Yuvraj Singh on test cricket

Well this has been one of the most mysteries in international cricket that Yuvraj Singh has had to fight for a place in the test side of the Indian side despite being in the top form in the other two formats of the game. Someone like Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Rohith Sharma have been able to make it to the test team not only in games involving Bangladesh and that played at India but they have been called in during the Border - Gavaskar trophy in 2008 which was a tough challenge for Indians. The list also includes Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik.

It is agreed that both the above mentioned names have made it to the playing XI as wicketkeepers unlike others who have made it as batsmen. But, one has to doubt whether Yuvraj Singh is a much under-rated batsman compared to the likes of Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli? On the otherhand, someone like Mahendra Singh Dhoni was made the captain of the Indian test squad ahead of Laxman and Sehwag who were seniors compared to Dhoni. No doubt that Dhoni has been able to fulfill the commitments to the fullest extent may be even more than what Laxman and Sehwag would have achieved.

However, the discussion here once again asks whether Yuvraj Singh needs multiple reconsideration for his place in the test squad? This is one of those rare cases where bowlers have an upper hand compared to batsmen when they have been able to make it to the test team in the initial stages of their career while batsmen fail to do it even after years of them making their debut in international cricket. Irfan Pathan debuted in one of the most important series namely the Border - Gavaskar trophy 2003/04 and should consider himself lucky enough to have the wicket of Steve Waugh.

So was the case with people like Ishanth Sharma, who was chosen for the same Border - Gavaskar trophy four years later in 2008. But,m Yuvraj Singh was made to warm the benches in the same tournament if not for a couple of games. Despite making his international debut in 2000, it took almost four years for Yuvraj Singh to play his first test match against New Zealand which was nonetheless a miserable one with him getting limited opportunity there and was once for all sacked for the Australian tour that year. But, that has not been the case regarding Sehwag.

West Indies get what they've begged for

Well it might have just come in as a surprise for all those curious fans of West Indies cricket out there when their favorite team inflicted a 10 wicket defeat on Pakistan yesterday at Guyana. But, to me who has been following the West Indies cricket from the past decade, this should come in as no surprise with the series already decided two one dayers back with Pakistan leaving absolutely no stone unturned in their approach against the West Indies. Of course, the West Indies earlier in the tournament beaten Pakistan in a game that was cut short at Bridgetown.

That was in the 4^th one day international by which time West Indies had already meekly surrendered to the Pakistan team no matter where they were playing them. West Indies had lost the series 3-0 to Pakistan after the touring country had taken an unassailable lead in the five match one day series. Added to that would be the fact that the game was truncated to 30 overs after Pakistan had scored 248 runs on the board. Though not enough in today's limited overs cricket, the total was far from enough when the opposition they were facing came into consideration.

One can see the West Indian cricketers rejoicing their thumping 10 wicket win over the sub-continent nation unaware of their losses in the previous three encounters prior to that and the one off game that proved to be lucky for the hosts. I can remember the West Indies beating Australia on three successive occasions in a 7 match series after losing to the Aussies 4-0 in the first four one dayers that preceded this. Then, the West Indians were responsible in stopping the 21 match winning streak of Australia that started from the VB series involving England and Sri Lanka and went on through the world cup 2003.

The very same thing happened in the test series when the West Indies miserably lost the first three tests and won the 4^th test which made news for the highest ever run chase in a test match that stands even today. All credit to Brian Lara who bought out the best from the worst from his team. If West Indies were even a little bit serious about their cricket, they should have had at least one win before handing out a series to the touring country. A consolation win is the last thing that any team ever dreams about. However, this was far better than a 5-0 whitewash.

Will Pakistan experiment or play serious?

It has been less than a month since Pakistan inflicted a crushing defeat on the West Indies when the touring team lost all 10 wickets for a mere score of 113 on the board and on the other hand failing to strike even a single time. Of course, even England lost the match to Sri Lanka by 10 wickets despite England putting up a total in excess of 200 in the quarter finals. May be, had the West Indies scored above 200, a Pakistani wicket would have made it to the score card. That was just another loss for West Indies and nothing more.

With that apart, news and schedule has it that Pakistan is set to tour West Indies or are already in the country that is facing a lot of trouble in cricket. No prices for guessing the result of the series for even a kid can claim that West Indies are set to lose the series or worst come, may end the tournament without even a single win in both test as well as one day cricket. Couple of days back, news had its say that Gayle may be unavailable for the series, with the current West Indian squad speaking otherwise.

One can see the names of Chanderapaul and Sarwan along with Gayle. In addition to the presence of Chris Gayle and co, one can expect the return of Marlon Samuels for people who are familiar with the name and a chance for people who don't to get to know who this average cricketer is. Since Samuels is not some Mohammed Asif or Shane Warne, his return would hardly bother anyone-not even the WICB. But, the million dollar question is whether Pakistan will go ahead with a full fledged team to face the enemy or will they experiment with their players?

Had I been the Pakistani selector, I would have rested some or most of the key players from the tour though the series is away from home. Teams like Zimbabwe and West Indies (but rarely Bangladesh) can prove to be of some use to viewers only when key players and inform players take a break. Than, one can see a balanced match wherein both teams fight it out on the field. I remember Dhoni resting Schin Tendulkar in one of the games to see how things work with the absence of a star player. That was the reason for Australia to dominate the world cricket for so many years.

Lack of desire from the WICB evident

It is still alive in cricket fans' minds the way the West Indies team surrendered to Bangladesh on their home soil some two years ago, when West Indies made headlines despite the Ashes going on in full bloom on the other side of the cricketing world. West Indies lost three one dayers and two tests to get into the record books for the wrong reasons. If anyone of you would cite the absence of key players to be the reason for their debacle, then I think they have to go through the recently concluded world cup where West Indies had wins only against Bangladesh, Ireland and Holland.

In a way, those wins for the West Indies proved to be of much joy for, despite not deserving to be there, they made it to the quarter-finals of the world cup and they missed losing out to Ireland and Bangladesh to be fortunate unlike England. The immediate decision from the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) was to drop players like Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderapaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan. I doubt whether the West Indies cricket board was inspired by the BCCI whop dropped senior players like Dravid, Ganguly and Anil Kumble from the squad citing reasons that youngsters be given a chance.

This happened to work well for the BCCI for, the Indian team since their drop happened to win two major titles namely the ICC world T20 2007 and the recently concluded ICC world cup. But, if the WICB also follows suit and does what the BCCI did, one can expect the West Indies to be lined along with class 2 teams like Ireland, Kenya, Canada and co. It would be hard to make anyone believe that the highest individual score in test cricket is a West Indian cricketer. It would be hard to convince anyone that West Indies have won two world cups and were the strongest team in those days.

What has happened for Gayle is something that he might have thought to be and liked as well at the same time when he can enjoy the shortest version of the game and earn ten times the amount what he'd earn had he been the part of the squad that would be hosting Pakistan. If Gayle's words are to be believed, he seems not to have got a call from the WICB among the group of players selected for the training camp in Barbados. I wonder what made the WICB give a NOC to Gayle only to condemn him for not preferring his nation above self.

Was it because Gayle was injury hit and his chances of performing against Pakistan was freak that the WICB gave him a NoC? Now that Gayle has received a call from RCB, the WICB have got more furious and come out to condemn Gayle? Stop this nonsense and look out for some No Police State Girls blog.

Bangladesh would have been a better opposition

Bringing all my frustrations in, I totally reject the West Indies team that not only fared so badly but also made the competition so boring. If not the Pakistani players, there would be no 2^nd player who would be happy with the way the West Indies team played in the 1^st quarter finals of the world cup yesterday. Had I been the person in charge, I would have stripped the West Indies team of its test status. Not even the Bangladesh team made me go mad with their bad performance. This I fear is the worst defeat for any team in the world cup knock out stage.

It has to be some bloody miracle that bought the West Indies team into the 2^nd round of the competition with Bangladesh standing an equal chance of making it there. If one can go through the points table, it would be evident that both Bangladesh and West Indies had three wins against them. West Indies had wins against Bangladesh, Holland and Ireland while Bangladesh had a win against Ireland in addition to wins against Netherlands and Ireland. But, it was the net run rate that all made the difference for both the teams. At least Bangladesh had a win against England.

But, the West Indies didn't manage even one victory against a major opposition. They could have won their games against India and England after the former lost all their ten wickets and the latter piling up only 243 on the board. Any team that can better this record can be only a non test playing nation like Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ireland etc in case by chance they manage to do so. With such a daring start against England if the West Indians could not win, a thorough scrutiny of their test status is necessary I suppose. Despite India losing 7 wickets for 41 runs, a target of 270 proved too much for the West Indies.

I can't just recall when last West Indies put up a decent performance in world cups. In 2007, the only match worth mentioning for West Indies was against Pakistan which was the 1st match of the tournament. That was followed by losses against Australia, Sri Lanka, England, New Zealand and South Africa. In 2003, they won against South Africa by 3 runs with the South African innings reduced to 49 overs owing to slow over rate. That was followed by losses to Sri Lanka and New Zealand but was somewhat bearable compared to their present post-Lara era. Had Bangladesh qualified, there would have been 4 sub-continent teams in the quarter-finals.

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Bad grouping of teams evident from the quarter final line up

Well keeping in mind the quarter finals of the world cup, this just seems to be a mismatch with Pakistan not only having an upper hand against the Caribbean but also the West Indies might never ever be able to regroup once the quarter finals against Pakistan be over in the next 8 hours to come. Also the other side would be Sri Lanka who are scheduled to face England on Saturday. No doubt that both these teams would enter with minimum or no effort into the semi-finals of the world cup. But, is this right on the part of the ICC is a million dollar question.

There is no particular team like the Aussies in the past two world cups to have a birthright on the world cup. And neither have Bangladesh and Zimbabwe been underdogs as they have been expected. But, if things are given a close look at, it looks that group A is gifted with weaker teams compared to group B. Group A has two teams from the sub-continent namely Sri Lanka and Pakistan who always have an upper hand being the hosts and enjoying home like conditions. I all blame it on Australia to have deceived the ICC who came out with such grouping of teams.

In group B, only India is a team worth having anyone's bet into. Though South Africa have emerged on the top of the table, it was India who gifted them with a victory by losing 9 wickets for 28 runs with all odds predicting a 350+ total at the end of the Indian innings. Added to that, there were mismatches in England's games against Ireland and Bangladesh which reduced England's chances that in turn favored South Africa to end as the top team. Had England won against Ireland and Bangladesh, they would have been on the top and not the Proteas.

Teams like Zimbabwe, Kenya, Canada and Holland never made their presence felt. However, Ireland and Bangladesh did. Both Ireland and Bangladesh were far superior compared to Kenya, Canada and Zimbabwe in group A. One has to take a deeper look to Explore reality. West Indies on the other hand proved a 2^nd chance for teams like England and India. In group A, All four teams played to their potential with minnows aside. Pakistan beat Australia which in turn beat New Zealand. If I was in place of Lorgat, I'd have put Australia in group B and South Africa in group B and Bangladesh in group A while Zimbabwe would have been in group B.

God saved this world cup

Well yesterday England as expected defeated the West Indies by 18 runs which not only kept England's hopes alive in the world cup but also avoided another mismatch awaiting with Bangladesh having a chance to go through to the quarter finals of the tournament in case England had lost the match to the West Indies. That in turn would have seen four teams from the sub-continent make it to the 2^nd round of a world cup which has so far not happened in any of the world tournaments. And, with Bangladesh making it to the quarters would have spoiled all spirits of the mega event.

This is the 1^st time since the 1996 world cup that all eight test playing teams have advanced to the second stage of the world cup. One can take a look at the 1999 edition where Zimbabwe made it to the super sixes at the cost of England (to the super sixes), India (to the semi-finals). As a result, Pakistan had a walkover to the semi-finals after they had lost to India and the Proteas in the super sixes. The result was no different four years later when Kenya and Zimbabwe emerged to the super sixes with four teams namely Pakistan, West Indies, England and South Africa losing the plot midway.

In 2007, in the first week of the tournament, India and Pakistan-arch rivals made an early exit which saw a dumb Ireland and Bangladesh making it to the super eights. India and Pakistan were much better teams compared to England and the West Indies which made the mega event a failure. Viewers had to watch helplessly the Ireland-Bangladesh when overpriced tickets were bought anticipating an India-Pakistan match. However, things have returned to normalcy this time with a lot of compromises mentioned in my earlier posts. I instead went in for Personal, Golf, Travel, Golf, Foods rather than seeing a tasteless match out there.

There was threat everywhere in the initial stages of the tournament wherein Ireland and Bangladesh both beat England making England's chances slim in making it to the quarter-finals of the world cup. But, just have a look at what Andrew Struass is all upto when he miraculously beat the Proteas in a low scoring thriller and tied with India when all odds were against them. The presence of West Indies made life easier for the Englishmen for, had it been some New Zealand or Sri Lanka instead of West Indies, may be we would have seen Bangladesh playing the 1^st quarter-finals.

Why is the ICC disgusting at times?

Well yesterday there were two matches of the world cup being held, one of them being between Australia and Kenya and the other one involving Canada and New Zealand. As expected Australia and New Zealand notched up their wins against the minnows. This is no something to complain about. But, one thing that is not worth tolerating is that these matches are held on weekends rather than conducting on weekdays where there are little takers for the match. Unable to tolerate this boredom, I had to go through brain blogs, areman, areman's brain blogs to satisfy myself rather than go through the same.

If one can take a look at the entire schedule of the world cup, it is interesting to see that there have been 4 Sundays and an equal number of Saturdays starting from 19^th February. The matches held are as follows: 19^th Feb saw the only match between India and Bangladesh while on 20^th there were two games, both of which were involving minnows Kenya and Canada. Though 26^th February saw a tough fight between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, on 27^th Feb things once again took a backseat with there being only one match between India and England played at Bangalore.

Coming further in this regard, next on the list is the matches between England and South Africa on one side with India battling Ireland on the other. One of them were worth watching while the other was not really. Owing to bad luck and rains, the match between Sri Lanka and Australia had to be called off which left another Saturday with viewers cursing. That was the first match to be washed away by rains and one has to no doubt curse the rain Gods for choosing an odd day and an odd match to play a spoilsport in Sri Lanka.

Traveling still further on the schedule, there was Australia playing Kenya and New Zealand playing Canada. Even if the next couple of weekends are considered, the matches scheduled hardly evoke any sort of interest. Luckily, Pakistan plays Australia and India plays West Indies the coming Saturday and Sunday respectively. With the Pakistan-Australia match scheduled in Colombo, one has to pray God that rain doesn't do another Sri Lanka-Australia there. Following that, only one out of four quarter finals are scheduled on weekends and the final. As a matter of suggestion, England-WI and Pakistan-NZ could have been held on weekends with India-Ireland and Australia-Kenya held on weekdays.

Can anyone tell this to the ICC?

Sarwan should have been the obvious choice

Well with the current West Indies team facing an acute crisis for talent in terms of both players in form and without it, maintaining the current players who are at least with good class if not in form is quintessential for the West Indies team. The current West Indies team has fellow players like Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderapaul and Dwayne Bravo who can save some face for their team with decent if not extraordinary batting performances. If not for Brian Lara - who retired after the world cup in 2007, none of the players in the current West Indian team have been given the axe.

Now, with the inclusion of Ramnaresh Sarwan, another partial boost to their batting line up can be thought of provided Sarwan is well inform and is included in the playing XI. If not for Nikita Miller and Carlton Baugh, some of the remaining West Indian players seem to be the same with others seeming not so promising like Andre Rusell, Ravi Rampaul and Kemar Roach. None of these players' names have been ever heard in international cricket news be it for the good reasons or for the bad. West Indies has big hitting batsmen like Gayle, Sarwan, Chanderapaul and Kieron Pollard off late.

With the schedule of the world cup being so liberal, it would come as no surprise that West Indies will surely make it to the quarter finals even if they manage wins against Bangladesh, Ireland and Netherlands considering their losses against India, South Africa and England. Coming to Sarwan's case, Sarwan should be the obvious choice rather than tossing a coin before deciding his inclusion or omission from the squad. If Ramnaresh Sarwan's name has to be dropped, then the West Indies team will have to fly to the subcontinent with only 14 players who can officially represent their team.

The 15^th member will only be filling the vacancy left over by Sarwan.One can sense the lack of real life thoughts with the West Indies cricket board naming Darren Sammy as the captain of the world cup touring squad but, I guess should be a positive move which on one hand gives Chris Gayle an opportunity to concentrate on his batting. WICB is believed to have learned their lessons when Brian Lara was made the captain which in turn affected his batting to a little extent though not as much as Sachin Tendulkar. However, in case by chance West Indies manage to make a mark in the quarter finals like they did in 1996, that would be relished for their fans for a long period.

Is Pakistan making a home in England?

Well if the followers of cricket over the world are concerned, it is no surprise that the ongoing test series between England and Pakistan was supposed to be played in Pakistan with England touring the trouble torn country. And, in case that had happened, then obviously Pakistan would have had an upper hand compared to England with the home team advantage being well with Pakistan. Pakistan are no Bangladesh or West Indies to let go that advantage so easily and effortless. Pakistan have always been a tough opponent to beat on home conditions which is more so the case when it comes to test cricket.

Of course, this is true for all test playing nations barring Bangladesh and West Indies where home team may be more worse than the tour. And this time, Pakistan have proved England to be their new home when they did exactly not what was expected from them but what a home team is found doing- make life tough or even impossible for the opposition. And this cannot be a better opportunity than the ongoing ones against Australia and England. In fact, England being the home team were found in shambles in the third test against Pakistan a couple of weeks back.

Pakistan won the second test against Australia almost a month back and not only that, they were successful in dismissing the opposition for a score of 88 which speaks for Pakistan. That was also a test tour which was supposed to be played in Pakistan but thanks to the insecure situation there which forced the ICC to move the tournament out of the country. In fact, Pakistan won 3 out of the four matches that were scheduled in England against Australia during that tour. Pakistan won the two T20 games that were played prior to the two tests that followed.

Following this, though Pakistan lost the first two tests to England, it is an undisputed fact that England were hosting Pakistan and enjoys the home team advantage. England did bowl out the Pakistani side for a score less than 100 on two occasions when they (Pakistan) were found returning back to the pavilion with the scoreboard reading 72 on one occasion and 80 on the other. Then, Pakistan came back strongly in the third test and best England to atleast be alive in the series. Now, Pakistan have shown a better performance in the 4^th and final test to see them level the series.

If this happens, then England will be a home for both the teams and Pakistan can also avoid their homesickness when they've found a new home in England. They can now celebrate their new found home like the one mentioned in Pretty in Pink. Just for fun.

South Africa could have done much better

Just when I was going through the PINOY BLOGGER REVIEWS I was reminded by the news channels about the 2^nd day's play of the 3^rd test between South Africa and the West Indies which obviously is held in the upperhand by the Proteas. But, with such a weak opposition the batting display of the South Africans which included the likes of Jacques Kallis, Ashwell Prince, A B devilliars etc should have been much better unlike their day ending with just 285 on the board adding just another 239 runs on the board after ending day 1 at 46/2 after dismissing the hosts for 231.

As mentioned in my yesterday's post, if at all South Africa can boast of something great, it is their achievement in the test matches against teams like West Indies, Bangladesh etc. Though occasionally South Africa have had success against Australia and India, their real strength lies in games against West Indies. But, a total of just 285 with the loss of 6 wickets is far too little compared to what is being expected out of them. South Africa have a solid line up in their batting department with Jacques Kallis heading the list followed by Prince, Smith, Devilliars etc all of whom can surprise anyone.

On the otherhand, the West Indies have the world's worst bowling display though their batting department have players like Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderapaul etc who can save some face for their team. But, their bowling department is starving since 2000 after the retirement of bowlers like Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, Ian Bishop and Roger Harper who were deadly on their days. Winning a match has been guessed and anticipated well in advance even before the series was decided but the way it would be won is always a wait game and winning that game takes precedence than to just finish it off formally.

With the caliber that the present South African team is having, they should have won both the first and the second tests by an innings rather than winning the former by 163 runs and drawing the latter. Had it been India or Australia, both the matches would have been won by an innings one can suppose. This is the test that tests the real myth of a team and faring badly could send out signals to other teams against which their next test series is due. More than ending the 2^nd day at 285/6, losing 2 wickets before the first day's play got over speaks much about the South African batting caliber. And, who knows who Alviro Petersen is?

RSA will always have an upperhand against WI

If not in crucial games like it happened in the quarter finals of the 1996 world cup at Karachi and in the ICC champions trophy 2004 at England, the West Indies are no match for the Proteas atleast in today's cricketing world irrespective of whether South Africa are hosting the game or not. Perhaps! a West Indies-South Africa match is yet to be played on a neutral venue unlike a match that is scheduled to be hosted by Pakistan. Now, yet again the West Indies have flattered in the 3^rd test match as well. West Indies have lost all their wickets even before the day ended.

A test match drawn by West Indies is a test match saved won by them which would be worth an investment. A score of 231 by the home team speaks for itself and the caliber of the West Indian team is once again proved. West Indies were lucky to have saved the 2^nd test held at Basseterre when the match ended in a draw and the West Indies were able to secure a rare 3 run lead against a team against which losing miserably has become a passion. Another amazement came to the West Indies when Shivnarine Chanderapaul was awarded the man of the match award for little bit of effort.

Why should anyone mention Johan Botha's name or Dale Steyn's name when there are the likes of some Dale Richards and Brendan Nash who have been trained to give the opposition bowlers the performance of their lives in addition to their lack of experience. The very same Johan Botha is hardly considered when South Africa is about to face say India or Australia even in front of their home crowd let alone touring such a nation. South Africa rarely play Bangladesh which has deprived them of a major record bank. If one doesn't believe me, you can ask Kumara Sangakkara regarding South Africa's tour to that country.

Pakistan can be considered to be an exception but not completely kept out of discussion. If not for Dwayne Bravo, no other member in the West Indian team managed a half century and some Suliemann Benn had to be the person to score a 20+ score despite coming in at number 9. If individual scores of the West Indian batsmen are considered, then the price should consist of contenders who would have scored 20 runs or more. Amazingly, most of them scored double digit scores including the number eleven batsman Brandon Bess who scored 11*. Let us see what Smith has in store for us.

Test championship for Graeme Smith?

The South African captain Graeme Smith insists that there should be a test championship similar to those in the one dayers and T20 formats of the game. But, the article does not emphasize on what exactly does the South African captain means when he mentions test championship. Does he want an international tournament similar to the world cup in the other formats of the game is test cricket as well? Or does he want test matches played under lights which are still under discussion? Smith's idea lacks preciseness if one is that particular. Then one can completely rule out watching test cricket.

The reason for Smith to come out with such ideas has got to do solely with the current West Indies' tour of South Africa which is known to have attracted poor crowds. Is the lack of interest in watching test match cricket by fans the main reason for this poor attendance? I don't think so for one, the teams under discussion are South Africa and West Indies, one who is strong for any opposition on their day and the other being equally weak no matter whose day it is. And two, there is lack of technique in test cricket unlike what it was a decade ago.

Test matches more than ending in a draw are seen only from a batting perspective when there is much to offer from the bowling and fielding side as well. Gone are the days when a total of 400-450 on the board promises a tough fight for the opposition to even avoid a follow on. But now, chasing 400+ totals have become a common gesture and though if not for South Africa, no other team has managed to do that offlate, teams have crossed 400 mark despite being on the losing side. A run rate of even 4.0 an over in test cricket confirms of a batting friendly pitch.

Coming to Smith's point, in case a test championship is conducted on the same lines as that of the T20 and ODI world cup, one can imagine the amount of time it might take for the tournament to be concluded. And, with most of the test matches ending in a draw, who would contest the semi finals of such a tournament? And, if this is given a pass taking into consideration the run rate, what if the knock out stage match like the final or a semi final ends in a draw? Who would have the patience to go out and watch test championship for five days? Or should the test matches be reduced from 5 to say 3 days?

I'd rather prefer visiting the Heart of Rachel than to watch a test championship.

Just another step towards victory

As I always say regarding whenever the West Indies go out there in the middle to take on the opposition, this time as well, the opponents namely South Africa did everything right and effortlessly to overcome the West Indies. Continuing from day before where the Proteas had left after the captain Graeme Smith notched up a century against a bowling squad that can just fill in the vacant places in the squad. With that being an old and an outdated issue, the point to be seen here is that Smith is found boasting victories only against West Indies and no other team in the world.

It is evident still the way the Proteas lost the second test on their tour to India in February early this year. In the second day of the second test against the West Indies, Smith and his team had another day on the field wherein they all were found doing was to continue the good work they had done on the first day's play. Meanwhile, it was Graeme Smith himself who came up with a century when he scored 132 day before yesterday to become the driving force for his team's to-be victory in the second test. Nothing special or creative in it.

The first step for the Proteas is a close being over when they piled up a total in excess of 500 by the end of half a day past the first day. All they have now got to do is to wait and see from the position where they field the way the West Indian batting crumbles in the days to come. However, if the West Indies' batting is seen in the hours that have collapsed yesterday, they are found to have as usual reduced the degree of humiliation by reducing the margin of defeat. In this case, the defeat may be on the 5^th day or by a few runs less than what they had in their first test.

There was an individual score of an unbeaten 46 by the West Indian captain Chris Gayle which will not bring him the captain's knock in any way. And that is far from expectation and also far from deserving at the same time. One thing that can be seen from the South Africa's first innings is not only that there were three batsmen who scored centuries but also between them contributed as many as 377 runs out of 543 runs which happens to be close to 3/4^th of the total. However, this cannot give a conclusion that the pitch was a batsman's paradise for, the opposition is West Indies. Likewise, Smith can experiment from the next test onwards after winning this one.

Four more days left for RSA to take an unassailable lead

Well none of you readers need to be told specially that South Africa have begun their campaign in their second test against the West Indies Basseterre successfully after Graeme Smith scored a hundred for, all of you guys are aware of the one and the only site that is solely dedicated to the game of cricket - cricinfo. But, some things based on my point of view needs to be given a consideration atleast in the scope of this blog. Needless to be said, the South African captain Graeme Smith scored 132 on the first day's play against the West Indies which was more than one third of the total score of 296 on the board.

This has to be considered as their path to an unbeatable lead in the series with them already 1-0 up in the series after they won the first test in Antigua last week by 163 runs after they were reduced to 352 in their first innings. But, how should and how does that matter when victory is already granted rather than a possibility? A score of even 200 is enough to see the West Indies home and that too against South Africa. A score of 200 by South Africa would mean that the West Indies will collapse for a score may be just above 100 on the board.

People would have gone sick of me writing the West Indies' down to earth performance on the field, with every match well in front of them. It is more than a possibility that the West Indies will lose to any opposition they face in today's cricket. One need not think twice before having their bet on Bangladesh when they play the West Indies. In case the West Indies are hosting Bangladesh, still the chances of a West Indies win is slightly above 50%. It is fascinating to see Graeme Smith still going in for a full fledged South African team to tackle the West Indies.

On the other hand, the West Indies are found to rest some of their key players like Ramnaresh Sarwan for reasons best known to the West Indies Cricket Board selection panel. South Africa can afford to declare their first innings now itself which can give the cricket lovers a fantastic match. Likewise, South Africa are the team which is making matches involving the West Indies more interesting when they come close to losing the game and end up winning the same. Wow! How poetic it is! By the way, Smith is expected to experiment with his team in matches against West Indies which can prove worth.

Pitch aided the WI bowling

Well, disputing someone's statement has always been the trademark of this blog whatsoever and we think it is just healthy one and we are sorry if it is not. Coming to the matter which involves the West Indies captain - Chris Gayle's statement after his team's another expected and crushing defeat at the hands of the Proteas, when he says that his team's batting let them down, one has to acknowledge the fact that the West Indies didn't have any frontline bowlers to tackle the South African batsmen. On the otherhand, the South Africans were equipped with bowlers of the ranks of Morkel & Steyn.

The captaincy of Graeme Smith and the experience of Jacques Kallis is more than enough for the West Indies' batsmen to run for cover. A score of 352 was more than enough not only by South Africa against West Indies but also on a pitch that started with low bounce that gave the batsmen very little room for scoring. The bowling from the West Indies' part was also not that satisfactory if Chris Gayle's words are anything to go by. They should not have been carried off by the way three quick wickets fell on the South African side on the first day itself.

That was a truncated day with just 34 overs being able to be bowled. Had there been a complete day's play, the things would have been different as per West Indies point of view, with some compromises made with the West Indian bowlers continuing their good work with the ball. The West Indies' bowlers had got enough rhythm on the first day which was spoilt by rain. Whatever happens, the result would not have been any different for the West Indies. They would have lost in any circumstances. One has to appreciate Sulieman Benn for being successful with both the bat as well as the ball.

Benn picked up eight out of the 12 South African wickets and scored 42 runs which was his highest individual score in test cricket and more importantly, was from a batsman who would enter into the crease at number eight who are referred to as tail enders. If the West Indian squad is considered, the team has more depth in batting that involves the likes of Chris Gayle, Shivanarine Chandrapaul and Narsingh Deonarine. On the otherhand, their bowling consisted of Dwayne Bravo and Sulieman Benn who stand nowhere when it comes to international test rankings for bowlers. It was slowness of the track at Port of Spain that aided the bowlers and the same slowness that proved trouble for the batsmen when they took to the crease.

End of a formality

Well on the first day's play between the West Indies and South Africa, it was as though the West Indies though will not win the game, will atleast put up a tight finish by giving the visitors a run for their money. But, as expected, the West Indies just continued from where they had left in their last test against Australia. The world was saved from watching horrible cricket by the West Indies for as long as six months when the West Indie didn't have any major test series inbetween. Anyways, with that being a different issue, the 1^st test saw the Proteas taking a 1-0 lead in the 3 match test series needless to be said.

The match traveled from bad to worse as far as the West Indies were concerned. On the first day, when the Proteas were bowled out for a mere 352 on the board, it was as though the match would see the West Indies achieve an unexpected triumph which obviously didn't happen. And then after the second day's play when the West Indies team lost all their ten wickets for just 102 on the board, their defeat was confirmed. However, though the defeat was in hand for the West Indies, not many would have thought that to be on the fourth day itself.

Had the match been continued until the fifth day, there would have been much relief for both the West Indian players and fans as well. Precisely speaking, the match ended in less than four days when the first day which was truncated is given a close look at. The first day's play contained just 34 overs which saw the Proteas losing three important wickets. Had the West Indies taken on the game, may be they would have returned home with a little bit of satisfaction. However, now also they should be satisfied when nothing unexpected happened to Chris Gayle's team.

The worse happened to the West Indies when they lost the game in a span of just more than three days. The result would have been much more worse for the West Indies in case the South African captain Graeme Smith would have imposed a follow on which he fortunately didn't. In case that had happened, the result would have been achieved in may be two and a half days. If the scorecard is given a closer look at, the West Indies put up 395 runs on the board with both their innings put together. This was just 43 runs more than the 352 runs put up by South Africa in their first innings.

So, an innings defeat would have been avoided at any cost by WI.

The expected happens

Well if one could go through yesterday's post where I had written about the high possibility of the West Indies' batting collapsing owing to depth in the South African bowling that involves Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, that was what exactly happened when the entire West Indian batting was shattered by the same two for a score just above hundred. One has to notice the coincidence when the South African batsmen fell for the West Indies for a score of just two runs above 350 and the very next day the West Indies team fell for the Proteas' bowling for just two runs more than 100.

Anyways, such coincidences appear in large in the game of cricket and this is nothing special whatsoever. However, coming back to the third day's lay between West Indies and South Africa, it is fascinating to see the home team crashing towards the touring country and that too by a margin of more than 200 runs. The margin happened to be a mammoth 240 runs with the West Indies being able to put up just 102 runs on the board despite having the like of Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderapaul and Dwayne Bravo. The Proteas would have enforced a follow on had there been a little bit of courage from the South African captain.

May be the fact that they were the touring nation made the South African captain - Graeme Smith to decide against enforcing follow on the West Indies. The entire West Indies innings saw just three batsmen crossing double digit mark with Chandrapaul, Deonarine and Ramdin scoring 26, 29 and 25 respectively. The trio contributed a total of 80 runs out of the 102 put up on the board by the entire team. Including the extras bowled by the South African bowlers, the contribution from the rest of the West Indian batsmen come up to be 88. Meaning the trio put up 80% of the total score.

This should have been anticipated before hand itself when a bowler - less West Indian squad could contain the entire South African squad in a single day when they saw the Proteas end their first innings scoring just 352 on board. Then, one can imagine the case when a full fledged South African team with bowlers of the ranks of Dale Steyn and Morkel would bowl and that too on a pitch that would have got a bit slower compared to what it was a day ago. Not only did the West Inidies innings end at 102 but, they could not play for more than 47 overs meaning, the innings lasted just 2 sessions. Anyways, that was far more than expected.

Enough....but not enough!

Well for all those cricket freaks who are into the ongoing first match of the test series between South Africa and the West Indies, here it is. Cricinfo is a better site to tell you what exactly happened on the 2^nd day of the test at Antigua but, my views about the test and the day as well differ slightly. However, the view does not dispute the fact that the two Bs who were there to entertain the crowd who come to watch their favourite game cricket without favoring wither of the teams namely South Africa and West Indies out there.

However, the second day though belonging to the Proteas, some share was taken by the home team as well not only for Sulieman Benn who captured four more wickets after the first day's effort which saw him take the wicket of Hashim Amla and with that the tally of his wickets in the innings reached the magical figure of 5. Despite all odds, Sulieman Benn showed the cricketing world that he can do better things than on field spats with both his teammates and opponents as well. No one expects the West Indies to win the game and that too against South Africa.

But, as a home team, fans can nonetheless support their country though not deserving and the only satisfaction they take home would be that they put up a better performance compared to their previous one. And this time as well, the West Indies were found doing just that when they not only bowled out South Africa for a score just below 350 but also got them back in the pavilion on the second day itself. Speaking precisely, the game didn't last for two days, with only 34 overs being able to be bowled on the first day. Anyways, that is a different issue of what happened on day 1.

If the West Indies continue their good work from here onwards, one can expect a miracle to happen. This would shake all betting freaks who would have bet all their money on the Proteas taking the West Indies for granted which they deserve. It is indeed a more than decent performance from the West Indies' side when they bowled the South Africans for a score just above 350 as mentioned above. However, the Proteas still have the match well in their hands for, the bowling from the South African part is way ahead compared to that from the West Indians.

They have bowlers of the ranks of Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn and others for whom the West Indies have no answer, both as a batting unit or as a bowling one. Though there are bowlers like Benn and Bravo, they can lest be treated on par with some Hussain from Bangladesh team and not with even a part time bowler from South Africa like say Graeme Smith or Jacques Kallis. So, keeping these things in mind, one can conclude that the West Indies' performance as a bowling unit is enough to reduce the margin of defeat but not win a test match.

How long will the domination continue?

Well very rarely one comes across the news that the West Indies are dominating their opposition and this time, the fans of West Indies cricket are quite lucky when the first day at Trinidad against South Africa in the 1st test belonged to the West Indies. At the end of day 1, the South Africans were reduced to 70 runs for the loss of three wickets and that too quick ones. This included the price wicket of Hashim Amla who was awarded the man of the series in the recently concluded one day series. All these happening in just 34 overs of the day's play.

This once again proves the bad luck the West Indies are facing, for the day was patented by the West Indies who would have made up their mind to strike it this time in tests after their whitewash in the one dayers and T20s. Had the day went on smoothly, the West Indies would have surely cashed in on the initial breakthrough given by the spinners Sulieman Benn and Shane Shillingford who reduced the South African top order like never before. This could have been the most spectacular event in today's West Indian cricket where the West Indies are found to be satisfied with even a decent defeat.

I still remember the VB series 2005 that involved West Indies, Pakistan and Australia (of course) where in one of the games between West Indies and Australia, the Aussies consisting of the famous 2003 champions namely Adam Gilchrist, Mathew Hayden and others were made to reel at 41/5 by the West Indies, who until then had just one victory against Pakistan in the series . When all thought that the West Indies have had all within them and a rare Aussie defeat is on the cards, rain came as a spoilsport for the West Indies who were forced to be satisfied with a point.

However, though the West Indies have the first day's play, the next big question is how long will their dominance continue against the Proteas? The match needless to be said is scheduled for 5 days and the West Indies team has hardly any substance in them to continue good work of any sort against any team barring Bangladesh. No doubt that the West Indies team consists of decent batsmen like Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chandrapaul who can save some face for their team. But, when will the world see the West Indies team win matches like it was doing some 30 years back?