To nobody's surprise, Australia defeated the West Indies in the
First Test by 379 runs in three-and-a-half days. The manner of the
defeat was most disappointing. The bowlers went for more than four
runs an over, which is unacceptable in Test cricket.
Among the gifts were 30 no-balls and eight wides. The batsmen
were dismissed twice in the space of 126 overs for a total of 339
runs. There was just one half century in the Windies' innings and
13 knocks of less than 10 runs. That hammers home the lack of
quality and preparation of the players for Test cricket.
(In The Papers Today: The Jamaica Cricket Association
(JCA) aligns itself with Cable & Wireless; Changes in T&T
cricket and Tony Cozier offers an apology for Bennett King...)
The Digicel/C&W telco wars in West Indies cricket isn't
going to go away anytime soon.
The Jamaica Observer's Garfield Myers delivers news that
Cable & Wireless has donated artificial, all-weather pitches to
the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA). Valued at US$3,600 a pop, 21
pitches in total will be gifted around the Caribbean by the former
West Indies team sponsor.
With a day to cool off after the mockery that was the first Test
against Australia, those who write about West Indies cricket have
come out today with an outlook that is somewhat calmer and focussed
on the days ahead.
On Wisden Cricinfo, Peter English writes that Corey
Collymore is demanding a better performance from his
fast-bowling colleagues throughout the remainder of the series.
The West Indies went into the first Test with their tails in the
air. A solid all-round game against Queensland raised hopes that
this team could at least be competitive against the mighty
Aussies.
But, alas, it was all for naught. With minor exceptions, the
batting crumbled, the bowling was listless and the allround
out-cricket was beyond disappointing. In addition, some
mind-boggling decisions on team selection and what to do after
winning the toss led to low grades all around...
(In The Papers Today: The first Test post mortem
dominates the headlines...)
Sunday's loss to Australia by the second highest margin in the
history of 100 matches between the two marked a new low in West
Indies cricket, and media houses around the world are chomping at
the bit to explain why it happened, how it was allowed to happen,
and/or what will happen next.
As Australian newspapers and web sites splash about headlines
like "Windies in Danger of Irrelevance" back in the West Indies,
they are somewhat less dramatic, probably through resignation, but
not so much to give the news nominal space alongside other cricket
news.
