Message Board Archives

Until the WI master this art and not blocking and just looking for big shots they will never improve in ODIs.

In the match vs AFGHAN I saw WI batsmen taking a single and strolling slowly...all those were two runs! The first single MUST be taken quickly...what are the coaches telling these WI batsmen or are they like what the late former coach Malcolm Marshall said..."they don't listen...?

In reply to analyst-kid

Art of manipulating the field comes with confidence in the strokeplay and wicket. I would again go back to te WI wicket which are non conducive to stroke play. There is a reason why the average scores o even good visiting teams are low.

Wen you develop you game in ahh wickets you are going to struggle unless you are super special. I really feel the next gen should be exposed to the best pitches and facilities from U15 level so that th develop better

When you grow up worried about leading edgs and inconsistent bounce how do you suddenly learn rotating the strike. There is a reason almost every player in the Caribbean steiggles to rotate the strike

In reply to Pacy

Believe it or not, Xavier Marshall was better than most at rotating the strike.

In reply to Dukes... the weed!

they need to watch videos of michael bevan and hussey - the masters of that

In reply to analyst-kid

When were West Indian batsmen ever as a group, masters of this “art”?

In reply to analyst-kid

Maybe they think it's better to hit fours and sixes. However, according to the stats, whether 20/20, 50 over or Test, the team that scores more singles wins the game.

In reply to imusic

Sarwan was quite adept at it and I remember Bravo in an ODI at QPO scored 62 off 44 balls with 4 boundaries which meant that apart from boundaries he scored 46 runs off 40 balls.

In reply to Dukes

Once in a while doesn’t make one a master IMO


And yes, it’s good if you can consistently rotate the strike. I get it.

But West Indian batsmen for generations have always played to their strengths. And one of those strengths is boundary hitting.

Arguably, we do it bettter than anyone else.

High risk? Sure. But definitely high reward.

In the T20 semi final against India, we had plenty runs to make in little bit of overs and top order back in the hutch. Yet Bumrah would bowl 4 excellent deliveries and get carted for 4 or 6 in the other 2. Demoralizing a billion people in the process.

We are who we are. Should we strive to be better? Of course, that’s always a goal. But we should also embrace who we are and play to those strengths as well.

Where we often lose our way in ODI’s is a failure to effectively negotiate the middle overs. We often get bogged down in those overs and as cricket, like many sports, is a game of momentum, we lose all momentum and end up having ing to play catch up. Why? Because we’re too conservative in the middle overs with the bat.

In reply to imusic
My friend just trust me on this Sarwan has done it several times and I documented this several years ago.

In reply to Dukes

Let’s say you’re right. One or two batsmen would very much be exceptions rather than the rule.

In reply to imusic

It is something we learned, from playing Tip a ball cricket.
The greatest batsman I've ever seen bat, could bisect a field and run.
His theory still is, you cannot only get caught when you hit the ball in the air.
The batsman with the most consecutive test centuries.

In reply to imusic

True.Scoring quick singles and running hard the first run to put pressure on the fielders requires a mindset that we currently lack.The Coach needs to instill that urgency.I watch in the later overs the first 3 balls are dot balls and I can sense the WI batsman panicking and playing a rash shot on the 4th ball.It happens over and over and clearly if they had scored 2 singles in those first 3 balls they would not feel the need to play that rash shot.When we were kids we had a game called one tip,two tip.You had to score a run off every other ball or else you were out.They should play that in practice.

In reply to Dukes

Our batters have the macho mentality. Six hitting is what brought the likes of Gayle Pollard Sammy to fame and fortune so our boys feel to be cool like those named above the have to be six hitters.

Kohli one of the best and most successful batsmen today gets most of his runs without sixes

How about playing with 'soft hands' and using the wrists to create scoring angles or to find the gaps ?

In reply to FuzzyWuzzy

In reply to openning

What were Collis King, Keith Boyce, Philo Wallace, Basil Williams, Clive Lloyd, Roy Fredericks, etc all like with the bat?

Anybody ever hit the ball more in the air than Carl Hooper?

In reply to imusic

The above group had power as well as finesse
The present group either go for the fence or poke, hitting the ball into gaps, seen to be foreign to our batsman these days.

In reply to openning

What forkane finesse Collins King and Keith Boyce had?

Steupes.

So you telling me the resent group don’t score singles? or two’s?

When you ready to debate, let me know

In reply to imusic

They were Low order batsmen.

In reply to analyst-kid

You are so correct. We need to train our young batsmen to play sensible cricket. On big grounds you just push the ball in the gaps and run twos. On other grounds you do not need to hit the ball hard. Just play with soft hands and run the singles.
We need to be smart. Cricket is a brain game.

In reply to imusic

In reply to openning

Lloyd was a finesse player?

You must be talking bout David Lloyd

Actually one of the most developed cricketers in our era is/was Dwayne Smith. He could pummel bowling with fours and sixes and take quick singles and twos.

He started out as just a cowlasher and developed beyond that after opening with Tendulkar in the IPL.

I Hope you all are aware that even in that run out of Holder in the last match it was all because they had casually jogged the first two runs. WI approach to ODI batting is casual and cavalier...with that approach they will continue to sink further down the ICC rankings....they need to be more urgency in running singles and cooler heads...what are these coaches getting paid for?

In reply to analyst-kid

Bro, DRS found a fit in T20 cricket, not even Seymoure could get him to be quality batsman.
You maybe one of a dozen, will praise him for his batsmanship.

not to digress...WI need to get this problem sorted out. THERE was no urgency Sunday in batting vs AFGHANISTAN....constant strolling while taking singles...WI refusing to take Afghan serious although being beating three times in a row!

In reply to analyst-kid

Knowledge of the game is the reason why you see such low standards on all aspects of the game. Kemo (young) and Kemar (old) are showing them the art of fast bowling by setting up batsmen. There is no one on the batting end that understand the value of singles. Right now the Hetty's, Springer's and so on should be thought the game of cricket because not many have a clue.

We get beat by teams that are less talented but better prepared on the art of the game.

Sarwan was the best at rotating strike

To defeat Afghan by the other top teams would be a no brainer.

Score singles off their spinners at a healthy rate of 4-5 an over, 6 if you get regular boundaries....then when you reach 150/2 or 150/3 in 30 overs then accelerate to 6-8 for a 280-300 score.

Dismiss Shahzad out early or anytime before 100 runs posted and its all over.

WI struggle to make 200...none of the batsmen had the patience to preserve their wicket and score at 4 an over.