*** Official *** West Indies in South Africa 2014/15

[kingkallis]

Steyn having one of those wicketless days of his, which is usually followed by a godlike unplayable spell. West Indies should be afraid.

Spot on!

 

[hendrix]

Taylor bowled an absolutely world class spell on the second day. I know it doesn't make up for the dross in the first day but it took a while for Roach to get into the NZ series too. You don't drop one of your best players after one poor test.

I definitely think there's merit to the suggestion they're underdone. I think Taylor will get better as the series moves on.

Cottrell's action to me seems somewhat inherently inconsistent and he needs to pitch it up another foot for his swing to actually cause trouble.

Holder in for the injured Roach is the only change Id make. Adds a bit to the batting too.

 

[WindieWeathers]

I agree with most of what you said there WW with these notable exceptions:

- Chanderpaul and it being time to move on: He got two great deliveries but I bet you anything he reels of a ton or unbeaten half century at PE. Shiv is an absolute soldier and I really don't want to think what our batting is going to be like when he's gone.

- Sulieman Benn: I actually thought he was our best bowler apart from Kemar. He went at under 3 runs per over, span the ball, got good bounce and on occasion caused all the batsmen a problem. In more favoruable conditions I saw enough to suggest he would have been all over Van Zyl for example. Yes if Narine comes back I'd have him ahead of Benn but until that happens he is the least of our problems.

- Dropping Taylor: It just isn't going to happen. He's had one bad match since returning to the team, otherwise he has been excellent. I too was really disappointed with his performance here but we can't drop him on the basis of one match, we need his experience, especially if Kemar is out.

Come on Beamer...Jerome was complete garbage in the third test vs NZ after boasting in an interview that the kiwi batsmen were "tentative against him". Then in the Bang tests he hardly pulled up any trees either...so tbh this latest performance is just more of what he's been producing lately.

As for Chanders...well i said if he scores some big runs then fine...but if he doesn't what's the point anymore? he's 40 years old man...i think it's time we totally rebuild the side now as i'm just sick of the same losers...Benn may have gone at 3 an over but he's just not threatening enough for me liking..way too basic and far too expensive for the few wickets he's taking...Permaul has way more talent than him imo....and Narine is on a different planet.

 

[WindieWeathers]

PS word is Kemar isn't going to be able to play for a good few weeks and so will need to be replaced. According to CMC, the selectors are choosing between Miguel Cummins and Kenroy Peters as his replacement.

No brainer for me, go with Kenroy. Only medium pace but is incredibly accurate and constantly moves the ball even in Caribbean conditions. He's been totally dominant in our domestic cricket whereas Miguel has really fallen out of form recently. Also this tour is not the place to be blooding raw fast bowlers with talent but in need of refining, it's far more sensible to pick a slightly older bowler who knows his game and won't get damaged by the beatings that seem extremely likely to take place.

Peters would be my choice aswell because as a leftie he can move the ball both ways and that would no doubt cause the saffie batsmen more problems than Cotts basic inswinger stuff. But you know what? if they were brave enough i'd actually pick Beaton!!..because stylistically he's actually quite similar to Roach...i persoally think in time Beaton could be even better!!...big call but when the boy is in a groove he's brilliant to watch. I doubt they want to risk the yute at this stage of his development though.

 

[the big bambino]

No head coach is Ian chappell's ideal situation for a cricket team. Look how well that's working

 

[Beamer]

No head coach is Ian chappell's ideal situation for a cricket team. Look how well that's working

I've always thought that idea was ridiculous for most cricket teams. Clive Lloyd's team and Steve Waugh's great Aussie side might have been able to function without an experienced coach because they had cricketers who were both great and experienced.

But in 99% of cases a coach can have a brilliant impact on a young international cricketers future. We desperately need a proper coach in place, Stuart Williams might be a decent batting coach but he is not a head coach.

 

[Jarquis]

Drop Chanders

Batting records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[Beamer]

Peters would be my choice aswell because as a leftie he can move the ball both ways and that would no doubt cause the saffie batsmen more problems than Cotts basic inswinger stuff. But you know what? if they were brave enough i'd actually pick Beaton!!..because stylistically he's actually quite similar to Roach...i persoally think in time Beaton could be even better!!...big call but when the boy is in a groove he's brilliant to watch. I doubt they want to risk the yute at this stage of his development though.

I'm hearing they've chosen Peters. Hope they get him out there ASAP as I would honestly play him in the next test if possible, his style of bowling is what we need at this stage.

In regards to Beaton, I watched him a bit this season and he has really looked the part. He's added a late outswinger to his repertoire and is bowling a better line and length.If he continues to impress for the rest of the season he will put himself right in the mix.

 

[Beamer]

Drop Chanders

Batting records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPN Cricinfo

Agreed. Total madness.

 

[Swingpanzee]

I don't think he bowled particularly well in this test but stylistically he compliments the others perfectly. To me the Steyn, Philander and Morkel combination is literally perfect.

Steyn =Skiddy, good pace, swing, movement and just all around awesome.
Philander = Medium fast, each way seam movement, metronomic accuracy, exploits any help from the pitch perfectly
Morkel = Very fast, extra bounce, uncomfortable to face and takes wickets when people take risks against him because they've struggled to score against the others.

Abbot should be the one that doesn't play IMHO. Bring in Tahir for him and you have an amazing pace attack and a passable spinner. It's a seriously hard attack to face.

Agree.

But not Tahir. That guy's celebrations are over the top, and his "cramping" during the dying moments of the second test in Colombo was ATG trolling, but as a bowler he's **** and Dane Piedt should be given a go.

 

[WindieWeathers]

Drop Chanders

Batting records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPN Cricinfo

Yes lets keep all the all old guys in the side because of their stats from the past!!..LARA...GET YOUR PADS ON MATE!!!

 

[WindieWeathers]

Agreed. Total madness.

So how long do you wan't him to carry on for? until he's 50?

Once again people are failing to comprehend what i said...i said "IF HE FAILS TO MAKE RUNS WE SHOULD SAY GOODBYE"...why? because it's time to consider start afresh and building a new batting unit that can finally win us matches.

 

[Days of Grace]

Yes lets keep all the all old guys in the side because of their stats from the past!!..LARA...GET YOUR PADS ON MATE!!!

Hah. Stats from the past. Check your sig, mate.

 

[Howsie]

I don't think our best XI is that far behind the top teams.

It's not much of an excuse when you never play your best XI though. We've heard that for well over a year now. Probably best to accept the fact that with the likes of Roach, Narine, Gayle, Bravo etc in your best XI you'll probably never see it. Those guys just miss way too many test matches to be relied upon.

 

[RossTaylorsBox]

Good point, you should definitely axe a guy who was unbeaten the entire previous series because of one bad test.

 

[RossTaylorsBox]

Yes lets keep all the all old guys in the side because of their stats from the past!!..LARA...GET YOUR PADS ON MATE!!!

He'd probably own half your current lineup at the moment.

 

[Dan]

So how long do you wan't him to carry on for? until he's 50?

Once again people are failing to comprehend what i said...i said "IF HE FAILS TO MAKE RUNS WE SHOULD SAY GOODBYE"...why? because it's time to consider start afresh and building a new batting unit that can finally win us matches.

1. Chanderpaul has had one bad Test having, y'know, carried the WI batting line-up for basically forever (including some amazing performances very recently)
2. With Gayle, Bravo and now Fudadin out, you're already calling on pretty much all of your batting depth to play.
3. They all suck or are incredibly raw.

With the experience he brings to the table, Chanderpaul failing to make runs for 1 Test > cycling through domestic nobodies who would barely make First Grade teams in Sydney. FFS the replacement batsman you're bringing across is Narsingh Deonarine, who looks more likely to be a Test-class spinner than a Test-class batsman (and he'll never be either).

With WI cricket in perpetual turmoil and literally incapable of designing a half-working domestic system, nobody in their right mind would advocate dropping the most experienced batsman in the side and a genuine ATG, even if he strings together 3 low scores. Australia held on to Ricky Ponting way past his prime, partially on reputation and partially because the alternative was playing Rob ****ing Quiney and his 'best 9 ever'.

And this is all assuming that Chanders is done. He's had one bad Test against the best side in the world where he got two good nuts. You don't condemn an ATG on that.

 

[Bahnz]

So how long do you wan't him to carry on for? until he's 50?

Once again people are failing to comprehend what i said...i said "IF HE FAILS TO MAKE RUNS WE SHOULD SAY GOODBYE"...why? because it's time to consider start afresh and building a new batting unit that can finally win us matches.

Here's a whacky idea, but maybe they should keep him in the side until someone better turns up?

 

[OverratedSanity]

Baffling from ww. Chanders is arguably the best batsman in the world right now along with AB and Sanga. Even if there were several brilliant youngsters knocking on the door, you wouldn't drop the best batsman in the side ffs. He's the one guy who regularly manages to keep your team afloat and you want to replace him with a frankly mediocre youngster.

Is he in a tterminal decline? Who knows, possibly. But let's wait more than one ****ing match to write him off. And ww, if he can keep delivering the goods, he absolutely should keep going till he's 50+. Hell, if I was me and if an 80 year old Chanders was somehow getting more runs than the others, I'd keep him in the side. Your batting sucks so hard you need to squeeze as much as possible from Shiv.

 

[cnerd123]

Yea I'd play Chanders till he turns 50 as long as he's still one of the best bats in WI. There is no point bringing in even more new players when the existing new players are still struggling to find their feet.