West Indies v Australia: New look home side are the value

Test previews / Richard O’Hagan / 08 April 2012 / Leave a Comment

Brathwaite builds runs against the Aussie attack

"Only 19, Kraigg Brathwaite wasn't even born when Geoffrey Boycott played his last innings, yet no player of recent years more closely replicates the Yorkshireman's 'defence first' approach to cricket than Brathwaite does."

The big-hitting big names of recent West Indies teams have gone and in their place are a collection of more nuanced individuals - and that makes the home team an interesting bet for Richard O'Hagan during their current series against Australia

Once upon a time a Test series between the West Indies and Australia would have been a battle to the death (almost literally) between the two best sides in the world.

The three Test series which began in Jamaica yesterday, however, finds both sides in a state of transition. Australia have slipped to third in the world, while their hosts have never yet recovered from Brian Lara's retirement five years ago, let alone the departures of other illustrious players over the past decade.

In many respects Kraigg - yes, that is the correct spelling - Brathwaite is an atypical West Indian player. Over the years their home crowds have become accustomed to dashing strokeplay, from the formidable years of Viv Richards et al, when teams (including Australia) would simply be steamrollered on the hard, fast, Caribbean pitches, to more recent times. Those recent times - of Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and latterly Kieron Pollard - have been the 'boom and bust' years, of players frenetically chasing runs and innings after innings ending in inevitable collapse.

Those players are now gone, chasing (for better or worse) the IPL dollar.

In Gayle's place has come Brathwaite, a player less like the stereotypical West Indian than you could possibly imagine. Still only 19, he wasn't even born when Geoffrey Boycott played his last innings, yet no player of recent years more closely replicates the Yorkshireman's 'defence first' approach to cricket than Brathwaite does. In seven Tests (imagine playing seven Tests before you turn 20) his strike rate is barely two runs an over. That's a full run per over less than that other famous Caribbean limpet, Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

Yesterday, Brathwaite faced 199 balls for his 57 runs, a thorn so firmly in the Australian side that Michael Clarke got through seven bowlers and 67 overs before he was the third West Indian to fall.

Around him were three other players who represent the future of West Indian cricket. Adrian Barath seems to have a firm grip on the other opening spot despite the odd moment of gullibility such as falling for the legside trap that saw him dismissed for 22 yesterday. Kirk Edwards has the ability to mix calmness with aggression at number three and Darren Bravo, whose entire career has been not so much saddled with comparisons to his cousin Lara as hog-tied by them, now averages over 52 at this level. Between them they took the score to 179-3 before rain brought an early halt to the day.

There was not a lot to cheer for the Australians. Asked to field after Darren Sammy won the toss, their bowling attack was so toothless that Clarke had to call upon the part-time leg-spin of opener David Warner long before tea. Although he broke the century partnership between Brathwaite and Edwards, it was with a ball so bad that Edwards seemed surprised and simply mishit it.

It could be another long day in the field for the visitors today and odds of [2.2] on a score of more than 375 look very good indeed.

The Windies remain the [6.8] outsiders to win this Test. If they can build upon their good start they will feel that their bowling attack, based more on raw pace than the line-and-length merchants the Australians have gone for, gives them a good chance of bowling out their opponents twice on this batsman-friendly pitch.

More importantly for the long term future of the game in the Caribbean, a win over Australia will lead to increased faith in this new look, new style, team.

Best Best
West Indies to win at odds of [6.8]

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West Indies Cricket: Gayle exlusion has kicked up a huge storm

Bat and ball / Frank Gregan / 02 May 2011 / Leave a Comment

World-beater and nightmare to have to manage, we give you the inimitable Chris Gayle

"Mr Hilaire is of course correct but the trouble is, they've been trying to make it work that way for the last 15 years. They been indulging the players to the detriment of West Indian cricket. If they are going to sort it out they have to bite the bullet and accept it's going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better. "

The West Indian Cricket Board has decided that enough is enough and that the likes of maverick trio Chris Gayle, Shiv Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan are no longer part of their short-term plans. But how did it get this bad to start with, asks Frank Gregan.

Jack the Lads, the loveable rogues that push the boundaries and test the patience of sporting coaches and authority are time and time again given the benefit of the doubt. Mainly because they are special athletes, but also because we all admire their cockiness.

I've heard some incredible excuses in dressing rooms throughout the years. It's no good using these excuses in a one-to-one interview, they have to be witnessed by team-mates. A footballer I was once working with didn't want to travel to an away game with the squad whilst suspended and argued without a shred of embarrassment that he couldn't fly on an internal UK flight because he couldn't provide photographic ID.

"My driving licence is the old paper one, no photo." he told the Boss.
"So what about your passport?" was the logical reply.

Quick as a flash and without a shred of embarrassment he produced a riposte even an eleven year schoolkid would have considered pathetic and inadequate, "The dog ate my passport!" It might have been a great laugh and it certainly lightened the mood in the dressing room but it was a line in the sand.

The coach could either stand his ground and rule authoritatively or he could choose the easy route and avoid a confrontation by giving the player the weekend off. He chose the latter and once again, Jack the Lad had been indulged and the boundaries pushed but much more importantly, a case of 'one rule for one and one rule for others' had been applied.

It seems that the West Indian Cricket Board who have been indulging their better players for ages have finally reached the end of their tether with their Jack the Lads. Chris Gayle is an exceptional talent and he has proven, particularly in the shorter versions of the game, that he can single-handedly win matches. But diplomacy and respect for authority have never been Gayle's strong suit and and he gives the impression that he can 'take it or leave it' as far as playing for the West Indies is concerned.

Gayle and two other former skippers, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwen, may just have met their match in WICB chief executive Ernest Hilaire, who seems to be ready to lock horns with the big names and the strong characters. Hilaire has let the West Indian supporters know the reasons why he thinks it's necessary.

"If you look at West Indies cricket since the mid 1990s a lot of the systems we had in place broke down. There's no discipline. There's no application. No one man is bigger than the team, no one man is such a superstar that he can decide if he is training today, if he is having treatment tomorrow, if he is going to attend a team meeting. It cannot work that way."

Mr Hilaire is of course correct but the trouble is, they've been trying to make it work that way for the last 15 years. They been indulging the players to the detriment of West Indian cricket. If they are going to sort it out they have to bite the bullet and accept it's going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better.

The role models of the new generation of West Indian cricketers have been thumbing their noses at authority for years, leading the current crop to believe it's the norm. Gayle, Chanderpaul and Sarwan's boots might take some filling but for the sake of West Indian cricket they need to be filled by players who put the team before themselves.

Chris Gayle showed the WICB what they were missing when he scored a superb ton on his return to the IPL with the Bangalore Royal Challengers. Gayle and his team-mates sit on the fringes of the top four in the IPL and are a tempting [7.0] to lift the trophy. As far as Ernest Hilaire and his board are concerned, Gayle's absence is a case of short term pain for long term gain. Let's hope the pain doesn't last another 15 years!

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West Indies Cricket Team: Relaxed but focussed

West Indies / Frank Gregan / 07 March 2011 / Leave a Comment

Too cool for school. Benn is a fine spinner

"There's nothing wrong with that, in fact quite the opposite is true. A relaxed and ‘chilled out’ lifestyle where one works to live rather than lives to work has to be conducive to healthy mental well being. But as far as sport is concerned, in order to be the best, the very best, apathy has to be replaced with obsession."

They may be the kings of cool and the greatest exponents of the laid-back cricketer but this West Indies team means business and could prove to be dangerous opponents.

One of my mates is a bit of a military legend. He's probably the only bloke that's been kicked out of the SAS - for fighting! Seriously, you couldn't make it up, the Regiment frowned upon a bar room brawl in America and returned him to his parent unit.

Such is his popularity that even though he elected to marry at the same time that England played their opening game of the 2006 football World Cup finals, his friends made the trek to Newcastle from the four corners of the earth to witness him getting hitched.

Another one of my pals had returned to his native Jamaica (he held dual citizenship) after his days in the Army ended but he flew in to be at the gig. We were Brothers in Arms as members of a four man team on an operational tour during which we were together pretty much round the clock every day of the week. I know him better than my siblings and have a great affection for him.

The night before the wedding we all met in the hotel bar and re-fought battles as we put the world to rights. There was tremendous excitement and anticipation about the following day - all except for my Jamaican buddy who confessed to me he could "take it or leave it."

He'd made a 10,000 mile round trip to be there but wasn't in the least bit excited about the event or meeting mates that he hadn't seen for over a decade. His attitude was typical Caribbean, relaxed and unfazed by everything going on around him. This sounds like I'm stereotyping all of the people from the islands that make up the cricketing union of the West Indies. But I guess I am because everyone, and I've met loads through the Army and sport, that I've come across from that region are so laid back they are horizontal!

There's nothing wrong with that, in fact quite the opposite is true. A relaxed and 'chilled out' lifestyle where one works to live rather than lives to work has to be conducive to healthy mental well being. But as far as sport is concerned, in order to be the best, the very best, apathy has to be replaced with obsession.

You don't get to be top of your profession by not applying yourself 100%. Brian Lara and Sir Viv Richards were just that, the very best of their generation and there's a whole host of other great West Indian cricketers who have left their mark on the game. Giants of international cricket such as Gordon Greenidge, Clive Lloyd, Malcolm Marshall, Wes Hall and Sir Garfield Sobers who were all great cricketers but also tenacious competitors. They made use of every ounce of their talent.

Many pundits believe that the same can't be said about this crop of West Indian cricketers. They've got undoubted ability but their application leaves a lot to be desired. They've been underachieving for the last couple of years and the players seem unperturbed by the situation.

They now have a great opportunity to earn a place in history by winning this World Cup and it would be a classic case of coming good at exactly the right time if they manage to pull it off. They lost their opening fixture when they were comprehensively beaten by the South Africans but since then they've walloped the Dutch and hammered Bangladesh without breaking sweat during a game in which many believed there would be an upset.

As a consequence they have been backed into [23.0] to win the tournament from a high of [38.0]. That's a very big price for a team that can sometimes afford to have Shivnarine Chanderpaul coming into bat at number seven but no doubt many Betfairians have been put off by the West Indian laid back approach.

So do the West Indies really want to win this trophy? You bet they do. Don't be put off by the chilled, cool, "do I look good in these sunglasses" persona. It's all a front. Unless you care, you don't travel 10,000 miles to go to a wedding and you definitely don't get to play international cricket for the West Indies.

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Cricket World Cup Betting: West Indies v Netherlands

Match Previews / Andrew Hughes / 27 February 2011 / Leave a Comment

Gayle has the ammunition

"But though they gave England a hard workout and in Ryan ten Doeschate, have a world class one day batsmen, the Nethelands’ bowling is dangerously weak..."

The West Indies have suffered a huge blow with the loss of Dwayne Bravo and now they face a stiff test against a battling Netherlands side.

London Start Time: 09:00

Venue and Conditions
The Feroz Shah Kotla had an unfortunate reputation to live down but in the first game here on Thursday the relaid wicket was a fair one and remained true throughout. Even so, this is not exactly a batting paradise and 250 is likely to be a good score. Fielding second might be tricky too as the temperature drops and the dew accumulates

Team News
In the absence of Bravo, West Indies can either slot in batsman Kirk Edwards or play an extra bowler and move everyone else up a place, although this would mean exposing Keiron Pollard or Darren Sammy at six.

Netherlands have no injury worries and they won't want to tinker with a batting line-up that caused England problems. If they want to freshen up a tame bowling attack, they could call on a second specialist spinner in Adeel Raja.

Match Odds
The Netherlands will feel this is their best chance of knocking over one of the Test playing nations. The West Indies, never high on confidence, have lost their vice captain, leader on the field and most reliable one day bowler in Dwayne Bravo. At times against South Africa, they looked a shambles. So odds of [7.0] about a Netherlands win might look appealing.

But though they gave England a hard workout and in betting.betfair columnist Ryan ten Doeschate, have a world class one day batsmen, the Netherlands' bowling is dangerously weak and the likes of Chris Gayle, Darren Bravo, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul can take full advantage. With the Windies having had vital experience of playing on this track, I suspect we may have to wait a while for the first shock of World Cup 2011.

Top Batsman
The Netherlands medium pace attack should suit Chris Gayle down to the ground and he is the solid selection to top score at [3.75] or better.

For Holland, all of the batsmen got starts against England and I liked the look of aggressive opener Wesley Barresi who can be backed at [6.5].

Featured Market
Chris Gayle is due a big performance and we should side with him in preference to his younger teamate in the 'Da(rren) Bravo v Gayle' market at [1.75] or better.

Best Bet

Chris Gayle to top score for West Indies at [3.75]

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