won't let the likes of Craig dictate terms
the third one is tough...in theory they may go with Leon johnson who like Brathwaite has had a very good last two years both domestically and for the A-team. But if we continue to play two spinners then
Fudadin or
Carter may be the better options as both bowl medium pace bowling, especially Carter who has a nagging line similar to Shane Watson.
The Narine situation is gonna heat up big time now...there are reports that they'll let him play the third test
HERE ..but obviously that would be complete madness when you consider the next match is on his own turf and we're one down. The difference Narine would make to us is quite staggering...cause we all know thus far he's been NZ's boogy man in every sense of the word,..both home and away..so one could only imagine what would happen if the kiwi top order face Sunil on his own ground.
Moving forward i expect NZ's line-up to stay the same bar Fulton,..i think it's vital we win the toss and bat first next game...in these last four matches NZ have batted first three times...and low and behold the time we batted first is the time we had a first innings lead.
some observations about NZ
Fulton= has to go
Latham= done very well but it will be interesting to see how he does if Narine is playing considering sunny caused him major problems the last time they met
Mccullum= not settled down yet but remains a major threat
Taylor= mentally it's a bright spot that he hasn't done too much damage yet...if we are to bounce back this needs to continue
Williamson= started well but he has a technical flaw by the looks of it...obviously for our sake i hope that continues
Neesham= i hope NZ keep him in the side...because i think Anderson is better tbh
Watling= was an annoying presence down the order..did good.
Craig= it's typical us isn't it? allow a rookie spinner to come and have a great time on debut!!...our top order just stood off him and allowed him to settle...very poor stuff. Was encouraging to see him get wacked around by shilly and Benn at the end...i'm sure that would have been noted by the WI staff.
Sodhi= still doesn't get me off my seat
Southee= was sensational..if he continues like this he'll go a long way
Boult= had a tough time which is another good sign for us moving forward
At this junture things very bleak for us now...but something inside of me believes this series is far from over...we'll see, might just be blind faith.
