The Independent Voice of West Indies Cricket
Australian captain Steve Waugh fears for the future of West Indian cricket unless Caribbean curators stop producing lifeless wickets.
Waugh and Australian batsman Justin Langer said the flat, slow wickets served up in the opening two Tests had forced fast bowlers from both teams to toil for relatively little reward.
Legendary West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding believes young pacers Jermaine Lawson and Tino Best should be included in the West Indies team for the third Cable & Wireless Test match against Australia starting Thursday at Kensington Oval.
"I am hoping they will play (both) Best and Lawson in the starting 11 in Barbados. They are the two quickest men in the 14 that they have selected," Holding told the Antigua Sun newspaper.
I have stated here before that there needs to be a total revamping of West Indies cricket, from the board of directors right down to the cricket operations. By cricket operations, I mean all aspects of cricket -- on and off the field.
The current West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is antiquated, unwieldy and just plain useless. It badly needs to be restructured and run like a modern day corporation to ensure accountability and coordination at all levels. Where there is accountability, there will be positive results. Where there is coordination, there is less overlap and less waste.
A worried Sir Viv Richards admits uncovering the next great West Indian spearhead remains a major concern as he searches for a way of blunting Australia's pace attack.
Brett Lee's withering spell to Brian Lara in the second Test has reinforced to Richards, the Windies' chief selector, how much of a psychological stranglehold the Aussie fast bowlers have over their West Indian counterparts.
Left-handed opener Chris Gayle celebrated his recall to the West Indies team Saturday with a quickfire 129 to help the University of the West Indies (UWI) Vice Chancellor's XI to 290 all out in a three-day match against the visiting Australians.
Gayle and Jason Haynes (58) set the new Three Ws Oval in Barbados alight in the early going but leg-spinner Stuart McGill (5-40) struck back to limit the Vice Chancellor's XI to 290.