West Indies Cricket Fans

as I view this awful sabina wicket it all flows back to me.

my first awarenes of Sabina was as a small boy in 1958, Sobers, Hunte and Wacott running amok there against Pakistan.

then in 1960 the wicket there was solid against the english. I recall no problems in 1962 against India or 1965 against Oz.

the first inkling of sabina wicket problems appeared with the bog against the english in 1968.

but trouble did not seem to appear again until the abandoned test against the english in 1999-2000. the sabina wicket was so bad and dangerous, it was deemed unsafe to let the westindian fast bowlers loose on it.

from 200o to now there has only been problems at Sabina..awful, anti-westindian-strength wickets, dat got lara incensed on his retirement, the last time Indians were here.

and now we have another dog of a wicket and westindies are losing again.

maybe its time to dig up sabina...or avoid jamaica completely when the tests are being shared.

that means Providence is also in trouble, the QPO as well as sk Kitts and st lucia..even antigua.

dat leaves only kensington so far.....maybe arnos vale... and Rosseau, depending on how it plays this last rounds coming up here

maybe Hunte and dem better start oto play test in Bermuda and the Virgins, given the way the big dots and BG making anti-westindian-wickets now

yep it is unbelievable how this wicket is playing and it is definitely time to dig up these pitches.however,don't you think some amount of training must be done on how to prepare pitches i thing this craft is lost.

Claro07 wrote:yep it is unbelievable how this wicket is playing and it is definitely time to dig up these pitches.however,don't you think some amount of training must be done on how to prepare pitches i thing this craft is lost.

training, skill, more knowldege never hurts. westindies playing cricket for 80+ years and even when wickets used to be uncovered deh did not play as awful as these wickets play now.

for most of those 80+ years it was hard wickets, great batsmen and fast bowlers, a couple 3 great spinners, brilliant fieldsmen.

so wat obtained for training all those years when the wickets were good?

our historical education in how to prepare wickets seems front-loaded.

those in the past were more knowledgeable, more skillled and educated...and currently we are not. a lost craft indeed

I agree...more training! at least an investiogation into what the hell is going orn with the pitches!

Observations from Otis Gibson....

"Batting has been our real problem. We play six batsmen and they are preparing hard for the game but it's about going out there and having the mindset to bat for a long period of time." They haven't done it for a while now. "We managed to get 20 wickets to win a Test match against Pakistan but we haven't been able to put [up] big scores." For West Indies, another factor has been the lack of match practice for cricketers. Batsmen like Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Brendon Nash hadn't played many practice games before this Test. Nash had three practice sessions and went straight into this Test. Gibson said it's the system at fault. "It's very challenging. We are not like England who have long county season. They play cricket five months. We are not that fortunate. You make a good point about Shiv and the amount of cricket. We have the High Performance Centre and stuff like that. People are playing club cricket. We are just trying to give people a lot more opportunities to keep their game in shape." Adrian Barath hit a fighting fifty on his comeback but no one else coped with the pitch and the attack. "The surface was disappointing," Gibson said. "It seems to be that the surface continues to favour the opposition more than us."

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1) Lack of match practice: this highlights the stupidity of playing international cricket in the Caribbean in June. The Caribbean domestic season runs from January to April. That's just one reason why our international season shouldn't really go beyond April, or May at the latest.

2) The 'disappointing' surface: as Jimmy Adams said on Sky the other day, be careful what you ask for, because you just might get it! Gibson asked the curators to prepare pitches with more bounce, to aid the pacers. But pitches with more bounce can help the spinners, too. As a Kittian poster pointed out on CMS, if pitches did not offer more bounce, and more for the bowlers, the grounds were in danger of losing international matches in the future.

Gibson and WICB need to think thru what they're doing when they schedule international series. It doesn't help to moan about the matters afterwards....

Gibson and WICB need to think thru what they're doing when they schedule international series. It doesn't help to moan about the matters afterwards....mikesiva

dats about the central point to the whole issue..thinking trhough disciplined by your real national interest, not the partial class and insular approach this wicb is guided by.

yu have to know wat you doing with the pitches...if yuh going for bounce and help for the bowlers then you have to select your bowlers to suit. and you have to look to your batsmen with technique.

and part of the technique required is the ability to focus and build big innings..discipline that makes a player want to score and to cut out needless risk while he builds an innings.

why does soemone not tell lil Bravo exactly that...."stop a minute kid..go out there and score a ton no matter how long it takes you. dat is what yu need to set up your career and give westindies hand up. forget the big shots for a while, single, 2's deh add up same way"

dat is the batting of old dat develops the technique and confidence to deal with bouncy wickets.