***Official** West Indies in England***

[pup11]

West Indies cricket has always been like this they take one step forward and then they take two steps back.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Their bowling attack looks dire and they have even dropped Samuels, so IMO WI would surely have a rough time during their tour of England [especially in test matches].

Oh come on, the bowling attack doesn't look that bad. Collymore, Taylor and Powell are good bowlers. And if Edwards can rediscover the form he was in at the start of 2006, it's a bigger asset. Not sure why Ravi Rampaul and Darren Sammy are in there ahead of Pedro Collins and Amit Jaggernauth/Dave Mohammed though.

Flintoff is the man who truly separates the England and West Indies bowling attacks IMO.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

West Indies cricket has always been like this they take one step forward and then they take two steps back.

"Always", if your memory only extends to the mid90s.

 

[PhoenixFire]

Oh come on, the bowling attack doesn't look that bad. Collymore, Taylor and Powell are good bowlers. And if Edwards can rediscover the form he was in at the start of 2006, it's a bigger asset. Not sure why Ravi Rampaul and Darren Sammy are in there ahead of Pedro Collins and Amit Jaggernauth/Dave Mohammed though.

Flintoff is the man who truly separates the England and West Indies bowling attacks IMO.

Two gun names tbh.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Two gun names tbh.

Though Jaggernauth is the kind of player who could conceivably never play for the West Indies, no matter how well he performs for Trinidad and Tobago.

 

[roseboy64]

What is the state of the WI academy and it's domestic competition? It really needs to realize the talent of it's players. Chris Gayle and Jerome Taylor spring to mind.

Bennett King is currently in the process of re-establishing the academy as his last duty. Supposed to be opened again by around June. And the FC competition is around 5 games each.

 

[Pup Clarke]

Oh come on, the bowling attack doesn't look that bad. Collymore, Taylor and Powell are good bowlers

.

How on earth can you call Daren Powell a "good" bowler when he's had an awful start to his test career?.

 

[roseboy64]

He was being subjective. Going off how he's bowled in recent months I'd expect.

 

[Pup Clarke]

Going off how he's bowled in recent months I'd expect.

Doesn't mean he's a good bowler.Let's see if he can bowl like he did at the WC for a sustained length of time.

 

[pup11]

Just because D.Powell bowled well in odi games (recently) that doesn't mean he would do the same in test matches.

 

[Prince EWS]

Well obviously if you pick the better players then your chances of winning will be increased.

And if you have better players to pick, your chances of picking them in the first place will be greatly increased.

Really though, I don't care how many chances Samuels has been given - he's still a lot more likely to score runs than Joseph IMO. I'd fully understand if he wasn't in the first choice XI, but he should be in the squad. The same goes for Mohammed and Collins.

 

[roseboy64]

Just because D.Powell bowled well in odi games (recently) that doesn't mean he would do the same in test matches.

He bowled well in FC too last season.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

How on earth can you call Daren Powell a "good" bowler when he's had an awful start to his test career?.

Because I, unlike you, have seen a lot of him in domestic cricket.

Mark Ramprakash is a good batsmen. Never did I say that Powell is or will be a Test class or even ODI class bowler. But he is a good bowler, whether or not he's Test/ODI class. It's a mental gap. Technically, and on a domestic level, he's a good bowler.

One hopes that he can step up to international level though. He has shown on occasion that he can do so (Sri Lanka '05), but he has obviously lacked consistency.

Honestly, people read so much (wrong) into my comments.

 

[Pup Clarke]

Because I, unlike you, have seen a lot of him in domestic cricket.

That is domestic cricket.This is a test series against the 2nd best side and the gap is unquestionably huge.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

That is domestic cricket.This is a test series against the 2nd best side and the gap is unquestionably huge.

Thanks for isolating the first line of my post then saying exactly what I said in the rest of it.

 

[The Big Cheese]

Thanks for isolating the first line of my post then saying exactly what I said in the rest of it.

Smooth.

 

[Perm]

And if you have better players to pick, your chances of picking them in the first place will be greatly increased.

Really though, I don't care how many chances Samuels has been given - he's still a lot more likely to score runs than Joseph IMO. I'd fully understand if he wasn't in the first choice XI, but he should be in the squad. The same goes for Mohammed and Collins.

Exactly, Samuels would in my West Indies squad. More than likely he would make my first choice XI to, but obviously the selectors weren't too impressed with his attitude.

 

[roseboy64]

Usually you'd hear rumours about his attitude but I haven't. It's apparently got nothing to do with his attitude to cricket or his cricketing ability. As usual in WI cricket no one knows what's happening.

 

[no1_gangsta_786]

Pietersen doubt for first test with calf strain.

 

[FBU]

Rudi and Rauf for the first two Tests and Bowden and Dar for the last two.