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

[Beamer]

Brathwaite
Smith
Johnson
Samuels
Chanderpaul
Deonarine/Blackwood
Ramdin (wk)
Holder
Benn
Peters
Taylor/Gabriel

Would be my team...i expect they'll keep faith with Jerome so he's really gonna have to step it up with Kemar now out of the attack...could also be a big moment for Holder as these tracks should really suit his style. Peters would be a wild card but with his left-arm action and the ability to get some late movement it wouldn't surprise me if he caused some problems.

That's my team as well though Blackwood plays. He just had his first bad test of his career so far, they really should not treat our most promising batsman like that. I'd also play a bowling attack of Taylor, Peters, Holder and Benn.

Still, almost everything they have done recently lacks common sense so I'm pretty sure Cotterell or Gabriel will play.

 

[Dan]

Brathwaite
Smith
Johnson
Samuels
Chanderpaul
Blackwood
Ramdin +*
Deonarine
Holder
Taylor
Gabriel

 

[hendrix]

No way is deonarine a good enough 4th bowler and his batting is somewhat useless anyway.

They're already strengthening the batting by playing Holder.

 

[WindieWeathers]

Yeah, if Shiv fails in all three tests, he'd still be the first name on my WI team sheet for whenever they next play test cricket. The guy has averaged ****ing 70 for the last 8 years, and was (as usual) WI's best batsman against NZ over the past year. His continued determination to play test cricket is a precious asset for WI cricket, especially when you consider the overall lack of batting depth in the region.

Darren Bravo was better than Shiv away to NZ imo.

Anyway look i'm grateful for everything Shiv has done for us and he will probably hit back and make me look like a mug over the next two tests...but my point is bigger than just Shiv alone....all i want to see is a new unit being groomed so we can head into the future with a solid foundation...some suggest he might retire early next year anyway so i guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

[WindieWeathers]

Things look incredibly bleak for the West Indies at the moment - thirty years ago that rebel side that went to South Africa were twice the team this current crop are - there must be a reason - but no one seems to know

It really does make me sad

It's not as bad as it looks!!...realistically we've got some very bright talent coming up that should see us doing much better over the next five to ten years. Also our first class system has nodoubt been improved which will hopefully allow our players to hone their skills more and get even better. There are still issues at hand like the gap between u19 and the first class level as we don't have any "2nd eleven" competition and that's an area the board know needs addressing.

But anyway once this side gets a coach i'd like to think the performance can be lifted.

 

[akilana]

Darren Bravo was better than Shiv away to NZ imo.

Anyway look i'm grateful for everything Shiv has done for us and he will probably hit back and make me look like a mug over the next two tests...but my point is bigger than just Shiv alone....all i want to see is a new unit being groomed so we can head into the future with a solid foundation...some suggest he might retire early next year anyway so i guess we'll have to wait and see.

but then you complain about gayle not being in the side

 

[Flem274*]

Dropping Chanderpaul is crazy.

 

[OverratedSanity]

but then you complain about gayle not being in the side

 

[WindieWeathers]

but then you complain about gayle not being in the side

Erm who is "complaining"? i've merely said he's MISSING!!..i'd much prefer to see a fit and in form Powell play tbh, but that doesn't mean Gayle couldn't have made a difference on this tour.

 

[cnerd123]

So If Gayle was fit you'd pick him in the starting XI as he would make a difference, but you want to drop Chanderpaul?

 

[cnerd123]

How would you groom a new unit without any experience in the squad?

 

[fredfertang]

It's not as bad as it looks!!...realistically we've got some very bright talent coming up that should see us doing much better over the next five to ten years. Also our first class system has nodoubt been improved which will hopefully allow our players to hone their skills more and get even better. There are still issues at hand like the gap between u19 and the first class level as we don't have any "2nd eleven" competition and that's an area the board know needs addressing.

But anyway once this side gets a coach i'd like to think the performance can be lifted.

Having done it myself on many occasions I do admire those who play the mindless optimism card, but I'm beginning to think with West Indies there is a problem so fundamental its incurable - I remember in the mid 80s that Leicestershire had a West Indian quick called George Ferris - bloody good bowler but never within a bull's roar of a Test place - but it's now a quarter of a century since West Indies produced a single bowler anything like as good as Ferris - I mean how can that be?

 

[hendrix]

Roach is a very good bowler. Up there with the best in the world when fit.

Taylor is also well above the average test bowler.
Holder looks promising.

It's the batting that is a huge issue. Blackwood looks talented and Braithwaite will probably be an above average test opener but it's hard to back them within such an inconsistent environment.

 

[YorksLanka]

whoa i must have drank too much last night cos i'm sure i just read that WI have left out, Bravo,Sammy and Pollard from their ODI team? Who in their right mind would leave out the only world class players in the WI team(apart from Gayle)?Are they wanting to make the impending defeat much worse? I could possibly see it - if i squinted really hard and the light was shining the right way- if it was against the likes of Bangla where you can develop players but not SA??

 

[NUFAN]

Taylor is also well above the average test bowler.

35 Tests, 100 Test wickets an average of 35, woeful away performances makes Taylor seem distinctly average IMO.

 

[WindieWeathers]

Having done it myself on many occasions I do admire those who play the mindless optimism card, but I'm beginning to think with West Indies there is a problem so fundamental its incurable - I remember in the mid 80s that Leicestershire had a West Indian quick called George Ferris - bloody good bowler but never within a bull's roar of a Test place - but it's now a quarter of a century since West Indies produced a single bowler anything like as good as Ferris - I mean how can that be?

I know on the surface things look dodgy..but believe me we've got loads of talent coming through that thankfully will now be developing in a better first class system.

Looking around the test nations right now and tbh we're one of the few who's side is pretty inexperienced when it comes to tests...Brathwaite, Blackwood, Johnson, Holder, Cotterell, Gabriel etc haven't even played 30 tests between themselves...and that showed against a side with vast experience at the highest level in this 1st test just played.

What keeps my belief going is if we were able to produce a Darren Bravo, Roach, Narine and Brathwaite in a crap system what will we produce with a better set-up? that's why my fire is still burning despite the embarrassing results we've had this year.

I mean like i said before it was just the other day NZ were getting rolled out for 50 runs by SA and England and also lost easily in the Caribbean but now they are flying high with many of the same players...so things can change with a little hard work and organisation.

After this first test Ramdin said "we barely saw any footage of the South African team before the game"...SMH when you couple that with no head coach and the only warm-up game being washed out halfway through it's not hard to fathom why we were beaten so easily.

 

[fredfertang]

Roach is a very good bowler. Up there with the best in the world when fit.

Taylor is also well above the average test bowler.
Holder looks promising.

Quite a few have looked promising, but in the end they've all flattered to deceive - maybe it'll be the same as the mid 70s and they get half a dozen all at once, but I'm not optimistic

 

[WindieWeathers]

Quite a few have looked promising, but in the end they've all flattered to deceive - maybe it'll be the same as the mid 70s and they get half a dozen all at once, but I'm not optimistic

Roach IS world class and his record backs that up imo.

 

[fredfertang]

Roach IS world class and his record backs that up imo.

Still waiting to see him dismantle a decent batting line up, but he has time on his side, and is certainly is the most promising there has been for ages

 

[fredfertang]

I know on the surface things look dodgy..but believe me we've got loads of talent coming through that thankfully will now be developing in a better first class system.

Looking around the test nations right now and tbh we're one of the few who's side is pretty inexperienced when it comes to tests...Brathwaite, Blackwood, Johnson, Holder, Cotterell, Gabriel etc haven't even played 30 tests between themselves...and that showed against a side with vast experience at the highest level in this 1st test just played.

What keeps my belief going is if we were able to produce a Darren Bravo, Roach, Narine and Brathwaite in a crap system what will we produce with a better set-up? that's why my fire is still burning despite the embarrassing results we've had this year.

I mean like i said before it was just the other day NZ were getting rolled out for 50 runs by SA and England and also lost easily in the Caribbean but now they are flying high with many of the same players...so things can change with a little hard work and organisation.

After this first test Ramdin said "we barely saw any footage of the South African team before the game"...SMH when you couple that with no head coach and the only warm-up game being washed out halfway through it's not hard to fathom why we were beaten so easily.

Good to read that - I get most of my "news" about the future of cricket in the West Indies from an old mate who retired there, and to be fair he was a bit of a doom and gloom merchant even in the good days, but he does always go on about how the kids are no longer interested in cricket - he does live in Dominica though