FORWARD!!!

[AFRO]

DUNCIES!!!..excuse di delayed response to our MAGNIFICENT win at di oval di other day....been PURE BASHMENT since we win to rhatid and mi haven't had much time fi internet!!..but i cyan just imagine di BITTER TASTE in do foul mouths of mike, him sidepiece, di two bajan SELLOUTS and dat skunt Colin Graves!!...

Lord di champagne POURING and caviar SERVING at factory road bhai!!..mi belly full .

This win just personified my long standing belief that we CAN produce talented players still if we create a system of which they can flourish in. There's still a lot of work to be done but after me and others have been banging our heads against a brick wall for a while today i got some positive vibes from our director of cricket about new youth development plans which is great to hear.

Anyway here are my ratings!!

Brathwaite- Great ton and can only get better. At 22 he's gonna have ups and downs but there is no doubt that this kid could go on to be the best opener we've produced in the caribbean if he continues to work hard.

Smith- finished

Bravo-Never played much cricket going into this series but he got better and better as the series went on and his knock was a match winning one...just brilliant to see him and there other two youths (Kraigg and Jermaine) hopefully forming the backbone for our top order for many years to come. When Darren plays well he seems to inspire both Kraigg and Jermaine hence he had 100 run partnerships with both during this series.

Samuels-Played very well with the bat..made Stokes look like a skunt and his bowling in the last game gave us control which we badly needed.

Chanderpaul- Grandpa shiv hanging by him finger nails duncies!!..di aus tour gine be him last .

Blackwood- Remember when Mike wanted him senior boyfriends to play ahead of this kid for Jamaica? he played a truly WORLD CLASS knock in the first innings that helped us get close to England's score and the finished off the job in the second innings. His bravery is a jo to watch and he has all the shots...his footwork against the spinners aswell was very encouraging to see.

Ramdin- His captaincy is already being questioned by some behind the scenes but i thought he did ok...

Holder- What a player this yute is...great ton and then his bowling was superb in the last game...top class talent this kid is.

Taylor- BRILLIANT...he was the difference in this game and it was great to see Jerome at his best

Roach- Kemar is carrying a few extra pounds apparently (hence the loss of pace) and also has a knock. I won't be judging him on this series though because imo he's still a world class pacer on his day and hopefully he'll get himself together in-time for the Aus series as he has a good record against them.

Gabriel- Really happy for Gabby as he had an indiffeent PCL season with Trinidad but for the West indies he never lets us down.

Bishoo- Done very well in that one test he played

Benn- finished

Permaul- Still he's NEVER failed to take a wicket in an innings at test level..you could see him grow in confidence the more he bowled and it was great to see how he's improved against the lefties too..the arm-ball he got Balance with was top class and at just 25 i'd be inclined to invest in him longterm rather than Bishy tbh.

Hope- As Mike said we can't judge the yute until he plays in his best position. He's no opener and facing Anderson and co was a very tough task..but i hear he's been impressing in the nets and he'll be part of the A-team in the next series they play so hopefully he'll continue to improve and join Kraigg, Darren and Jermaine in the top order moving forward!!.

So in closing everyting SWEET and Simmo is already making plans fi du Aussies!!..it's gonna be tough but the bond this group has formed should see them put up a decent fight. The opening spot is clearly an issue and the selectors will be looking for options..Fudadin? Charles? Theophile? Leon Johnson? who knows.

[mikesiva]

I agree with most of your comments, Afro, but I'm a little more cautious about Bishoo and Permaul. Bishoo was expensive in his only Test of the series, while Permaul bowled a lot of hit-me balls in his only Test of the series.

Permaul averages over 36 with the ball in Test cricket, and averaged over 32 in his only Test of the series. Bishoo averages about 40 with the ball in Test cricket, and averaged over 50 in his only Test of the series.

Personally, I'd like to see Holder playing as a batting allrounder at six or seven, allowing us to play both a left-arm spinner and a leggie. I would expect Perrmaul and Bishoo to take pole position, since they're the spin twins who guided Guyana to victory in the PCL, but to me they would both have to improve on their career Test averages, or their places should be taken by the next cabs on the rank, which, IMHO, are Nikita Miller and Damion Jacobs.

If there's one thing we don't have a shortage of in this region, it's spinners....

[Googley]

Afro, I am surprised it took you so long to come doing you "Forward" dance!

First time I am seeing some serious indications of any forward movement. So lets not get too carried away.

We need someone to replace Shiv. The Oz series will be his last! No one will debate that.

Roach needs to seriously work on this game in order for him to get back into the team. He seems to take his place for granted.

Agree that Smith is done! PLease convey that to your husbands at WICB! They seem to think that somehow this chap will finally emerge to be the player they hope he would become. Well, he is not becoming anything that what they saw!!!

[howzdat]

RAOTFLMFAO Affers is really so yuh stay Stuuuuuppppps. AFRO Is how long I beg you fuh look a lil wuk fuh me down at Factory Road and is how many years pass during which you aint pull through yet

AFRO, Is who idea you tek to Factory Road about Simmonds Is who give you blessings, a good boost and right royal singalong song for you to tek courage when you reach the Emerald Isle to negotiate the release of Simmonds? Is who seh that they willing to wuk in a office with no view:?:

And notwithstanding all of that is come you come pon the www and boasting how you been smacking your lips pon some fishy eggs and champers! Lawd AFRO yuh aint ordinary

AFRO, and is weh you been when I been tekking the fight to the Poms and that Graves fella And to them two Bajan boys what you mention Is me one pluck up the courage to approach Sir Baje of the Bluefoots and get a scoop pon that South African boys retirement

And now you reach amongst we stalwarts who support the team through thick, without jumping pon any bandwagon or hanging we mouth after any gravy train, and here you come boasting about non-stop fete Stuuupppppssss.

Anyway AFRO leh mi tell you that I done ahead of all of you down at Factory Road in terms of measuring progress. FORWARD!!! will be West Indies winning the Frank Worrell Trophy when next we play the Poms. Simple. We can start planning now to remind them of the blackwash days

I think datz how enough from me for now AFRO but as i set to dreaming about days of yesteryear - and the ones to come - I just get a telex to ask you if you had a chance to see my latest headline special for that Colin Graves fella after the victory? NO?

It read: "mediocre" Windies put 3-day Black-wooding pon Poms

[mapoui2]

DUNCIES!!!..excuse di delayed response to our MAGNIFICENT win at di oval di other day....been PURE BASHMENT since we win to rhatid and mi haven't had much time fi internet!!..but i cyan just imagine di BITTER TASTE in do foul mouths of mike, him sidepiece, di two bajan SELLOUTS and dat skunt Colin Graves!!...

Lord di champagne POURING and caviar SERVING at factory road bhai!!..mi belly full .

Champagne! way too early. deh shud have said "dat was good! we nek ah start. time to push on upwards. champagne when we hit #1"

This win just personified my long standing belief that we CAN produce talented players still if we create a system of which they can flourish in. There's still a lot of work to be done but after me and others have been banging our heads against a brick wall for a while today i got some positive vibes from our director of cricket about new youth development plans which is great to hear.
the problem all along....the stink wicb. I hope deh don't abort this promising lot here

Anyway here are my ratings!!

Brathwaite- Great ton and can only get better. At 22 he's gonna have ups and downs but there is no doubt that this kid could go on to be the best opener we've produced in the caribbean if he continues to work hard.

Smith- finished why even talk about dat skunt

Bravo-Never played much cricket going into this series but he got better and better as the series went on and his knock was a match winning one...just brilliant to see him and there other two youths (Kraigg and Jermaine) hopefully forming the backbone for our top order for many years to come. When Darren plays well he seems to inspire both Kraigg and Jermaine hence he had 100 run partnerships with both during this series.

a young man who lets too many shitty things bother him..like an idiot fake skipper Sammy . he has to fight back on the spot, immediately and continuing, smartly and with effect. he cant take those thing inside, walk with them, harbour them. they will get infected and poison him.
Darren is good but he isnt tuff and ambitious to a fault like Lara was. he wont max out unless he is. he will be Samuels times 0.05%...better but by what

Samuels-Played very well with the bat..made Stokes look like a skunt and his bowling in the last game gave us control which we badly needed.

Phasing out time for the Mule..Samules. if Holder can really bat... Samuels at 34, demoted to #6 for Blackwood at #5...could be in trouble

Chanderpaul- Grandpa shiv hanging by him finger nails duncies!!..di aus tour gine be him last .
as I said in my post next door..2 more against the Oz..every opportunity to pass Lara, next 4 innings.. then retirement. its time..and Shive does need to risk letting the environment get sour on his longevity. move when the time is right and it seems now is the right time for him

Blackwood- Remember when Mike wanted him senior boyfriends to play ahead of this kid for Jamaica? he played a truly WORLD CLASS knock in the first innings that helped us get close to England's score and the finished off the job in the second innings. His bravery is a jo to watch and he has all the shots...his footwork against the spinners aswell was very encouraging to see.

this bwoy can bat..admittedly. but he is thrills early at the wicket. he appears unable to settle until he gives a chance and 3-4 near misses. pheeeew! I don't care about his hitting in the air..he can do it well. clear the fielders all the time and hitting in the air is as safe as hitting along the ground

Ramdin- His captaincy is already being questioned by some behind the scenes but i thought he did ok...

a looming Holder for Ramdin as captain is not my cup of tea. as a team administration that might be hallf decent takes shape, having confidence in Ramdin, who actually likes him, starting with Simmons may do wonders for his confidence. that has been the problem all along..to many cooks at the top without any leavening factor. Simmons could be that leavening factor with his smarts and easy demeanor

Holder- What a player this yute is...great ton and then his bowling was superb in the last game...top class talent this kid is.

I am not crazy about Holder. he still has much to prove to me. he is good so far, much better than I thought. but the jury is still out on him between what he has shown and the wild, crazy hype and expectation of him like, that immediately above here

Taylor- BRILLIANT...he was the difference in this game and it was great to see Jerome at his best

Roach- Kemar is carrying a few extra pounds apparently (hence the loss of pace) and also has a knock. I won't be judging him on this series though because imo he's still a world class pacer on his day and hopefully he'll get himself together in-time for the Aus series as he has a good record against them.

Gabriel- Really happy for Gabby as he had an indiffeent PCL season with Trinidad but for the West indies he never lets us down.

Gabe is my bwoy. the type of attitude and approach, ambition missing in a lot of the pacers..especially Cottrell. I love players like Gabe.

Bishoo- Done very well in that one test he played

Benn- finished

Permaul- Still he's NEVER failed to take a wicket in an innings at test level..you could see him grow in confidence the more he bowled and it was great to see how he's improved against the lefties too..the arm-ball he got Balance with was top class and at just 25 i'd be inclined to invest in him longterm rather than Bishy tbh.

I have no problem with Bishoo and Permaul. they got cut, went out and won their places back. they are cool..the spin current and future. Miller is toast..past his opportunity..Narine has been found out, shilly too..Benn had his development cut short by Otis..never recovered

Hope- As Mike said we can't judge the yute until he plays in his best position. He's no opener and facing Anderson and co was a very tough task..but i hear he's been impressing in the nets and he'll be part of the A-team in the next series they play so hopefully he'll continue to improve and join Kraigg, Darren and Jermaine in the top order moving forward!!.

I have been begging to get Hope at #3 at the highest. that looks impossible given the side. ideally Hope shud be at 5 or 6 to start his career. he is not lucky in that but I am happy he got in. he has show enough to keep his place..but at the top is problematic


So in closing everyting SWEET and Simmo is already making plans fi du Aussies!!..it's gonna be tough but the bond this group has formed should see them put up a decent fight. The opening spot is clearly an issue and the selectors will be looking for options..Fudadin? Charles? Theophile? Leon Johnson? who knows.

[AFRO]

I agree with most of your comments, Afro, but I'm a little more cautious about Bishoo and Permaul. Bishoo was expensive in his only Test of the series, while Permaul bowled a lot of hit-me balls in his only Test of the series.

The bottom line is both took wickets which is far more than what Benn was doing. With the way our attack is structure we need all four of the main bowlers to make a contribution and that's what happened in this test.

Permaul averages over 36 with the ball in Test cricket, and averaged over 32 in his only Test of the series. Bishoo averages about 40 with the ball in Test cricket, and averaged over 50 in his only Test of the series.

Do you know that that test match was the first one Permy has played in the Caribbean? most of the spinners out there establish themselves at home and then begin to perform away from home but Permy has had to do it the hard way in conditions he's not been used to. At 25 he can only get better and it was very encouraging to see him looking dangerous against the lefties and bowling the arm ball which wasn't the case a year ago.

Personally, I'd like to see Holder playing as a batting allrounder at six or seven, allowing us to play both a left-arm spinner and a leggie. I would expect Perrmaul and Bishoo to take pole position, since they're the spin twins who guided Guyana to victory in the PCL, but to me they would both have to improve on their career Test averages, or their places should be taken by the next cabs on the rank, which, IMHO, are Nikita Miller and Damion Jacobs.

If there's one thing we don't have a shortage of in this region, it's spinners....

The batting isn't deemed to be strong enough to bat Holder at six and rightly so imo...first and foremost we need to make sure our batting can put up a decent score otherwise the bowlers will have nothing to work with anyway. We just have to hope that Holder grows into a genuine strike bowler like the likes of Morkel and the way he bowled in the last test suggests he's clearly got the potential. For me we need someone like a Deonarine (obviously not him but someone similar) who can bowl quality spin and make contributions with the bat. If Rakeem Cornwall losing a few stone and bats well next season i think he's someone to be looked at along with Akeal Hosain, Yanic Cariah and Roston Chase.

And no Nikita will not be in the mix...i'm told he's in the same boat as Benn...they like the look of Warrican who is expected to be in the A-team.

[AFRO]

RAOTFLMFAO Affers is really so yuh stay Stuuuuuppppps. AFRO Is how long I beg you fuh look a lil wuk fuh me down at Factory Road and is how many years pass during which you aint pull through yet

AFRO, Is who idea you tek to Factory Road about Simmonds Is who give you blessings, a good boost and right royal singalong song for you to tek courage when you reach the Emerald Isle to negotiate the release of Simmonds? Is who seh that they willing to wuk in a office with no view:?:

And notwithstanding all of that is come you come pon the www and boasting how you been smacking your lips pon some fishy eggs and champers! Lawd AFRO yuh aint ordinary

AFRO, and is weh you been when I been tekking the fight to the Poms and that Graves fella And to them two Bajan boys what you mention Is me one pluck up the courage to approach Sir Baje of the Bluefoots and get a scoop pon that South African boys retirement

And now you reach amongst we stalwarts who support the team through thick, without jumping pon any bandwagon or hanging we mouth after any gravy train, and here you come boasting about non-stop fete Stuuupppppssss.

Anyway AFRO leh mi tell you that I done ahead of all of you down at Factory Road in terms of measuring progress. FORWARD!!! will be West Indies winning the Frank Worrell Trophy when next we play the Poms. Simple. We can start planning now to remind them of the blackwash days

I think datz how enough from me for now AFRO but as i set to dreaming about days of yesteryear - and the ones to come - I just get a telex to ask you if you had a chance to see my latest headline special for that Colin Graves fella after the victory? NO?

It read: "mediocre" Windies put 3-day Black-wooding pon Poms

LOL why unnu begging fi wuk Howzdat? You tink me is di one who hiring and firing people?

As for Graves...needless to say members of di board told him in frank terms what we thought about his comments .

[mikesiva]

Now we have seen that Warrican is crap, and not as good as Miller...the FC stats show that once again.

I was listening to the KLAS FM call-in programme a couple of days ago, and Orville Higgins stated that sources in the WICB informed him that the persistent omission of Nikita Miller had nothing to do with cricket.

Season after season, Miller has returned the best figures for a spinner, and yet he can't get a second Test after his only appearance in 2009. However, sources in the WICB informed Higgins that the selectors continually ignored Miller because he was too outspoken. Apparently, Miller spoke up for a number of players on the issue of unsatisfactory conditions on an ODI tour, and as a result, the selectors gave him the cold shoulder after that.

The information Higgins received sounds plausible to me. The WICB was always a bunch of vindictive skunts....

Garfield has an interesting article on Miller....

https://www.cricketsoccer.com/2017/05/0 ... selectors/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Perplexingly, anotherWest Indies Test series will pass without an appearance by the bowler who has been, year after year, the region’s most prolific wicket-taker in first-class cricket. What more does Nikita Miller have to do to get the selectors to take a look in his direction? How many more wickets should the Jamaican have gathered? How many more games ought he to have won almost on his own to add another maroon cap to the one he collected all those years ago?

Miller and Sulieman Benn from Barbados are both left-arm spinners. Both have had success at the first-class level for a long time. In 99 first-class games, Benn has gathered 379 wickets at a reasonably good average of 26.73. Miller’s figures are better: 90 games have yielded him 461 wickets at an astounding 16.54.

Benn has been one of the more reliable wicket-takers during the West Indies’ regional four-day competition. Miller, almost every year, has been unstoppable. When the statistics are computed at the end of each season, the Jamaican is likely to be at, or very near the top of the list in every category: most wickets, lowest average, lowest economy rate, lowest strike rate.

And yet, for some unexplainable reason, Benn has played 26 Tests and Miller, as mentioned, has only one to his name. His lone Test cap came during Bangladesh’s 2009 tour of the Caribbean when most of the first-choice players took strike action against the board over a pay dispute. He never managed to get anything in the wickets column, conceding 67 runs in 22 overs. But surely, not much can be gleaned from a solitary appearance.

A number of spinners have managed to jump ahead of Miller and gain selection to the Test team, although he must have been in the selectors’ thoughts from his very first season when he collected 39 wickets at 19.56. Shane Shillingford, DavendraBishoo, Sunil Narine, Versammy Permaul and JomelWarrican all made Test debuts after Miller. Few boast anything like his fine record.

So why was he not worth more than one test match, though he has been, over the years, the foremost wicket-taker in the regional first-class game? Why was a player who maintained an extremely high level of potency and consistency in the competition that is West Indies cricket’s main proving ground, not given a reasonable run of matches to establish himself? Why was it always the case that the selectors went for the new shiny object every time one emerged, at the expense of a player who has been a long-time high achiever?

.....do read more on his article on the link.

[Googley]

HOW is the FOWARD march going, AfCrow?


report please! you been "under" for too long!! you might be suffering from brain damage!!

[AFRO]

DUNCIES!!!..believe me no-one is happy with what we're seeing in our cricket right now . The mens team just looks devoid of ideas and class. The women's team is an absolute mess with in-fighting rampant and a complete lack of confidence in the dressing room. And then we have the whole silly Darren Bravo situation which should have been settled months ago but his advisors, and Davey's stubborness is holding things up . The only shining light is the youngsters coming through at youth level...don't be surprised if they win the next youth world cup aswell.

What is clear is we need a new approach to our cricket now. I'm busy writing a report on the whole structure of our cricket and what needs to be done. We in the PM have had enough now!!..we simply cannot keep doing the same things over and over and expect different results. We've changed head coaches, we've changed presidents, we've changed selectors, we've changed ceo's, we've changed director of cricket etc!!..but what remains the same is our feeble structure that does nothing but churn out one mediocre player after another. Every territory under the WICB needs to have ONE goal, and that is to create the best environment possible for our region to produce good cricketers. And right now that is not the case.

Tbh I've barely watched the india games!!!..just can't stomach seeing the crap they are playing right now. Although I was happy to see the selectors make some changes!!!..but no doubt massa mike isn't happy that JAMAICAN'S continue to be ignored