**Official** West Indies in England Thread

[Adamc]

Joseph 100* off 137, 19 fours and a six! Unless one of the two Dwaynes does something special he should be in line for a spot.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

I believe Joseph has centuries in consecutive FC matches now. He got one against Bangladesh in a warmup game. As a player he's only really started to mature this season.

 

[Piper]

I think England will win the series but i dont think they will win it as easy as they did in the West Indies

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Well the good news is that Bravo seems fit. He's racing along on 48 from 53 balls at the moment - 9 fours.

Almost certain to debut at Lord's.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

351/6 at stumps.

DDJ Bravo 118
SC Joseph 114
RD Jacobs 30 not out

Bravo out just before the close.

 

[garage flower]

what ever happend to collymore?? what i saw of him was awesome...

Presumably, you only saw his test comeback against Sri Lanka last year then. He's been some way short of awesome since then, though he should still be in the 1-day set up.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Presumably, you only saw his test comeback against Sri Lanka last year then. He's been some way short of awesome since then, though he should still be in the 1-day set up.

He hasn't been bad though. He's been more consistent and solid than Edwards and co. without half the luck. The amount of times he passed the edge, had catches drop short or dropped is heartbreaking.

 

[garage flower]

I hope Carl Hooper never plays for the WI again.

I'm sure he won't, but taking into account on-pitch factors only, I'm equally sure that he'd be the best bet for the problematic no.6 spot.

 

[garage flower]

As a massive Daren Ganga fan I hope he gets the call up and I hope he converts some of that batting beauty into serious runs...

However I no longer blame the WI board for dropping him.. Especially with Devon Smiths emergence...

There's absolutely no reason in the world to consider calling up Daren Ganga. He doesn't score runs in test cricket. It really is that simple.

 

[garage flower]

He hasn't been bad though. He's been more consistent and solid than Edwards and co. without half the luck. The amount of times he passed the edge, had catches drop short or dropped is heartbreaking.

Consistent and solid, but not very penetrative. I'm not sure he's had a disproportionately high number of dropped catches either.

 

[garage flower]

Well the good news is that Bravo seems fit. He's racing along on 48 from 53 balls at the moment - 9 fours.

Almost certain to debut at Lord's.

Encouraging stuff. Are you assuming then, that it's 3 specialist quicks + Bravo and either Joseph or Banks?

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

The fact is that Collymore was bowling well far more often than any of the current bowlers on tour have. He never really made any mistakes and is unfortunate that when he would finally get some conditions for his bowling (in England) he's been neglected.

The selectors will rue two things:

1/ Not including an experienced bowler.
2/ Not hiring a bowling coach.

The latter is truly ridiculous and seems to indicate to me that the selectors are either stupid or just don't care. How can you not hire a bowling coach for a tour when you oldest bowler is 27 and the average age is less than 25? Ridiculous.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Encouraging stuff. Are you assuming then, that it's 3 specialist quicks + Bravo and either Joseph or Banks?

I'm almost certain it will be...

CH Gayle
DS Smith
RR Sarwan
BC Lara (C)
S Chanderpaul
DJJ Bravo
OAC Banks
RD Jacobs (wk)
TL Best
PT Collins
JJC Lawson

The only variations I can see to that is Edwards for Lawson, but I'd prefer Lawson in there as Edwards is far from match-ready.

 

[garage flower]

The fact is that Collymore was bowling well far more often than any of the current bowlers on tour have. He never really made any mistakes and is unfortunate that when he would finally get some conditions for his bowling (in England) he's been neglected.

The selectors will rue two things:

1/ Not including an experienced bowler.
2/ Not hiring a bowling coach.

The latter is truly ridiculous and seems to indicate to me that the selectors are either stupid or just don't care. How can you not hire a bowling coach for a tour when you oldest bowler is 27 and the average age is less than 25? Ridiculous.

The omission of a bowling coach does seem to be peverse. Ravi Rampaul talked about the benefits of having a bowling coach during the Southern Africa tours and, as you suggest, it would seem to be particularly important to include a specialist coach with this, less experienced, group.

I seem to remember reading some criticism of Kenny Benjamin, so that may have something to do it, though the WICB explanation was that Logie hadn't asked for a bowling coach.

On a similar note, there's an article on caribbeancricket.com about the new coaching/management structure that seems likely to be implemented. The gist of it is that a new "Head Coach" position will have overall responsibilty for all first team cricketing maters.

This seems to address Logie's gripes about being held accountable for on-field (non) performances, while working within a structure that doesn't allow him the requisite control over first team matters.

With regard to Collymore, I still think you're being a little kind to him. The conditions against England were generally bowler friendly and he couldn't buy a wicket, though I accept it was more a case of uneven bounce than the swing that would be more suited to Corey.

 

[garage flower]

I'm almost certain it will be...

CH Gayle
DS Smith
RR Sarwan
BC Lara (C)
S Chanderpaul
DJJ Bravo
OAC Banks
RD Jacobs (wk)
TL Best
PT Collins
JJC Lawson

The only variations I can see to that is Edwards for Lawson, but I'd prefer Lawson in there as Edwards is far from match-ready.

Yep, I'd go along with that. Hopefully, Joseph's form will focus Shiv's mind a little. He'll be under real pressure if he fails badly at Lord's.

 

[marc71178]

I think England will win the series but i dont think they will win it as easy as they did in the West Indies

It was hardly easy in the WI.

England may have won 6 or 7 Tests, but in just about every one of those games the sides have been even till England step up a gear for a session or 2.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

This seems to address Logie's gripes about being held accountable for on-field (non) performances, while working within a structure that doesn't allow him the requisite control over first team matters.

The kind of control Logie would like is in regard to selection, not coaching. I see where he's coming from too.

With regard to Collymore, I still think you're being a little kind to him. The conditions against England were generally bowler friendly and he couldn't buy a wicket, though I accept it was more a case of uneven bounce than the swing that would be more suited to Corey.

As you say, the condition were bowler friendly in terms of bounce. Collymore is a swing/stock bowler. Also, it's not as though Collymore wasn't threatening. Graham Thorpe said about his knock of 100odd unbeaten in the 3rd Test that he was thrilled when Lara took Collymore off because he was all at sea against him. Anyone who saw the series would understand why. Collymore bowled well and was seaming it past the edge over and over.

 

[Craig]

2/ Not hiring a bowling coach.

Joel Garner, Andy Roberts, Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose, Winston Benjamin would be great choices, as well as Michael Holding.

And yes I know Benjamin was the bowling coach in SA and Zimbabwe, how c ome the Wi didn't decide to renew his contract?

 

[Revelation]

450/6

Jacobs-75*
Banks-50*

Seems a if everone's hitting some form, or the opposition isn't that hot.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Joel Garner, Andy Roberts, Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose, Winston Benjamin would be great choices, as well as Michael Holding.

And yes I know Benjamin was the bowling coach in SA and Zimbabwe, how c ome the Wi didn't decide to renew his contract?

Holding and Walsh did some work with Best during or before the Natwest series. The results were clearly evident as Best looked quite promising.