West Indies cricket struggling because of internal politics not lack of talent

West Indies cricket is currently going through its worst period and a team which used to rule the cricketing world in 70s and 80s, now find it difficult to beat even the second grade teams of the international sport.
Since the retirement of the great Caribbean captain Clive Lloyd, West Indian cricket has gone through a continuous decline and now the situation is such that they have reached the rock bottom, and hopefully things can only start to move in the right direction from here on.
There is an opinion that youngsters in West Indies are more inclined towards other sports, especially Basketball, because of all the money and sponsorships involved in it. However, the matter of fact is that West Indies is not struggling at international level because of lack of good cricketers, it is the internal politics which has damaged the ‘gentlemen’s game’ in the beautiful Islands.
The most painful thing in the whole scenario is the fact that Caribbean Islands are not short of talent, and even in this dark age, they are able to produce quality cricketers. Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Devendra Bishoo and Kemar Roach are a few examples to strengthen the claim that there is still a lot of talent in the Caribbean which just needs to be streamlined.
Chris Gayle is without doubt the best batsman produced by West Indies in the last one-and-a-half decade and it is a pity he wasn't used to the best of his abilities by West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). The left hander lost the captaincy last year when he, along with another senior player Dwayne Bravo, refused to sign the central contract with the WICB.
It led to another controversy as Darren Sammy was made the captain of the Caribbean team which was quite astonishing because the all-rounder from the Northern Windward Islands had never held his position in the West Indian playing eleven consistently.
After a dismal performance in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, West Indian coach Ottis Gibson blamed the senior players for their lack of application and that’s how he was able to retain his job with the team, and also saved Sammy’s captaincy. As a result, the senior players like Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul were axed from the limited overs squad against Pakistan.
On top of that, the worst and the most ironic thing in the current circumstances is that the best Caribbean cricketers like Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard and Jerome Taylor are busy playing the Indian Premier League when West Indies is being thrashed at the hands of Pakistan back home.
West Indies have brilliant players in all the departments of the game; batting, bowling and fielding. The likes of Chris Gayle, Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard can form a formidable batting unit. Whereas, a bowling lineup which includes Jerome Taylor, Fidel Edwards, Kemar Roach, Ravi Rampaul, Sulieman Benn and Devendra Bishoo can dismantle any batting lineup of the world.
A captain is supposed to lead his team from the front and no team, even at domestic level, can compete if it is led by a player who does not hold a permanent position in the team, because of his lack of skill and consistency.
The need of the hour for WICB is to get their act together and get rid of the politics within their system. The selection of players and captain should be purely on merit rather than the quota system of different Islands.
If the Caribbean cricket is managed properly, there is no reason why West Indies cannot become a huge force in international cricket once again with the sort of talent they possess.

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Pakistan aim to seal series win against West Indies in 3rd One Day International at Barbados

Pakistan would be hoping for a third consecutive win against the West Indies as the One Day International (ODI) series moves to Kensington Oval in Barbados. The tourists have been in top form and won the first two matches with comfort and ease, through a combined effort by both batsmen and bowlers.

After losing the one-off T20 match at St. Lucia, Shahid Afridi’s men bounced back to thrash the hosts in the 50 overs format.

Thus far in the series the Pakistani spinners have reigned supreme, the trio of Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, and, Mohammad Hafeez, has taken wickets and squeezed the batsmen for runs and would once again be the mainstays for their team.

However, the West Indian would breathe a sigh of relief, as the wicket for the match is expected to suit faster bowlers, which means that the spinners’ threat would be considerably reduced.

The West Indian captain, Darren Sammy, stated after the defeat in the second ODI that his team had fought all the way despite having a poor total to defend, he gave credit to his bowlers and fielders, who hung in till the very end of the match and hopes that they would be able to score a win and finish the job at Barbados.

"We weren't rolled over. We kept ourselves in the matches right to the finish. There were moments when things could have gone either way, but we didn't make it happen", Sammy stated.

The West Indians are expected to retain the same eleven that played in the last match, the new recruit spinner, Anthony Martin, was impressive and contained the Pakistani batsmen with his faster ones and short of length deliveries that were hurrying onto the batsmen.

The rest of the bowling attack has a big job to do, as other than leg spinner, Devendra Bishoo, none of the bowlers has succeeded in dismissing a batsman.

In the last three games between the two teams the West Indians have snared a mere 5 wickets and the tally includes one run out, the remaining four wickets have been taken by Bishoo.

Pakistan won the World Cup quarter final at Mirpur by 10 wickets, while in St.Lucia the Men in Green won by 8 wickets and 7 wickets. The batsmen have feasted on the bowling with the out of sorts, Ahmed Shehzad, also returning to form with a patient hundred in the second match of the series, the Lahore based opener was elated with his innings and gave credit to his captain for persisting with him despite his recent wretched run of form.

"I would like to thank my team management for the way they have supported me. Shahid is the man to follow. He is giving confidence to every single individual - I think it is amazing", Ahmed stated.

The following elevens are expected to take the field today at Barbados.

West Indies (possible): 1 Devon Smith, 2 Lendl Simmons, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Kirk Edwards, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Carlton Baugh (wk), 8 Darren Sammy (capt), 9 Devendra Bishoo, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Anthony Martin

Pakistan played the same XI in both games, and with the results they've had, there is no need to change it as they push for a series win.

Pakistan (possible): 1 Ahmed Shehzad, 2 Mohammad Hafeez, 3 Asad Shafiq, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq, 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Hammad Azam, 7 Mohammad Salman (wk), 8 Shahid Afridi (capt), 9 Wahab Riaz, 10 Junaid Khan, 11 Saeed Ajmal

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Darren Sammy disappointed with West Indies in St. Lucia, Shahid Afridi aims to seal series in Barbados

The West Indian and Pakistani captains were obviously in different moods after the second match of the five-match One Day International (ODI) series between the two teams.

The match played at Gros Islet in St.Lucia was won comfortably by the visitors, who have now taken a 2-0 lead in the series, the West Indians were ordinary with the bat and insipid with the ball, as the Men in Green cantered home to a 7-wicket win on a good batting track.

Sammy, who has been under fire from cricketing pundits in the region, stated that his team needs to improve their performance by leaps and bounds if they are to compete and make a comeback in the series. He thinks that the batsmen have let the team down in the first two games, as they failed to make good use of batting conditions scoring 221 and 220 runs only in the two innings.

He also felt that the bowlers failed to tighten their grip around the batsmen despite a low score on the board. He added that a major blip in the performance is needed if the West Indians are to fight back and make things tough for the Pakistan team.

"We could have tried to squeeze their batsmen more and when we batted we got a good start, but did not capitalize on it", Sammy said. "We weren't rolled over today. We kept ourselves in the match right to the finish. There were moments when things could have gone either way, but we didn't make it happen. We have to find a way to win those tight situations. We have to win in Barbados to stay alive in the series, so we have to grab our chances".

On the other hand, the Pakistani captain Shahid Afridi is happy with the performance of his team in the first two games. He praised the "discipline" shown by his side and added that his team has a specific plan for the second match and fortunately they succeeded in sticking to it and reaped the rewards with a comfortable win.

Afridi feels that it was a complete team effort that helped his side and if the boys continued to play with the same purpose and commitment they were set to pocket the series in the third ODI that is to be played in Barbados.

"We made a plan at our team meeting and our guys stuck to it and that was good", Afridi said. "I think our bowlers are doing a great job, and the fielding has improved because it is a very important area for us. Our batting has shown responsibility and we hope to maintain this discipline right throughout the series".

The man known as BOOM BOOM for his big hitting ability added that the team has reaped rewards of the hard work that they put in the World Cup and during the training camp set prior to the tour of West Indies.

Another encouraging thing for Afridi is the performance of his opening batsmen, Ahmed Shehzad, who posted his second century of the year and his career to take the team through to the victory target.

Shehzad was under intense pressure after an ordinary World Cup but repaid the faith shown in him by the selection panel and Afridi himself, who requested the selectors to include him in the team for the tour, as he had faith in his abilities with the bat.

The third ODI would be played on 27th April in Kensington Oval, Barbados.

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DARREN SAMMY SAYS THEY FAILED TO CAPITALISE ON GOOD START AGAINST PAKISTAN

West Indies skipper Darren Sammy rued his team’s inability to capitalise on the good start to post a par score as the hosts lost their second successive One Day International against Pakistan at St Lucia on Monday.

The 27-year-old medium pacer said that his side failed to capitalise in the key moments both in batting and bowling and this led to their seven-wicket defeat at the hands of the Men in Green. However, Sammy was happy that they were not totally rolled over as Pakistan took 47 overs to win the match.

“We could have tried to squeeze their batsmen more and when we batted we got a good start, but did not capitalise on it,” said Sammy. “We weren't rolled over today. We kept ourselves in the match right to the finish. There were moments when things could have gone either way, but we didn't make it happen.”

Sammy urged his side to find ways to come out of tight situations successfully. He insisted that they need to win the next game of the five-match ODI series in order to keep their prospects alive.

The West Indies batting line-up collapsed miserably against the Pakistan attack as none of the batsmen could cross the 30-run mark sans opener Lendl Simmons who struck a level-headed half century. Eight of the Caribbean batsmen failed to get past even 20. As a result, the hosts returned with a gettable score of 220 for 9 that was comfortably chased down by the tourists for the loss of just 3 wickets.

The home side was unable to post an impressive total in the opening One day International of the series as well as they made just 221 before Pakistan chased it down with more than 8 overs to go and 8 wickets in hand.

The visiting captain, Shahid Afridi was happy with the “discipline” shown by his team in Monday’s game and said that the reason behind their victories is that they are sticking to the game plan. He was also happy with the improved batting at the top of the order.

Pakistan lead the five-match ODI series by 2-0. The third match of the series will be played in Barbados on April 28, 2011. 

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AFRIDI IS THE MAN TO FOLLOW BELIEVES AHMED SHEHZAD

Pakistan's young gun, Ahmed Shehzad scored a ton and led his side to victory in the 2^nd One Day International between Pakistan and West Indies in St Lucia on 25 April, 2011.

Speaking at the match presentation after being named the Player of the Match, Shehzad stated that the skipper, Afridi was the man to follow.

Describing Afridi as an astonishing captain, the right-hand batsman expressed his faith in the skipper’s ability to lead the Men in Green through turbulent times.

Shehzad has been retained in the national side despite his unimpressive performance throughout the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. He also acknowledged the support of his captain and the team management in this regard.

The 19-year old cricketer said, “I would like to thank team management for supporting me, Vicky bhai (Waqar Younis), Aaqib Javed, and Shahid bhai. He (Afridi) is the man to follow, he has been astonishing, if we follow him he will take us through. The wicket was on the slower side, I knew if we kept the wickets, we will do it.”

Shehzad put forth a redeeming 102 run knock off 148 deliveries which included seven fours and one six. The ton was his second One Day International century.

Afridi in return, also complimented Shehzad on his performance. The skipper acknowledged Shehzad’s poor record in the past but praised his comeback.

“Shehzad is a very talented guy who performed well in New Zealand tour. He didn't do well in World cup, he took some time, its ok he took time but he finished the game. The management has been supporting him,” said Afridi.

The skipper further expressed his satisfaction with how the team was following the game plan and performing as expected.

After losing the first Twenty20 match against the Windies, the Green Shirts bounced back with two consecutive wins.

The Men in Green have been on a roll, performing well in One Day Internationals. They reached the Semi-Finals of 2011 ICC World Cup and prior to that, had won the ODI series in New Zealand.

Spinners have been Pakistan’s weapon of choice against the young West Indian side. The 2^nd ODI saw the spin trio of Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez and Saeed Ajmal share six wickets between them.

The West Indian skipper Darren Sammy had asserted earlier that his side needed to work hard in the nets to face the Pakistani spinners.

The third match of the series will be played on Thursday, 28 April, 2011 at Bridgetown. If Pakistan wins the match they will have an unassailable lead in the series.

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Pakistan v West Indies - Pakistan’s convincing triumph at St. Lucia

Pakistan and West Indies camps were in contrasting moods after the first match of the five match series, which was won by the visitors by a convincing margin of 8 wickets.

Batting first the hosts limped to a total of 221 runs that too was only made possible by a late blip when it appeared that they would post a score of 200 runs at most, in reply the Pakistani batsmen made good use of a batting strip to coast home.

Three out of the four batsmen, who went out to bat scored half centuries, with Misbah Ul Haq top scoring with an unbeaten 73 run knock.

Youngster, Asad Shafiq, made another positive impression on his critics, making an unbeaten 61 studded with 7 fours.

On the other hand, man of the match, Mohammad Hafeez, scored an impressive 54 to lay the foundations of a canter of a run chase, which ended with more than 8 overs to spare.

West Indian captain, Darren Sammy, who hit some useful boundaries at the end of his team’s innings, thinks that his team was at least 50 runs short. He added that the batsmen dug a hole for themselves, as they allowed Pakistani spinners to dominate them.

Hafeez bowled an impressive spell of 10 overs, 2 maidens, 36 runs, for 1 wicket, while Afridi gave away only 40 runs in his quota. Saeed Ajmal was also equally impressive in his bowling spell.

Sammy thinks that the batsmen should have been more adventurous against the trio.

"We put ourselves in a hole when we were batting, and the spinners were bowling, so we really have to come better in the next game", he said. "We may need to show more intent in our approach. We have a new batting coach, and he has been doing some good work, but we can't lose sight of us reaching 221 coming from our position”.

On the other hand, the Pakistan captain, Shahid Afridi, was elated with the performance of his team. He said that the decision by Sammy to field first after winning the toss was a bonus, as he thought that the wicket was a tricky one at the start of the innings with moisture underneath the surface a sure shot problem for the openers.

 "I was very happy when West Indies won the toss and chose to bat because I thought the pitch would help our spinners", Afridi said. "I think our spinners have been doing a great job for us in the last few months, and they again set things up for us".

For the hosts the match was a disappointment, only one, amongst the recognized batsman, made an impression.

The upcoming left hander, Darren Bravo, anchored the innings with 67 before he was run out in the 45th over. His demise came at a crucial stage of the innings when the hosts had looked set for a bigger score especially if he would have batted out the quota.

The second match of the series would be played at the same venue on April 25, 2011.

Pakistan would be aiming to take a 2-0 lead in the competition and have a strong chance of making it happen. Their bowling attack has had the West Indies on the back foot ever since the ICC World Cup 2011 quarter final at Mirpur.

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SHAHID AFRIDI SATISFIED WITH HIS TEAM’S PERFORMANCE IN THE FIRST ODI AGAINST WEST INDIES

Talking about Pakistan’s superb eight-wicket win over West Indies in the first game of the five match One-Day series on Saturday, 23 April, 2011, the skipper, Shahid Afridi said that the team played superb cricket.

"I was very happy when West Indies won the toss and chose to bat because I thought the pitch would help our spinners," said Afridi.

The spinners Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez broke through early by dismissing the openers in quick succession.

Devon Smith was the first batsman who fell lbw to Hafeez after just scoring 17 runs off 31 balls, while Lendl Simmons fell victim to Ajmal’s after scoring 24 runs off 44 balls.

The skipper, Afridi, seemed quite happy with the spinners’ show and complimented them on performing remarkably in the past few months.

On the other hand, the pacer Wahab Riaz, who came into the limelight after his five wicket haul in the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup 2011 semi-final against India, picked two important wickets of Kirk Edwards and Dwayne Bravo.

Windies while batting first, set a target of 222 runs for Pakistan at the loss of six wickets. Bravo was the top scorer of his side, making 67 runs off 109 balls and was run out by Ahmed Shehzad.

Green Shirts took a stable batting start with the openers – Hafeez and Shehzad. Both set a partnership of 68 runs before Shehzad was sent to the pavilion by Devendra Bishoo.

Hafeez scored 54 runs off 45 balls including seven boundaries and one six, he was caught by Darren Sammy off the bowling of Bishoo.

Asad Shafiq and Misbah-ul-Haq set a splendid stand of 134 runs, leading their side to an easy win in 41.3 overs.

Asad scored an unbeaten 61 runs off 76 balls including seven fours. On the other side, the vice-captain scored 73 runs off 90 balls including five boundaries and one six.

Afridi highly praised the openers, Hafiz and Shehzad for their efforts and also appreciated Misbah and Asad Shafiq for staying at the crese till the end of their innings.

West Indies captain Darren Sammy said: "We put ourselves in a hole when we were batting, and the spinners were bowling, so we really have to come better in the next game."

Sammy also added that he was surprised to see the turn and bounce of the pitch and he appreciated the Pakistani cricketers. The skipper vowed that for the next match they will put in more hard work at practice and will come back stronger.

Pakistan started their tour with a Twenty20, which they lost by seven runs.

Both the teams will now face each other on 25 April, 2011, in the second match of the series, at the same venue.

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I am satisfied with his team’s performance :Shahid Afridi

Talking about Pakistan’s superb eight-wicket win over West Indies in the first game of the five match One-Day series on Saturday, 23 April, 2011, the skipper, Shahid Afridi said that the team played superb cricket.

"I was very happy when West Indies won the toss and chose to bat because I thought the pitch would help our spinners," said Afridi.

The spinners Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez broke through early by dismissing the openers in quick succession.

Devon Smith was the first batsman who fell lbw to Hafeez after just scoring 17 runs off 31 balls, while Lendl Simmons fell victim to Ajmal’s after scoring 24 runs off 44 balls.

The skipper, Afridi, seemed quite happy with the spinners’ show and complimented them on performing remarkably in the past few months.

On the other hand, the pacer Wahab Riaz, who came into the limelight after his five wicket haul in the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup 2011 semi-final against India, picked two important wickets of Kirk Edwards and Dwayne Bravo.

Windies while batting first, set a target of 222 runs for Pakistan at the loss of six wickets. Bravo was the top scorer of his side, making 67 runs off 109 balls and was run out by Ahmed Shehzad.

Green Shirts took a stable batting start with the openers – Hafeez and Shehzad. Both set a partnership of 68 runs before Shehzad was sent to the pavilion by Devendra Bishoo.

Hafeez scored 54 runs off 45 balls including seven boundaries and one six, he was caught by Darren Sammy off the bowling of Bishoo.

Asad Shafiq and Misbah-ul-Haq set a splendid stand of 134 runs, leading their side to an easy win in 41.3 overs.

Asad scored an unbeaten 61 runs off 76 balls including seven fours. On the other side, the vice-captain scored 73 runs off 90 balls including five boundaries and one six.

Afridi highly praised the openers, Hafiz and Shehzad for their efforts and also appreciated Misbah and Asad Shafiq for staying at the crese till the end of their innings.

West Indies captain Darren Sammy said: "We put ourselves in a hole when we were batting, and the spinners were bowling, so we really have to come better in the next game."

Sammy also added that he was surprised to see the turn and bounce of the pitch and he appreciated the Pakistani cricketers. The skipper vowed that for the next match they will put in more hard work at practice and will come back stronger.

Pakistan started their tour with a Twenty20, which they lost by seven runs.

Both the teams will now face each other on 25 April, 2011, in the second match of the series, at the same venue.

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PAKISTAN BEAT WEST INDIES IN THE FIRST MATCH OF THE DIGICEL ODI SERIES

Pakistan have managed to pull off a victory in the first clash of the five-match One Day International (ODI) series against West Indies by eight wickets at the Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia on 23 April, 2011.

This victory comes after Pakistan were handed an embarrassing defeat by the hosts in the only Twenty20 match of the series, played at the same venue.

However, today the outcome was different as Afridi XI managed to grab their first win after the team’s elimination from the recently concluded ICC World Cup 2011, where the Men in Green were handed a defeat in the semi-final by arch rivals India.

With 221 runs as the target, Pakistan managed to successfully chase the tally with the loss of just two wickets.

Afridi who did not have to come out to bat looked jubilant at the sight of his batsmen Misbah-ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq steering the side to victory.

After the match Afridi praised the commendable performance of his batsmen with some encouraging words for the middle-order batsman Misbah, saying that the batsman was doing a great job for the team. Misbah remained unbeaten, scoring 73 runs.

Afridi reiterated that he had confidence in his batsmen and felt that the target was not difficult enough for his side to reach.

Talking on losing the toss he said, “When Sammy said he wanted to bat, I was very happy. The boys did a great job. I did expect the pitch to turn; there was moisture on it and I know my boys are capable of doing it.”  

Afridi felt that his bowlers had done a commendable job in restricting the hosts to a mediocre total.

Praising the efforts of Pakistan’s main strike bowler in this series Wahab Riaz, he said, that the bowler was extremely talented and had done well against India in the World Cup. The skipper advised the bowler to be more focussed on his bowling.

Riaz took two wickets in his ten overs by conceding 62 runs. He was extremely expensive early on, being smacked by the Windies.

Meanwhile, the West Indies skipper Darren Sammy admitted that his side was completely rattled by the bounce and spin in the wicket, due to which the batsmen failed to put a big total on the board.

Speaking after the match he said, “We dug ourselves into a hole when the spinners were bowling. we have to come better in the next game. i was surprised to see the spin and bounce in this wicket; we have to work in nets and come back on Monday.”

From the West Indies, it was the inspirational 25-year old Devendra Bishoo who took the only two wickets. He first removed Ahmed Shahzad and then Mohammad Hafeez.

The two teams will now meet each other in the second match of the series on April 25, 2011.

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