Story Digicel Triangular Series - West Indies. England. New Zealand

[Offspinner]

West Indies host New Zealand and England

The Teams

West Indies
Coach: Ottis Gibson

1. Andre Fletcher
3. Chris Gayle *
4. Daren Powell
5. Denesh Ramdin +
6. Devon Smith
7. Jerome Taylor
8. Kemar Roach
9. Kieron Pollard
10. Ramnaresh Sarwan
11. Shivnaresh Chanderpaul
12. Sulieman Benn
13. Xavier Marshall
14. Carlton Baugh +
15. Fidel Edwards

New Zealand
Coach: John Wright

1. Brendon McCullum +
2. Daniel Vettori *
3. Gareth Hopkins +
4. Grant Elliot
5. Jacob Oram
6. James Franklin
7. Daniel Flynn
8. Jeetan Patel
9. Jesse Ryder
10. Kyle Mills
11. Martin Guptill
12. Nathan McCullum
13. Neil Broom
14. Ross Taylor
15. Tim Southee

England
Coach: Andy Flower

1. Andrew Strauss *
2. Paul Collingwood
3. Ian Bell
4. Kevin Pietersen
5. Jonathon Trott
6. Matt Prior +
7. Stuart Broad
8. Graeme Swann
9. James Anderson
10. Steve Davies +
11. Luke Wright
12. Adil Rashid
13. Ravi Bopara
14. Ryan Sidebottom
15. Dmitri Mascharenhas

The Stadiums

Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica

Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua, Antigua and Barbuda

Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago

The Fixture

West Indies vs. England @ Queen's Park Oval
England vs. New Zealand @ Sir Vivian Richard's Stadium
West Indies vs. New Zealand @ Sabina Park
West Indies vs. England @ Sabina Park
England vs. New Zealand @ Queen's Park Oval
West Indies vs. New Zealand @ Queen's Park Oval

The Final @ Sir Vivian Richard's Stadium

The Details

Difficulty: Hard
Game: Ashes Cricket 2009 (on PC)
Patches: Open Beta 1 and 2
Playing As: Alternating between teams

If any with some graphic ability is willing to make up a team logo for each nation and a logo for the competition, I would be very thankful.

 

[Offspinner]

Ottis Gibson expects success

Ottis Gibson expects success

West Indies coach Ottis Gibson has announced he believes his team can go through the upcoming Digicel Triangular Series and come out as the victors. Vocal in his dissappointment with his team's early exit from the recent World Cup, Gibson will accept nothing less than a strong showing from the Windies.

Above: Ottis Gibson oversees Sulieman Benn at training.

"Our senior players accept their failures during the World Cup, they realise that they can and need to do better. The men with experience are to lead the team in the series," Gibson said, "We've named quite an experienced squad for this series because I believe in the players. We have a strong top order and a hostile bowling attack with Kemar (Roach), Jerome (Taylor) and Fidel (Edwards)."

Notable players such as Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul combined to make only 439 runs for the entire World Cup. More is expected from them for their team to overcome a strong English team and a New Zealand outfit who can beat anyone on their day.

"England and New Zealand are potent opponents, with some very dangerous players. You have to respect names like Pietersen, Swann and Strauss. KP can destroy any attack, whilst Graeme Swann has proven he can take apart even the best of batsman."

"Then you look at New Zealand and the beacon there is obviously their captain. Vettori has had a great career and is also an outstanding leader," Gibson commented, "despite this, I believe that we can win and win well."

 

[Offspinner]

England arrive in the Caribbean

England arrive in the Caribbean

England's cricketers have arrived in the Caribbean ahead of their upcoming series. Leading batsman Kevin Pietersen is excited about the upcoming matches, ready to lead his side in taking on the Windies and the Kiwis.

Above: Kevin Pietersen arriving in the West Indies ahead of the Digicel Triangular Series.

"I can't wait to take them on. The West Indies have one of the fastest pace attacks going and it'll be a real challenge for us. Kemar Roach is a very raw talent who everybody has already seen take it right to the best in the world," Pietersen said.

Arriving with Pietersen was the leading batsman of the recent World Cup, Jonathon Trott. Trott, almost on his own, helped England to the quarter finals, making 422 at an average of 60.28. However, his performances did not come at any sparkling strike rate. His strike rate sits as the lowest from the top 9 batsman for the tournament. This could hinder England, especially considering they are coming up against opposition teams littered with names like Gayle and Pollard for the Windies, whilst at New Zealand, Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum are sure to fire things up.

Above: New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor in full flight.

If Trott is to remain as the steady accumulator of the England lineup, it puts the attacking focus onto names like Pietersen who is coming off a hernia operation and Ian Bell who only managed 245 runs at an average of 35.

What makes Bell's World Cup efforts more perplexing, is that his strike rate was below 80 and one of his two half-centuries came against minnow Ireland (81 from 86 balls) and the other against India (69 from 71 balls). His runs against India, however, only came on the back of an incident which drew the UDRS into question. After a UDRS appeal by the Indians for LBW against a Billy Bowden decision, Bell was shown to have been hit more than 2.5m from the stumps. Even though Hawkeye suggested the ball would go on to clatter into the stumps, Bowden stayed with his original ruling of not out.

This is probably the only question mark on the English side. Their bowling attack consists of the ever present trio of Swann, Anderson and Broad. These players will cause plenty of trouble for their opposition if all goes to plan.

 

[Offspinner]

Injury concerns for England

Injury concerns for England

England coach Andy Flower has a cause for concern ahead of their upcoming series in the Caribbean. Leading bowler Stuart Broad is suffering from a back complaint.

Above: Paul Collingwood and Stuart Broad have a chat during England's first net session in the Caribbean.

Whilst Broad did attend the team's first training session ahead of the tri-series, he was restricted to watching his teammates. Despite this, coach Andy Flower believes Broad will play in the series opener against the West Indies.

"We received advice from our doctors that suggested Stuart would benefit from a little extra rest. He'll be ready for the series and his anxious to get going," Flower said, "The whole team is excited to take on the West Indies and we're confident that we'll go well."

If Broad was withdrawn from the team, it would potentially expose England's lack of pace bowling depth. In their squad of fifteen, only James Anderson, Ryan Sidebottom and Broad bowl recognised pace. This would then push the focus onto their all-rounders in Luke Wright and Dmitri Mascarenhas.

An England side missing Broad would also move the focus onto Graeme Swann. Spinners could also play vital parts during the series, with the West Indies selecting a solitary spinner in Sulieman Benn compared to England's two (Swann and Adil Rashid) and New Zealand's three (Daniel Vettori, Jeetan Patel and Nathan McCullum).

Above: Three men who have their team's destiny in their hands.

This battle could potentially turn the series, with Benn, Vettori and Swann all having the ability to spin their team to victory. Adding to that, all three have a very handy lower order batting ability. The fortunes of these three men might end up deciding the series.

 

[Zohaib]

Great start mate , sounds interesting and your layout is great.

 

[westindies2007]

aww I mecca of Cricket ground in the West Indies didn't get a Match. Kensington Oval.
btw just joking about it. But looking forward for this Story, Hope to see a good match Between England and West Indies.

 

[Offspinner]

Thanks for the kind words.

I would've expanded the fixture to include different grounds but AC09 only has the ones listed above.

 

[Aditya]

Good start to the story, Jack. Writing and graphics have been good so far. Looking forward to this story, good luck for this.

 

[Offspinner]

1st Match: West Indies vs. England @ Queen's Park Oval

1st Match: West Indies vs. England @ Queen's Park Oval

West Indies

1. Xavier Marshall
2. Chris Gayle *
3. Ramnaresh Sarwan
4. Shivnarine Chanderpaul
5. Devon Smith
6. Denesh Ramdin +
7. Kieron Pollard
8. Sulieman Benn
9. Jerome Taylor
10. Kemar Roach
11. Fidel Edwards

England

1. Andrew Strauss *
2. Matt Prior +
3. Kevin Pietersen
4. Jonathon Trott
5. Ian Bell
6. Paul Collingwood
7. Luke Wright
8. Dmitri Mascarenhas
9. Graeme Swann
10. Stuart Broad
11. James Anderson

Above: Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, two men under intense scrutiny ahead of this series.

The first match of the Digicel Triangular Series is approaching rapidly. Two teams who suffered unceremonious exits from the World Cup clash today to regain some pride and take the first step in collecting some silverware.

In Brief:
England have gone in with a very deep batting line up, with ability all the way down to the last man. Their bowling options however, especially if their pace pairing of Anderson and Broad fail, appear a little slim. They will have to get twenty overs out of Mascarenhas, Wright, Collingwood and possibly a bit from Pietersen. The bowling will also be stretched considering Stuart Broad is carrying a back injury into the first game, with rumours he may be withdrawn in favour of Ryan Sidebottom. Graeme Swann alone appears the main challenge for the West Indies batting lineup, especially if there is even a slight bit of turn in the pitch.

The West Indies on the other hand, have put their focus onto a strong express pace attack comprising Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor and Fidel Edwards. Adding to this, their batting has some very explosive names on the list, with Gayle, Marshall, Smith and Pollard all being capable of picking apart a bowling attack. This aggressive approach however, could also prove to be their downfall with many of the names in their lineup being completely unpredictable and occasionally unreliable.

Head To Head:
Last Time They Met: ENG 10/243 (J Trott 47 (38), L Wright 44 (57), A Russell 4/49) def. WI 10/225 (A Russell 49 (46), C Gayle 41 (29), J Tredwell 4/48).
Overall: Played 83, England 38, West Indies 41, No Result 4


So before we get underway, who do YOU think will come out the victor?

 

[Highlander999]

Great to see Dimi back in the side for England, totally rate him!!! Interesting to see Prior still opening though.

Great presentation and good effort with backing up stats, KUTGW

 

[Zohaib]

Im going for England