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...A good wake up call as our middle order batting has failed again...Our fielding was poor and our bowling was ordinary. It was a bad game. Hopefully, Zhari will be back next game to give the bowling a little oomph, and I like the looks of Louis but KP made a questionable decision to remove him from the end where he appeared to be getting some swing. Tonge was awful so he may have to sit for Zhari. Bonner and Hughes have one more game again to prove their worth and since we only have Peters on the bench we will have to persist with those two for now.

We need to work on our fielding and bowling and hope that the middle order finally clicks.

Hodge
Powell
Otto
Bonner
Hughes
Hamilton
Cornwall
Hosein
Louis
Joseph
Campbell

In reply to voiceofreason

The biggest problem we have is we depend too much on Powell. As you pointed out the middle order batting has to be better. At the risk of getting you upset why isn't Marlon Samuels playing? He could add some experience to the middle order.

In reply to voiceofreason

Bonner is your key card - trust mi!

In reply to Fivestar

Hasn't Samuels gone to the PSL?

In reply to voiceofreason

Someone should ask Powell, "Who beat you now?"

In reply to voiceofreason

We definitely depend too much on the top order, KP in particular. All things considered, I wasn't totally disappointed with the batting. we basically got 190 runs from the rest of the team. if the top order fired Trinidad might've been chasing 300. but the middle order is still a grave concern. and i think the first order of business needs to be to shore up the middle. We need to separate Bonner and Hughes in the batting order. Because the two of them together tends to start a slide when then fall in quick succession. Better yet, drop Hughes. He's failed with the bat nearly the entire tournament and he's a liability in the field. But if they insist on playing them together, they need to drop him down the order and put someone more dependable between them. I think Hosein has the technique to bat higher and he has the right temperament. Cornwall has to stay in the lower middle as a finisher.

In reply to Fivestar

Marlon is in the PSL. He only played the minimum 2 games required for him to be eligible for selection on the ODI team.

In reply to voiceofreason

I like the look of your team VOR. Even though i'm a little biased towards Gavin Tonge, I would have to agree with you. But honestly though, I'm a little puzzled as to why they waited So long to play Louis. He seems to be a pretty decent bowler. They should've played him a long time ago, perhaps against one of the weaker teams to see how he looks and maybe to give Gavin a rest since he's been playing in every game. His bowling has looked flat for the last two games now. He clearly could do with a little rest. Better yet, Louis looks like a far more effective bowler than Peters and he has been a concern. The only thing i'll say is that the wickets tend to be on the low and slow side and not really conducive to fast bowling, particularly the medium pace variety. So there's really no incentive to pick more than two fast bowlers. And if Alzarri is fit he must play. That just leaves one more seamer to pick. On a slower wicket they could go with Louis since he has more pace and on more helpful tracks they go with Tonge since he's the most accurate seamer by far.

In reply to aliaskid13

Yes the team is very dependent on Powell and to a lesser extent on Montcin Hodge at the top. You have a point about breaking up Hughes and Bonner in the middle so what I would suggest is Hosein coming in at 4/5, especially in the case where the top order fell cheaply. Tonge may very well play ahead of Louis as he has the experience and he has a couple days rest so hopefully he would rebound from a very ordinary performance with the ball.

Batting order:
Powell
Hodge
Otto
Hosein
Bonner
Hughes
Hamilton
Cornwall

Might be worth a try. Hughes has been a real disappointment.

In reply to voiceofreason

1 Powell
2 Hodge
3 Otto
4 Bonner
5 Hosein
6 Hughes
7 Hamilton
8 Cornwall
9 Tonge/Louis
10 Campbell
11 Joseph

Maybe they can try that and see how we look. The few days rest might not be enough for Gavin because we had a long break prior to our last game. He needed to rest for a game. Sadly, i don't think the semi's is the time to do that but that's up to the selectors.

It was a very poor all round performance .... for me the fielding was the worst part of it....it was atrocious...I also liked the look of Louis and it was a strange decision to switch ends... he looks quite dangerous in his first over... swing and deceptively quick...Leewards are going to have to put in a much better performance in the semi to progress any further.

In reply to robbo

Agree with you there bro. The fielding didn't look sharp at all. But the batting really wasn't that bad. considering that we've gotten an opening stand of at least 50 or better in nearly every match before yesterday, I think the rest of the batting showed showed some improvement. 20 more runs and maybe TnT wouldn't have made it.

In reply to aliaskid13

If it was up to me Hamilton would bat above Bonner, Hughes and Hosein. The boy got nuff talent he just needs to be given more responsibility so he could glue that middle order together. Needs to stop playing that cut shot so close to his stumps??

In reply to voiceofreason

I was going to say that his batting is too risky for him to be batting so high. That cut shot makes me cringe every time. even when he gets the ball away he is usually using the top of the bat instead of the middle. as a bowler we see that as a potential wicket every time. And his weakness against genuine pace won't work so well if he bat too high either. he will do better right where is, so he would be facing spinners, medium pace, or fast bowlers coming back for a second spell with an old ball. It's all about making the best use of the talent that we have.

In reply to aliaskid13

Hammie is not weak against genuine pace. He has a lot of time to play his shots and gets complacent about it. He needs to be make better choices when it comes to his shot selection. Look at the averages this season:

link

Hammie is better than all of our top order batsmen except Powell and Hodge.

In reply to voiceofreason

Just saying that he looked reluctant to get behind the ball and always seemed to be playing his shots away from his body. ok maybe i shouldn't be getting so technical cause i'm not trying to give away any secrets on here... but you know what i mean.

In reply to aliaskid13

Looks like instead of playing straight he was trying to play 20/20 shots by backing to leg and playing on the offside. It was not necessary at the time and at least not for that delivery.

In reply to voiceofreason

Exactly. A little too risky. But i know he has the ability to bat smarter because we saw him do it in the 4 day. But i do see your point. I think he's good where he is in the order though. My only change would be to promote Hosein and put him between Bonner and Hughes.