West Indies v England, 3rd Test @ Antigua Recreation Ground

[Twizzle]

Windies very lucky

 

[fish eel]

Windies very lucky

were you watching it Twiz?

How was the light?

I only saw up until about 7:30

England blew it in their second innings. Sending in a nightwatchman who scratches around for 70 minutes......

Credit to the windies.

They are slowly improving though still rely heavily on Chanderpaul, Sarwin and Gayle.

 

[Bazal]

That's as important as a victory for the Windies, especially after the disastrous toss and first innings.

 

[MSIH]

Sarwan's the man.

 

[TimmyB]

Light looked awful from the replay on fox sports.

England batted far too long. Setting 500 was ridiciulous, especially with the spectre of rain. Don't deserve to win if you play that conservatively.

 

[Collingwood Storm]

Good stuff by the Windies

Finally they have a team with a bit of a back bone... The only spots up for grabs in their team is the #4 spot.

Gayle
Smith
Sarwan
???
Chanderpaul
Nash
Ramdin
Taylor
Benn
Powell
Edwards

Nash and Ramdin at 6 and 7 are gritty fighters, much better than the likes of Samuels, Morton, Bravo etc... who throw their wickets away too often. Taylor, Benn and Powell also show a bit of fight with the bat.

Idealy for the Windies they need Bravo to get fit and mature as a player to bat at 4 and they could be competitive against the top countries more often.

 

[Southern Rooster]

Good stuff by the Windies

Finally they have a team with a bit of a back bone... The only spots up for grabs in their team is the #4 spot.

Gayle
Smith
Sarwan
???
Chanderpaul
Nash
Ramdin
Taylor
Benn
Powell
Edwards

Nash and Ramdin at 6 and 7 are gritty fighters, much better than the likes of Samuels, Morton, Bravo etc... who throw their wickets away too often. Taylor, Benn and Powell also show a bit of fight with the bat.

Idealy for the Windies they need Bravo to get fit and mature as a player to bat at 4 and they could be competitive against the top countries more often.

Move Chanderpaul up one into 4 and Bravo in at 5.
Not a bad squad they need Edwards and Taylor to show more consistency with the ball. But they are a competitive side. I watched that this morning and they showed some common sense as well as ticker. Leading 1-0 still so this morning was like a win for them no doubt. I actually found myself cheering for them and begging for light.

 

[Panther_Daz]

Sarwan's the man.

One of my favourite batsmen in the world. Awesome to watch.

 

[Southern Rooster]

Windies very lucky

Perhaps.

BUT England to conservative and the WI showed enormous character and some resolve. In the end they probably deserved a draw more for there fight and resolve then England deserved the win due to it's lack of killer instinct.

Also a plus for the WI now is that Flintoff is gone for the series.
Also Peitersen copped a whack in that last over before light.

So there will be question marks over them for Barbados as well.

 

[Twizzle]

were you watching it Twiz?

How was the light?

I only saw up until about 7:30

England blew it in their second innings. Sending in a nightwatchman who scratches around for 70 minutes......

Credit to the windies.

They are slowly improving though still rely heavily on Chanderpaul, Sarwin and Gayle.

wasn't watching mate, cant comment, sorry

 

[Collingwood Storm]

Light was definitely an issue, I was expecting the umpires to meet a few overs earlier than they did. The sun re-appeard breifly but by then shadows covered most of the pitch.

 

[African Monkey]

Good stuff by the Windies

Finally they have a team with a bit of a back bone... The only spots up for grabs in their team is the #4 spot.

Gayle
Smith
Sarwan
???
Chanderpaul
Nash
Ramdin
Taylor
Benn
Powell
Edwards

Nash and Ramdin at 6 and 7 are gritty fighters, much better than the likes of Samuels, Morton, Bravo etc... who throw their wickets away too often. Taylor, Benn and Powell also show a bit of fight with the bat.

Idealy for the Windies they need Bravo to get fit and mature as a player to bat at 4 and they could be competitive against the top countries more often.

Samuels was actually starting to take a bit of responsibility at 4 before his ban. They do miss him in their lineup.

 

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

Nash and Ramdin at 6 and 7 are gritty fighters, much better than the likes of Samuels, Morton, Bravo etc... who throw their wickets away too often. Taylor, Benn and Powell also show a bit of fight with the bat.

:?

you've got your players mixed up

denesh ramdin hasn't scored a 50 in nearly two years, yet marlon samuels was easily one of the west indies in form batsman up until he was banned ... he had a really good test tour of south africa and definately placed more importance on his wicket during his return stint when he was shifted up the order

if they miss anyone, it's samuels at 4

Gayle
Smith
Sarwan
Samuels
Chanderpaul
Nash

that would have been a strong line up ... as it turns out, they can't fill the 4 spot role

 

[Marshall_magic]

The Windies are definitely on the improve, I was really worried when the prince retired that they could fall in a heap, but credit to them, they've really lifted. They finally look to have some strength in the bowling stocks, with Jerome Taylor proving to be a very good fast bowler, and the likes of Benn, Powell and Edwards are also capable at test level. The batting is also strong, Chanderpaul, Sarwan and Gayle are all great batsman, with Nash and Ramdin adding some fight into the lower order.

 

[Tommy Smith]

:?

you've got your players mixed up

denesh ramdin hasn't scored a 50 in nearly two years, yet marlon samuels was easily one of the west indies in form batsman up until he was banned ... he had a really good test tour of south africa and definately placed more importance on his wicket during his return stint when he was shifted up the order

if they miss anyone, it's samuels at 4

Gayle
Smith
Sarwan
Samuels
Chanderpaul
Nash

that would have been a strong line up ... as it turns out, they can't fill the 4 spot role

Agreed. I almost choked when someone said that Ramdin was a fighter. And then i actually did choke when Marshall Magic said it again.

That hack barely averages 20. He's absolutely useless and the major weakspot in the Windies line-up.

People can be so naive. Some still probably consider Ramdin a fighter because he might have scored 1 50 (wow!) on the Windies last tour to Australia. But whats happened in the following 3 or so years is obviously irrelevant...

As for England they definately did not deserve to win. Setting 503 with forecast rain was a disgrace. Almost as big a disgrace as sending out Anderson as nightwatchman to score 20 off 53 balls.

Sometimes the most mind-boggling thing about captaincy in cricket as opposed to other sports is that they have so much time to think about their decisions and yet they still consistently do the unthinkable.

Like Punter bowling part-timers in India with a win at Australias mercy. Like Gayle electing to bowl first in this test. And like Strauss now batting 20 overs too long for a 503 lead and opting to use Anderson as a nightwatchman. And so many more.

Simply unfathomable. Id ask for him to be sacked if we actually had any players left in the team who hadnt captained England yet...

 

[Tommy Smith]

The Windies are definitely on the improve, I was really worried when the prince retired that they could fall in a heap, but credit to them, they've really lifted. They finally look to have some strength in the bowling stocks, with Jerome Taylor proving to be a very good fast bowler, and the likes of Benn, Powell and Edwards are also capable at test level. The batting is also strong, Chanderpaul, Sarwan and Gayle are all great batsman, with Nash and Ramdin adding some fight into the lower order.

Here's another myth. Gayle is not a great batsman. He's the most overrated test batsman in the world.

He's played about 75 tests for an average under 40 and about 7, yes 7, centuries for an opening bat. That's attrocious for someone held for some reason in such high regard.

Sarwan similarly is a good batsman but thats it. He's had a good series here but he himself barely averages 40 in an era when batting is pretty easy.

Both highly overrated.

 

[Eddie.]

Great Result. West Indies certainly good more together. They have the makings of a very competative side. By no means the making of a great side, but the makings of a side that can the region can be proud of. Interestingly they have not lost in their last 5 tests. That is quite something considering their shocking decline over the last 10 years.

Even more interestingly Chris Gayle appears to be a leader they respond to. Check out these stats of players as captain of West Indies.

Lara 47 games - 10 wins, 25 losses
Hooper 22 games - 4 wins, 10 losses
Chanderpaul 14 games - 1 win, 10 losses
Sarwan 2 games - 1 draw, 1 loss
Ganga 2 Games - 2 losses

Compare this to Gayle's 3 wins and 3 losses from 10 tests. It is early days however they have acheived a victory in South Africa, a victory over Sri Lanka, credible efforts against Australia and New Zealand and they now lead England.

There is no doubt the team still have holes in it. They should be carrying a batter who have played over 25 tests and averages 24. They shouldnt be carrying a bowler who have played over 40 tests with an average over 45. They shouldnt have to pick a wicket keeper that averages 20 with the bat. Devon Smith, Ramdin and Powell are very mediocre.

However with Taylor and Edwards improving all the time. A spinner finally in the mix and the return of Bravo imminent the bowling looks better then it has for a while. Dont underestimate Bravo's bowling, he is a wicket taker and probably their best bowler behind Taylor.

Marlon Samuels is also a talent and should he return after his year ban he could add something. Nash has added some steel at 6. He should help ease the collapses windies suffer then they go 4 down all the time in the batting order.

A Team like this is my mind could climb the rankings.

Gayle
Nash
Sarwan
Samuels
Chanderpaul
Bravo
Ramdin
Benn
Powell
Taylor
Edwards

Ramdin, Benn and Powell still have big question marks. They are spinners in the Caribbean that many locals consider better then Benn. However they will struggle to find a replacement for Powell, stocks are low in that regard.