England Tour of West Indies - 2019

[aditya123]

It certainly brings to mind the epic Windies of the 80’s and 90’s .....good on ‘em!

I think a part of the problem that England are facing is because they don`t seem to have a clue about the wickets in the Caribbean these days. In the last 3 seasons, WI wickets have assisted the quicks far more than they did in the 2005-2015 era. They had spicy tracks against India in 2016/17 and the likes of Bhuvi/Shami/Umesh ran through their lineup several times. Last year they wrecked the SL and Bangladesh through pace. The Antigua track at North Sound is not the same as the old Recreation Ground either. Anderson and Broad will be a handful here.

 

[Dutch]

yeah I am glad Broad is back in the line-up

 

[aditya123]

yeah I am glad Broad is back in the line-up

Woakes should`ve played ahead of Curran as well. He is as good a batsman if not better and definitely the better bowler of the two.

 

[Dutch]

Windies openers showing how you see off a new ball....

 

[abhi_jacko]

Windies openers showing how you see off a new ball....

While that is true for Karlos Brathwaite, Campbell has tried his best to get out. He has tried to slash hard at deliveries he shouldnt be touching, and has luckily missed. Lets see if these guys can capitalize on this start though

 

[zimrahil]

It certainly brings to mind the epic Windies of the 80’s

I would go that far. 80’s Windies best bowling attack I have ever seen!

 

[Dutch]

I would go that far. 80’s Windies best bowling attack I have ever seen!

Brings to mind.....definitely not comparing them....its just good to see a competitive Windies side on home soil.....

 

[wasteyouryouth]

Brings to mind.....definitely not comparing them....its just good to see a competitive Windies side on home soil.....

It's definitely nice seeing a four man pace attack. If they'd all had bowled to their full ability I think England would have only managed 77 again.

I'd love to see West Indies at least get consistently more competitive, they certainly have the talent. It'd be nice to see the crowds filled out with home support like they once were too.

 

[qpeedore]

Once they stop charging so bloody much for tickets we will come if we continue this form.

Agreed that Campbell has done a lot to get out but this is his second Test on a damn tough pitch. England's debut player screwed himself over, recall?

Personally I think the openers are doing a great job so far. They've already up to 61 as of me writing, if they can get us near or past 100 without loss we're set. A first innings score of even 300 is probably going to be hard.

 

[aditya123]

Brings to mind.....definitely not comparing them....its just good to see a competitive Windies side on home soil.....

They have Oshane Thomas waiting in the wings too. I`ve maintained for a while that the problem with the WI is not of resources. They have a talent pool that is arguably bigger than NZ or SA or Australia currently.

The WICB should take cognizance and open up the gates for the stadia. If WI cricket gets revived, this short term theoretical loss of ticketing revenue could result in rekindling of the fire in the local public for test cricket and cricket in general. Shortsighted administration is the scourge of cricket.

 

[qpeedore]

Thomas has a big issue with no balls much like Gabriel had early on in his career. He's not ready for Tests yet. But give him a year or two...Gabriel, Thomas, Joseph, Roach...get all of them on their days that's a full 90mph attack there. Roach can still hit 90 when he's ready.

EDIT: Agreed with the above post. Open the grounds. Get the kids back in. Let them see what cricket is supposed to be like. But see, we're just tiny people worth one dollar in a million dollar game. However, get enough of us one dollar people we can reach a million dollars.

 

[aditya123]

Thomas has a big issue with no balls much like Gabriel had early on in his career. He's not ready for Tests yet. But give him a year or two...Gabriel, Thomas, Joseph, Roach...get all of them on their days that's a full 90mph attack there. Roach can still hit 90 when he's ready.

But you still have a 90 mph bowler waiting in the wings which not a lot of sides can boast of. What happened to the likes of Sheldon Cottrel and the previous generation (Fidel Edwards, Taylor, and Powell)? Do they still play domestic cricket? The one good thing that has happened to WI cricket is that they`ve completely moved on from the mercenaries for test match cricket and have stuck to this lot for a couple of years. Guys like Samuels and Gayle never looked interested in the test match game at all. People refer to Russell being available. I`d advice the WI board against getting him anywhere near the test side. These guys might lose a few but they have the makings of a decent test side.

Think of all the potentially good test match batsmen that WI lost in the last decade. Adrian Barath, Lendl Simmons and Kirk Edwards spring to mind. WI never stuck to those for any length of time. Currently, I`m more invested in WI cricket than my own side (India) who play boring, formulaic cricket.

 

[aditya123]

Open the grounds. Get the kids back in. Let them see what cricket is supposed to be like. But see, we're just tiny people worth one dollar in a million dollar game. However, get enough of us one dollar people we can reach a million dollars.

Forget that 1$. The kid who watches his side beat England through attractive cricket might not have bought you the gate revenue in this game. However, he would have bought into the game of cricket for life and you potentially have a captive audience who will buy tickets for games in the future! Its a no-branier for me, even from a commercial perspective. Some moments are once in a generation. Organizers must sense that in order to grow the game. You have to take short term financial blows to ensure long term success. Among all the test match sides currently, WI has the biggest number of non-partisan backers. No other side enjoys the neutral support that WI does. All you need is for the turn-around to happen and many will get on to the bandwagon.

 

[qpeedore]

Samuels does actually peruse this forum from time to time, just btw. And I don't doubt that a few others too.

I agree. Most people when you ask them, if your side was out of it who would you support? I guarantee more than half would say WI.

Aditya's post is a gem. I love it.

 

[aditya123]

Samuels does actually peruse this forum from time to time, just btw.

Marlon Samuels? Curious as to how you are privy to that bit of information.