West Indies Tour of Australia 2010

[Dare]

Other then Pollard the pace bowlers were disappointing. Gayles horrendous tour is almost over.

 

[pcfan123]

Gayles horrendous tour is almost over.

Hey now, hey smashed the Prime Ministers XI :sarcasm

 

[Dare]

Hey now, hey smashed the Prime Ministers XI :sarcasm

For a guy that doesn't like tests he seems to be doing better in them then the ODIs.

It will be interesting what squad gets chose for the Zimbabwe series, I am not sure whos going to be back and healthy. Andre Fletcher is making runs in domestic cricket so Ramdin might be in a bit of trouble. Barath is back for T&T and he is making runs straight away, Darren Bravo also played his first game for T&T this year. Chanderpaul is also scoring runs for Guyana, Brathwaite is opening for Barbados so lost of options.

 

[aussie1st]

Hopefully Christan gets a game would like to see him take Birt spot with Smith up the order. Hauritz probably will get a game else it's a strange decision naming him.

 

[rocky_g]

What a boring season for Australia. One sided games. Australia are again getting to where they belong i.e at the top. The way they win close matches and their bench strength.

 

[War]

Presuming Lee comes back strong, last nights encounter is further proof why AUS should play all 4 150+ bowlers in the T20 WC. Opposition batsmen are going to find a hard time scoring runs.

 

[irottev]

Windies got smashed again. No surprises really. They're in the same bracket of One Day cricket as Pakistan and Bangladesh right now.

Really sucks how Gayle hasn't fired. Bollinger didn't even play this game.

I thought they kept the Aussies to a very good total after it looked like 200 was going to be set after the first 10 overs.

 

[War]

That is a big if, 2 years away from the top game isn't a small thing. He might have been playing club cricket while he was away but thats way below the standard these days.
I am all for giving him a chance but he needs to prove he deserves it first. He returns on May 9 which is 10 days before the 1st ODI against South Africa. The domestic competition will be over way before that and there would be nowhere for him to prove himself unless he gets a contract somewhere overseas.

Well that XI that i picked was more looking ahead to the 2011 WC though, instead of the upcoming home season.

Younger Bravo would be ahead of him based on the fact that he has been playing cricket for the past 2 years and showing what he can do and he is also 20 years old with a huge upside while we don't know where the almost 30 year old Samuels stands.

Fair enough. But as i said above, the squad & XI is with the 2011 WC mind. A Samuels back to his best should make the best XI.

Pollard has that spot locked up already, he has shown what he can do on this tour of Australia and it would be insane to take him out for a guy who was away for 2 years.
I honestly don't see a spot for Samuels other then the backup role or in case someone start failing.
When everyone is back and healthy the squad is set from 1-6.

As i said Pollard & Samuels (once back to his best) wont be battling for the same spot.

Gayle
C Paul
Sarwan
Samuels
Bravo
Pollard

So im not suggesting at all Pollard should be dropped. If Samuels on return doesn't step up then you can replace him with Barath & C'Paul can bat @#4.

No it doesn't thats why the WI have Miller and Benn playing ODI cricket. WI have got this thing completely reversed, Millers strength is the long format of the game not short and same goes for Benn.
Mohammed is far superior to them when it comes to one day cricket. Even in tests he would be better, Miller wasn't able to do anything against Bangladesh in the test that he played.

Have to disagree fundamentally my friend.

Miller strenght probably is the long format, but at the same time that doesn't mean he would be a great test bowler. Him averaging 18 in windies FC cricket competition is a joke & it more shows how bad the WI FC competition is - rather than giving a clear guide to which format Miller would be better in.

Based on seeing alot of Miller to date. He surely would have more effective in ODIs & T20s. He can be economical & is clever little bowler. Of course he is not the greatest, but i see far more use in him @ international level than Mohammed.

Mohammed regardless if he may have been bowling better in domestic cricket. Again i cant see him troubling international batsmen. Left-arm chinamen is hard art to master few bowlers in cricket history have ever done well in it - especially in ODIs, let alone tests. Mohammed definately isn't an international quality left-arm chinamen bowler.

No way are Benn and Miller better options then Mohammed. They got no variations just bowl the same length and line and hope for the best, Benn has that "faster ball" but thats about it.
Mohammed has what it takes to perform well in the One Day game, he has shown it in the Stanford clashes vs the English and did the same in the Champions league. If the WI are going to pick a spinner for the World 20/20 he should be the one.

But unfair to say Benn of Miller have no variations. They do. Both have clever change of pace & lenght, while as you said Benn as very good faster ball.

IIRC Benn was the best bowler in the 2nd edition of Standford T20 for Barbados in 2008, which was the reason he get into the Windies team ITFP.

I saw Mohammed bowling in Standford T20 & the CL & i was not impressed. For reasons already mention he shouldn't be near to the windies team in any format.

Its fine to be economical/restrictive but you also need to take wickets as well and both of them haven't done that often enough.

The thing with Benn or Miller their job in the ODI team mainly is to be restrictive, while chipping in with wickets here or there. They aren't of the quality of Vettori as a left-arm spinners, so it would be unfair to expect them to be major wicket-taking options.

In a full strenght Windies ODI bowling attack. The pace bowlers will be the main-wicket options, so Benn or Miller will just have to support them with tight bowling.

If in a situation the Windies quick bowlers restricting the opposition to 60 for 3 or something. I can definately see Miller or Benn coming on in the middle overs & bowling 10 overs for 30-40 runs & probably getting a couple wickets.

As I said before Mohammed has variations, good flight and he isn't afraid to go after the batsman or toss the ball up and get them out of their crease.

Even tho the WI domestic competition isn't anything special its still what players get selected on and Dave Mohammed is the best short form spinner in the Caribbean. If it aint Mohammed then it should be Veerasammy Permaul, a young kid who has been doing well for a couple of years. Benn and Miller arent one day material.

Or maybe given that the domestic competition is poor the best players in that poor competition may not be able to translate FC success to international cricket??

Look at Stuart Williams & Ryan Hinds. They where/have been dominant batsmen in windies domestic cricket, but everytime they get a chance for windies they look wayyyy short of international quality. Mohammed is the bowling version to them.

Big call on young Permaul that. Dont think he is all that good to be honest.

For test & ODIs/T20s Miller/Benn & Jaggernauth should the main spin options. But then again, i reckon in tests Windies probably dont need to play a spinner.

Yea I cant remember exactly but last year he averaged somewhere around 40, this year so far its 30. The first 7 leading wicket takers in domestic competition this year are all spinner averaging below 20 or just over.
I had high hopes for Jaggernauth too but after making his debut he hasn't done anything to stand out.

I always worry when i see spinners are doing well in Windies domestic cricket. Batsmen in the caribbean play spin so poorly. Its "Block or slog mode", nothing in between - so spinners tend seem better than they actually are.

 

[Robelinda]

Another decade goes by with WI not being competitive, the last 3 tours here have been abysmal.

 

[aussie1st]

If only they got their best side together. When Dwayne Smith is your quickest bowler you know you got problems.

 

[drainpipe32]

Another decade goes by with WI not being competitive, the last 3 tours here have been abysmal.

There have been a heap of individual performances, but no team efforts.

 

[Robelinda]

You expect some individual performances, but so what. Its a whole lot worse seeing a team just fail game after game, even if one or two players have done well. This whole summer has been one big fail.

 

[drainpipe32]

They were decent in the tests, but never looked like closing out a game. Apparently because of a lack of recent victories.

Lmao, the commentators said this about 1000 times.

 

[aussie1st]

Australia (possible) 1 Shane Watson, 2 David Warner, 3 Michael Clarke (capt), 4 David Hussey, 5 Cameron White, 6 Brad Haddin (wk), 7 Daniel Christian, 8 Steven Smith, 9 Ryan Harris, 10 Dirk Nannes, 11 Shaun Tait.

West Indies (possible) 1 Chris Gayle (capt), 2 Lendl Simmons, 3 Narsingh Deonarine, 4 Kieron Pollard, 5 Wavell Hinds, 6 Dwayne Smith, 7 Runako Morton, 8 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 9 Darren Sammy, 10 Nikita Miller, 11 Kemar Roach.

Australia chase unbeaten summer with final Twenty20 against West Indies | Cricket News | Australia v West Indies 2009/10 | Cricinfo.com

I hope that's how we go in. Makes no sense bringing Christian in and not giving him a go.

 

[Robelinda]

Christian has to play, he's a bit loose with his bowling- expect him to get hit around a little, but his batting is powerful, exciting player for sure.