>

Help wanted Indifferent performances by Windies show need for changes

  • Chin
  • Topic Author
  • Visitor
  • Visitor
15 Dec 2013 16:13 #168519 by Chin
Help wanted Indifferent performances by Windies show need for changes

By Tony Cozier

WHERE do the shocking three-day, innings defeats in India and New Zealand leave West Indies cricket?
There are three troubling answers.
The first is that their long-suffering supporters everywhere have become ever more disenchanted.
The second is that stronger teams will be inclined to reduce West Indies’s Tests from their itineraries in favour of short-format cricket.

The third is that the West Indies again come under the scrutiny of the International Cricket Council (ICC), whose chief executive Dave Richardson has more than once hinted at two divisions for Tests.
The pressure for a rise to full status from Ireland, taking into account their consistent, and continuing, dominance over the associate members (four-day Intercontinental Cup, 50-overs and Twenty20 champions), once more enters the discussion.

Although the embarrassing results over the past month came after the encouragement of six successive Test victories, regardless of the status of the opposition, they cannot be simply dismissed as an aberration, caused primarily by laid-back preparation utterly unsuitable for two tough, back-to-back overseas series, subsequently compounded by the chaotic cross-over from one to the other.
Enough technical and mental flaws were exposed on the field to validate the acknowledged weakness of the regional game to produce players good enough and strong enough to hold their own at the higher level.

Former players in the commentary boxes repeatedly referred to the faulty batting methods against the ball moving off the same (in India from the newcomer Mohammed Shami) and through the air (from the left-right New Zealand combination of Trent Boult and Tim Southee). Nor did everyone deal with the New Zealanders’s occasional aggressive body-line attack with any conviction.

In New Zealand, Ian Bishop and Simon Doull, themselves Test fast bowlers with 259 wickets between them, critically scrutinised the present West Indians’s inability to swing the ball or put it on the required length and line for more than two deliveries at a time. Shannon Gabriel’s scrambled seam was a regular topic.

As disturbing was the lethargic fielding, on the ground and especially in the air; it suggested a neglect of the one aspect that can be enhanced for even the weakest by concerted practice.
If taken, the seven catches that slipped through careless hands in the second Test in Wellington were unlikely to compensate for the batting collapses; they would certainly have ensured a more competitive contest. New Zealand’s top batsman, Ross Taylor, dropped at slip before he had scored, duly proceeded to 112.

The upshot of all this was all out totals of 453 and 495 (by India) and 609 for nine declared and 441 (by New Zealand) against 234, 168, 182 and 187 (in India) and 213, 193 and 175 (in New Zealand); the one total of substance, the second innings 507 in the first Test in New Zealand, just underlined the West Indies inconsistency from one day to the next (449 for nine declared to 148 against Australia, 153 to 463 and 590 to 134 in India in 2012).
At the end of their New Zealand trip, there is not long to sort things out before they are tested by four series in the last eight months of 2014.

The regional Super50 and four-day tournaments, from late January through to March, will provide new options for selectors with fresher ideas than the present panel that, after three years, has patently passed its sell-by date.
It is up to the territorial boards, whose responsibility to the greater whole is often overlooked, to ensure that their coaches and trainers lift their players’s fitness levels and their grounds staff present better pitches than the slow, turning unsatisfactory surfaces that are part of the problem of deteriorating batting standards.

From there, a squad of, say, 30 can be chosen to be in constant readiness to form the nucleus of teams for the international challenges that follow.
New Zealand return to the Caribbean in June for the third meeting of the teams in two years; they found the adjustment to conditions here in July and August 2012 as difficult as the West Indies have in their neck of the woods, losing both Tests, four of the five ODIs and both Twenty20s. As with the West Indies now, they paid the price for inadequate preparation.

They are followed by bottom-of-the-table but noticeably improving Bangladesh, leading into back-to-back tours (three Tests, five ODIs and two Twenty20s each as per ICC schedule) of present powerhouses South Africa and India between October and January.
On the evidence of the last month, these loom as more heavy thrashings. While some miracle turnaround is unlikely in that time, it isn’t necessarily so once the West Indies arrive on time with everyone’s visa secured and well-primed.

If the same casual approach as led to the embarrassments in India and New Zealand persists, more three-day defeats are inevitable, bringing demotion to a new Division II of Test cricket ever closer.
That is the alternative. To use the phrase now favoured by West Indian leaders whose governments are in the same predicament, “as bad as things appear, it is not time to despair”.

T&T Express

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
15 Dec 2013 16:21 #168520 by Kwami
Tony Crozier can kerr his skunt , he never criticize  Hilliary, Hunte and  and the rest of the cabal .
He is part of the establishment .
If indeed he dares criticize them , it is tailored and measured

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
15 Dec 2013 17:35 #168528 by The Captain
this what we have


and the world cricket love us and we like it except


we cant get rid of Sammy

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Time to create page: 0.249 seconds
JamisonGunmen break into former Seahawks player Richard Sherman's home with family inside(01.04.2025, 18:34)(18:34)0
JamisonRichard Chamberlain, the handsome hero of the 1960s television series “Dr. Kildare” who found a second career as an award-winning “king of the miniseries,” has died. He was 90.(30.03.2025, 10:58)(10:58)0
BridgerWest Indies cricket team official website(23.03.2025, 00:23)(00:23)0
LyricUnfortunately, after spending 9 months in space, looking over the entire earth, the two Astronauts failed to locate APNU/AFC SOPs.(18.03.2025, 22:04)(22:04)0
LyricThe hour we lost was the one when I was planning to go to the gym(11.03.2025, 17:59)(17:59)0
GianniWest Indies latest Test match scorecard(11.03.2025, 11:34)(11:34)0
ScarletSteven Smith South Africa cricket(10.03.2025, 12:11)(12:11)0
ketchimCanada get new Prime Minister : Edmonton Mark Carney !(09.03.2025, 20:51)(20:51)0
ConnerDr. Ashni Singh quote on government's stance on corrupt practices(08.03.2025, 16:12)(16:12)0
LyricGuy scored 368 bowl out Jam for 44 & didn't enforce the follow-on? That's bull crap(07.03.2025, 09:37)(09:37)0
LyricYesterday, my wife thought she saw a cockroach in the kitchen. She sprayed everything down and cleaned thoroughly.
Today I'm putting the cockroach in the bathroom.
(06.03.2025, 17:19)(17:19)0
ShilohU.S. says consequences for Maduro regime if provocation continues(02.03.2025, 08:56)(08:56)0
Shiloh–Guyana stands firmly against Venezuela’s incursion(02.03.2025, 08:56)(08:56)0
PatienceCongratulations to Trinidadian, Jason Mohammed on an outstanding achievement—three consecutive first class centuries!
• 176 against CCC
• 103 against Windward Islands
• An unbeaten 204 against Leeward Islands
(15.02.2025, 21:22)(21:22)0
NovaGPHC fires senior doctor, suspends two others after investigation of stillbirth(14.02.2025, 19:40)(19:40)0
Amareinfluential women in West Indies cricket(09.02.2025, 03:16)(03:16)0
PatienceSteven Smith scored yet another test century (36) and belongs to the list of one-off the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket!(08.02.2025, 20:51)(20:51)0
PatienceBEAUTIFUL GUYANA CRUSH TINY BARBADOS HANDSOMELY INSIDE THREE DAYS AT GUYANA NATIONAL LORDS STADIUM .(01.02.2025, 12:35)(12:35)0
MarissaSteve Smith scored yet another test century today!
The greatest batsman in the world today!
(30.01.2025, 13:21)(13:21)0
MarissaTHE GENUINE WEST INDIES FANS REALLY DID ENJOY AND APPRECIATE THIS VICTORY.(27.01.2025, 07:40)(07:40)0
MarissaAn excellent fight back by the West Indies to dismiss Pakistan for 154. Warrican 4/43 and Motie 3/49. Well done lads. Let the cricket play.(25.01.2025, 11:44)(11:44)0
LanceTrump says he’s considering ‘getting rid of FEMA’ as he visits hurricane-damaged North Carolina(24.01.2025, 19:55)(19:55)0
DeaconCumberbatch(22.01.2025, 12:19)(12:19)0
Marissa$135 fuh reporting yuh mattie to ICE,deez nex few monts going to be quite interesting(22.01.2025, 07:51)(07:51)0
AndersExxonMobil write-down natural gas fields(21.01.2025, 00:42)(00:42)0
MarissaJangoo should be in next game , captain should be dropped,Kacy karty, should be dropped,if roach is fit I would bring him in at the expense of st Clair.(20.01.2025, 17:41)(17:41)0
Baileymessage(20.01.2025, 15:25)(15:25)0
MercyKensington Oval stadium ticket policy(20.01.2025, 00:36)(00:36)0
LanceKraigg’s time is up. He has never truly moved on as a player. Despite being captain and senior batsmen we will lose nothing with investing in a rookie.

He has given his service as an honest and wholehearted performer and would leave with my heartfelt thanks for his contribution.
(18.01.2025, 19:00)(19:00)0
ByronViv richards was the best batsman of
“his era” but he wasn’t better than Brian Lara whether it’s numbers wise or just plain batting talent and skill
Lara is on a level nobody else is on.
(17.01.2025, 18:56)(18:56)0
ByronAmir jangoo replace dasilva(17.01.2025, 07:56)(07:56)0
ByronTevin imlach gets debut(17.01.2025, 07:56)(07:56)0
LindaMy question about the West Indies cricket team.(13.01.2025, 10:06)(10:06)0
ByronWhy doesn't England have big cricket stadiums like those in Australia and India..?(11.01.2025, 16:31)(16:31)0
MaliyahHow do I purchase tickets for the upcoming cricket match at Kensington Oval in Barbados?(11.01.2025, 16:27)(16:27)0
ArielWest Indies vs India T20 match(11.01.2025, 15:59)(15:59)0
LanceFORMER JAMAICA and West Indies left-arm spinner Nikita Miller is excited about imparting his knowledge of the game to the Caribbean side’s spin-bowling unit for the upcoming two-Test series against Pakistan.(10.01.2025, 19:11)(19:11)0
AmosAndrew Strauss steps down as England's director of cricket(10.01.2025, 14:06)(14:06)0
DylanChris Gayle T20 statistics(09.01.2025, 12:11)(12:11)0
SeanHello, I'm excited to join the conversation!(09.01.2025, 05:47)(05:47)0
LanceThe Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) pitch, used for the recent fifth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT), has received a 'Satisfactory' rating from the International Cricket Council (ICC). The world body has rated all other four BGT venues - Optus Stadium in Perth, Adelaide Oval, the Gabba in Brisbane, and the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) - 'Very Good.'(08.01.2025, 21:03)(21:03)0
LanceYounis Khan to mentor Afghanistan at Champions Trophy 2025(08.01.2025, 21:02)(21:02)0
MercySouth Africa cricket team upcoming matches schedule(07.01.2025, 17:11)(17:11)0
JavierType something here and click Submit or hit Enter...(07.01.2025, 08:37)(08:37)0
IvannaTest comment for registration.(06.01.2025, 17:33)(17:33)0
AdrianDarren Bravo had a remarkable 2020 cricket season, showcasing his skills and talent on the field. His impressive performance was a significant factor in the team's success, and his dedication to the sport is truly admirable. Bravo's ability to adapt to different playing conditions and his consistent batting average made him a valuable asset to the team. What are your thoughts on Darren Bravo's performance in the 2020 cricket season?(06.01.2025, 05:35)(05:35)0
RileyCan you provide me with the contact information for the Czech Cricket Union (Českomoravský Kriketový Svaz)?(06.01.2025, 04:35)(04:35)0
RyleeI am looking for the contact information for the Czech Cricket Union (Českomoravský Kriketový Svaz). Can you please provide it?(05.01.2025, 22:05)(22:05)0
Karsyn2023 West Indies vs England test match series(04.01.2025, 20:29)(20:29)0
ElsaDarren Bravo 2020 cricket season(04.01.2025, 14:21)(14:21)0
Samiyah
Go to top