**Official** Bangladesh in West Indies

[Craig]

On a different note, you've got to feel for Dave Mohammed. He debuted in South Africa and took 3 wickets in his first Test then was dropped. Consider that and that the leading West Indian wicket-taker in the series was Edwards with 8 - in 4 Tests. He was recalled for the English series, but got no further than the provisional squad.

He was then recalled for the Test against Bangladesh and looked set to play until the groundsman suggested to the selectors that they play 4 quicks, as the pitch would not take any spin. Well, Sarwan then proceeded to take more wickets than any one West Indian seamer and proved that totally wrong. Now Dave Mohammed has been dropped again as Omari Banks returns. That extremely tough luck there. He must be very low right now.

Which makes it even more baffling that Lara is captain and they are both from the same island!

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

its just that for all the talent he has, he hasnt matured at all over the last 4 years.

That's a stupid statement. Sarwan has matured leaps and bounds over the last 4 years. He's a compulsive hooker admittedly, but it's hard to get such a habit out of a player. You can't have watched Sarwan return from a blow on the head in the WC and almost win the game for the West Indies and tell me he hasn't matured. You can't have watched Sarwan play a glorious century against Australia in the face of 418 runs and tell me he hasn't matured. You can't have watched Sarwan hold his nerve and hit a boundary off the last ball against India and win the game for the West Indies, or hold up his end with a century against England. Surely you didn't see Sarwan bat in South Africa, then come back and say he hasn't matured? Yes, a stupid dismissal - so was Lara's.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Which makes it even more baffling that Lara is captain and they are both from the same island!

Lara hinted strongly that he wanted Mohammed to play, but the selectors didn't.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

The pitch in Jamaica usually helps pacers a lot if they DO the RIGHT THINGS.Helps spinners too but most likely there'll be four pacers.

I think the selectors would be complete idiots to play four seamers again. Omari Banks has to play IMO.

1/ It takes some burden off of Sarwan and Gayle (who has publicly stated that he would like to bowl less and work more on his batting).
2/ It relieves Tino Best of his number eight duties.
3/ Banks is a FAR better fielder than any of the seam bowlers.

 

[tooextracool]

That's a stupid statement. Sarwan has matured leaps and bounds over the last 4 years. He's a compulsive hooker admittedly, but it's hard to get such a habit out of a player. You can't have watched Sarwan return from a blow on the head in the WC and almost win the game for the West Indies and tell me he hasn't matured. You can't have watched Sarwan play a glorious century against Australia in the face of 418 runs and tell me he hasn't matured. You can't have watched Sarwan hold his nerve and hit a boundary off the last ball against India and win the game for the West Indies, or hold up his end with a century against England. Surely you didn't see Sarwan bat in South Africa, then come back and say he hasn't matured? Yes, a stupid dismissal - so was Lara's.

2000 - 27.70
2001 - 43.44
2002 - 36.72
2003 - 39.76
2004 - 39.75

you call that matured leaps and bounds??yes i did see that innings from sarwan against australia in 2003 and i said to myself heres where sarwan's career is going to sky rocket up, one year later i see him playing some poor innings against england and playing stupid hook shots time and time again until the fielder eventually caught him. he might have become a better ODI player but as far as tests are concerned ive seen no improvement in terms of temperament and concentration over the last year. from what ive seen so far all his best innings have come on the flattest of tracks and his career is yet to hit full throttle....

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

2000 - 27.70
2001 - 43.44
2002 - 36.72
2003 - 39.76
2004 - 39.75

you call that matured leaps and bounds??

How does maturity as a batsman not mean consistency? IMO maturity as a batsman means matchwinning innings and creditable efforts under pressure. Sarwan has achieved both and for that I consider him to have matured since induction.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

On a less argumentative topic...

Sarkar must love Collins!

 

[Langeveldt]

So Lara has said he will "Give up" the captaincy if the West Indies don't beat Bangladesh in this test...
I would laugh profusely if it rained all weekend

 

[roseboy64]

That would never happen here.

 

[Rich2001]

Lang - He said if it rained etc and alot of time lost then it didn't count as that was out of his control.


LOL Has anyone suggested to Bangladesh to reverse their batting order!!!! the last 3 inngs the last 3 wickets have added well over 100 runs each time and the top 3 well the opener is playing like a number 11, being dismissed first ball of the match twice in three innings now.

 

[roseboy64]

Their lower order is much stronger than the top.Every time the Windies seem to have control and then the lower order starts expect the innings to go a lot longer.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

LOL Has anyone suggested to Bangladesh to reverse their batting order!!!! the last 3 inngs the last 3 wickets have added well over 100 runs each time and the top 3 well the opener is playing like a number 11, being dismissed first ball of the match twice in three innings now.

Vs fresh bowlers and the new ball i dont think the lower order would do as well :P

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Thoughts on the day...

The West Indies bowled well today IMO, especially Omari Banks. Banks was extremely refreshing with his willingness to flight the ball and got some impressive turn for a fingerspinner. Pedro Collins also continues to bowl well. He'll have to sort those noballs, but his spell right before the new ball was largely virtually unplayable.

Rajin Saleh batted patiently and with typical resolve, as did Baisya and Mashud. Rafique had a useful slog too. Baisya's technique is extremely impressive for a no. 10 batsman. He really takes pride in his batting. Well-fought Bangladesh.

I must say, I really felt sorry for Tino Best. He really did give it everything today and bowled quite well too. It must have really hurt when Gayle floored that sitter in the last over of the day.

On my final note (I know the paragraphs don't flow and are disconnected) - Hannan Sarkar - you have a bat... USE IT!

 

[Rich2001]

Vs fresh bowlers and the new ball i dont think the lower order would do as well :P

They have faced the new ball in all the inngs I would guess batting so low and for so long.

 

[roseboy64]

Absolutely correct.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

They have faced the new ball in all the inngs I would guess batting so low and for so long.

But not against fresh bowlers. Facing the new ball on the first morning of a Test is nothing like facing the new ball late in the day against bowlers who have bowled 15 overs in the day.

 

[tooextracool]

How does maturity as a batsman not mean consistency?

to me maturity means improvement(either mentally or in terms of run scoring)....you cant go on being at the same level for 4 years unless you happen to be averaging in the high 40s. if sarwan had matured as a player we wouldnt see him playing shots like he did against bangladesh.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

to me maturity means improvement(either mentally or in terms of run scoring)....you cant go on being at the same level for 4 years unless you happen to be averaging in the high 40s. if sarwan had matured as a player we wouldnt see him playing shots like he did against bangladesh.

Lara was out to a horrible stroke too! Are you saying Lara isn't mature? I've seen Ponting, Tendulkar and many others throw their wickets away. How does a bad dismissal make a player less mature? Surely the matchwinning gutsy knocks outweigh the hook shot here and there.

 

[tooextracool]

Lara was out to a horrible stroke too! Are you saying Lara isn't mature? I've seen Ponting, Tendulkar and many others throw their wickets away. How does a bad dismissal make a player less mature? Surely the matchwinning gutsy knocks outweigh the hook shot here and there.

does sarwan follow it up with big hundreds?
has sarwan been averaging over 40 over the last couple of years?
has sarwan performed on non flat wickets?

analyse some of his dismissals and you will see that more often than not he throws his wicket away. the talent is there(as it has been for a while now) but the application is still far off

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

analyse some of his dismissals and you will see that more often than not he throws his wicket away. the talent is there(as it has been for a while now) but the application is still far off

There's no argument that Sarwan is not the finished product yet, but it's ridiculous to say he hasn't matured any. Have you seen just about every Test and ODI innings Sarwan has played? Clearly not. I have seen over 90% of them and can definitely say that he has matured a great deal since he debuted.