*Official* West Indies in Zimbabwe Thread

[Rik]

No, no, not at all.
I just think he's been far better than most give him credit for.

No I got to admit he was our best bat in 99 in the Ashes series, but when he was asked to open a year later or so against ZIM and the WIndies it was a stupid thing to ask him to do and it didn't come off. The reason he was dropped this last time was that, after scoring that century verses Warne and co at the Oval, he went on the tours to India and NZ and whilst he played some nice cameos in India he never kicked on, and a succession of poor shots in NZ including one stupidly careless one in the last Test made the selectors think this was another "Hick in Sri Lanka" in which he had an appauling series and was dropped without a trace. So, England dropped Ramps without a trace.

 

[marc71178]

Can Andre, Neil or whoever with some sort of magical powers on here start delating posts that have nothing to do with this topic?

This shows the problems with people starting these so-called official threads so early!

At the end of the day, CW has existed quite well for the past 2 years with the posts coming as and where they want, so why break something that works?

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Media blackout for that series in the Caribbean. :!( No TV, no highlights, no radio...

 

[luckyeddie]

Media blackout for that series in the Caribbean. :!( No TV, no highlights, no radio...

That's crazy. Financial, I suppose?

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

That's crazy. Financial, I suppose?

Yep. No sponsor. Discussions continue until Friday, but it's highly unlikely that the we will get any coverage. I'll say this, I can't be held responsible for what I might do if they blackout the South Africa series...

 

[Craig]

What go running into their offices with a cricket bat screaming blue murder? Liam you should control your temper and emotions :wow: :P :P

I can just see the media reports.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

What go running into their offices with a cricket bat screaming blue murder? Liam you should control your temper and emotions :wow: :P :P

I can just see the media reports.

I'll make sure to wear overalls and a hockey mask....

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

My predicated West Indies XI (likely):

DS Smith
CH Gayle
WW Hinds
*BC Lara
MN Samuels
RR Sarwan
+RD Jacobs
OAC Banks
VC Drakes
M Dillon
FH Edwards

12th man likely to be Taylor.

Agree or disagree on my side?

Smith isn't in the side. I would have...

CH Gayle
WW Hinds
RR Sarwan
BC Lara*
S Chanderpaul
OAC Banks
RD Jacobs+
VC Drakes
M Dillon
FH Edwards
CD Collymore

Collymore HAS to be there. He's was our best bowler by miles in the home series earlier this year.

IMO you can't play Banks as a 4th bowler, but he's a pretty good 5th bowler. He's also a talented bat with good technique. Edwards is a must-play. Dillon and Drakes will play the first Test and Taylor should come in for the second Test. Taylor is very energetic and has decent pace.

 

[Craig]

I completely forgot about Smith and Chanderpaul.

I reckon Sarwan would make a decent wristie if he just improved his accuracy. He could be a geniune bowling option.

Did you ever agree with the idea of using Sarwan as an opening batsman?

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Sarwan has the technical capabilty to open the batting, but I think he serves best at #3. He bats well with Lara and he plays a nice blend of aggression and patience which is ideal for a #3 bat.

Re: Sarwan's bowling. I rate him. He's a useful leggie and is underused at international level. He bowled very well in the Red Stripe Bowl (batsman of the tournament and allrounder of the tournament awards) and can be a very useful part-time option.

 

[Mister Wright]

West Indians 1st innings R M B 4 6
CH Gayle c Maregwede b Nicolle 25 58 40 5 0
WW Hinds c Sibanda b Friend 5 12 10 1 0
D Ganga c Maregwede b Matsikenyeri 110 270 189 21 0
*RR Sarwan b Nicolle 17 46 35 2 0
S Chanderpaul retired 102 159 104 22 1
MN Samuels not out 14 0 0 0
+RD Jacobs not out 11 0 0 0
Extras (lb 1, w 8, nb 9) 18
Total (5 wickets, 70 overs) 302

To Bat: CS Baugh, VC Drakes, JE Taylor, R Rampaul.

FoW: 1-8 (Hinds), 2-55 (Gayle), 3-93 (Sarwan),
4-266 (Chanderpaul), 5-278 (Ganga).

Bowling O M R W
Friend 8.4 1 28 1
Mahwire 17 2 88 0
Nicolle 8 1 40 2
Chigumbura 12.2 6 42 0
Ewing 14 1 59 0
Evans 1 0 2 0
Sibanda 5 0 25 0
Matsikenyeri 4 1 17 1

Zimbabwe A team:
*DD Ebrahim, V Sibanda, BG Rogers, S Matsikenyeri, CN Evans,
GM Ewing, E Chigumbura, TJ Friend, +A Maregwede, NB Mahwire,
JS Nicolle.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Looks like Ganga will force the West Indies to pick between Omari Banks as a front-line bowler, or no Omari Banks and a 4 front-liners. Personally I would take an in-form Ganga over Hinds...

My XI would (at this stage) be...

CH Gayle
D Ganga
RR Sarwan
BC Lara
S Chanderpaul
OAC Banks
RD Jacobs
VC Drakes
M Dillon
FH Edwards
CD Collymore

...but the WI XI will probably be close to...

CH Gayle
WW Hinds
D Ganga
BC Lara
RR Sarwan
S Chanderpaul
OAC Banks
RD Jacobs
M Dillon
FH Edwards
CD Collymore

I can't see any justification for leaving out Edwards and Collymore to play either Drakes or Taylor. Dillon will almost certainly play, as I can't see any reason for taking him on tour if they're not going to play him first up.

That leaves us short a bowler IMO. Banks is a good bowler, but as Richard has said before, finger-spinners aren't generally the most penetrative of bowlers. I expect Sarwan will bowl a few overs and Hinds might get a few if the ball is swinging. If there is some swing, Collymore could be very potent.

Interested to see what Baugh does in this tour match...

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

BTW, an 11th hour sponsorship deal has been worked out for radio coverage of the series. I'm still holding out hope for TV coverage in the ODI's.

 

[Richard]

I'm so relieved for you and all you West Indians at home.
Not getting access to ANY coverage of a series involving your team is about the most infuriating thing in cricket (I had the experience last winter - no Digital Radio, no Sky ******, no highlights of VB Series on terrestrial TV).

 

[Rik]

I'm so relieved for you and all you West Indians at home.
Not getting access to ANY coverage of a series involving your team is about the most infuriating thing in cricket (I had the experience last winter - no Digital Radio, no Sky ******, no highlights of VB Series on terrestrial TV).

Yeah and this series the BBC even decide to not bother with radio coverage for an overseas tour for the 1st time in 30-odd years. Leaves a bit of a sour taste.

Hope you get to see the ODI series though, Zim should put up more of a fight than in the Tests.

 

[luckyeddie]

Yeah and this series the BBC even decide to not bother with radio coverage for an overseas tour for the 1st time in 30-odd years. Leaves a bit of a sour taste.

Hope you get to see the ODI series though, Zim should put up more of a fight than in the Tests.

Agreed re Radio 4 - It's the start of the slippery slope, I reckon.
I still prefer to have Radio 4 on while I'm watching the tv - but with digital internet feed it doesn't work any more - buffering at each end means that it's not 'real time'.

Bad enough with terrestrial radio - that's instantaneous but the tv is then out of sync because of the relays and the distance to and from the geo-stationary satellite.

Damned technology.

 

[Rik]

Agreed re Radio 4 - It's the start of the slippery slope, I reckon.
I still prefer to have Radio 4 on while I'm watching the tv - but with digital internet feed it doesn't work any more - buffering at each end means that it's not 'real time'.

Bad enough with terrestrial radio - that's instantaneous but the tv is then out of sync because of the relays and the distance to and from the geo-stationary satellite.

Damned technology.

It's the wonders of technology don't you know?

 

[luckyeddie]

It's the wonders of technology don't you know?

I'm old. If it can't be done on a slide rule or a mangle, I don't want to know.

As the old song goes, "I talk to the trees"

The trouble is, at my age, they talk back.

 

[Rik]

I'm old. If it can't be done on a slide rule or a mangle, I don't want to know.

As the old song goes, "I talk to the trees"

The trouble is, at my age, they talk back.

With all the distractions of youth, it tends to not only be the trees...

 

[Mister Wright]

West Indians 1st innings R M B 4 6
CH Gayle c Maregwede b Nicolle 25 58 40 5 0
WW Hinds c Sibanda b Friend 5 12 10 1 0
D Ganga c Maregwede b Matsikenyeri 110 270 189 21 0
*RR Sarwan b Nicolle 17 46 35 2 0
S Chanderpaul retired 102 159 104 22 1
MN Samuels not out 66 118 104 11 2
+RD Jacobs not out 55 99 65 7 2
Extras (lb 1, w 9, nb 9, pen 5) 24
Total (5 wickets declared, 90 overs) 404

DNB: CS Baugh, VC Drakes, JE Taylor, R Rampaul.

FoW: 1-8 (Hinds), 2-55 (Gayle), 3-93 (Sarwan),
4-266 (Chanderpaul), 5-278 (Ganga).

Bowling O M R W
Friend 8.4 1 28 1
Mahwire 19 2 93 0
Nicolle 8 1 40 2
Chigumbura 12.2 6 42 0
Ewing 22 4 100 0
Evans 1 0 2 0
Sibanda 5 0 25 0
Matsikenyeri 14 1 68 1

Zimbabwe A 1st innings R M B 4 6
*DD Ebrahim not out 11 0 0 0
V Sibanda not out 16 0 0 0
Extras (lb 1, nb 3) 4
Total (0 wickets, 9.4 overs) 31

To Bat: BG Rogers, S Matsikenyeri, CN Evans, GM Ewing,
E Chigumbura, TJ Friend, +A Maregwede, NB Mahwire,
JS Nicolle.

Bowling O M R W
Taylor 4 0 16 0
Rampaul 4.4 0 14 0
Drakes 1 1 0 0