**Official** England in The West Indies

[garage flower]

IMO Daren Ganga should replace Dwayne Smith next test...

At least he has a cricketing brain on his shoulders, and the technique to match it... The runs will come..

People have been saying that for years and the runs haven't come.

Presumably Ryan Hinds will replace Dwayne Smith and Ganga will only play if Devon is unfit.

 

[Langeveldt]

People have been saying that for years and the runs haven't come.

The two hundreds against Aus were fairly recent, and class acts...
He will go further than the likes of Dwayne Smith...

 

[luckyeddie]

Lawson picked another wicket up in England's second knock (as did Rampaul) as Collingwood and Batty perished chasing 13 to win.

 

[Rich2001]

Ganga will only play if Devon is unfit.

Hasn't Devon broken his finger or somthing, I can't see him playing just days after doing that, unless he has a huge pain threshold.

 

[garage flower]

The two hundreds against Aus were fairly recent, and class acts...
He will go further than the likes of Dwayne Smith...

At a rough calculation they were at least 20 test innings ago. Ganga's done nothing of note before or since and was an abject failure in South Africa. There is no justification for picking him ahead of Ryan Hinds and so he should only come in if Devon Smith is unable to play.

The fact that Windies have to turn to a proven non-performer like Ganga (albeit with 3 specialist bats - Smith, Samuels, W Hinds - unavailable) is a damning indictment of the lack of batting depth, further highlighted in England's tour games. Very depressing.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

The two hundreds against Aus were fairly recent, and class acts...

And? He's been a failure given his obvious talent. You can even look at how he got out after getting those hundreds - smacking innocuous deliveries to fielders. Ganga is the best-looking batsman in the world who is not up to Test standard.

To barely average over 30 in a 4-Test series after starting with 2 centuries in your first 3 innings is a shame indeed.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

IMO Daren Ganga should replace Dwayne Smith next test...

At least he has a cricketing brain on his shoulders, and the technique to match it... The runs will come..

I'm so disappointed in Daren Ganga that I think playing Powell and Hinds instead of the Smiths would be a better option. Open the batting with Gayle and Chanderpaul and sport something of this sort.

CH Gayle
S Chanderpaul
RR Sarwan
BC Lara
RL Powell
RO Hinds
RD Jacobs
TL Best
PT Collins
CD Collymore
FH Edwards

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

The fact that Windies have to turn to a proven non-performer like Ganga (albeit with 3 specialist bats - Smith, Samuels, W Hinds - unavailable) is a damning indictment of the lack of batting depth, further highlighted in England's tour games. Very depressing.

I think there are batsmen about who certainly warrant a pick ahead of Ganga.

Floyd Reifer for one. He batted for just over 6 hours to help Barbados overcome a 116-run first innings deficit by scoring 83. Barbados ultimately won that game and Reifer won the MoM award. That's the kind of maturity we could use in the West Indies team.

Dwayne Bravo may not be in form, but he's certainly got more commitment to his team than Ganga lets off.

Maurice Kepple doesn't have a superb domestic record, but he has great temperament and ample technique.

Xavier Marshall stated very boldly that he knows how to bat at the U19 WC. Talent for the future IMO.

Assad Fudadin looks another promising strokeplayer and has good temperament.

Lendl Simmons is scoring buckets at club cricket right now and has shown that with some more experience, he could be a class act.

There is a fair amount of batting talent around and I really can't see why they would turn back to Daren Ganga. I'd even prefer Sherwin Campbell being recalled.

 

[Tim]

Club cricket in the W.I seems to be a far cry from international cricket at the moment...more so than most other club cricket comps around the globe.

 

[Mister Wright]

I'm so disappointed in Daren Ganga that I think playing Powell and Hinds instead of the Smiths would be a better option. Open the batting with Gayle and Chanderpaul and sport something of this sort.

CH Gayle
S Chanderpaul
RR Sarwan
BC Lara
RL Powell
RO Hinds
RD Jacobs
TL Best
PT Collins
CD Collymore
FH Edwards

Did I not suggest that the West Indies would be better served with Chanderpaul opening the innings a few weeks ago? And wasn't it you who told me that it was a bad idea because Chanderpaul was needed in the middle order?

Please explain...

 

[garage flower]

I think there are batsmen about who certainly warrant a pick ahead of Ganga.

Floyd Reifer for one. He batted for just over 6 hours to help Barbados overcome a 116-run first innings deficit by scoring 83. Barbados ultimately won that game and Reifer won the MoM award. That's the kind of maturity we could use in the West Indies team.

Dwayne Bravo may not be in form, but he's certainly got more commitment to his team than Ganga lets off.

Maurice Kepple doesn't have a superb domestic record, but he has great temperament and ample technique.

Xavier Marshall stated very boldly that he knows how to bat at the U19 WC. Talent for the future IMO.

Assad Fudadin looks another promising strokeplayer and has good temperament.

Lendl Simmons is scoring buckets at club cricket right now and has shown that with some more experience, he could be a class act.

There is a fair amount of batting talent around and I really can't see why they would turn back to Daren Ganga. I'd even prefer Sherwin Campbell being recalled.

I was going to mention Campbell and I would prefer to bring in someone with experience, so Reifer would also fit the bill.

As for the youngsters, was it Fudadin who had a big partnership with Dinesh Ramdin (?) in a big U19 WC game? Whichever 2 batsmen I'm thinking of (I'll check later) both looked very useful.

I was a bit worried by Simmons in the 1 or 2 inns I saw in the U19s in that he looked a bit of a slogger in the mould of Dwayne Smith and Ricardo Powell.

 

[garage flower]

As for the youngsters, was it Fudadin who had a big partnership with Dinesh Ramdin (?) in a big U19 WC game? Whichever 2 batsmen I'm thinking of (I'll check later) both looked very useful.

It was these two in the Semi against England. Both seemed to be very mature players who tended to work the ball around rather than hitting it in the air. Definitely ones for the future, ideally after a couple of successful domestic seasons.

 

[badgerhair]

Ganga is the best-looking batsman in the world who is not up to Test standard.

That's a bold claim.

What about Ed Smith or Martin Love?


Cheers,

Mike, not mentioning Ramprakash

 

[Craig]

I think there are batsmen about who certainly warrant a pick ahead of Ganga.

Floyd Reifer for one. He batted for just over 6 hours to help Barbados overcome a 116-run first innings deficit by scoring 83. Barbados ultimately won that game and Reifer won the MoM award. That's the kind of maturity we could use in the West Indies team.

But given his age, I think it will be seen as a backward step going for Reifer.

But I suppose the Martin Bicknell and Vasbert Drakes arguements come in though...

 

[Andre]

But given his age, I think it will be seen as a backward step going for Reifer.

Wait, a few days back you were saying they shouldn't pick young people for the hell of it. Now you're saying don't pick an older players because it's a backwards step.

If there anything that isn't a backwards step?

 

[marc71178]

What about Ed Smith or Martin Love?

Is Love not up to it then?

 

[marc71178]

Ganga is the best-looking batsman in the world who is not up to Test standard.

Depends on what you're looking for in looks - some might go for Robert Key

 

[Craig]

Depends on what you're looking for in looks - some might go for Robert Key

The Duck inserts some reference to a pie in 5...4...3 :P

 

[marc71178]

Relevance of Pies?

 

[garage flower]

Relevance of Pies?

Key being a bit....podgy?