AFRO's windiesfans.com inbox fuh the WICB

[howzdat]

LOL howzy you scared of di Afgans now? ....

Hey AFRO pardna is lovely to see you around here, man, but don't mek yourself so scarce cos this inbox need YOUR updates. Anyway me, scared? Not at all Affers is jus' think i thinking 'bout the bruises and scars dat gonna be lef' behind if Simmons & his new team pull off a couple of victories. I well remembah that lovely Afghan fella doing his celebration dance at the WT20; and knowing datz how some wi islands so damned small they might not be able to withstand the earth tremors that might arise.

Of course our limited overs teams have had a torrid time of late but I still believe we have the talent in the region to make a comeback. Playing a confident and well organised England whilst we have seniors missing was always gonna be tough. Hopefully by the time we play Afghanistan we'll have the likes of Charles, Narine, Darren Bravo and maybe even Pollard back!!!..and I think their experience should give us a great chance to get some wins and build some confidence.

Howzabout we start a topic canvassing the West Indies public on the various contributory factors to 'the seniors' being missing? Even I wouldn't have enough words to reach the end of that one

As for Charles, I have opined in the past that he is a waste of time as an international cricketer of note, and I ain't change my mind yet. Charles coming straight outta the stable of batsmen who think that vupping every ball outta the park is the best way forward irregardless of the ball being faced. In other words he is a brainless batsman who might score a few but I would never bet a cent on it!

Narine? Well him playing & performing to his best will add a cutting edge to the lineup ... but he better get all his wickets bowled or lbw because I won't bet on the catches dem being held!

Darren Bravo ... well I don't reckon that Davey and his boys are ready to extend the peace pipe just yet. However I would pick him; he should be amongst the leading batsmen in this team and if he can lead by example it would be good.

Pollard? By now he done outgrow the West Indies administrators and their nonsense. He couldn't give a damn whether they select him or not. In fact I would bet that one of the things that these players miss more than the prestige of playing for West Indies is performing for the fans. Seeing the crowd go wild as they execute their moves on the field of play. Feeling the hairs on the head stand on end as the crowd urges them to press home the advantage whether it be with bat or ball.

Some of wi old-timers have cricket in our blood, in our dna and nowadays it looks like west indies winning any game is just another poppy show for some newcomers to jump up and eat big pon the back of one and two small victories here and there!

Afghanistan & Simmons soon reach! & even if WI win every match I won't be seeing it as a FORWARD!! corner turning or a rise of the COTR By the way is wha' 'appen to the COTR

[AFRO]

Charles has a ton in Australia to his name Howsy and has vast experience of playing against top teams both in odi and t20. Yes he can be reckless but I like how he goes out there and tries to out pressure on the opposition. We didn't do that against England and it cost us.

I guess much will depend on what Laws wants to do, if he want the seniors back then I'm sure something can be agreed. Also have Hamilton, Cornwall, Rovman Powell etc who can step in aswell.

Afgans will be confident but playing Zim and Ire is not the same as playing WI!!..in truth we could have won the first two ODI games against England so it's not like we're in a total mess.

And yes siya!!..di COTR flag still waving hard...Joseph, Hetty, Tage, Cariah etc!!!..new talent coming up fast bhai .

[howzdat]

Too many West Indies batsman "pressure on the opposition" is seen to be hitting fours and sixes. If they remain short of boundaries for any period of time the opposition knows that they will get THEMSELVES out.

At international level is not nincompoops you are batting against! So to my mind as a batsman I had better develop respect for my batting by showing due respect to the bowling! As a bowler I would give Charles an over of 5 sixes if I know that because of his greed & brainlessness I will have him caught on the boundary sixth ball!

COTR coming fast??? When was he selected & how many games did Joseph play? Why didn't that Powell get a game? I will predict that Afghanistan will not be in the least fazed by playing this current West Indies. Maybe Joseph might be selected to play from the first game in the hope that he will intimidate the opposition and set the tone for the 'series' however why didn't he play more against the British? Was somebody afraid of intimidating the Britishers with a bit of pace?

Anyway the future is not yet so we will have to wait and see what happens cos Afghanistan & Simmons soon reach!. For now though I can say is come what may I will still LOVE cricket. I wish all of the young upcoming players luck

[howzdat]

A headline on cricinfo.com following the game Afghanistan v Ireland, 2nd T20I, Greater Noida: Record five-for and CPL contract, all in a day's work for Rashid

See the detail below:

For Rashid Khan, few days could be as good as February 20. He had become the highest paid cricketer from an Associate nation in IPL history and only the second from Afghanistan to ever be part of the tournament. But Friday came pretty damn close: in the afternoon, he took five wickets in nine balls to demolish Ireland and in the evening, he was bought by Guyana Amazon Warriors for USD 60,000 in the Caribbean Premier League draft.

"It was a special day for me taking the best figures for my country, special for the cricket of Afghanistan," Rashid told ESPNcricinfo and then went on to talk about how his team fought hard to protect their record-breaking 10-match winning streak in T20Is.

"It was a very crucial time because it was raining and we thought the match was going to go to Ireland because they were on top of us on D/L Method so coming back from that stage and winning the match, it was sort of surprising but really happy with a great performance by all the boys."

Afghanistan not satisfied with record streak
Having won 10 T20Is in a row - more than any other international team has ever managed - Afghanistan are keen to push for even greater heights.

Rashid Khan, whose 5 for 3 were the best figures for his country in the shortest format, said, "we talked about that before the match as well, the skipper said, 'Let's do it and let's increase the winning of matches so Afghanistan makes a world record'. So far we are doing our best, winning ten in a row. It's wonderful for cricket in Afghanistan to be in that stage. Inshallah we are doing our best to keep it up and win more."

Despite the bright ending to Rashid's day, at one point, things had looked rather bleak, literally. When dark clouds and heavy rain converged on Greater Noida, halting Ireland's chase of 185 in the seventh over, they were ahead of the D/L par score by 12 runs.

Rashid admitted that Afghanistan thought their streak was over, but the moment the umpires informed them that a restart was possible, the mood in the camp changed. They were still up against it though. Ireland had eight wickets in hand to hunt down the 46 runs they needed to win off the remaining 29 balls.

"The skipper [Asghar Stanikzai] told me you have to bowl the two overs in a very crucial time," Rashid recalled. "He said just go and do your best and when I came and took two wickets in the first over, I was full of confidence and did the rest of the job."

The reason Rashid felt so good was because he had taken out two of Ireland's most experienced batsmen in the blink of an eye. He said the team had seen Kevin O'Brien and Gary Wilson as "key wickets" and only after they were gone did "we believe we could win the match." That belief translated to performance on the field as Afghanistan dragged Ireland from 65 for 2 to 93 for 9 and a win by 17 runs.

Rashid was yet to take a five-wicket haul in domestic T20s, but overnight, his 5 for 3 in two overs put him alongside the best in international cricket. In fact, his figures were exactly the same as Rangana Herath's against New Zealand in a virtual quarter-final at the World T20 in 2014.

"That's my best and this was the first time I took a five-wicket haul and on a great occasion, when the team needed me, I feel great," Rashid said. "It feels great to be in that stage, with all those bowlers in the Test nations. It's a wonderful moment for me and for my country as an Associate team player coming and getting into the top five for best bowling figures."

So what helped him do so well when the game was on the line? "I always love to play in pressure [situations]," Rashid said. "When the team is under pressure, then I love to play in that condition and love to perform. I have done it in the past and I keep enjoying it. Bowling is my strength and I always believe I can do it. Since being taken in the IPL [for USD 595,000 approx], that has given me more energy and more confidence. I'm just doing my hard work and the rest is happening."

All that was left now was to tune in to the CPL draft. "When we were leaving the ground after the match, we were saying the draft is about to start so we were watching," Rashid said.

Mohammad Nabi became the first player from Afghanistan to be picked in the draft, with St Kitts and Nevis Patriots taking him on for USD 90,000. Rashid couldn't have been more thrilled. "He's a wonderful allrounder and is a wonderful fielder as well. We're really happy for him because the way he has played over the years is really amazing."

More good news came Rashid's way for not only was he picked up in the draft, he found out he would be playing under Sohail Tanvir, who had been his Comilla Victorians team-mate in the Bangladesh Premier League. "I know Sohail Tanvir, I played with him in BPL," he said. "So when I was taken in the draft, Sohail Tanvir texted me to say what's up and congratulated me. Hopefully we'll do well this year with Guyana."

Rashid was only an 11-year-old when Afghanistan made their first trip to the West Indies, for the World T20 in 2010. Now 18, he is looking forward to playing in the various islands and bowling on what he expects to be favourable conditions for legspin.

"I haven't been to the Caribbean," Rashid said. "Hopefully we'll enjoy it. As far as it's concerned, wickets in the Caribbean are suitable for spinners. We've been discussing it with coach Phil Simmons too since he's from the Caribbean. It'll be a great experience for us to play in the Caribbean. We have a series there before CPL as well. We're supposed to play West Indies for five ODIs and three T20Is so we'll get used to the conditions before CPL."

Who are Windies best players of legspin? That would be all of the batsmen, wouldn't it? Phew, for a moment I was concerned by the hype

[howzdat]

Yes, Afghanistan & Simmons soon reach! but before that Simmons has a few dates with the Irish team whose cricket he is familiar with. Afghanistan are on a tour of India playing the Irish.

In the 1st ODI: Afghanistan v Ireland at Greater Noida, Mar 15, 2017 Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat and made 292/7 (50.0 ov).

We will see how the Irish will reply.

Ireland 142/1 (25.0 ov)
Ireland require another 151 runs with 9 wickets and 25.0 overs remaining

Ireland 170/2 (28.4 ov)
Ireland require another 123 runs with 8 wickets and 21.2 overs remaining

Ireland 233/7 (42.4 ov)
Ireland require another 60 runs with 3 wickets and 44 balls remaining

Ireland 251/9 (45.1 ov)
Ireland require another 42 runs with 1 wicket and 29 balls remaining

Ireland eventually all out for 262 in 46.5 overs

Rashid Khan: 9 overs, 0 maidens , 48 runs, 4 wickets

Afghanistan won by 30 runs

[AFRO]

Afgan did lose heavily di other day Howzy so doan worry brethren!!..dem beatable .

[howzdat]

Hey Affers ol' chap is how t'ings? Howzabout you & me tek a bet that the Afghans 'heavy loss' was NOT as heavy lossy as wot West Indies suffered di other day against The Queen's multinational all-star cricket team?

Now, while the other windiesfans.comites tek a break from reading our public correspondence to go do dem additions and subtractions, mek you & me familiarise ourselves with some music that we could hear playing - as a team introduction at least - quite soon. Afghanistan & Simmons soon reach. Will we also hear it in celebration of an Afghan victory

Afghanistan & Simmons soon reach!

[howzdat]

Pakistan tour of West Indies, 1st T20I: West Indies v Pakistan at Bridgetown, Mar 26, 2017

West Indies eventually made 111/8 (20/20 ov). Read my disgust here!.
Pakistan is 40/1 (5.2/20 ov). So we know who winning this one!

What a fine example of FORWARD!! momentum!

Afghanistan & Simmons soon reach! Meanwhile Pakistan 115/4 (17.1/20 ov). Pakistan won by 6 wickets (with 17 balls remaining)

[Googley]

I see your pal, Affers rather quiet!

[howzdat]

Now looky here Googs I know seh datz how a likkle while back somebody happened was to use the words 'big-time writer in association with yours truly however you hafi know seh that I ain't looking any penpal.

So, having said that I hope AFRO aint gonna tek your insinuation that he & me deh pon 'pally' terms too damn serious cos truth is that I just looking after this here AFRO's windiesfans.com inbox fuh the WICB while waiting for some other type of wuk to turn up. Understood? Good.

Besides all of that I am absolutely sure that unless the Chinese tek over down at the Factory Road kitchens pal is NOT pon the trough-dwellers menu!

But just in case I am wrong howzabout we ask AFRO's windiesfans.com inbox fuh the WICB if the owner looking a pal?

Regardlessly Yours

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