Well that XI that i picked was more looking ahead to the 2011 WC though, instead of the upcoming home season.
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.
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.
Wouldn't it be better to look towards the 2011 WC and beyond with a young talented batsman like Barath then Samuels. Like you said the middle order is weak and mocking the best middle order batsman into the opening spot wouldn't make much sense.
The biggest problem for the WI middle order is fitness and if everyone is fit then the middle order looks good.
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.
All I have to say is that Dave has proven that he can do it better then both Miller and Benn in the short version of the game. Be it domestic or international, I know that the domestic scene isnt the greatest but he has done better hen both of them. If they cant do it in the crappy WI domestic cricket they sure as hell arent going to do it at the international level.
Benn averages 35.5 in 20/20 cricket with a economy of 7.6, in ODIs he averages 71.5
:doh with a economy of 4.8. Hardly international team worth and hardly economical. In the crap domestic WI scene in one day cricket he averages 32, not good at all.
Like I said Dave is much better then both of em in one day cricket.
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.
Are you using the WI domestic competition to back up your claims for Benn while earlier saying that the competition is crap? If its not good enough to back up Dave its not good enough to back up Benn.
While Benn was good in the Stanford 20/20 Mohammed was much better (
Cricket Records | Records | Stanford 20/20, 2007/08 | Most wickets | Cricinfo.com)
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.
Dave Mohammed is more restrictive then both of them and can actually take wickets. Nikita is a bit more restrictive the Benn but still doesn't take wickets.
in this day and age the spinner is as much a strike bowler as any, wickets are needed always. If the WI want a restrictive spin bowler then just take Omari Banks and he can do that plus bat down the order and score some runs for the weak batting lineup.
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.
I disagree a good spinner is always needed these days. Amit is taking some wickets this year after struggling the last too but the leader is Imran Khan.
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.
The only ones that can play the spinners are Sarwan and Chanders, Bravo somewhat and Gayle just bashes what he sees.
