The quality of this seasons FC tournament

Something is happening behind the scenes

The quality of this season seems higher than recent memory

Multiple guys scoring over 400 runs
not too much in the fast bowling category, mainly because the pitches seem more consistent
But it's good to see batsmen preforming

In reply to conman

Agreed. The better fast bowlers like Phillip, Louis, John and Thorne have been getting results. The mediocre ones have not.

Kraigg Brathwaite made a comment after the Brisbane test match, regarding the state of the pitches in the Caribbean. He said that they are slowly getting better...but still need to improve. I think we are seeing this now and the rewards are there for all to see. Obviously, the majority of the leading wicket takers are spinners but that is due more to the inability of the batsmen around the region to play spin, rather than an abundance of top level slow bowlers.

Isai Thorne has certainly shown that he may well be the next quickie to wear the Windies colors...and from Guyana again, like the most recent success story Shamar Joseph.

Better pitches, i.e. good even surfaces with decent carry is the way forward. Give a fast bowler reason to bend his back and batsmen value for their shots.

Personally, I have been very happy to see the development of players like Mikyle Louis and Keacy Carty from the Leewards, Kevin Sinclair and Tevin Imlach of Guyana, Jangoo and Goolie from T&T and especially, Kevin Wickham of Barbados. Most of the test batters have gotten some sort of form as the season has progressed, with only Chanderpaul and McKenzie really struggling and even Tage had that one knock (but nothing else!)

In reply to 4REALQUICKS

The thing is, if fast bowlers come out of these condition they should be real good and excellent in SA and OZ

In reply to bird

Exactly, it benefits both batsmen and bowler alike...plus, much better cricket for the spectator.

Pitches heavily favoring batsmen are good? Put all these same teams on a Kensington wicket against two good pacers and I doubt these teams make 200.

The good thing is that this season has done a lot for the confidence of many emerging young batters.

This last round the pitches were poor total cartroads offering no assistance for any bowler

The improvement in the pitches were the main reasons why the scores of the batters have improved. The Selectors are going to have a good headache selecting the team to England.

In reply to velo

If so, how come no matched were drawn?

In reply to velo

Pitches that favor the batters too much do not produce results, I think the ground-staffs should be commended for their good work so far.

In reply to dayne

there must be credit for all the groundstaff

also no matches at Providence lol tho Providence has gotten better

In reply to doosra

Providence is being prepared for the T20 World Cup matches, so that might be the reason for no matches

In reply to dayne

what I meant is usually Providence is known for being a low slow turner...not the best of FC pitches etc

In reply to doosra

Providence is a lot better these days... They relaid Everest, Bourda and Police grounds in preparation for the World Cup too... Planted grass on the actual pitch and so.

Hopefully they maintain it after the world Cup and don't cover the entire square like they usually do and kill the grass.

In reply to PalsofMine

Thorne is definitely one for the future but at this time his bowling mechanics needs a lot of work. A team & Academy and sort him out.

In reply to Blackbird

Agreed.

In reply to velo

I agree with you 100%, the pitches were dead as a concrete track.

In reply to tc1

how dead could it be if there were no draws?

One thing that hasn't changed is teams not allowing the fast bowlers to even develop. Each and every team gives the new ball to regional level spin bowlers. How are fast bowlers supposed to learn to use the new ball. Problem is that teams fast bowlers always destroy our top order because we cannot play quality fast bowlers. We can't play them because we don't get much practice against fast bowling at all.

Our spinners do not get many wickets at the test level yet we allow them to dominate the number of overs bowled. We cannot beat test teams with spinners so why allow them to continue to bowl over after over regionally?

In reply to seaegg99

Good point. Especially when after that, teams, especially Guyana, refuse to enforce the follow on even though their fast bowlers would have bowled very few overs in the first innings. Bemusing!!