Cozier Blunt on WI Future

The current Test match in Brisbane marks the 100th Test meeting between the West Indies and Australia, prompting Tony Cozier to delve into the history books to look at the best and worst of the ongoing contest.

In what must be the slowest ton ever, the momentous occasion comes after 75 years of wins, losses, passion, disinterest, racism, boat trips, jet rides, the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, and a historical tied Test.

interviewed Cozier for Channel 9 during the Tea break on day one. Here are a few snippets of what he had to say:

"The signs that we've seen in the match against Queensland and now coming into this test match have been encouraging.

"If there was a quality spinner in the West Indies you would see him in the side."

When asked if there is enough class in this current West Indies unit to start getting back to the halcyon days, Cozier provided a blunt: "I don't think so."

Channel 9 plans to further pick Cozier?s brains on the ills of West Indies cricket as the series continues.

Most of the major Australian papers have real-time updates on the status of play Down Under, along with related stories, with the Sydney Morning Herald, Courier Mail and The Age among the premier news sources. Check them out online for all the highlights of day one.

Back in the Caribbean, Trinidad & Tobago skipper Daren Ganga is not happy with the rumoured changes to the Carib Beer Cup series format. According to an article penned by the Guardian's Vinode Mamchan, Ganga believes the national team will be affected by the potential reduction of the competition to a single round.

On hearing the news, Ganga said: "We have been practicing since the KFC Cup and were working to peak by the time the series was due to start next week. Now we have to re-think our focus and come up with a way to deal with the situation."

In the Guyana Chronicle, Ravendra Madholall reports that the Guyana Women?s Cricket Association (GWCA) wants become the fourth arm of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) by attaining county status.

Such a move would put them on equal footing with Demerara, Berbice and Essequibo. Alternatively, they are said to be willing to dissolve the GWCA if the GCB were to become the sole body for developing women?s cricket in the country.

Neto Baptiste recaps the weekend?s Antigua & Barbuda Independence Cricket Fest for the Antigua Sun. The Stanford Group, now almost synonymous with Antigua Cricket, injected $150,000 into the competition in which a Lashings XI came out victorious.

Richie Richardson, CEO of the Antigua & Barbuda Sports Tourism Alliance which organised the event, declared the festival a "great experience" and promised a 2006 event will be "bigger and better."

Umm, isn't that slogan already taken?.

After much speculation over the availability and prohibitive cost of Cricket World Cup 2007 tickets, the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation reassures people throughout the region that they will be able to afford to attend matches.

Stephen Price, Special Projects Officer of CWC 2007, says that ticket prices will be released on November 23 and locals will be happy with what they see.

Dan Rutstein's enthusiastic approach to reporting on Bermuda cricket continues in the Royal Gazette.

His latest offering features news of Bermudian-born David Hemp, Glamorgan?s 2005 Player of the Year, benefiting from coach Gus Logie's open door policy. Hemp, who is almost 35 years old, is eligible to represent Bermuda in the World Cup and arrives on the island on Friday to participate in the national program for six weeks.

The paper also features a fact-file on the new addition.

The Trinidad Express Sports magazine contains a Colin Croft column on West Indies cricket legends.

Croft discusses how our former cricketing heroes continue their involvement with the sport, weaving the involvement of a Legends' team at Independence Cricket Fest, history, politics and the emergence of Deryck Murray as President of the Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board into a typically lengthy and complex weekly tale.

At Media Watch, we find ourselves suffering from what we now call the Croft Effect as we waffle our way through summarising the main points of his writing.