reverse_swing
May 29, 2004, 09:46 PM
The respect the opposition had for the West Indies in the past is no longer there. However, I never would have imagined that it would manifest itself in the actions of the Bangladeshi team.
Any team having won the toss against us in the 1980s thought twice about batting first— even on the best-looking batting tracks — and some never even entertained the thought. That was so until the early ‘90s, when Ambrose and Walsh were still in their prime.
I had a look at the pitch before walking out to toss and I new that it was good to bat on. But I thought that, if there was an ounce of moisture, our fast bowlers would be able to do early damage to the Bangladeshi's batting order.
I suppose Bashar, the opposing captain, was thinking the entire opposite — if he could win the toss and post a big score, the West Indies could be put under some pressure as the pitch deteriorated.
Well, I don't think I need to mention how easy-paced this pitch is. The Bangladesh captain scored a very attractive Test century and the team’s number nine batsman, Mohammad Rafique, also reached triple digits.
It is really disturbing when everyone involved in the preparation of the pitch knows the team we have selected, as well as the opposition we are playing against, yet a placid pitch is prepared.
Our four fast bowlers were unable to use their pace to any advantage and, with their lack of experience, were unable to maintain the necessary patience needed on such a surface.
They were either too short or too full, allowing the batsmen to score freely on both sides of the wicket. The experienced Pedro Collins was the best of our fast bowlers, picking up three wickets for 83 runs.
It was evident at quite an early stage that leaving out the spinner was not in our best interest. Of course, we all fantasise about going back to our most successful period in international cricket, when we had four fast bowlers operating and demolishing any opposing team.
Our youngsters have the ability to get us back there, but I still feel that they are inexperienced and instead of relying on our dream team we should focus on the current situation.
The selection process is a democratic one. This should be taken advantage of and hence more thought should be given by those contributing to the selection process. How many of us relied on what we wanted to see out there representing us, rather than the actual state of the pitch?
Well, as it turned out, the off spin of Christopher Gayle and leg breaks from Ramnaresh Sarwan troubled the Bangladesh batsmen the most. So far, they have picked up four wickets between them, with Sarwan returning his best test figures of three for 51.
I understand that the weather in T&T is horrendous at the moment, but that is the case throughout the Caribbean. Yesterday’s play started at 2.30 pm on a very soggy outfield and any more overnight rain will interrupt today’s play as well.
There will be an extra hour of play every day for the remainder of the match, which gives us the opportunity to get in the overs lost. Nevertheless, we will need a great deal more than that to achieve a win in this match. It is a good pitch for batting, but their runs are on the board already and now we have to apply ourselves to ensure that we post a big enough total to put them under pressure later on in the match.
Our fast bowlers have to be more patient and they have to concentrate on putting the ball in the right areas. Hopefully, with the help of our part-time spinners, something can happen in our favour later on.
No need to call names, but catches win matches and if we are going to be dropping so many, our chances of winning are going to diminish.
Source (http://www.guardian.co.tt/sports1.html)
[Edited on 30-5-2004 by reverse_swing]
Any team having won the toss against us in the 1980s thought twice about batting first— even on the best-looking batting tracks — and some never even entertained the thought. That was so until the early ‘90s, when Ambrose and Walsh were still in their prime.
I had a look at the pitch before walking out to toss and I new that it was good to bat on. But I thought that, if there was an ounce of moisture, our fast bowlers would be able to do early damage to the Bangladeshi's batting order.
I suppose Bashar, the opposing captain, was thinking the entire opposite — if he could win the toss and post a big score, the West Indies could be put under some pressure as the pitch deteriorated.
Well, I don't think I need to mention how easy-paced this pitch is. The Bangladesh captain scored a very attractive Test century and the team’s number nine batsman, Mohammad Rafique, also reached triple digits.
It is really disturbing when everyone involved in the preparation of the pitch knows the team we have selected, as well as the opposition we are playing against, yet a placid pitch is prepared.
Our four fast bowlers were unable to use their pace to any advantage and, with their lack of experience, were unable to maintain the necessary patience needed on such a surface.
They were either too short or too full, allowing the batsmen to score freely on both sides of the wicket. The experienced Pedro Collins was the best of our fast bowlers, picking up three wickets for 83 runs.
It was evident at quite an early stage that leaving out the spinner was not in our best interest. Of course, we all fantasise about going back to our most successful period in international cricket, when we had four fast bowlers operating and demolishing any opposing team.
Our youngsters have the ability to get us back there, but I still feel that they are inexperienced and instead of relying on our dream team we should focus on the current situation.
The selection process is a democratic one. This should be taken advantage of and hence more thought should be given by those contributing to the selection process. How many of us relied on what we wanted to see out there representing us, rather than the actual state of the pitch?
Well, as it turned out, the off spin of Christopher Gayle and leg breaks from Ramnaresh Sarwan troubled the Bangladesh batsmen the most. So far, they have picked up four wickets between them, with Sarwan returning his best test figures of three for 51.
I understand that the weather in T&T is horrendous at the moment, but that is the case throughout the Caribbean. Yesterday’s play started at 2.30 pm on a very soggy outfield and any more overnight rain will interrupt today’s play as well.
There will be an extra hour of play every day for the remainder of the match, which gives us the opportunity to get in the overs lost. Nevertheless, we will need a great deal more than that to achieve a win in this match. It is a good pitch for batting, but their runs are on the board already and now we have to apply ourselves to ensure that we post a big enough total to put them under pressure later on in the match.
Our fast bowlers have to be more patient and they have to concentrate on putting the ball in the right areas. Hopefully, with the help of our part-time spinners, something can happen in our favour later on.
No need to call names, but catches win matches and if we are going to be dropping so many, our chances of winning are going to diminish.
Source (http://www.guardian.co.tt/sports1.html)
[Edited on 30-5-2004 by reverse_swing]