WI tour of New Zealand, Nov 25 - Jan 3

[mikesiva]

Merry Christmas AfCrow. Merry Christmas everyone who is still a fan of the woefully bad B and C teams.

On the subject of seniors why should players like Lil Bravo choose west indies over a Bangladesh t20s team? The west indies is not a country. Trinidad is. The Bravo brothers were patriotic and gave their all in leading their country to victory in the CPL. That's what really matters. Globe trotting playing t20s cricket is just building up to the most important event of 2018. Defending their CPL crown.

The WICB need to make playing for the west indies worth it to the players.

[mikesiva]

Lewis rested? Beaton and Hetmyer out. Gayle Walton and Miller in.

Santner for Bracewell.

[mikesiva]

The Kiwis beat the West Indies by 66 runs on D/L after the match was reduced by rain.

Taylor topscored with 47 not out to lead New Zealand to 131-4 off 23 overs, Cottrell taking 2-19, and Holder and Miller one wicket each. Once again, it was the batsmen who let the side down, limping to 99-9, Holder topscoring with 34. Boult took 3-18, Santner 3-15, and Henry 2-18.

The hall of shame....

Gayle 4
Walton 0
Shai 2
Kyle 1
JaMo 1
Powell 11

Gabriel and Nurse were expensive and wicketless.

The Kiwis whitewashed the 'C' team in the Tests 2-0, and the 'B' team in the ODIs 3-0. Now, it's the turn of the 'A' team....

[mikesiva]

Updated T20 squad: Carlos Brathwaite (capt), Samuel Badree, Ronsford Beaton, Rayad Emrit, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Jason Mohammed, Ashley Nurse, Kieron Pollard, Rovman Powell, Shai Hope, Jerome Taylor, Chadwick Walton, Kesrick Williams

Further updates to the updated squad.

Pollard and Beaton out. Hetmyer and Cotterell in.

Most of these guys make more of an effort to play for their CPL team than for the trough dwellers in the WICB.

[MarcusGarveyLives]

In closing it would help if some of the seniors would start to put the region first instead of chasing pocket change elsewhere. Bravo should be playing here but instead, he's sitting on a t20 teams bench, it's just silly

Apparently not silly to 'Stars' not 'Heroes'.

On the subject of seniors why should players like Lil Bravo choose west indies over a Bangladesh t20s team? The west indies is not a country.

But they are 'West Indians'?

Trinidad is.

But Trinidad does not play international cricket.

The Bravo brothers were patriotic and gave their all in leading their country to victory in the CPL. That's what really matters. Globe trotting playing t20s cricket is just building up to the most important event of 2018. Defending their CPL crown.

Will that make them 'Heroes' in the Caribbean?

The WICB need to make playing for the west indies worth it to the players.

I wonder if 'Heroes' such as Sobers, Headley, Richards and Marshall consider whether it was 'worth it', and how the abilities of today's 'Stars' compare to those of past 'Heroes'?

The issue was raised here, but consistent with the general lack of interest in West Indies cricket, not explored or pursued.

[badpepper]

Hope you all had a great Christmas!

[mikesiva]

Hope you all had a great Christmas!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all....

MGL, the fact that hardly anybody's interested in discussing the demise of West Indies cricket should indicate that nobody cares about the WIndies any more...the only folks who take pride in being West Indian these days are a handful of old-timers like us.

What benefit is there to playing international cricket when only three men and a dog turn up to watch a Test match in the Caribbean? T20 matches draw bigger crowds and better money. When the Bravo brothers strut down the streets of Port-of-Spain, they're congratulated on winning the CPL. Hardly any Trinis voice their concern about the demise of WI cricket. Hence why players like the Bravo brothers, Pollard and Narine are unavailable for the T20s in Kiwiland. But bet your bottom dollar they will all be available for the CPL and the IPL!

The era of Sobers, Richards, Headley and Marshall belonged to previous generations...this generation was not alive during the Federation. To this generation of Trinis, the Bravo brothers are 'heroes' for what they did in this year's CPL.

And talking about T20s in New Zealand....

The Kiwis defeated the depleted 'A' team by 47 runs. Colin Munro hit 53 and Glenn Phillips 55 as New Zealand piled up 187-7.

Badree 1-22
Taylor 2-41
Williams 1-52
Carlos 2-38
Nurse 1-31

The West Indies were bowled out for 140 by Rance (3-30) and Southee (3-36).

Walton 7
Gayle 12
Fletcher 27
Shai 15
JaMo 3
Powell 6
Carlos 21
Nurse 20 not out

[mikesiva]

Finally, we managed to avoid defeat in a match in New Zealand!

Thanks to the rain, the second T20 was abandoned as a no result. Munro blasted 66 off 23 balls, while there was one wicket each for Cottrell, Badree, Williams and Nurse.

[mikesiva]

This horrendous tour has finally come to an end. New Zealand win 2-0. The rain saved us from a white wash.

Munro hammered 104 as the Kiwis racked up 243-5. Southee took 3-21 while Boult and Sodhi took two wickets each to bowl the West Indies out for a paltry 124 all out.

The roll call of shame....

Taylor 1-53
Badree 0-51
Nurse 0-43
Carlos 2-50
Emrit 1-42

Walton 0
Gayle 0
Fletcher 46
Rovman 16
Hetmyer 7
Carlos 15

[AFRO]

I just think it was a tour too much for our boys. Firstly we've got the youngest team in the game right now, so despite having the highs of winning at Lords, you then have the lows that we saw in NZ. That's what inexperience can bring. Secondly, both the ODI and T20 teams seemed to be a mishmash of players who were in NZ already, and rusty arrivals. That coupled with senior stars like Narine, Bravo etc missing, then it was a recipe for disaster really.

We're just gonna have to lick our wounds and move forward. NZ are a settled side who are very tough to beat in their own conditions. I still believe that if we played them at home right now the situation would be a lot different. This year we have the likes of Bang and SL coming to the region so we MUST step up and defend our turf now. The coaches, and players, are certainly doing some soul searching at the moment. The board aren't happy either and we in the PM will not rest until certain issues in our cricket are addressed.