Inept batting took the gloss off defiant half-centuries from Marlon Samuels and Shane Dowrich, and sent West Indies crashing to a chastening nine-wicket defeat inside three days in the opening Test against Australia yesterday.

Mounting an admirable fightback at 181 for three before tea after resuming the day on 25 for two, West Indies lost their last seven wickets for 35 runs to be all out for 216, half-hour before the scheduled close at Windsor Park.

Samuels top-scored with 74 and the debutant Dowrich got 70, in an excellent 144-run fourth-wicket stand which dug their side out of a hole after Darren Bravo perished for five in the sixth over of the morning to leave the hosts tottering on 37 for three

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In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com

Which part of the bible this came from?

Game over in three days - as expected.

Samuels and Dowrich made us hope that it will get into the fourth.

Other than that good bowling by Bishoo ( didn't even get a chance to bowl on the wearing pitch)

In the end it was a good three day thrashing AT HOME handed to the West indies

When west indies won the toss and batted, I knew it was because they did not want to bat last. I hope next time if they win the toss they bowl first because: 1.There is no way they batting first and for the match to go beyond three days 2.We want to watch cricket for 5 days.

In reply to dax
The Aussies must be very disappointed with the team Lloyd and selectors picked to play them in a test match. They were hoping to get some practice before the Ashes but Lloyd crushed their hearts. The west Indies team they faced in the first test is as insulting to the Aussies as the team St. Kitts picked for the practice game against England. I suspect for the 2nd test Australia will have to play the same eleven they played in the first test, then take their reserve players along with Samuel, Dowrich, Bishoo, Jerome Taylor from the West Indies test team, along with Stafanie Taylor, Deandra Dottin, Merissa Aguilleira from the West Indies WOMEN's team, if we a going to see a better 2nd test lol

In reply to sandisha

I would prefer to watch Taylor and Dottin bat than some of what the men put on show in the last few days

It is a very long stretch to believe that Our Players who play less Cricket than the Players on International Teams ranked above our Team , in ALL VERSIONS of the game would win a lot of matches against those Teams.
I therefore was not surprised .

It is only in the shortest version of the game that our Players are really competitive . This is why in this version of the game our Players are not Bottom Dwellers .

In reply to sandisha

In my opinion , whether our Team bats first or last , nothing will change .
Check the Australian Players Stats & compare them to our Players Stats , you should understand why our Team is at or near the bottom of International Cricket .

In reply to POINT

I agree the stats of the Australians is much better than that of our west indies team, but generally speaking the stats of our team is not that bad. Apart from Shai Hope, who has an average of 13.0 in two matches and captain Denesh Ramdin, with 26.43, all the rest including Holder, have a fair average.

I just think we need to learn to select the right players for different conditions. Playing Gabriel in Dominica instead of Permaul was a mistake. They should not compound their mistake by dropping Gabriel for the JA match. Playing Hope as the opener was sure another big mistake. They should bat him in the middle order. They also should have played him in the practice match against Australia. Dropping Shiv for a Dominica test, was not a mistake in my opinion, but pure madness.

All in all I don't think it is a stats problem, as much as it is that of blind selectors that don't seem to be able to get it right. In fact apart from computer they don't seem to be using, I wonder how many games in our domestic competition two or three of them attended. If they did, they would have realized that the last game between the Windward Islands and Guyana, on this same venue, Bishoo and Permual took 18 of the 22 wkts. Our selectors don't travel and they don't use the computer to advance our game.

In reply to sandisha

The Stats are concrete proof that the Standard of cricket in the Region is not what is required to be fully competitive against Teams ranked above our Team .

This fact is not a trite matter that can be casually brushed off . WE must all face & acknowledge the stark Truth
regarding Cricket in the Region .

In reply to dax
West Indies cricket is in serious trouble and I am not seeing anything to make me feel we can turn it around anytime soon. I believe we have the talent but the administration which includes selectors is terrible.

Replacing Daren Sammy with Denesh Ramdin was very poor judgment, especially when one takes into consideration the fact that Ramdin was dropped for a number of games and was working hard on his batting to keep his pick. Sammy is only 31, and though his batting or bowling might not have set the world on fire, his players supported and respected him. Ramdin seems to be under a lot of pressure and you could tell he looks lost at times. He knows Clive Lloyd dropped Bravo and Pollard from the WC and he knows he too might not be far away. Now that Dowrich had a decent first test with the bat and is a very competent wicketkeeper, Ramdin better watch his back.

I know Sammy got a lot of blows on this sight as many thought he was preventing west indies from picking a balance team. To me Jason Holder more prevents windies from having a balance team than Sammy. Make it worse, Holder got a century in his first test and is one day captain. Holder cannot command his pick as a bowler and though he has a test century, he cannot command his pick as a batsman. On certain grounds he might be a good fit, but the fact that he got a hundred, he is now a regular, and that prevents us from playing three top wicket taking seamers and a good spinner or at times two good seamers and two spinners. We need Dwayne Bravo or any other good batsman that can bowl like Ben Strokes of England, James Anderson of New Zealand,and Angelo Mathews of Sri Lanka.

In reply to sandisha
KYS and Sammy wid u

In reply to POINT
I agree with you but stats wise we are not too far behind of the Australians in test cricket. Brathwaite is there with Shaun Marsh, Bravo is there with David Warner, Samuel is there with Shane Watson, Blackwood is not too far from Michael Clarke, Dowrich and Adam Voges had a good first test. The only batsman we cannot match is Steven Smith and that's because we dropped Chanderpaul because he had a few bad games and is 40, while the Australians gave Voges his first cap at 35. Our problem is administrators and crazy selectors that do not seem to know what they are doing. If we are talking regional competition, then why leave out Tyrone Theophile who averaged close to 50 runs this year as an opening batsman for Chandrika who has never scored a first class hundred? It's just madness that I cannot disassociate myself from since I am a west Indian.

In reply to sandisha

Blackwood isn't too far from Michael Clarke? Are you talking just this Test or in general?

In reply to sandisha

What was Scammy doing to "keep his pick"

....for 4 facting years????







HUH?

How could anyone "respect" a player that did NOTHING but run around clapping and sucking on his PACIFIER???

Ramdin won a test vs ENG.
....what did Scammy win?

In reply to Cleg

Ramdin won a test vs ENG. ....what did Scammy win? Since you proved your ignorance to all, let me tell you what Sammy won and I sure will not talk about Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

Test #1992 West Indies verses Pakistan-Windies won by 40 runs and Sammy was captain.
Test #2050 West Indies verses New zealand - West Indies won by nine wts and Sammy was captain
Test # 2052 " " " " " " won by 5 wkts and Sammy was captain

ICC World Twenty20 - Final Played at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo 7 October 2012 -

Sri Lanka v West Indies- West Indies won by 36 runs and Sammy was captain.

By the way I was not saying Ramdin was bad. I was simply saying that the timing was bad because it happened shortly after he was dropped for many games and upon his return his batting picked up. They rushed and made him captain and shortly thereafter, Holder was made Vice captain of the WC and Brathwaite vice captain of the test team. Now that Dowrich made it on the test team as a batsman and we know he is a competent wicketkeeper, I would not at all be surprise to hear them drop Ramdin to make either Holder or Brathwaite captain, Would I be happy? Absolutely not! but that's how our selectors operate.

In reply to sandisha

Welcome to this Forum , however I seriously disagree with your assertion that we are not far behind the Australians .

As I have stated elsewhere in this Forum :

THE CURRENT STANDARD OF CRICKET IN THE

REGION IS BELOW WHAT IS REQUIRED IN

INTERNATIONAL CRICKET AGAINST TEAMS

RANKED ABOVE OUR TEAM .


You need to realize , that our Players & Team have been ranked at #8
in International Cricket in the longest version of the game for quite some time .

Now this aint fiction , or a figment of my imagination , it is a freaking Fact . Worse yet , there are no signs
that things will improve .

I can state that because those in the governance of Cricket in the Region , have by their Reckless Behaviour regarding the Tour to India have placed themselves in serious Financial Straits , by being potentially indebted to the BCCI for
about 42 Million Dollars .

So wittingly or unwittingly , they now have an excuse to do absolutely nothing , and blame the potential lawsuit as a valid reason for them not doing a blasted thing .

Soon they are going to come to the Regional Governments with hat in hand . They made their made up their Bed ,when the pull the Plug to the Tour of India .

Least you forgot , these are the same People who recently , when asked by the Regional Governments to implement the changes recommended by the Patterson Report , Snubbed the Regional Governments , and then swiftly commissioned another Report , called the WILKIN REPORT , which they also rejected .

So now THEY are in Deep DOODOO , they are now talking to the Regional Governments ; and for the first time ever are having Public Town Hall Meetings .

I sincerely hope that the Governments & the Public do not fall for this B.S . Their latest Scheme , is what I call : PAY TO PLAY , International Matches in the Region are being sold to the highest Bidders .

Their Supporters in this Forum , love to say that is what is happening in the Cricket World today , but it was not always like that .

This to me is tangible proof that WE are Regressing . Big Money earned from TV Rights etc , means that Cricket is now being played to half empty Stadia .

Was England beaten in three days or was it only a dream?
This is a young team with a new coach, I am going to give Phil time, to get his test team together.

" ONE SWALLOW DOES NOT A SUMMER MAKE "

ONE VICTORY DOES NOT MAKE A CONQUERING TEAM . We have proof of this fact .

In reply to POINT
"Welcome to this Forum , however I seriously disagree with your assertion that we are not far behind the Australians."

I don't know where you got that from because I never said we are not too far behind the Australians. I would be crazy to think so. would never insult the classy Australians by comparing West Indies to them. I will only compare this west indies to Zimbabwe. I even feel we are now the worse team in test cricket despite the fact we are ranked #8. What I said was, STATS WISE we are not too far behind of the Australians in test cricket. My emphasis was on test stats. Now if we are talking First Class cricket, meaning our domestic competition verses theirs or any form of four day cricket, that's a different thing. For example, in first class cricket, Blackwood is averaging 36.20, but in test he is up to 43.69.
Hope you get my point sir

In reply to OZGOD
I was not talking about just this test or general, but test STATS Wise. In test cricket Blackwood in his young test career is averaging 43.69, whereas Michael Clarke has maintained a 50.59 in over 100 test.

I was simply responding to this statement by POINT: "Check the Australian Players Stats & compare them to our Players Stats."

The point I was trying to make is, stats does not quite tell the story because stats of our players in test cricket is not far behind the Aussies. However, our players are NOWHERE close to that of the Australians. Our players are in pre-school level in compared to the classy Australians that have graduated from University, in terms of quality of their cricket. Hope you got my point

In reply to sandisha

Those 2 wins cannot compare with the win vs England.

NZ was a shadow of what they are now ... and was ranked below us.

Plus the return of CHG had more to do with that win than Scammy`s cheer leading.

Sri is a very poor team especially away...

...plus they were ROBBED!!!!








The IPL was the catalyst in our T20WC win and was in spite of Scammy & Opiss

You talk about Ramdin being dropped....why was`nt
SCammy dropped......since he was stinking up the place for years?

Ramdin fought for his place back....why didn`t Scammy???

In reply to sandisha

My Sincere apologies , You mentioned Zimbabwe , however my belief is that very soon , Bangladesh is the Team to watch .

Let me be crystal Clear , my support will always be our Team . But Bangladesh is making great strides in International Cricket .

I believe that their Players play more Cricket than our Players in all formats of the game .

Bangladesh has a population larger than our Region , For years , they have had Leagues , Zones etc . They
have a large pool of Players to select their Team from .

My belief is that the more Players a Country has the more competitive their
Players will be . So that ultimately the Best Players are going to represent Bangladesh .

It is only 3 years ago that those in the governance of Cricket in the Region decided to have a Cricket League .

BTW , for over 10 years in this Forum , I have been on record stating that WE needed to have a Regional Pro or Semi Pro League in the Region .

The main reason why I stated this was the fact that our Players are more idle , than Players on Teams ranked above our Team .

The longer versions of Cricket require a lot of Stamina - Mental &
Physical ; Concentration ; the ability to Bat ; Bowl & Field for long periods . ETC . Unless our Team is competitive in all areas of Cricket .

Being Idle cannot make our Players & Team fully competitive . While it is true that there is now a Professional League . My Question , is this :

WHY WAS THIS NOT DONE YEARS AGO ???