West Indies v Sri Lanka, 2nd Test, PoS, 3-7 April

Chanders is quality, looks awful, does very little of anything that isn't just gritty, and comes to the party when his team needs him.

I'd love him in our line-up!

Interesting to see the umpiring in this? Some very bizarre not outs given IMO. But the Windies rode their luck.

Didn't see the Sarwan 100, but by all accounts it was a pretty classy knock.

I'd fancy a 3, 4, 5, 6 of Sarwan, Gayle, Chanderpaul, Bravo as pretty solid, and the way forward for the Windies.

Agree, as I say - if only they could find a gem for their bowling attack they would be a hell of a lot more competitive.

Test wins over SA & SL are not to be sniffed at though...

Get Lawson in the team FFS.

They've got some talented young batsmen coming through like Adrian Barath and Kieran Powell, but the fast bowling stocks look a bit thinner.

Edwards has it in him to be a bit of a handful, I think, just doesn't seem to have got it together yet.

Likewise, Taylor, really.

Powell's quick, but doesn't have the excuse of youth and inexperience that the other two have.

Edwards is hit and miss, and I reckon he always will be. He can be quick, but if the ball isn't swinging, his lack of height means the ball can skid nicely onto the middle of the bat.

Have you watched much of the series? Taylor has looked the bizzle. He's getting better and better IMO. Edwards, he's been pretty quality too hardly right to chastise him after a decent match. If he keeps fit and retains rhythm, he's a handful.

As for the batting, I reckon Chattergoon looks pretty decent - what a name also, sheer brilliance - and, as mentioned, the middle order looks pretty solid. They've a few holes to fill, but all-in-all it looks like they're on their way back to being competetive.

Henry wrote:They've got some talented young batsmen coming through like Adrian Barath and Kieran Powell, but the fast bowling stocks look a bit thinner.

Indeed Barath is awesome, cant wait until he makes his test debut in a few years time. Kieron Powell made his FC debut last week and scored 80 and 99. He is an exceptional talent.

But the fast bowling reserves don't look so good. Ravi Rampaul looks good, he just needs to stay fit for a season, take plenty of wickets in the Carib Cup and then he would replace Powell. Jason Bennett and Andrew Richardson are both very good but Bennett gets slighted by his won country's selectors and Richardson gets injured every time he is about to be picked.

Kemar Roach, Nelson Pascal and Jason Dawes are the next firebrand hopes, they are only 19/20, and have all the tools to be test class but they havent really had the chance to dominate in FC cricket yet. It will be interesting to see who they pick in the ODI squad as it will be a chance to have a look at some of the pace bowling talent in the region.

holcs wrote:Chanders is quality, looks awful, does very little of anything that isn't just gritty, and comes to the party when his team needs him.

I'd love him in our line-up!

I don't think that's true, personally. I find Chanders one of the most interesting batsman to watch and I don't think his techinique is that ugly. It's been mentioned before but at the point of release, Chanderpaul is in a pretty orthodox position. I think the only reason he starts with that side on weirdness and walks towards off is so that he can get his feet moving without even having to think about it. It obviously works for him.

Heard decent things about Jason Dawes from someone. Dunno who, maybe you?

There was some gag about him because of the whole 'Joe Dawes' debacle but I don't mean that.

Yeah I have been bigging him up since he completely dominated our Under 19 tournament and hustled the Barbados senior team for pace. He had a decent Under 19 World Cup too on pitched that didn't suit him.

WIFAN wrote:Yeah I have been bigging him up since he completely dominated our Under 19 tournament and hustled the Barbados senior team for pace. He had a decent Under 19 World Cup too on pitched that didn't suit him.

Aye heard he was rapid. We can only hope he kicks on. Still reckon a fit Fiddy and JT is a decent combo, just need some bowlers to work around them.

Yeah I have run out patience with Powell in test cricket. He is an excellent ODI bowler but he doesn't have the patience for test cricket, he is always bowling too short.

WIFAN wrote:Yeah I have run out patience with Powell in test cricket. He is an excellent ODI bowler but he doesn't have the patience for test cricket, he is always bowling too short.

Yeah, I was massively impressed with his first spell in Test cricket(at least I think it was) versus SA. Rapid, put the ball in the right area and picked up some early sticks. After lunch he wasn't so good and has remained that way since. He's a liability. I'd prefer Collymore. He at least keeps it tight when he's not in the wickets.

WI fans seem to hate Collymore for some reason? He's always been bloody unlucky whenever i've seen him play.

JKLever wrote:WI fans seem to hate Collymore for some reason? He's always been bloody unlucky whenever i've seen him play.

Word. Seems to bowl when no-one else really wants to as well.

JKLever wrote:WI fans seem to hate Collymore for some reason? He's always been bloody unlucky whenever i've seen him play.

We all have a soft spot for pace like fire, and find a guy bowling at 75mph with the new ball extremely insulting. The batsman lunging on the front foot with impunity is not a sight we enjoy. Even Bravo is a yard quicker than Collymore, and he has a quick arm action that has enabled him to cause a lot of batsman trouble with his short pitched deliveries.

Its more than that though, he has conned the management about his fitness on a number of occasions so he can play, denying a fully fit bowler the chance to play. When you consider that his incompetent batting has denied Shiv magnificent centuries on 3 occasions, you can surely understand why he is not our favorite performer.

Great win and congrats to the WI.

Test match win in SA and now a drawn series against SL. Good going Gayle

Didn't realise it was only a 2 match series. What a joke.

JKLever wrote:WI fans seem to hate Collymore for some reason? He's always been bloody unlucky whenever i've seen him play.

We don't hate him but he does not get enough wickets when he plays. he bowls wide outside off stump the entire day and will beat the bat every now and again and then never get any wickets. He got two wickets for Barbados in this First Class season. Kurt Wilkinson got 5 this season. Who is he? A batsman who usually plays for Barbados but played for the Combined Colleges team this year. By comparison Jagguernath got 40 wickets this season yet somehow can't get a game.

WIFAN wrote:Yeah I have run out patience with Powell in test cricket. He is an excellent ODI bowler but he doesn't have the patience for test cricket, he is always bowling too short.

When you think about it, Powell may well have cost WI the series. With just 16 minutes to go (3 or 4 overs) in that first Test, he plays a completely brainless attacking shot to get caught and thus lose the test. Wasn't Gayle at the other end?

Had they held out for a draw, this win would have given them the series. It's not the players fault that some Bozo agreed to a 2 Test series.

It just goes to demonstrate how a strategic approach is required to win a series as opposed to a single match.

Brass Monkey wrote:Didn't realise it was only a 2 match series. What a joke.

Aye, a farkin insult to the proper form of the game.

doctorspin wrote:It just goes to demonstrate how a strategic approach is required to win a series as opposed to a single match.

No, it doesn't - yadick.

It goes to show that Powell really, really doesn't want to learn from his past experiences. He involves himself in no strategy, captain borne or otherwise.

Brass Monkey wrote:

doctorspin wrote:It just goes to demonstrate how a strategic approach is required to win a series as opposed to a single match.

No, it doesn't - yadick.

It goes to show that Powell really, really doesn't want to learn from his past experiences. He involves himself in no strategy, captain borne or otherwise.

Well that is what I was getting at you corkjuggling Qunt. To win a series it is not about macho, bravado play, but that 18 defensive strokes on the trot may turn out to win you the series.

doctorspin wrote:
Well that is what I was getting at you corkjuggling Qunt. To win a series it is not about macho, bravado play, but that 18 defensive strokes on the trot may turn out to win you the series.

Nah. There's inference that Powell actually thinks and that the hierarchy would include him in whatever strategy they've devised. The simple facts are, you have to really be some la-la twat to do what Powell did, he's like a subhuman - we cannot fathom what's in his brains. As has been mentioned, he's a short-and-wide dross merchant - never ever has stopped to think that's what has caused him to have a wank bowling average. Furthermore, after doing very similar things during the England series with the bat, being universally castigated for it - he goes and does the exact same thing here, but worse. He never stopped to think, 'Well, what's a f*cking boundary to the total anyway' - he's a f*cking headcase. Wouldn't let him near the team again. Whatta liability.