Terrible precedent by Sammy and CWI

Recalling Shai Hope and having him start over Imlach is a very very very bad precedent. It will serve to demotivate rather than to inspire young cricketers to gravitate towards red ball cricket and give their commitment to WI cricket. What is the point of playing our Regional 4day Championship if it counts for nothing? Hope has not made this team on merit. Imlach did absolutely nothing to deserve being dropped from the test 11 having played the last two test matches in Pakistan and gave a good account of himself. Imlach has been dropped only because Sammy prefers Hope everywhere that he goes. Hope played one match in the recent 4day Championship and did awfully bad. Imlach did well in the 4day Championship to go with his good performance in Pakistan but still got dropped. Yet we want to tell the youth men to commit to WI cricket. It's bad to commit to something or to someone that isn't as committed to you. It wasn't even up to Imlach. He did nothing to be dropped. If he gets offered T20 deals around the world, can we really tell him to stay and play red ball cricket? He's now in form and we drop him to play Hope who has failed repeatedly and did no work to get back into the team.

In reply to b4u8me2

Don’t worry. The Barbados crowd are famous for letting their feelings be known when players are dropped for no good reason.

They will boycott for Imlach. Precedent has been set

In reply to imusic



Shits and giggles aside it would appear Sammy is trying to play an attacking brand of cricket based on the players selected and it seems Imlach doesn’t fit that role.

Having said that it would appear that the skipper couldn’t look pass his Bajan buddy to open though lol

I guess we have to at least Rally and see what the Sammy Test Era gives us!!!

In reply to WIfan26



Unlike England who can and has done so on several occasions, Sammy does not have the players to take them to that level.
Test cricket is not a fifty or twenty over game.

This will backfire on dey rass big time. When begging time come...let's see who eat ah food.

In reply to embsallie

Correct, dumb as a doorknob.

Experiment with that crap on Zimbabwe or a team on your level.

In reply to WIfan26



Imlach wasn't even given the chance to try. He has been dropped from the starting 11 and replaced only because Sammy has the power to replace him. Not because he deserved to be replaced.

Well, it is unjust what Sammy did, but this will happen when selection power is placed in one person's hand.

In reply to b4u8me2

I hear you but look most of us have been cussing our so called white ball only players are never available for 4-day and Test cricket because of scheduling and now we’ve been given a chance to see the likes of Hope & King in a premium Test Match against the best!!!

Sammy is clearly just playing names but look at it this way if they fail at least there’s viable alternatives waiting to play!!!

Shai Hope has 17 “International” One Day centuries it has to count for something!!! I’m not exactly stoked but I am interested to see how it goes!!!

In reply to WIfan26

Same, I'm actually looking forward to watching this Test match, just for the possibility that King Hope and Carry could show some form

Hope not only did badly, he did badly on the very pitch they are playing the test on. The one that Bim set for TT and got their biggest cutarse in over 100 years of inter island cricket. Something that no one is talking about is the selection of Shamar who has played very little cricket over Phillip who has been bowling consistently well. What we are seeing is that the Coach seems only to like headliners in his team. if yu are not a big name, forget it. It will be interesting to see how this pans out. But we rally.

In reply to b4u8me2

If one watches the test cricket played around the world..... it's fast and furious......either low scoring, Test Championship final......or high scoring, IND vs England......all results....no stale draws.....all multi-formats players.....

What England did in 2025, score 350 on the last day..
West Indies did that in 1980's.... Today's West Indies side, is playing stale outdated test cricket...loosing...winning once in a while...one dimensional players...

Now, the team chosen vs Australia.....multi- formats....Aveenash Seetaram-Sammy walking the same path as other teams....
My Opinion....whether losing or winning....but I support this initiative.....making Hope bat at 7... Gives experience and lengthen batting....As far as Imlach....he is very good player... will surely get his chances...

In reply to dayne

People forget that CWI under Skerritt sanctioned a new selection policy with public input. They abandoned it a couple years later for a gestappo approach. A bunch of jokers yes!

In reply to Onionman0



You mean after Sammy and CWI damages his confidence and he knows no matter how well he performs he can always be overlooked for:

(a) a name;
(b) someone who does not even play red ball cricket;
(c) someone who got his chances and failed;
(d) someone who did nothing to justify a recall to selection;
(e) someone who has only kept wicket in a four day game once in the last how many years; or
(f) someone who the coach will pick just because he likes him?

This is not sending the right message to Imlach. Hope did not deserve a recall to the test side on merit. You all just fantasize about his ODI numbers, which I have pointed out before has been on the decline. Before January 2024, Hope was averaging 52 in ODIs. Since January 2024, he is averaging 36. So he has actually been picked on ODI form which has been on the decline.

If Sammy wanted to pick and play Hope as a middle order batsman, then do so. At least then he could argue that none of the others who were there before were doing anything better. The same argument cannot be made of Imlach. To bring Hope in as a wicket-keeper in place of Imlach is a bad precedent.

In reply to b4u8me2



The entire squad has been chosen based on different parameters......multi-formats and experience of playing in different conditions.... against different opposition...
This is not precedent but a particular strategy adopted by Sammy, Aveenash and others.....it may fail or succeed..... opinions may differ......for me... although I have been harsh critic of Sammy's appointment......I would like to give it a go....

Making Hope bat at no.7 or 6 is one of the best decision....open with King & Campbell....let Brathwaite bat at 4...

The entire top 7 looks fragile! WI need to consider the following top 7:

1. Brathwaite
2. Campbell/Louis/Tage
3. Jangoo
4. Anderson
5. Rutherford
6. Da Silva (c)
7. Imlach (wk)

In reply to Seechy

That looks better?

In reply to velo

Thanks man.

In reply to b4u8me2

Imlach averages 13 in tests, that’s half of what hope averages.

Hope is the best batsman in the West Indies, his keeping is decent. We should all hope (pun intended) that he bats like he does in ODIs and did in that famous test in England

In reply to brians_da_best



After two test matches, Hope also scored 52 runs and averaged 13 runs per innings. If that is your bench mark for dropping a player after two test matches, then it means Hope should have been dropped after his first two test matches. But he was given another 37 matches to make his case. Imlach wasn't so lucky. Additionally, I believe in playing your best wicketkeeper in a test match. If you are going to play a man as wicketkeeper solely because you think he can bat, then play him as a batsman. Drop catches and missed stumping can be worth a lot more than the runs he may give you. This aint white ball cricket where the rate of run scoring matters over wickets taken. This is test cricket. Always play your best wicketkeeper. Let the batsmen stand up and do their job and bat and let the bowlers bowl. Playing a player as a bowler who is not your best bowler just cause he can also bat, is as foolish as playing someone who is not your best wicketkeeper just because you feel he can get you more runs. Though there is no proof that Hope will make more runs that Imlach would have. He has not demonstrated in red ball cricket that he can. But that's just my view.

In reply to b4u8me2

I think Hopes keeping is actually very good. And as a batsman, he has pedigree.

He is one of the best ODI batsman in the world around, and let’s hope he can translate that form to tests. If he doesn’t, he’ll be dropped again

So far it's paying off. Only one bowling innings though