Australia in the West Indies

Good to hear SW - Gibson did a fine job with the English attack and we can only hope he does the business for the Windies.

Gayle's a class act , but will his recall upset the other players ? Sometimes it's better to have a lesser talent and team harmony rather than the blue eyed boy.   That Gayle chose not to play for the Windies suggests test cricket isn't  a high priority for him and for that reason I'd not be bending over backwards to bring him back if I was a selector.

Finally Gayle seems to have seen the light, lets go of his Somerset contract, makes himself available and is all set to make an international comeback.

It is a well known fact that Gayle is in their plans Mikey, and it is obvious that he'll be selected, but if people start to officially guarantee players their places in the side then all this can get very ugly.

Another example is an Indian friend I have born in NZ. He used to support India, then after some of the behaviour of the team like Harbhajan he got fed up and now he supports NZ.

What's the point of being selected and sitting on a bench for a whole tour? He wants to know if he's in their plans or not, and after the whole charade they have put him I think it's fair that he places some qualifications on playing for the Windies. He isn't bigger than the team and quite frankly he couldn't care less, they don't respect him so he just goes and makes money elsewhere. Cricket is a business, it's not just a game and it's not just about representing your region/nation.

I don't see any reason for a player of any caliber to be getting "assurances" about his place in the side, you are making a player bigger than the game itself if you do that, tomorrow ever player of the so called"High caliber" will ask for assurances and start demanding things, who will suffer? boards of countries like WI, NZL, ZIM, SLN who are not rich.

Dead right Mikey...

I am of opinion that Gayle is absolutely right in what he had done so far,

1. I guess it was intentional to drop him and strip him of captaincy after he was not selected in IPL-4 auctions. To leave him in cold when he was down. Fortunately for him RCB picked him when he was cheated/cornered by board members high handedness. Then other domestic T20 offers came in a hurry. Now Gayle can call his shots, I don't see any attitude problem. Respect and commitment cannot be from players side only ... it has to come from both the sides.

2. Player of Gayle's caliber needs some assurance, it is absolutely foolish to say that player of such caliber in such a good form that too for a WI  team , needs to wait for selection procedure outcome to know if he makes it into team .... Nonsense. I can agree if he was out of form , or if he is not suitable for the format.

Chris Gayle asking the WICB to confirm if he'll be selected for the ODI leg of ENG tour so that he can reply on his availability to Somerset, very very unprofessional from Gayle, I fully agree with the WICB here... No player can be promised of a place in the side, it's up to the selectors to decide on whom to select and whom not to, Gayle should either commit himself to playing for WI and make himself available irrespective of what T20 league in whatever part of the world is going on or just forget about his international career and play every damn T20 league that takes place in every street of the world these days.

So 2-0 it is with Clarke doing the business with the ball on the final morning.  He's an underrated bowler and one has to ask how many overs would he have been given by Ponting , if he'd still been in charge? 
             West Indies are still a "work in progress" outfit but they are getting better and have been pulling for one another - something that's been missing for many a year.  England will be another tough test and Chanderpaul will be targetted - some others need to dig in and make runs if they're to be competitive.


Edited by Sledger - 30 April 2012 at 10:24am

Originally posted by Mikey this summaries the Windies in a nutshell, good individual performance but no wins to show for it. After this series Australia now no. 3 in the world in tests, with India rightfully dropping to 4. Australia is now ranked 1 in ODIs and 3 in Tests, and will continually look to improve that - although there are no tests for 6th months.

Mikey , Rankings were always a true reflection of what happens. Then it always rightly puts best team at the top.

Then don't worry about not having tests , it is the same for all teams .Every team goes into such phase where they don't have matches.


On a side note, ENG after becoming number #1,immediately lost 4 test matches in a row ... Aussies have beaten WI , but far from convincing.Thought scoreline shows 2-0 , it looked as if equally matched teams fought a tough series.A great compliment to WI.

I had said that WI have improved leaps and bounds when I saw them play against India , when many mocked that India found it hard to beat a team like them. (Sunil Narine could have been handful ... forget about other biggies not played). Well done WI.

India had two terrible seasons in ENG and AUS.Good thing is they looked equally jaded in Asia cup and other sub continent venues during the same time.So that does not worry me much.Post World Cup to Asia Cup , many important players have looked in terrible form. Shewag and Gambhir have regained some form, Yuvraj should be back soon.

They should be back with a bang soon.I wish ENG to retain No 1 spot till they visit us and we take it back from them , just like what they did.Spinner spot is a concern though. Ashwin might do good on Indian pitches, he should learn to bowl well and take wickets outside sub continent.

SL have have been ordinary post world cup , just like India.

Pak has exceeded expectations, mainly because of Saeed Ajmal , a fantastic bowler ... world class... pure class ( TV people , please just don't show his bowling in slow motion... all the fun is gone ... I know what he is doing). Hafeez, Asad and Azhar have been silent contributors in test matches.

NZ, can't say anything about them. Every time I see them build a good team and somehow wheels come off. They never click as a unit. Bracewell has been a welcome addition.They do have brilliant spells in irregular patches like NZ-Aus series.

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Among top 4 teams , looks like its only SA whose pride had not been dented. That makes ENG vs SA very much anticipated contest.

Others teams are fast catching up for sure.Beware!WI, PAK could really force their way to top 3 , Can't count SL out, they just need one spinner to replace Murali's void.



Edited by MalhotraRaj84 - 30 April 2012 at 3:45am

Clarke is the matchwinner, taking a 5-for and committing himself to 23 overs in order to seal the win - good stuff!

Australia's series win was an all-round performance, with no single player shining, although the bowlers were excellent. West Indies on the other hand had some superb individual performances from Chanderpaul, Roach and Shillingford - and this summaries the Windies in a nutshell, good individual performance but no wins to show for it.


After this series Australia now no. 3 in the world in tests, with India rightfully dropping to 4. Australia is now ranked 1 in ODIs and 3 in Tests, and will continually look to improve that - although there are no tests for 6th months.

Furthermore, Siddle is now ranked no. 8 all-rounder in test cricket .

81/3 WI, another defeat on the cards here, WI just haven't had enough steam to compete in the test matches after a riveting T20 and ODI series.

Originally posted by Clobber This stat says it all Balls per dismissal for Chanderpaul so far in the series v Aus: 298. Balls per dismissal for the rest of West Indies' top 7: 57.

Talk about the world on your shoulders !

Ed Cowan and Ricky Ponting both hit half-centuries on Wednesday as Australia are in good position in the match as West Indies will struggle more in the fourth innings.