The Golden Isles - A Third Time Lucky West Indies Story

[Imager36]

Not as easy as I'd have wanted, but a win's a win.



Inserted for the second match in a row, Parris was run out early for 5, but Simmons and Darren B established a steady, if not explosive, partnership. In the end, it was worth 93 runs, and took the majority of our innings to compile. On Darren's dismissal (47 from 42), stand-in captain Simmons attacked more, and ended with 76 from 49. Burton (19 from 11) and Paul (12* from 9) played cameos at the death to raise us above 160 on a tough pitch.

When they took 49 from the first 4 overs of their innings, we knew we were in a game. Sammy and Pollard calmed the scoring, but it was the spinners who, in retrospect, did the damage. Bishoo went for 7.5 an over and picked up a wicket, and Narine was sensational, taking 6 for 23, including 4 in an over which also included a play and miss and an edged single. Pollard and Sammy returned at the death, and the lower order couldn't score quickly enough.

Series State - We qualify with India for the Super 8.
Batting Award - Lendl Simmons - 76 from 49, our best batting performance of the tournie so far.
Bowling Award - Sunil Narine - 6/23? I can't not give him this.
Key Opposition Player Watch - Keegan Meth - 4 overs, 1/32, 16 runs from 19 not out. May have lost his side the match at the death there. Ha. Ha. Ha. Serves him bloody right for not turning up on the south coast of England, doesn't it?

Right, now, the summary of the other groups and my predictions so far.

Group A

Australia beat Pakistan by 43 runs
Australia beat the Netherlands by 8 wickets (Siddle 4/17, Hussey 52*)
Netherlands beat Pakistan by 8 wickets (Bukhari 4/28, ten Doeschate 79*)

In the upset of the tournament so far, Holland beat Pakistan rather easily to advance, leaving my prediction rate down already!

Group B

England beat Sri Lanka by 8 wickets (Cook 60*)
England beat Kenya by 9 wickets (Broad 4/9)
Sri Lanka beat Kenya by 5 wickets

Kenya put up a better fight second time round, making 137/8 from their 20, but it wasn't enough as the Lankans march on.

Group C

Bangladesh beat New Zealand by 3 runs (Hom 75*, Shakib 53, Williamson 79*)
New Zealand beat South Africa by 2 wickets (Rudolph 54, Oram 4/19, Boam 4/10)
South Africa beat Bangladesh by 8 wickets (de Villiers 67*, Duminy 62*)

South Africa beat Bangladesh by that large margin expected, and so progress to the Super 8.

Group D

India beat Zimbabwe by 10 wickets (Pandey 56*, Singh 62*)
West Indies beat India by 25 runs (Sammy 4/26)
West Indies beat Zimbabwe by 7 runs (Simmons 76, Sibanda 56, Narine 6/23)

In the end, simple for us as we advance. Now, in order to prevent/create confusion, I will label the Super 8 groups as they are in real life - Group E and Group F. In Group E, South Africa, Australia, India and Sri Lanka face off, whereas in the notably easier Group F, we face England, New Zealand and the Dutch, in that order. That's what we get for beating India in our first match. It's likely that second match against the Zealanders will be the pivotal one.

Team News - We make the maximum of 4 possible changes, with Gayle, Shiv, Holder and Hinds replacing Parris, Paul, Russell and Bishoo. The first two might be expected, the second two change the balance of the team in a way that I prefer. Squad game, squad game. England is that match.

[Imager36]

A wholly unexpected victory.



Let's tell the story of this match... we won the toss and inserted them, but started with a horror show of a bowling display. The first wicket went down in the 8th over. By that time, the usually reserved Cook and Trott had put on 81 runs. The fact that the wicket went as soon as the spinner came on was to remain true throughout the match, as in our innings, we used 11 overs of spin, 4 from Hinds (2/24), 4 from Narine (3/26), and 3 from Chris Gayle (1/8). These three between them slowed the innings to almost a standstill, as England crumbled to 114/6 before Ian Stamp hit 33* from 23 to give England a decent total.

The first ball of our innings, we were in trouble. Gayle, focussed on his bowling success, played across the line and was bowled by Jimmy Anderson, and Chanderpaul and Darren B soon followed to English Man of the Match Ian Stamp. Burton hung around a bit for 16 from 14, but it became clear that the hopes of the team hung with Lendl Simmons. Kieron Pollard came in, and hit an unbeaten 29 from 22, but it was Simmons, removed with 7 runs needed by Broad, who took us to victory, with his 97 coming from 63 balls. He deserved a hundred.

Series State - One further win against NZ or the Dutch will send us through to the semis!
Batting Award - Lendl Simmons - Simply superb.
Bowling Award - Hinds/Narine/Gayle - Impossible to separate, the spinners did the job for us that the seamers couldn't do.
Key Opposition Player Watch - James Anderson - Did not bat, and registered 27 runs from 3.4 overs, with only the wicket of Gayle, with the ball.

Now there are an even number of teams in each group, it's easier to see what's going on. In that case, let's look at other matches from around the groups!

Group E

Australia beat India by 7 wickets
South Africa beat Sri Lanka by 6 wickets (Duminy 54*)

A good start for the Saffers, as predicted, but Australia beating India is a turn-up, although decidedly less so after I beat them!

Group F

New Zealand beat the Netherlands by 3 wickets (Diepeveen 52, Ryder 77)
West Indies beat England by 5 wickets (Cook 55, Simmons 97)

New Zealand beat the Netherlands in a tight match, which means if they beat us there is a likelihood of 3 teams winning 2 matches, and it going down to net run rate between those 3. At the moment, ours is 0.27, whereas theirs is 0.09, but let's just beat them and make this thing certain.

Team News - Going to accept that our pacemen just keep getting whacked, and so Holder is replaced by Bishoo to give us 4 spin options.

[GrahamB]

Great start to the World Cup! Go the Windies!

[Imager36]

I'm gaining confidence now, so we're definitely going out in the Semi.



We put them in to bat first, and whilst the seamers were expensive up front, Bravo and Pollard got a wicket each to put us in control of the match. Then, I brought the spinners on. They bowled 12 overs between the 3 of them, going for a combined total of 72 runs, just tying the batsmen down to that 6 an over score that was always going to be gettable on a good wicket. Ross Taylor struggled, and his not out 39 ate up 47 balls.

A quickfire 49 for the first wicket put us seriously on course for a 4th straight win, and after Shiv hit 24 from 15, and Gayle was out for 43 from 31, the game was settled with us needing under 5 an over with 7 wickets remaining. Burton hit 24 from 14, and 3 quick wickets at the end made it look closer than it was before Pollard knocked the final single.

Series State - We've qualified for the semi-finals!
Batting Award - Chris Gayle - Set the tone, although the total was never massive.
Bowling Award - Sunil Narine - 2/20 from 4 overs, top notch performance.
Key Opposition Player Watch - Doug Bracewell - They didn't pick him. Of course.

Group E

Australia beat India by 7 wickets
South Africa beat Sri Lanka by 6 wickets (Duminy 54*)
India beat South Africa by 100 runs (P Kumar 4/24)
Sri Lanka beat Australia by 82 runs (Chandimal 64, Siddle 5/30, Watson 4/26)

So every side in the group has now one one and lost one. SA were bowled out for 75 by the Indians! Sri Lanka play India for one semi-final place, and Australia face South Africa for the other.

Group F

New Zealand beat the Netherlands by 3 wickets (Diepeveen 52, Ryder 77)
West Indies beat England by 5 wickets (Cook 55, Simmons 97)
West Indies beat New Zealand by 4 wickets (Noema-Barnett 4/19)
England beat the Netherlands by 30 runs (Cook 98*, Trott 62, ten Doeschate 72, Anderson 5/25)

So England scored 210 and beat the Dutch in a high scoring affair, meaning they and NZ will face off for the second semi-final place. We play the Dutch to make sure we finish top of the group, although no-one knows who the better teams are in Group E at the moment!

[Alrounder80]

79* and 72 from Ryan Ten Doeschate in 4 games. Gotta love him! You'll win easily against the dutch but watch out for this guy

[Imager36]

Well I won, but no more easily than the last two.



We lost the toss, but would have bowled first anyway. We made a good start, taking 2 wickets in the powerplay, but Kervezee and ten Doeschate built against the spinners and made a partnership of 98 to put their side in real contention. A few wickets fell at the end, but a cameo from Szwarczynski led them to above 150.

We made a bad start to our innings, with Simmons and Gayle both going slowly and getting out early. At 25/2, though, Shiv and Darren put on 55 runs, Darren's 30 from 22 balls, and after Burton was out early, Shiv guided us home with the help of Kieron Pollard (25 from 16).

Series State - Qualified for the semis already, but definitely topped the group.
Batting Award - Shiv Chanderpaul - 68 runs from 51 balls, guided our innings.
Bowling Award - Sunil Narine - 2/29 from 4 overs, his wickets tied them down at the end.
Key Opposition Player Watch - Ryan ten Doeschate - 58 from 48 with the bat, 3 overs, 1/17 with the ball. Their best player in both respects.

Group E

Australia beat India by 7 wickets
South Africa beat Sri Lanka by 6 wickets (Duminy 54*)
India beat South Africa by 100 runs (P Kumar 4/24)
Sri Lanka beat Australia by 82 runs (Chandimal 64, Siddle 5/30, Watson 4/26)
Sri Lanka beat India by 7 wickets (Menaria 65)
Australia beat South Africa by 2 wickets (Duminy 65*)

Both of my predictions were wrong, in this group. Not good. Both Australia and Sri Lanka go through, and top of the group were... Sri Lanka, so we will face the Aussies in the semi-final. Oh dear.

Group F

New Zealand beat the Netherlands by 3 wickets (Diepeveen 52, Ryder 77)
West Indies beat England by 5 wickets (Cook 55, Simmons 97)
West Indies beat New Zealand by 4 wickets (Noema-Barnett 4/19)
England beat the Netherlands by 30 runs (Cook 98*, Trott 62, ten Doeschate 72, Anderson 5/25)
England beat New Zealand by 37 runs (Cook 82*, Bell 51*, R. Taylor 58)
West Indies beat the Netherlands by 6 wickets (ten Doeschate 58, Chanderpaul 68*)

So as expected, England beat New Zealand to progress and face Sri Lanka in the other semi-final.

Semi-final Team News - No more changes to a winning side.

[Imager36]

Great bowling again, but we only had one batsman put his hand up.



Having won the toss, we forced the Aussies to bat on a pitch that looked as if it would turn from ball one. It did! As soon as the mandatory powerplay was over, spin was on, and used for the rest of the innings. Considering those first 6 overs went for 50, the last 14 went for only 81... that's under 6 an over between all the spinners. It felt like, chasing a total under 140, we had the Aussies on the rack and should be progressing.

Gayle was, of course, out first ball. After Simmons and Shiv (In what was, unfortunately, his last match,) had also gone, we were struggling but not out of contention at 41/3. As Burton, Pollard, Dwayne B and Hinds all folded, we were out of contention at 66/7. Double Darren was a good partnership, and if it had been 99/7, we would have won the match. It's a shame things don't work the way you want them to.

Series State - Australia played Sri Lanka for the title, in a match the Aussies won by 19 runs. Spoiler - Most of my predictions were wrong... but not that I'd go out in the semis!
Batting Award - Darren Bravo - 38 when everyone else was falling at the other end.
Bowling Award - Bishoo/Hinds - Bishoo the more destructive, Hinds going at only 4.25 runs an over.
Key Opposition Player Watch - Shane Watson - 30 from 36 balls, followed by 2/22 from 3.3 overs. Not too bad.

So. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, truly a legend of West Indian cricket, has retired at the end of March 2014, at the ripe old age of 39. I fear it may signal a return to not being as competitive as we have been for us. We'll miss you Shiv. We'll all miss you. It's fitting, actually. Today, August 16th, is his real 38th birthday. Happy Birthday Shivvy. Thanks for the fun.

*Sighs*

Anyway, next up, I'll review the last season, look ahead to the next season, and work through the difficult decisions in terms of captaincy - Keep Rampaul as Test captain? And whether you do or not, how do you pick between the two 29 year olds, Kirk Edwards or Lendl Simmons, for the captaincy?

[Imager36]

2013/14 Season Review

Right, let's totally review the hell of this year. Traditionally, first up is the table/ranking comparison.

April 2013



April 2014



So... well... we've moved up a place in the ODI table, haven't we? Isn't that nice? I tried this last year. I'll try it once more.

Self-Awarded Award Awards

Minimum 2 awards

Test - Batting

Shivnarine Chanderpaul - 3
Darren Bravo - 2
Kirk Edwards - 2
Chris Gayle - 2
Brendan Nash - 2

Test - Bowling

Sunil Narine - 3
Jason Holder - 3
5 other bowlers - 1

ODI - Batting

Shivnarine Chanderpaul - 5
Lendl Simmons - 3
Shane Burton - 3
Kieron Pollard - 2
Darren Bravo - 2

ODI - Bowling

Sunil Narine - 6
Andre Russell - 3
Ryan Hinds - 3
Kieron Pollard - 2
Jason Holder - 2

T20I - Batting

Darren Bravo - 4
Lendl Simmons - 3
Shivnarine Chanderpaul - 3
Chris Gayle - 2

T20I - Bowling

Sunil Narine - 7
Devendra Bishoo - 4
Ryan Hinds - 3

So yeah, that's all pretty awesome. And now, as if you hadn't had enough of the lists, I'm going to list the top 5 West Indians and the top overall on each of the world ranking tables, along with their points totals.

World Rankings

Test - Batting

1st - AB de Villiers - 950
3rd - Shiv Chanderpaul - 833
6th - Kirk Edwards - 785
7th - Brendan Nash - 725
15th - Chris Gayle - 658
25th - Darren Bravo - 575

Test - Bowling

1st - Vernon Philander - 974
16th - Sunil Narine - 641
18th - Devendra Bishoo - 599
26th - Ravi Rampaul - 528
36th - Dwayne Bravo - 461
59th - Andre Russell - 356

ODI - Batting

1st - Alastair Cook - 922
4th - Shiv Chanderpaul - 820
16th - Darren Bravo - 615
20th - Lendl Simmons - 564
24th - Chris Gayle - 551
29th - Shane Burton - 496

ODI - Bowling

1st - James Anderson - 890
4th - Andre Russell - 831
6th - Sunil Narine - 795
11th - Nelon Pascal - 731
12th - Kemar Roach - 722
36th - Devendra Bishoo - 455

T20I - Batting

1st - Alastair Cook - 917
3rd - Lendl Simmons - 859
7th - Shiv Chanderpaul - 747
12th - Darren Bravo - 692
32nd - Chris Gayle - 515
46th - Shane Burton - 423

T20I - Bowling

1st - Peter Siddle - 1013
4th - Sunil Narine - 815
16th - Andre Russell - 483
25th - Devendra Bishoo - 421
27th - Dwayne Bravo - 384
46th - Kieron Pollard - 119

And because I did it last season, I'll finish off with this. Games played in brackets with season.

Most runs and wickets (All Seasons)

Runs

Tests - Chris Gayle - 933 (7, 2012)
ODIs - Shiv Chanderpaul - 1249 (25, 2012)
T20Is - Shiv Chanderpaul - 449 (13, 2012)

Wickets

Tests - Devendra Bishoo - 56 (12, 2012)
ODIs - Kemar Roach - 53 (25, 2012)
T20Is - Andre Russell - 27 (13, 2012)

But, partly due to a lack of matches, we weren't able to break any of the 2012 records. Damn. Next up, a preview of 2014/15!

[Imager36]

2014/15 Season Preview

2nd June - 5th July - New Zealand - Home

3 Tests - Last series won 1-0.
5 ODIs - Last series won 4-1.
2 T20Is - Last series won 2-0.

An early season chance to lose my points against a resurgent New Zealand.

2nd August - 24th August - Bangladesh - Home

2 Tests - Last series lost 2-0.
3 ODIs - Last series lost 3-0.
2 T20Is - Last series won 1-0.

A great chance to gain some Test and ODI points against a weak team.

3rd October - 12th November - India - Away

1 FC Warm-up
3 Tests - Last series lost 2-0.
1 OD Warm-up
5 ODIs - Last series lost 4-1.
2 T20Is - No series yet played.

Maybe aiming for a point in the T20 series, and hopefully a lucky one in the test series too.

26th December - 17th January - South Africa - Away

2 Tests - Last series lost 2-1.
3 ODIs - Last series lost 5-0.
2 T20Is - Last series drawn 1-1.

Well, we can't lose the ODI series as badly as last time.

20th February - 30th March - Australia/New Zealand - Cricket World Cup

Grouped with South Africa, England, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Ireland and Kenya. Current Champions - India.

We fancy a quarter-final in the world cup, and after that we'll just have to see who we're drawn against and how things go.

[Imager36]

Finally, before I immerse myself in the New Zealand test match, I have decided that Kirk Edwards is to become the new captain of the side in all formats. He didn't play a T20I last year, but with Shiv going, a more defensive player will be required to fill his place anyway. The XI for that first test goes a little like this...

C. Gayle (OASP)
L. Simmons (OK)
K. Edwards (BAT) (C)
Darren Bravo (BAT)
R. Sarwan (BAT)
B. Nash (BAT)
Dwayne Bravo (ALL)
D. Sammy (ALL)
R. Rampaul (SEAM)
D. Bishoo (SPIN)
S. Narine (SPIN)

In case you're wondering, the final member of the squad, only there to be technique trained, is 19 year old regen all-rounder Mike Alford, who averages over 54 from 15 first class innings, with 3 100s, and over 41 in 10 OD innings, with 2 100s. As an aggressive batting all-rounder, his bowling needs improving, but we'll work on that, and try to nurture this big talent. Expect to see him in an ODI soon, sharing the 5th bowler's slot with Gayle.

See you in a while.

[Imager36]

Can't bat, can't bowl. So angry I might just have to play another test match.



We beat these guys really easily in 2009. Now look at us and them. Genuinely, I'm not even going to review this match. We took 7 wickets in 152 overs, and they took 20 in just over 160 overs.

Series State - New Zealand lead 1-0 with 2 to play.
Batting Award - Ramnaresh Sarwan - The only man to get going in both innings, of course misses the next 3 weeks due to injury.
Bowling Award - None of my bowlers averaged under 55 in that test.

Team News - Burton replaces injured Sarwan, and a complete bowling switch means débutantes Alford, McClean and Brathwaite come in for Dwayne, Rampaul and Bishoo. No idea why I'm letting the 19 year old play. Madness, presumably.

[Imager36]

At least they were in a game this time around.



Won the toss, so could bat first. 350 seemed a decent total. Gayle and Edwards both fell early, but Simmons, Darren, Burton and Alfie all made scores in the 40s, and, anchored by Nash's 97, which he deserved a century for, we constructed a decent total. The tail, despite packing considerable punch on a good day, did nothing.

We again failed on the bowling front, however. None of the NZ batsmen were out for less than 29, and having given them all starts, we allowed most to go on to 50 and beyond. They made a generous declaration, in hope of getting the series sewn up in this match.

Simmons and Edwards hit a good partnership after Gayle fell early, but we were reeling again at 144/4. Luckily, Nash was joined by Shane Burton, the natural foil to his defensive style. They struck up a partnership of 140, Nash eventually being run out for 57, and Burton just missing out on his first test 100 by 8 runs. The bottom 5, unfortunately, contributed nothing of note, to leave them needing well under 200.

At 94/3, it was looking simple, but not easy. At 149/8, it seemed less so. Unfortunately, Ross Taylor was still there, and hogged the strike to carry his team to victory.

Series State - New Zealand win the series 2-0, with 1 match to play.
Batting Award - Nash/Burton - Both deserved a century and a 50 in the match.
Bowling Award - Kev McClean - 4 wickets in the second innings, despite none in the first, gave us a sniff.

Team News - We use the dead test to play another youngster, with Browne coming in for Lendl. Bishoo also replaces Narine.

[Imager36]

My bowling in Tests is SO up and down. No idea.



We made a good start to our innings, but were on course for a total around 300 whilst at 262/7, when Sammy came to the crease. The resulting partnership of 114 allowed Burton to get a maiden test century that he most definitely deserved, and Sammy to get his 2nd highest test match score, missing out on the highest by only 3 runs.

In the first innings, our bowling was down. At 273/6 though, it looked like we would have a lead on first innings, but de Boorder had other ideas, compiling a brilliant 108 from only 137 balls, his first test century. A lead of 65, just the level where it's hard to overturn.

The first three partnerships were good, as they took us to 200/3, but quick dismissals of Burton, Darren and Browne left us struggling at 240/6. Alford put on 65 with Brathwaite to save us, and set the black caps a total above 250.

They never got going, in reply. None of the partnerships were worth over 33, and the seamers and Bishoo were consistently on top. Our bowling was up.

Series State - New Zealand win the series 2-1.
Batting Award - Shane Burton - His first test century, and a big step up for a promising young man.
Bowling Award - Kevin McClean - 7 wickets in the match, including 6 in the first innings. He was the only bowler who turned up then.

Next up, 5 ODIs against them. Here's your top squad.

C. Gayle (OASP)
L. Simmons (OK)
K. Edwards (BAT) (C)
Darren Bravo (BAT)
S. Burton (BAT)
M. Paul (BAT)
K. Pollard (ALL)
M. Alford (ALL)
R. Hinds (ASP)
A. Russell (ALL)
J. Holder (SEAM)
D. Bishoo (SPIN)
K. Roach (SEAM)
N. Pascal (SEAM)
S. Narine (SPIN)

Paul, Bishoo, Roach and Holder miss out for the first match.

[Imager36]

In the West Indies, they're bred ice cool.



Won the toss, and so bowled. Good start, as McCullum fell in the second over. A couple of 50 partnerships, however, both including Guptill, put us on the back foot, but, in what turned out to be a good move, we sacrificed a little run-rate safety for wickets, and the consistent fall of them at one end meant that Ryder was powerless to attack, and had to mill around with a strike rate of around 75. A quick mention here for Mike Alford, whose 2/39 from 10 overs weren't the best figures, but were certainly up there for a début.

Early wickets of the top 3 put us struggling at 48/3, but a 44 partnership between Darren Bravo and the aggressive Shane Burton (29 from 25) rekindled our chances. Pollard went early, however, and Bravo followed for 41, with 94 still required. Luckily, Hinds and the young Bajan Alford did exactly as they needed to. They plodded along with strike rates of exactly 75 each, and with the aggression early on, this was enough to take us to victory. Hinds was out soon after reaching his 50, his first in ODIs, but Alford and Russell steered the ship to land.

Series State - West Indies lead the series 1-0 with 4 to play.
Batting Award - Hinds/Alford - Cool under pressure, with 95 to get and 6 down, these 2 both deserve accolades.
Bowling Award - Nelon Pascal - The best of a rather good bunch of figures.

Team News - One more match before I consider bringing in batting reinforcements.

[Imager36]

And we're level.



We won the toss, and bowled very well indeed. Pascal got Guptill early, and the 19 year old Alford added McCullum, Ryder and de Boorder within his first spell. The black caps then rebuilt against the spin of Hinds and Narine. Both went at under 3 an over in their 10 over spells. Then Pascal returned, with Alford, who added Williamson, Banks and Henry to his earlier tally, before the last 2 bumped them up to 200.

We felt this was well below par, but at 10/2 with both openers gone, we doubted that. Even after that no-one got going. Edwards (24), Darren (21), Burton (33), Pollard (15) and Alford (23) all got starts, and if one of them had managed to go on to 60/70 then we would probably have won the match. Alas, they did not.

Series State - The series is level at 1-1, with 3 to play.
Batting Award - Shane Burton - Tried his best to at least restore calm to the batting.
Bowling Award - Mike Alford - Obviously.

Team News - Errm, well... Mike Paul is coming in... forr.... oh, I don't know. Ryan Hinds, I think. This will almost certainly backfire.