The Independent Voice of West Indies Cricket
West Indies captain Brian Lara says the regional team must approach tonight's game against Australia as a "do or die" encounter to keep hopes alive for the rest of the VB one-day series.
"It's very important, not just because it's the last crack, it's important for points. We haven't had a win under our belts as yet, we need to get some points and to get to the other two teams so we?re playing this game as a do-or-die situation," Lara said at a pre-match press conference.
Over the last several weeks, I have been very involved in overseeing the maintenance/upkeep of the playing surfaces of especially the five main soccer stadiums in Trinidad & Tobago, among other things. Many might also know that I have a very vivid passion for many other sports.
Except for boxing, which is normally indoors, all of the sports that I have a passion for have a full outdoor presence while some have both in and outdoors situations. What is out there now, in most outdoor sports, in Trinidad & Tobago, and around the Caribbean, is very scary and worrying. Indeed, it is so scary that many dare, at their own peril, to try to get enough out of their efforts to perform creditably at the highest levels.
West Indies' hopes of beating Australia for their first VB Series win were dashed by rain at the Gabba in Brisbane but fans could take pride in two standout performances in the match.
Opening batsman Wavell Hinds hit a measured 107 from 138 balls (8x4), his third ODI ton against the world champion Australians and left-arm pacer Pedro Collins continued to impress with a three-wicket haul in just four overs. After the game, Hinds and Collins addressed the media.
Former Trinidad and Tobago and West Indies Test cricketer Bernard Julien is fighting a grim battle against throat cancer, the Trinidad Express newspaper reported on Thursday.
Julien, who appeared in 24 Test matches for the West Indies, is now laid up in his $900 a month apartment in his Trinidad home battling the life threatening disease which was diagnosed almost a year ago.
Former West Indies opening batsman Stuart Williams says he will bow out of the regional game at the end of the 2005 Carib Beer Series, if not before.
He joins his Leewards team-mate Ridley Jacobs, in announcing his intention to quit this season, CMC Sports reported.