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The Golden Isles - A Third Time Lucky West Indies Story

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  • Team News for Ireland Match (18/3/15)

    The results elsewhere in the group mean that if we win this match, we will finish 3rd in the group, with our likely quarter-final opponents to be the so far impressive Australia. If we lose, we will most likely finish 4th and face 5-from-5 Bangladesh, but we can't take the risk of losing on purpose and facing a weaker opponent, as New Zealand thrashing Kenya would see us fail to qualify. As far as team news goes, a spinning wicket sees us playing 3 spinners, with Shane Burton dropping out and the lower order batting looking distinctly out of touch, despite their individual capabilities.

    Ireland West Indies
    E. Joyce A. Barath
    N. O'Brien (K) L. Simmons (C) (K)
    A. White D. Bravo
    P. Stirling K. Pollard
    H. Marshall M. Paul
    A. Cusack M. Alford
    W. Porterfield (C) K. Stoute
    K. O'Brien R. Hinds
    G. Dockrell I. Khan
    T. Murtagh C. Brathwaite
    B. Rankin S. Narine

    Ireland have a more sensible balance to their side, with 3 bowlers and 3 all-rounders, although Paul Stirling's off-spinners are a rare sight. The classy opener Ed Joyce is their man in form with the bat. We win the toss once more, and again try out our batting first tactic. After the match, I'll give a full run down of all group results, the quarter-final line-up, and my predictions.

    Comment


    • A much easier victory against a much worse side than us.



      We made a good start with our opening partnership of 77, although Simmons only made 29 from 60 balls as he really struggled. One run after he'd fallen, Barath went for 48 from 41, and we were starting from 2 new batsmen again. Bravo made 11 from 9, and Paul left for 13 from 11 as our top order crumbled to 115/4 and we stared another tough associate match in the face. Mike Alford, however, came out at number 6, and was remarkable. At times, Pollard at the other end was struggling to put bat to ball, but MA kept on striking, with a very good strike rate against, admittedly sub-standard opposition. Pollard got bowled by Rankin eventually for 68 from 87, and after Stoute had a golden duck chalked up, Hinds ran out Alford, which was probably the only way he was going to get out! 72 from 59 balls, a very good effort, and hopefully a sign of things to come in ODI cricket for him. The tail crumbled even further, and we stumbled to 267 and wasted an over.

      We made a good start on the bowling front though. Joyce was his usual classy self, but O'Brien and White were removed to make it 25/2, and Paul Stirling was tripped up by the early inclusion of spin. Joyce fell trying to thwack Narine for four, and despite Hamish Marshall offering further resistance, no-one could stay with him long enough to make it a likely winning cause. The combined figures of the 3 spinners used were 21.4-1-90-8. Not bad averages.

      Batting Award Mike Alford - The top score at the best strike rate. Truly a talent.
      Bowling Award Hinds/Narine - Both took vital wickets and had similar economies.
      Opposition Key Player Watch George Dockrell - 10 overs, 2/48. Decent figures for the spinner, but he'd have wanted more.

      Comment


      • Let's just jump right in and complete those group fixtures and tables for World Cup 2015.

        Group A

        • England beat Sri Lanka by 1 wicket (Mathews 77, Stamp 5/46, Wijesena 4/35, Kulasekara 3/55)
        • New Zealand beat Ireland by 149 runs (Guptill 73, McCullum 103, Williamson 54, Banks 3/12, Boult 3/46)
        • South Africa beat Kenya by 7 wickets (Philander 4/37, Smith 88*, de Villiers 69)
        • England beat the West Indies by 57 runs (Morgan 92, Bresnan 3/47)
        • South Africa beat Ireland by 6 wickets (Joyce 75, Pienaar 3/47, McClaren 3/28, Smith 71*, Wilson 51)
        • England beat Kenya by 7 wickets (Patel 65, Obanda 55, Bresnan 4/38, Clare 5/41, Morgan 101*, Stokes 105*)
        • West Indies beat Sri Lanka by 24 runs (Soysa 3/29, Serasinghe 3/39, McClean 3/49)
        • South Africa beat New Zealand by 109 runs (Wilson 60, de Villiers 53, Amla 59*, Steyn 3/28, Philander 3/38)
        • Kenya beat Ireland by 123 runs (Patel 62, Obanda 100, K. O'Brien 3/42, Rankin 4/70, Varaiya 4/17)
        • England beat South Africa by 1 wicket (Wilson 68, Bresnan 3/39, Cook 56, Philander 3/33)
        • Sri Lanka beat Ireland by 186 runs (Chandimal 90, K. O'Brien 3/55, Kulasekara 5/21)
        • West Indies beat New Zealand by 175 runs (Barath 80, Pollard 91*, Bracewell 4/72, Brathwaite 4/43, Stoute 3/18)
        • Sri Lanka beat Kenya by 124 runs (Maneshan 80, Mathews 58, Chandimal 51, Obuya 3/53, Saman 5/19)
        • South Africa beat the West Indies by 7 wickets (Simmons 67, Pollard 89*, de Kock 138*, Duminy 121*)
        • England beat Ireland by 5 wickets (Stirling 83, Stamp 4/51, Morgan 102*, Stamp 55*, O'Brien 3/53)
        • Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by 98 runs (Perera 57, Serasinghe 62, Soysa 3/25, Serasinghe 3/41, Saman 3/43)
        • West Indies beat Kenya by 4 runs (Patel 3/16, Patel 77, Stoute 5/29, Brathwaite 3/44)
        • New Zealand beat England by 7 wickets (Stokes 86, Stamp 52*, Guptill 53, Williamson 100)
        • South Africa beat Sri Lanka by 73 runs (de Villiers 85, Kulasekara 4/49, Steyn 4/32, Pienaar 3/60)
        • West Indies beat Ireland by 94 runs (Pollard 68, Alford 72, Rankin 5/46, Hinds 4/33, Narine 3/35)
        • New Zealand beat Kenya by 7 wickets (Franklin 4/38, de Grandhomme 3/40, Guptill 66, McCullum 59)


        So the final Group A table is...

        Position Team Played Won Lost Points
        1 South Africa 6 5 1 10
        2 England 6 5 1 10
        3 West Indies 6 4 2 8
        4 Sri Lanka 6 3 3 6
        5 New Zealand 6 3 3 6
        6 Kenya 6 1 5 2
        7 Ireland 6 0 6 0
        And so Sri Lanka are the fourth qualifiers from Group A, by way of having a far superior net run rate to that owned by New Zealand. South Africa take the all important top spot.

        Group B


        • Australia beat Pakistan by 87 runs (Watson 109, Hussey 94, Alam 106, Jaffar 57, Siddle 6/61)
        • Zimbabwe beat the Netherlands by 7 wickets (ten Doeschate 66*, Cremer 3/47, Chapungu 50, Taylor 100*)
        • India beat the UAE by 7 wickets (Kazmi 68, Ali 51, Kumar 4/35, Jadeja 4/39, Menaria 50*)
        • Bangladesh beat Australia by 108 runs (Tamim 79, Mahmud 6/13)
        • India beat the Netherlands by 7 runs (Mukund 57, ten Doeschate 3/49, Borren 3/43, Diepeveen 81)
        • Australia beat the UAE by 141 runs (Watson 60, Cooper 50, Raza 3/48, Hanif 3/73)
        • Bangladesh beat Pakistan by 7 wickets (Shehzad 54, Jamshed 66, Mahmud 3/44, Islam 108*)
        • Zimbabwe beat India by 32 runs (Kidwell 60, Kumar 3/41, Jadeja 3/56, Kohli 50, Pathan 60*, Madziva 4/63, Cremer 3/15)
        • The Netherlands beat the UAE by 52 runs (de Grooth 90, Asif 3/35, Kazmi 74)
        • Australia beat India by 8 wickets (Kohli 83, Jadeja 69, Siddle 4/48, Warner 160*)
        • Pakistan beat the Netherlands by 5 wickets (Hafeez 4/37, Afridi 3/18, Shehzad 54)
        • Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe by 103 runs (Nafees 121, Shakib 50, Madziva 3/50, Taylor 55, Mahmud 3/53, Shuvo 3/10)
        • Pakistan beat the UAE by 8 wickets (Kazmi 75, Afridi 3/60, Shehzad 95, Alam 88*)
        • Bangladesh beat India by 40 runs (Tamim 111, Mukund 53, Mahmud 4/38)
        • Australia beat the Netherlands by 6 wickets (Pattinson 3/31, Siddle 3/24)
        • Pakistan beat Zimbabwe by 92 runs (Shehzad 56, Jamshed 106, Shafiq 56*, Chigumbura 4/35, Sibanda 65, Hafeez 5/28, Tanvir 3/37)
        • Bangladesh beat the UAE by 97 runs (Mahmudullah 117*, Reza 52, Butt 4/85, Butt 61*, Sunny 5/51)
        • Zimbabwe beat Australia by 1 wicket (Warner 52, Cremer 4/66, Taylor 64)
        • India beat Pakistan by 90 runs (Menaria 61, Afridi 3/55, Kumar 4/17, David 3/42)
        • Bangladesh beat the Netherlands by 7 wickets (Shakib 4/18)
        • Zimbabwe beat the UAE by 103 runs (Chigumbura 52, Raza 4/35, de Villiers 3/26, Cremer 3/11)


        Which sees the final Group B table lie like this...

        Position Team Played Won Lost Points
        1 Bangladesh 6 6 0 12
        2 Australia 6 4 2 8
        3 Zimbabwe 6 4 2 8
        4 India 6 3 3 6
        5 Pakistan 6 3 3 6
        6 Netherlands 6 1 5 2
        7 UAE 6 0 6 0
        And Pakistan miss out on a quarter-final spot... on Net Run Rate. To India. Ouch. That's going to hurt.

        Quarter-Finals

        The matches to be played therefore are...

        South Africa vs. India
        England vs. Zimbabwe
        Australia vs. West Indies
        Bangladesh vs. Sri Lanka

        South Africa/India looks tasty to me, and our game with the Aussies will be a close-run thing as well. England take on the resurgent Zimbabwe but should close out a victory, and the over-performing Bangladesh meet Sri Lanka, who've basically been as good as expected. Not very, but competent enough. The winners of the first two play each other, as with the second two. If we can beat the green and gold, we stand a good chance of a run at least to the final! Team News for that match and quick summary of first two semis tomorrow.

        EDIT - Due to the forum downtime on the 20th, the quarter-final with Australia will be played immediately, without a team news post. There are no team changes from the Ireland match, with 3 spinners looking to constrict Australia. Their team is Warner, Watson (C), Cooper, Hussey, Smith, Paine (K), Ferguson, Cutting, Coulter-Nile (on début), Siddle and Pattinson. News from the middle is that we've won the toss and chosen to bat first once more.

        Last edited by Imager36; 09-21-2012, 05:51 PM.

        Comment


        • If they'd won this, I'd have been sick. They didn't though, so it's all good.



          We made a slow start, and when Simmons fell for 1 in the 6th over we were only 9/1. Barath began to accelerate at this point though, and Darren joined him and got himself in. He was on 22 from 40 balls, but he really started to push on after that, and when Barath fell for 47 from 71 after a partnership of 74, he kept his rate up. Pollard was next in, but was not his explosive best, struggling to pierce the infield, but occupying the crease for long enough to put on 96 with Darren, most of them scored by Bravo himself. Kieron was eventually out for 33 from 47, LBW trying to smash it into next week like he so often does. Bravo almost reached a century alongside Paul, but he fell 3 runs short, 97 from 100 balls, 11 fours and 2 sixes, an innings that almost certainly decided the match. A collapse seemed to throw away that start though, as we fell from 196/3 to 227/8, with Alford being run out after running out Paul, and Hinds and Khan both falling cheaply. With only Narine to come, Stoute and Brathwaite started cautiously, but soon hit their stride, and put on a rapid 38, with Carlos falling to the last ball of the innings for 23 from 14, and Stoute not out with a run-a-ball 21.

          We started very well in reply. Warner was caught off Brathwaite in the first over, and Watson and Cooper were removed soon after by Stoute to leave them 34/3. Hussey and Smith struggled to get the ball away, and both soon fell to leave the Aussies 70/5 and reeling a little. The comeback was on though. Paine put on 77 with Ferguson, milking the spinners, and then 49 with Ben Cutting to take Australia to 196/6 and threatening. Luckily, we reduced them to 199/9 and the game was as good as over. Ha. Ha. Ha. Of course not, they never go down without a fight. Ben Cutting hit 60* from 52 balls, and James Pattinson got 27 from 23, creating some incredibly tense moments here in the West Indies, before he spooned one up to Alford off Brathwaite with the run rate required well under 4, and only 9 runs required for victory. Ha. Ha. Ha.

          Batting Award Darren Bravo - Without him we'd have been lost. Brilliant knock from the young man with so much talent and responsibility.
          Bowling Award Imran Khan - Due to my unflinching faith in Narine, only got to bowl 7 overs, but his figures of 3/33 were the best, and Hussey, Smith and Paine were key wickets.
          Opposition Key Player Watch Peter Siddle - 10 overs, 1/48. Not terrible. Not brilliant.

          Comment


          • With our Semi-final place secured, let's take a little look around and see who'll be joining us in the last 4...

            India beat South Africa by 39 runs (Raina 52, Jadeja 84, Steyn 4/44, Smith 54, de Villiers 51, Pathan 3/30, Yadav 3/28)
            Look away now South Africans! 5 wins out of 6 in the group stage, thrashed our score of 295, can't match up to India's paltry 215. And the size of their choke would have killed most teams. India were 62/4 at one stage, but Raina and Jadeja rebuilt well, and whilst SA dispatched with the tail quickly enough to make the total definitely gettable, they were once again found wanting in the batting department. And make no mistake, this was a choke. Their innings was a reverse. Smith and ABdV put on a mammoth 93 partnership after Wilson fell early to take them over halfway to victory. They were 111/2 when ABdV fell. Amla put up resistance with 29*, but QdK and Duminy fell for 3 between them, and numbers 8 through 11 put on only 14 between them to see the Saffers fall 40 runs short of their victory target. Better luck next time, boys.

            England beat Zimabwe by 154 runs (Cook 74, Bell 88, Chigumbura 4/81, Bresnan 4/18)

            The most regulation of quarter-finals for Group A runners up England, and as soon as Cook had Bell had opened up with an opening partnership of 162, the game was pretty much over. Morgan and Fortune added late order runs, but the result was by then almost a formality, as Tim Bresnan and pals came out to destroy the Zimbas top order and leave them 27/4 at one point. Stamp nabbed a couple of wickets too, and Woakes got the brilliant figures of 2/2. It was all over in 26.4 overs. At least they didn't leave them to suffer. India/England could be an enthralling semi-final.

            Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by 1 run (Maneshan 98, Faumi 69, Shuvo 4/64, Shakib 3/47, Tamim 51, Ghosh 62, Soysa 3/36, Saman 3/65)

            Pretty brilliant quarter final here. Unbeaten Bangladesh get beaten by 4th placed in Group A, Sri Lanka, and it was another 10th wicket partnership that almost rescued a desperate situation for the Bangladeshis. Maneshan was earlier excellent as the Sri Lankan openers put on 113 together and made 266, and with Bangladesh at 218/9 with last man Mahmud walking in, must have felt they had the game. Shuvo opened up though, carving most of the last wicket partnership of 47, and falling desperately close to the victory target, with only 2 runs required from 17 balls when he spooned one up to Mathews off Thilak Soysa. Cue Sri Lankan relief. Cue Sri Lanka/West Indies semi-final.

            For the match report of the group stage match between Sri Lanka and the West Indies, click here. For the line-ups for that match, click here instead.

            Comment



            • Team News for Sri Lanka Semi-Final (28/3/15)

              So. Here we are. 7 matches we've played in this World Cup so far. The tight (Kenya), the sublime (Australia) and the ridiculous (South Africa). And now just one more match until the final. But to get there, we must pass the tricky test who are Sri Lanka. They've won 4 and lost 3 to this point, one of the losses being against us, where we won by 24 runs. A combined bowling effort and Lendl Simmons' 48 on a bad pitch were our heroes on that day. We stick with the same team we played against Ireland and Australia.

              Sri Lanka West Indies
              G. Maneshan A. Barath
              I. Faumi L. Simmons (C) (K)
              A. Mathews (C) D. Bravo
              D. Chandimal (K) K. Pollard
              S. Serasinghe M. Paul
              A. Perera M. Alford
              R. Silva K. Stoute
              S. Saman R. Hinds
              K. Kulasekara I. Khan
              T. Soysa C. Brathwaite
              J. Wijesena S. Narine

              Sri Lanka make one change from when they last played us, as Saman replaces Irfan in the bowling department, but make an arguably more dangerous change in the batting order, where Faumi (averaging over 41 in ODIs) opens the batting, and the worse-scoring Perera drops down to number 6. The pitch looks an absolute belter, and we're going to be getting first use of it, as despite losing the toss, we've been put in to bat first. Wish us/me luck!

              Comment


              • We only went and did it! It was tight, but we were deserved winners.



                Batting first, we compiled a decent score. We were only 26/1 after 10 overs, with Simmons being out for 8 from 20 balls, but Darren Bravo came in and picked up where he had left off in the previous game. Barath soon went back to the hutch for 21 from 42 balls, a slow innings which was ended before it could speed up. Kieron Pollard came in, and as a man who needs no invitation to up the pace of an innings, duly upped the pace of the innings. He and DB put on 69 together to take us to 127 in 30 overs, and they had set the base for a good push toward the end of the innings. DB's 53 came from 75 balls. Pollard then attacked further, before he was out for 54 from 68 balls, and it was left to Mike Paul to be our finisher. He put on 50 with Mike Alford before Alford went for 23 from 27, and put on 27 with Stoute (8) before he was out for 65 from 47 balls. Exactly what was needed. Hinds and Khan were also out cheaply, but Brathwaite got 13 from 6 at the death to take us well over the 250 mark.

                Again, we got an early wicket. Faumi went for 1 to Brathwaite, but after that they were harder to come by. Alford got rid of Mathews, but Chandimal and Maneshan were menacing. They took them up to 101/2, but after they'd crumbled to 139/5 with wickets for all the spinners, we felt in control. Of course, we were forgetting that they had a specialist batsman at number 7, and after Silva had put on 49 with Chandimal, the required run rate was well over 6. Unfortunately, our death bowlers were all expensive. Fortunately, Stoute took the 3 wickets at the other end that meant we won despite Silva.

                Batting Award Mike Paul - It felt like just a cameo, but he was our top scorer. Good innings, my son.
                Bowling Award Sunil Narine - It's been a while, but 3/30 from 10 overs makes him a cert for this.
                Opposition Key Player Watch Janith Wijesena - 5/35 from 10 overs. The guy's 19 and in a World Cup Semi. Wow.
                Okay, so that just leaves us wondering what happened in the other semi-final, i.e. who we'll be facing in the final... well this is what happened.

                England beat India by 5 wickets (Kohli 59, Broad 4/37, Woakes 3/20, Cook 66)

                It was a very easy victory for England in the end, I'm afraid. They bowled India out for 173 inside the 50 over limit, and despite people getting out when they batted too, batting second was a distinct advantage, as knowing what they had to chase, they did it in 37.5 overs. I think we're going to be hard pushed to push them hard in the final. At the start of the tournament I predicted us as runners up to India, and England as losing semi-finalists. Never mind.

                Tomorrow is a big day and will include the World Cup final 2015. If you're so inclined/bored, take a look at the teams in the group stage match, or the group stage match itself. Their seamers were too good for us.
                Last edited by Imager36; 09-22-2012, 02:32 PM.

                Comment


                • Team News for World Cup Final against England (30/3/2015)


                  On a good pitch, on a baking hot Australian day, we see no reason to change any part of the team that won us our last 3 matches. The bowlers have all been good in this World Cup run, especially the gambles for the squad Stoute and Carlos Brathwaite. Pollard has 411 runs in the 8 innings he's played, leading the way for our team, over 100 ahead of Darren Bravo, who's next. The England bowling is strong, and the temptation to play a 6th batsman was great, but Imran Khan keeps his place, and the lower order could do with being in sharp batting form.

                  England West Indies
                  A. Cook (C) A. Barath
                  I. Bell L. Simmons (C) (K)
                  E. Morgan D. Bravo
                  M. Spence K. Pollard
                  B. Stokes M. Paul
                  C. Kieswetter (K) M. Alford
                  I. Stamp K. Stoute
                  T. Bresnan R. Hinds
                  C. Woakes I. Khan
                  S. Broad C. Brathwaite
                  J. Clare S. Narine

                  England make only one change from when they played us in the group stage. The out of luck Fortune is replaced by Spence in the middle order. An all-pace bowling attack means we will have no opportunity to milk the spinners. We lost the final toss of the season, and we were told to bat by Alastair Cook. Eoin Morgan is averaging over 90 for them in this World Cup. Bugger. WISH ME LUCK!

                  Comment


                  • As soon as I knew who my opponents were, I knew what the result would be.



                    It's heartbreaking, isn't it? We batted pretty well, in almost exactly the same style as usual. We lost one opener, but the other plodded on regardless, but slowly. Darren Bravo played well at a strike rate just above 70, as did Pollard, to set a platform for guys to hit out at the other end. Pollard was there for most of it, as Paul hit 39 from 25 and Alford got 33 from 21, but he failed to capitalise, preferring to rotate the strike rather. Then he got out, leaving it to Stoute, Khan and Hinds, who didn't get as many as they should have.

                    I expected it to be tight, but in reality, 13 balls free shows they made light work of our target. We got Bell early, but Cook, Morgan and Spence ensured the situation wasn't nervy in any way, and even after the last two both got out to Khan to give us a sniff, Bedwetter and Stamp put on 42 in partnership to take their team almost to victory, and their first Cricket World Cup ever. Shame. I would have liked a trophy.

                    Batting Award Kieron Pollard - I'd like to not give it to him, but he did score most runs. :/
                    Bowling Award Imran Khan - 3/45, finishes a good first year for him in ODI cricket.
                    Opposition Key Player Watch Ian Stamp - 10 overs 0/64, we countered their key with some powerful hitting!

                    Comment


                    • Originally posted by Imager36 View Post

                      India beat South Africa by 39 runs (Raina 52, Jadeja 84, Steyn 4/44, Smith 54, de Villiers 51, Pathan 3/30, Yadav 3/28)
                      Look away now South Africans! 5 wins out of 6 in the group stage, thrashed our score of 295, can't match up to India's paltry 215. And the size of their choke would have killed most teams. India were 62/4 at one stage, but Raina and Jadeja rebuilt well, and whilst SA dispatched with the tail quickly enough to make the total definitely gettable, they were once again found wanting in the batting department. And make no mistake, this was a choke. Their innings was a reverse. Smith and ABdV put on a mammoth 93 partnership after Wilson fell early to take them over halfway to victory. They were 111/2 when ABdV fell. Amla put up resistance with 29*, but QdK and Duminy fell for 3 between them, and numbers 8 through 11 put on only 14 between them to see the Saffers fall 40 runs short of their victory target. Better luck next time, boys.
                      SA choke again but great job in making the final

                      Comment


                      • Season Summary 2014/15

                        New Zealand - Home


                        3 Tests - Lost 2-1
                        5 ODIs - Won 3-2
                        2 T20Is - Lost 2-0

                        As I said in the preview for this season, New Zealand have been doing surprisingly well on the game since I thrashed them in year one, and we put up a strong fight against a strong team in these 10 matches. The ODI series win was good to keep 2 of the 6 ranking points we had from them!

                        Bangladesh - Home

                        2 Tests - Drew 1-1
                        3 ODIs - Won 2-1
                        2 T20Is - Won 2-0

                        After a dreadful start to the tour, we pulled it back and gained a total of 3 ranking points on the tour. Well played matches, a good series overall.

                        India - Away

                        3 Tests - Drew 1-1
                        5 ODIs - Lost 3-2
                        2 T20Is - Drew 1-1

                        A sign of things to come was in India. We won the first test, and despite them thrashing us in the third, we'd gained a ranking point. We lost a close-fought ODI series, but won the first T20I to secure us one more point for that table.

                        South Africa - Away

                        2 Tests - Won 1-0
                        3 ODIs - Won 2-1
                        2 T20Is - Drew 1-1

                        A tour that could not have been much better. A surprising test series win, followed by a surprise ODI series win, followed by a surprising T20I win, after which we were in no fit state to win the second one as well. 4 ranking points gained, all told.

                        World Cup in Australia and New Zealand

                        Runners Up to England

                        We had a good run, and whilst second place was my heartbreaking prediction, I was prepared to accept just making it through the tough group stage. Well done us.

                        Next up, everyone's favourite post... it's the total statistical review.

                        Comment


                        • 2014/15 Season Review

                          It always starts with a look at the tables.


                          April 2014



                          April 2015


                          Again, that felt like a really good season, but in terms of tables we move almost nowhere. I think that New Zealand start rather did for us! Now, of course, come the

                          Self-Awarded Award Awards!

                          Minimum 2 Awards.

                          Test - Batting

                          Ramnaresh Sarwan - 3

                          Shane Burton - 2

                          Test - Bowling

                          Kevin McClean - 3
                          Darren Sammy - 3

                          ODI - Batting

                          Mike Alford - 5
                          Mike Paul - 5
                          Kieron Pollard - 5
                          Lendl Simmons - 4
                          Darren Bravo - 3
                          Ryan Hinds - 2
                          Shane Burton - 2

                          ODI - Bowling

                          Sunil Narine - 6
                          Imran Khan - 6
                          Mike Alford - 5
                          Ryan Hinds - 5
                          Kevin Stoute - 3

                          T20I - Batting

                          Kieron Pollard - 3
                          Darren Bravo - 2
                          Lendl Simmons - 2

                          T20I - Bowling

                          Sunil Narine - 4
                          Imran Khan - 3

                          That's just brilliant, isn't it? Basically, we played loads of ODIs and not much of anything else at all! Again, top 5 West Indians in every rankings list!

                          World Rankings

                          Test - Batting

                          1st - AB de Villiers - 904
                          5th - Ramnaresh Sarwan - 807
                          9th - Shiv Chanderpaul (R) - 733
                          10th - Darren Bravo - 732
                          13th - Mike Alford - 718
                          14th - Kirk Edwards - 718

                          Test - Bowling

                          1st - Steven Finn - 1070
                          20th - Darren Sammy - 691
                          29th - Sunil Narine - 587
                          31st - Kevin McClean - 572
                          38th - Imran Khan - 521
                          42nd - Devendra Bishoo - 509

                          ODI - Batting

                          1st - AB de Villiers - 846
                          2nd - Kieron Pollard - 841
                          3rd - Darren Bravo - 831
                          26th - Mike Paul - 541
                          27th - Lendl Simmons - 537
                          42nd - Mike Alford - 434

                          ODI - Bowling

                          1st - Peter Siddle - 968
                          14th - Sunil Narine - 683
                          30th - Andre Russell - 564
                          38th - Kevin Stoute - 517
                          40th - Imran Khan - 516
                          42nd - Nelon Pascal - 501

                          T20I - Batting

                          1st - Gayan Maneshan/Alastair Cook - 906
                          10th - Darren Bravo - 811
                          11th - Lendl Simmons - 807
                          14th - Kieron Pollard - 742
                          20th - Shane Burton - 630
                          25th - Shiv Chanderpaul (R) - 566

                          T20I - Bowling

                          1st - Peter Siddle - 1009
                          7th - Sunil Narine - 799
                          19th - Dwayne Bravo - 470
                          23rd - Andre Russell - 449
                          26th - Devendra Bishoo - 427
                          56th - Kieron Pollard - 116

                          Awesome. And finally.

                          Most Runs and Wickets (This Season/All Seasons)

                          Runs

                          Tests - Darren Bravo - 824 (10) / Chris Gayle - 933 (7, 2012)
                          ODIs - Darren Bravo - 983 (24) / Shiv Chanderpaul - 1249 (25, 2012)
                          T20Is - Lendl Simmons - 230 (8) / Shiv Chanderpaul - 449 (13, 2012)

                          Wickets

                          Tests - Kev McClean - 41 (9) / Devendra Bishoo - 56 (12, 2012)
                          ODIs - Mike Alford - 43 (25) / Kemar Roach - 53 (25, 2012)
                          T20Is - Sunil Narine - 11 (8) / Andre Russell - 27 (13, 2012)

                          And so all those all time records are left unfortunately standing! Next up, we'll have a preview of 2015/16 and then begin it!

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                          • 2015/16 Season Preview

                            1st - 23rd April - Australia - Home

                            2 Tests - Last series lost 0-3.
                            3 ODIs - Last series drawn 2-2.
                            2 T20Is - Last series drawn 1-1.

                            Okay, brilliant. Early season, a chance to nick a test ranking point off the powerful Aussies in a 2 match series, but equally good chances for them to win the almost un-drawable ODI series and very drawable T20I series.

                            11th July - 2nd August - Zimbabwe - Away

                            2 Tests - Last series won 1-0.
                            3 ODIs - Last series won 3-1.
                            2 T20Is - No series played.

                            A tour we should really whitewash if we're to be taken seriously in all 3 formats. Should be a great chance to pick up 2 T20 ranking points, as well.

                            12th October - 10th November - Sri Lanka - Away

                            1 FC friendly
                            2 Tests - Last series drawn 0-0.
                            1 OD friendly
                            3 ODIs - Last series drawn 2-2.
                            2 T20Is - No series played.

                            Sri Lanka are always a tough side to face, especially in their own back yard, but with our array of spin bowling options, I fancy our chances to sweep all the points from this tour, 1-0, 2-1, 2-0.

                            26th December - 18th February - Australia - Home

                            3 Tests - Last series played after this post written.
                            2 T20Is - Last series played after this post written.
                            ODI triangular with India
                            Australia - Last series played after this post written.
                            India - Last series lost 2-3.

                            Yep. The Aussies are coming twice this year. Awesome. This time they're staying almost 2 months as we face them in more tests and T20s, after which India will join in with the fun for one of those triangular tournaments that is fun at first, but when you realise it's a quadruple round robin, starts to lose its fun a little.

                            24th February - 8th March - India - Away

                            5 ODIs - Last series lost 2-3.
                            2 T20Is - Last series drawn 1-1.

                            After they leave us, we fly straight out to them for a limited overs tour. Luckily, no tests means we'll hold on to our ranking points for a while longer on that front.

                            12th - 30th March - World T20 - India

                            Initially in group A with dominant England and minnows the Netherlands.

                            Ah yes, the inevitable end-of-season world tournament. I'll preview this nearer the time, obviously, but we should make the super 8s and then see what happens. Good that we, by then, will have played 2 'warm-up' matches on our tour of India!

                            And so, with haste and movement issues, we extend into our first squad of the season. There have been no retirements after last season, so I have a full contingent to pick from for my first 12 of the year.

                            Originally posted by These points only matter for 8 months...

                            A. Barath (O)
                            S. Burton (O)
                            K. Edwards (BAT) (C)
                            Darren Bravo (BAT)
                            R. Sarwan (BAT)
                            M. Alford (ALL)
                            M. Browne (K)
                            K. Stoute (ALL)
                            Imran Khan (SPIN)
                            D. Sammy (SEAM)
                            K. McClean (SEAM)
                            S. Narine (SPIN)
                            So, the obvious omission there is Lendl Simmons, whose poor batting and keeping loses him his place to someone who can at least do the keeping bit well, Max Browne. Alford is expected to play and bat at 6, leaving us with 4 bowlers plus his slightly-better-than-part-time seamers. Kevin Stoute is the notable inclusion, set to make his test bow after a very good World Cup.

                            In actual team news, the man to miss out is Sammy, with us hoping to bat first on a pitch that looks like it will be worn from the very start of the match. This means the 5 bowlers and keeper have 45 test caps between the 6 of them, whereas the 5 pure batsmen have 207 between them! Shane Burton will hope to confirm his place as opener here, and keep Lendl out of the side.

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                            • has any one else noticed that on this game Trott isn't a defensive batsman

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                              • on the game he is black but in real life he is white

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