New Zealand Tour of West Indies May-July 2014

[ParkedTheBus]

Why Pollard is not picked for tests is beyond me.. He has a better record than almost every guy picked for the team, in the first class format.

 

[War]

Why Pollard is not picked for tests is beyond me.. He has a better record than almost every guy picked for the team, in the first class format.

Ye i can see Pollard being a useful test player. Could be a similar attacking # 6 bat, like what Andrew Symonds was for AUS for a couple years.

But from next season the Windies will finally be having a long FC season like what AUS/ENG/SA has, so i'd like to see Pollard play a full season of 4-day cricket and score a few hundreds before he plays test.

Usually with the IPL messing up the Windies home domestic season more than any other nation, he usually plays a couple games for Trini then goes off to India.

 

[ferg512]

Kind of saw that one coming, whenever we are favoured we never perform well. Great knock again by Latham, McCullums form is a worry. First hour will be absolutely crucial, there is definitely a chance to run straight through them again.

 

[SpitfiresKent]

Great knock again by Latham

Yeah, Latham looks the real deal. I very good find for New Zealand.

McCullums form is a worry.

Really? You're very quick in forgetting his double & triple hundred against India not so long ago.

 

[Samuels]

Why Pollard is not picked for tests is beyond me.. He has a better record than almost every guy picked for the team, in the first class format.

Backwood has started his career well but to pick him now is very early. I think the selectors should have played the wait and watch game for at least a couple more years. Age is not a factor for him too so they can certainly afford to do that. Pollard probably misses out every now and then because of his image of a big hitter but the fact is he has been fairly consistent at the first class level and of late he has shown some temperament too. Apart from him, I don't know what wrong has Jason Mohammed has done to not to be picked in the final XI. He looked a different player altogether last season. Scoring hundreds and double hundreds. There is a maturity in his batting and he looks to have grown up as far as his cricket is concerned. He certainly deserves to play test matches for WI while being in red hot form that he is currently in.

 

[ferg512]

Really? You're very quick in forgetting his double & triple hundred against India not so long ago.

I'm not forgetting it, its just before that series his place as a batsman in the test side was being seriously questioned by many, his form was so bad. Hopefully he can pull something out for the 2nd innings because 28 runs in 3 innings is concerning.

 

[Haynes123]

I was very glad to see the back of Samuels, he has no pride or commitment, I think west indies have young fast bowlers but they need to be nurtured correctly like cummins, brathwaite, holder, Gabriel, johnson which can complement roach and taylor. However, the fast bowlers needs to be more aggressive. I see everywhere a lot of people say Rampaul must be picked, but he is so unfit he cant bowl more than 3 overs without looking totally exhausted.

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To be fair though who else is out there? The pool of quality players just seems so small to choose from. I know Narine would definitely be there but what else are they supposed to do in terms of batting?

I agree with you that the pool is much smaller but there is a few guys like S. Thomas, S ambris, J. Mohammed who has been making a few runs, the problem guys like samuels and powell although they have been dropped now was performing poorly but they were not dropped for a long time. they showed no commitment, and it has nothing to do with talent, they just lack discipline.

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If you pick a west indian team which is not included in this squad it shows that there is some players out there:

s. ambris, J. Mohammed, B. Nash, R. Sarwan, J. Carter, K. Pollard, C. Brathwaite, C. Walton, D. Bishoo, S. Narine, M. Cummins

 

[War]

Backwood has started his career well but to pick him now is very early. I think the selectors should have played the wait and watch game for at least a couple more years. Age is not a factor for him too so they can certainly afford to do that. Pollard probably misses out every now and then because of his image of a big hitter but the fact is he has been fairly consistent at the first class level and of late he has shown some temperament too. Apart from him, I don't know what wrong has Jason Mohammed has done to not to be picked in the final XI. He looked a different player altogether last season. Scoring hundreds and double hundreds. There is a maturity in his batting and he looks to have grown up as far as his cricket is concerned. He certainly deserves to play test matches for WI while being in red hot form that he is currently in.

Mohammed is talented batsman for sure, but I didn't his season was that red hot.

458 runs @ 38, with 1 hundred being a 220 & a 50. This was probably the best he has looked since he was player of the tournament in the 2011 super50 tournament.

But i didn't think his form demanded selection at all the moment, the windies selection didn't even pick him in current A-team games.

In perfect world & in stronger domestic competition like in ENG/AUS/SA, a player like Blackwood you might want to see him repeat this seasons performances. But that's not reality in windies cricket & he pretty much had to be picked.

I guess we will know if he his truly ready when he bats in this test.

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I was very glad to see the back of Samuels, he has no pride or commitment

Bit harsh on Samuels to say that, I just think he has lost form & thus had to be dropped.

 

[ferg512]

Really well played by both Bravo and Brathwaite, I can't really see how we get out of this one. Our attack just simply isn't good enough, Southee and Boult are world class but the rest is meh..

 

[War]

Really well played by both Bravo and Brathwaite, I can't really see how we get out of this one. Our attack just simply isn't good enough, Southee and Boult are world class but the rest is meh..

Is Vettori still part of NZ test cricket plans?

 

[Samuels]

Mohammed is talented batsman for sure, but I didn't his season was that red hot.

458 runs @ 38, with 1 hundred being a 220 & a 50. This was probably the best he has looked since he was player of the tournament in the 2011 super50 tournament.

But i didn't think his form demanded selection at all the moment, the windies selection didn't even pick him in current A-team games.

In perfect world & in stronger domestic competition like in ENG/AUS/SA, a player like Blackwood you might want to see him repeat this seasons performances. But that's not reality in windies cricket & he pretty much had to be picked.

I guess we will know if he his truly ready when he bats in this test.

Numbers aside, the way he played showed he has gathered a lot of confidence in his batting and got more shots and time to play them. He has certainly become a better player than what he was a couple of years back. Our cricketers do not score at an average of 60-70 per season anyway.

 

[SpitfiresKent]

Looks like War was right about Mark Craig 1 Test wonder.

 

[Haynes123]

Although Samuels has lost form, he didn't look interested, he did not look like he wants to be there, and that is my problem.

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Looks like War was right about Mark Craig 1 Test wonder.

Ye Craig looked very ordinary as he wasn't given the chance to find his feet, and with lack of variation he struggled, I think New Zealand made a huge mistake picking the line-up they did, they needed an extra fast bowler

 

[ferg512]

Is Vettori still part of NZ test cricket plans?

No, he really should just retire. Our spins bowling stocks are atrocious, how hard is it for these guys to bowl a spell without going at 5 an over?

 

[abhi_jacko]

Wow .. Windies actually have a chance of fluffing this up with the 50+ lead and rain in the air

Another 50-70 runs, with Windies trying to race against rain, and NZ might actually be able to pull off a miracle win