Not even a surprising decision by a third umpire prepared to ignore the evidence provided by Hot Spot, and so the review system, could take the gloss off a superb chase by the West Indies or a deserved victory by Australia. The West Indians can be proud of their performance. In times past they were granted five-match series but their stocks have fallen and they stand near the bottom of the rankings.

On the face of it, a 2-0 defeat has not significantly improved their reputation but the result conceals a substantial improvement reflected in sharper fielding, improved running between wickets and more committed lower-order batting. Lazy habits had taken hold and the basics had been neglected. Now a healthier culture has developed. The players looked like cricketers and performed with their hearts and heads. As much could be told from Kemar Roach and Gavin Tonge’s audacious and ill-starred last-wicket thrust.

Twice in the series the touring team came back from cricketing death. Further humiliations were feared after their heavy defeat at the Gabba. Instead, the visitors stirred sufficiently to shake up the hosts in Adelaide.

Heavy defeat was likewise expected after the tourists fell 208 behind in the first innings in Perth. Instead, the West Indies skittled Australia for a paltry total and chased with such grit that at one stage their chances of taking the spoils were put at 3-1. In the end they fell short but they went down fighting.

Numerous members of a hitherto mostly anonymous outfit made their marks. Hardly any of them had previously toured Australia. Roach’s sizzling pace, Sulieman Benn’s stilted legs and climbing tweakers, Adrian Barath’s daring strokeplay and bright fielding, Dwayne Bravo’s skills and gusto, Narsingh Deonarine’s pluck, Travis Dowlin’s grit and Denesh Ramdin’s promise all attracted high praise. The West Indies can build around these players. Australia have lost some lustre but remain hard to conquer. These blokes had a good crack at it.

Chris Gayle deserves credit for the awakening of his side. Plain and simple, he saved the series. Beforehand his leadership had been questioned, not least hereabouts. The criticisms Read more…

Administrator Australia, West Indies Adelaide, Adrian Barath, Australia, Blogs.CMDN.com, Brisbane, Cardiff, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, Denesh Ramdin, Dwayne Bravo, England, Fidel Edwards, Gabba, Gavin Tonge, India, Jerome Taylor, Marcus North, Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Narsingh Deonarine, New Zealand, Pakistan, Perth, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Ricky Ponting, Simon Katich, South Africa, Sri Lanka, WACA

NOT so long ago it hardly seemed possible that West Indian cricket could sink any deeper into chaos and calumny. Allan Stanford had been exposed as an impostor and fraud, and all past payers who clung to his coat-tails were revealed as fools. Captain Chris Gayle had shown such little regard for his prestigious position that he had delayed to the last instant his return from his IPL lolly-collecting in South Africa to join his players as they prepared for a Test series in England. His contempt for his responsibilities and for Test cricket was matched only by his selfishness. Money does not talk, it swears.

Inevitably a half-interested West Indian side came a cropper. By all accounts the attitude of the players was abject. Admittedly it was cold, but that hardly offers an excuse. In any case, how dare these pampered young men treat their game, their supporters and their opponents with such disdain? Who raised them? Who told them it was OK to act this way? And with every idle stroke and baleful look they betrayed the legacy of Frank Worrell, CLR James, George Headley and the other, many, great men of West Indian cricket.

No, it did not seem possible that the West Indies could sink any lower. Now and then the optimists among us, whose numbers do not include regular observers close to the action, think the worst has passed, that West Indies have turned the corner, better days lie ahead, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and all the other clichés of hope. And on every occasion the dunderheads in charge and the administration prove us wrong. Well, no more. To hell with West Indian cricket. Break it up, let them play as individual nations. They are not worth the trouble.

Far from sorting out their differences in an adult manner, and in a way calculated to do as little harm as possible to the game at large and in their own backyard, the game they supposedly love, the game that has enriched them, the top West Indian players and management Read more…

Administrator West Indies Barbados, Blogs.CMDN.com, Champions Trophy, Chris Gayle, CLR James, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, Dwayne Bravo, Fidel Edwards, Frank Worrell, George Headley, Guyana, IPL, Jamaica, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Trinidad

For a few fleeting hours in Grenada, Captain Shakib Al Hasan may well have been the doppelganger of Captain Jack Sparrow, the charismatic, happy-go-lucky pirate from the Disney movie. Impetuous, sharp and overall just scratch-your-head-pump-your-fist brilliant, Shakib revelled in the role of captain and truly established himself as the Pirate of the Caribbean.

But if Shakib played with the ease, class and nonchalance of a pirate captain navigating favored seas, Rokibul proved the perfect foil. He was an able first mate to Shakib and negotiated calmly the stormy weather Bangladesh faced at 67-4 in the second innings. It may be easy to forget but the young Rokibul was the second highest scorer in both innings and was as important to the second Test victory as his more illustrious counterpart.

And so the celebrations overtake us. Sweets are exchanged, backs slapped and a first-ever series victory, no, a first-ever series whitewash is celebrated with the enthusiasm it deserves.

However, as any good lawyer will tell you: read the fine print. And the fine print is this that despite our wonderful victory, which we shall savour till time out of mind, it was Read more…

Administrator Bangladesh Bangladesh, Caribbean, Chris Gayle, Darren Powell, Fidel Edwards, Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal

National anthems were played before each match at the recent Cricket 20/20 World Cup. Englishmen sang along to ‘God Save the Queen’ and Australians to ‘Advance Australia Fair’. For the West Indies, it was ‘Rally Round the West Indies’.

So there was the intriguing spectacle of players standing at attention to the ‘national anthem’ of an imagined country that exists only in the minds of cricket fans - ‘Rally, rally round the West Indies/now and forever’. Intellectuals interact through UWI, and Caricom brings politicians in contact. But the common Jamaican’s only real exposure to the wider Caribbean is cricket. Few can name the Prime Minister of Trinidad, Barbados, Antigua or Guyana. But almost everyone knows about Brian Lara, Garfield Sobers, Viv Richards and Shiv Chanderpaul. The West Indies Captain is still the region’s most iconic figure. Chris Gayle is far better known in Trinidad or Barbados than Bruce Golding.

Cricket lovers may exaggerate the importance of this ‘West Indian’ identity. We’re only talking about 5 million people here. But anything that peacefully binds together otherwise far flung nations, must be a force for good.

It’s a curious thing, ‘Westindianness’. When the Trinidad and Jamaica football teams face off, fans taunt each other and abuse opposing players. Put those same spectators together to watch the West Indies, and they hug each other with joy at each West Indian triumph, no matter if it was Yardies or Trinis or Bajans responsible. Read more…

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WHEN you tune in to the Ashes this week here’s something quirky to watch for - the Red Bull run.

England’s top batsman Kevin Pietersen is hyperactive at the best of times but he becomes even more so when he throws down a can of caffeine-infused Red Bull just before he bats.

He does it to give an electric edge to his senses and, as a consequence, often has a slightly manic appearance about him when he arrives at the crease.

That, in turn, can prompt him to set off for death or glory singles to get off the mark - the Red Bull run as it has been dubbed in England.

The Australian side is aware of this little foible, and so they should be.

Getting Pietersen early - in any way possible - is the key to winning the series. If he averages under 35 it will be a torpedo midship to England’s hopes of taking the urn. Read more…

Administrator Ashes Achilles, Australian, Blogs.CMDN.com, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, England, Fidel Edwards, Jerome Taylor, Jessica Taylor, John Etheridge, Kevin Pietersen, Red Bull, St Kitts, West Indies