**Official** West Indies in South Africa Thread

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Is it just me or has Nel got a lot quicker over the last 12 months , saw him bowling for South Africa A in Canberra last season & he was just getting through , around the 130-135kph mark it seemed.
Watching him bowl today he is really putting in & appears to have got alot zippier.

He does more with the ball now than he did earlier in his career. IMO he's bowled better than Ntini in the series.

Just when they seemed to be getting back on track with a creditable performance against the Aussies & Sri Lanka , the Windies have let it all slip with arguably thir most dismal effort since Australia in 2000/01 .

Lol. People are too quick to give the West Indies credit. It doesn't really matter how well we do at home, only when we win a series overseas against a non-Zimbabwean/Bangladeshi team that we can start getting excited. WI is totally different when travelling.

They just need one reliable bowler , someone to build their attack around , the batting is young , energetic & world class (although not today ) .
But the bowlers would struggle to dismiss alot of first class sides cheaply on the typical international wicket these days.

Actually I think that the problem is fitness. A fit West Indian best bowling attack would be much better than this one now. For the life of me I do not know why the selectors picked an injured Collymore over Mohammed... or Sanford even! Clearly he's not match fit yet.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Sadly the WI setup in Africa has looked "amateurish" for want of a better phrase. And it is not good for cricket in general...

I'm amazed at the way people seem shocked by this. It's not as though it's never happened before. In fact, we've been whipped more soundly in the past.

 

[FRAZ]

Seriously , what Windies need exactly. Got good players if not excellent, Hmmm I guess politics is not the point that should be discussed . I guess cricket is no longer a passion in carribean islands. They have noticable technique problems. They are way behind right now and no future hope that I can see...
A good foreign coaching pannel is gonna may be solve some thing. But can they bear the expences.......

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

As I've said before the big problems in West Indies cricket are fitness and fielding. It's no secret that, had the West Indies held half the chances they got in this series, South Africa would very likely not have scored so many runs. Also, almost everyone has played with injury on this African tour so far.

 

[Craig]

Seriously , what Windies need exactly. Got good players if not excellent, Hmmm I guess politics is not the point that should be discussed . I guess cricket is no longer a passion in carribean islands. They have noticable technique problems. They are way behind right now and no future hope that I can see...
A good foreign coaching pannel is gonna may be solve some thing. But can they bear the expences.......

Actually I would say it is the opposite.

The WI have that many ex-great players who arent doing much but for the nonsense about them having to be qualified.

Tell me how does scoring over 8,000 Test runs, scoring 26 Test ton, takin 232 wickets (in Tests), a good captain, and played for virtually 20 years straight doesnt make Sir Garry Sobers qualified?

He's probably more qualified without the piece of paper then those with it.

He isnt stupid and would know how to get he best out of players. Especially at u-19 level were all players would be worried not to let him down and would look up to him. I would certainty hope so.

Greenidge shouldnt be a selector, he would make a great opening coach or ideal batting coach (and I think he is qualified).

 

[Craig]

On another matter, has Corey Collymore left his razor behind in Barbados?

Or did he lose some sort of bet and had to grow a beard? Maybe he is too lazy to shave or is spending his meal allowence on other stuff...

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Corey Collymore has had a beard for years now.

 

[marc71178]

A good fightback on Day 4 here.

32 overs to go and WI are 86 down with 7 in hand - if they can bat out today, maybe a draw is possible.

 

[marc71178]

Interested to see that nobody else has commented on the story about the team change just before the game.

Apparently the team was named by Sir Viv with Sanford in and Dillon out.

At the toss, Lara asked Smith if he had a pen, and would he mind amending the team sheet for him!

 

[mavric41]

Fightback by Gayle and Sarwan continues with both getting their tons. WIndies 3/259

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Interested to see that nobody else has commented on the story about the team change just before the game.

Apparently the team was named by Sir Viv with Sanford in and Dillon out.

At the toss, Lara asked Smith if he had a pen, and would he mind amending the team sheet for him!

I agree completely with that thought of Lara's. Dillon has bowled superbly in this series without a hint of luck whereas Sanford has probably bowled 5 or 6 decent overs in the series.

 

[Pratters]

I agree completely with that thought of Lara's. Dillon has bowled superbly in this series without a hint of luck whereas Sanford has probably bowled 5 or 6 decent overs in the series.

It was also a case of Lara standing up to his belief rather than giving into the views of Richards, no matter how good Richards was. Thats what made the thing so good for me.

 

[marc71178]

It was also a case of Lara standing up to his belief rather than giving into the views of Richards, no matter how good Richards was. Thats what made the thing so good for me.

But what does it do for future relations between the two?

 

[Pratters]

But what does it do for future relations between the two?

Hopefully it wont be a problem as I am sure both have the same goal of rebuilding West Indies cricket in mind.

 

[Prince EWS]

Interested to see that nobody else has commented on the story about the team change just before the game.

Apparently the team was named by Sir Viv with Sanford in and Dillon out.

At the toss, Lara asked Smith if he had a pen, and would he mind amending the team sheet for him!

Im sure the change would have been discussed and decied on earlier, with teh team sheet simply forgotten to be changed.

I dont suspect Lara saw it and thought, "What the hell is Sanford doing there? Im sick of this bloke. Give me a pen!"

 

[garage flower]

I agree completely with that thought of Lara's. Dillon has bowled superbly in this series without a hint of luck whereas Sanford has probably bowled 5 or 6 decent overs in the series.

Yes, Caribbeancricket.com has headlined with this story and most of the posters seem to think it's unbelievable that Lara would prefer Dillon to Sandford.

I agree that Sanford looks out of his depth at this level. He isn't accurate enough to compensate for his lack of pace/movement/variety. Dillon hasn't taken wickets, but has bowled pretty well when I've seen him.

What I would say is that all of the bowling slots are now up for grabs for the England series. The only definite-ish starter, for me, is a fully fit Collymore.

 

[garage flower]

Apparently yet more bad decisions going against the Windies today. The umps have barely given any LBWs against anyone making even a token effort to get forward and then today it sounds like Ronnie and Ridley have both lost out on 50-50 calls.

I haven't been able to watch today, can anyone confirm?

 

[Mister Wright]

Apparently yet more bad decisions going against the Windies today. The umps have barely given any LBWs against anyone making even a token effort to get forward and then today it sounds like Ronnie and Ridley have both lost out on 50-50 calls.

I haven't been able to watch today, can anyone confirm?

Just saw the highlights, both were definately 50-50 calls and could have just as easily have been given not out.

Pollock bowled to sarwan over the wicket, Sarwan tried to work Pollock to the leg side and kind of jumped and was struck infront of middle. Hawk-eye said it would have gone over the top. Looked plumb to me though.

Jacobs was the unlukiest of the two. Pollock came around the wicket and Jacobs came forward and was struck just on off stump probably outside. Once again hawk-eys said over the top, but I've seen these kinds of lbws been given out before.

The decisions were not terrible by any means.

 

[garage flower]

Fair enough, but it's the lack of consistency that's really galling. The Windies seem to have got the worst of a number of 50-50 calls, whereas South Africans only seem to be given out when absolutely plumb (or have I got a selective memory?).

For the record, Windies apparently suffered from some shocking decisions during the Zimbabwe test series. All of this, together with the amazing run of injuries, does perhaps provide a bit of mitigation for the poor test performances on the 2 tours.

 

[Langeveldt]

Brilliant stuff SA!! What a golden summer of cricket..

Kallis, Smith, Gibbs, Nel, Makhaya, coming up with some really golden stuff, and long may it continue!