Lara's challenge and Tiger's motivation

[chinaman]

Brian Lara has staked his captaincy on the West Indies defeating Bangladesh in the second and final cricket Test, starting on Friday at Sabina Park.

Fully expecting a bowler-friendly pitch and banking on his reconfigured armoury to do the job, Lara created a mild sensation at the pre-match news conference on Thursday when he stated that he would resign as captain if the Caribbean side failed to defeat the visitors.

Yet, mere hours later, he seemed to be regretting the bravado of that statement on examining a Sabina Park pitch that showed only a slight tinge of green.

Although the surface is expected to have much more pace and bounce than the surface for the rain-affected first Test at the Beausejour Stadium in St. Lucia, it is not likely to be the same as for last year's corresponding fixture against Sri Lanka when West Indies rallied from a first innings deficit to romp to a seven-wicket win on the third afternoon that gave them the two-match series 1-0.

In the immediate aftermath of that triumph, Lara spoke optimistically about his team turning their previously woeful fortunes around, only to just stagger past Zimbabwe and then suffer 3-0 whippings in South Africa and at home to England.

On the ground where they were demolished for 47 - their lowest ever Test total - by England eight weeks ago, Lara's bold pronouncement seems triggered not so much by overwhelming confidence, but by embarrassment at the resilience and resourcefulness of their opponents in St. Lucia.

A benign surface there blunted any perceived threat from the Caribbean side's four fast bowlers, and in a first Test blighted by a succession of dropped catches from both teams, earning a draw from the depths of 79 for six in their second innings represented a huge improvement by Bangladesh in the wake of a record of 26 losses and two rain-affected stalemates in their previous 28 Tests.

Ironically, one of the West Indies' architects of the series-clinching win over the Sri Lankans could be left out on the ground where he made a sensational Test debut.

Picked at the insistence of Lara and responding by taking five wickets on the first day then, Fidel Edwards could pay the price for poor performances in St. Lucia.

The 22-year-old fast bowler finished with match figures of two for 139 and dropped four catches, generally struggling to recapture the intensity and enthusiasm that has defined his cricket since that surprise call-up.

Even allowing for local sentiment, Jermaine Lawson should be another casualty as he looked short of work on his return to Test cricket. The muscular fast bowler, who has spent the last year remodelling a suspect action and sorting through an assortment of injuries, lacked pace and mconsistency in Jamaica.

If the Bangladeshis were fearful of him reproducing a spell similar to his devastating figures of six wickets for three runs in the first ever Test between the two teams in Dhaka 18 months earlier, they were pleasantly surprised by his general ineffectiveness.

Influenced also by the continued failure of the bowlers to make any sort of useful contributions with the bat, Omari Banks and Ravi Rampaul are set to take the places of Edwards and Lawson.

Banks' anticipated selection will mark a return to top-level cricket for the off-spin all-rounder following recuperation from a stress fracture of the lower back that curtailed his tour of southern Africa last December.

Rampaul, who has impressed in a succession of One-day Internationals since making his senior debut in Zimbabwe last October, should get the chance to play his first Test and with the teenager's tendency to bowl a fuller length than some of his counterparts, may be more effective if the pitch does develop into a batsman's paradise, particularly after the first day.

Brimful of confidence after their heartening performance - except in the catching department - in the first Test, Bangladesh are nevertheless under no illusions about the challenge facing them in Kingston.

They have strengthened their line-up by omitting Faisal Hossain, who made his debut in St. Lucia, and including left-arm spin bowler and determined batsman Manjural Islam Rana in the only change from their First Test squad.

Facing defeat on the final morning at Beausejour, they resolved to fight it out as a tribute to their coach Dav Whatmore, who has travelled to Australia following the death of his brother-in-law.

In the midst of grief in Melbourne, he would have taken pride in Bangladesh's determination, but must know that the effort was just one small step forward on the long road to respectability.

Lara's pre-match challenge may be symptom of the lack of respect internationally for Bangladesh as a top-level cricketing nation, but the visitors may seek to use those fighting words as their own motivation, particularly as the West Indies have had precious little to cheer about over the last seven years.

"LARA PUTS HIS CAPTAINCY ON THE LINE FOR SECOND TEST" on WICB >>

[rsanumber1]

latest odds for the 2nd test...

west indies 1.20
draw 6.00
bangladesh 15.00

lara's position as captain seems far from safe judging by those odds

[billah]

Yet another example of poor leadership. Lara has just piled on an extra baggage now. This is a good sign for us people. Pressure is one thing the West Indians can't handle at their present state. What a blunderous move by the skipper. A welcome news for us, just one more prize to play for: Brian Lara's head.

[AussieBloke]

I have read the article by Lara and I guess he is ruing his bravado now. But I have a bad feeling that he might just sneak in and save his skin (captaincy).

If we look at the history of Sabina Park, this has been a heaven for good swing bowlers. Look at the first 3 tests against Englang..Harmison in the 1st test, Harmison and Jones in the 2nd test, Harmison, Jones, Hoggard, Flintoff in the 3rd test - were the chief destroyers of the WI batting lineup. These are all tall good paced natural swing bowlers. So Sabina Park proved to be a good hunting place for them (and possibly becoz this WI team is not as formidable as before). And this is where we might lag behind. Apart from Mashrafee (who will be greatly missed here), we dont have natural swing bowlers (I am not taking anything away from Mushfiq, Tapash and Tareq). So if the Tigers want to emulate their performance at Sabina Park, the bowlers must bowl at a tight length with considerable pace, the ball must constantly whizz past the batsman's chest level and THEY MUST hold on to the catches. Rana is a good choice, but I am still concerned about Hannan and that he will once again gut the team by getting out cheaply. It can't be easy for him, he must have tremendous pressure on him to perform, he maybe the only player in the team without any significant contribution in the series so far. So I would have prefered to see another face in the team in his place without those cobwebs, but it appears that the selectors have stuck with Hannan for this match.

My advice - Move Hannan from the cordon area and place him anywhere but slip, cover, point and gully. For our batsmen, they must..I repeat must refrain from the urge to Hook and Pull. Bashar must stop hitting those balls in the air, he has been lucky so far, but his luck might change and we dont want the team to lose the most successful batsman due to this foolhardy attitude. Its difficult to restrain the natural tendency, but he must do it for the team. Golla must refrain for moving his feet too much and playing across the line as he tends to do, and must vow to stick around until tea session of the first innings, not throw away his wicket as he does in his 20s or 30s. Ashraful is good, but I wonder how this dimunitive guy's gonna handle balls whizzing past his throat all the time and not hook or pull them..(its not flat and placid like Sri Lankan pitch)! As for Rana, my advice is not to try too hard to prove his worth. If necessary, take 5 overs to just settle down without scoring any runs, and to curb his natural ODI style instinct. It would be worth watching how patient he is! No advice for Rajin, Pilot, Rafique, Tapash and Tareq. They are doing fine, and doing more than they are asked to DO! But for Mushfiq, I would suggest to rethink his batting strategy. He is in the team as an all-rounder. So he must properly utilize the seventh slot he has been allocated in the batting lineup, and not waste it. He is the last one who shields the tail from the bowlers (although we cant call Rafique as taill.can we?), and he better do it right.

Finally - Omari Banks is back. He got 4 wickets against BD in a practice match in St.Vincent earlier. So it would be worth seeing how our batsmen fair against him. I dont know - but I have a sinking feeling in my stomach...!!!

BTW..can anyone tell me how someone becomes ODI cricketer, test cricketer etc., how mant posts you need to write before you are elevated to a senior position?

[Flip Master Mick]

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[Zunaid]

Here's an excerpt from his statement:

If we don't beat Bangladesh in five good days we need another leader

So even when he was talking about resignation, he had already qualified it further with "good 5 days".

Agree with Billah - a sign of poor leadership.

[chinaman]

And that is only one side of the story. What if Bangladesh defeats West Indies in these good five days? Will he retire?

[pagol-chagol]

It seems like most of us judge our players based on their last game only.

[bd_cricket]

Originally posted by chinaman
And that is only one side of the story. What if Bangladesh defeats West Indies in these good five days? Will he retire?

In that case I think the whole WI cricket board will resign including selectors, coach etc.

[Beamer]

A foolish statement by the West Indian captain. This is locker room board material for us. I hope our players draw inspiration from this and make sure he is gone as he said he would. Not only he disrespects us after getting dominated a few days go, but he has put undue pressure on his teammates also. No leadership quality whatsoever. He proves once again that he is more worried about his record as a captain than his teams well being. A selfish genius! Its sad that he plays a team sport..

[pagol-chagol]

Hey, who wants to be the next WI captain?

Tank the game.

[capslock]

What a dumbass...what's he going to do if it's a rain-affected draw?

[rassel]

Originally posted by capslock
What a dumbass...what's he going to do if it's a rain-affected draw?

read the whole article first before jumping into conclusion! he said full five days. you know what is that mean

[rassel]

Originally posted by pagol-chagol
Hey, who wants to be the next WI captain?

Tank the game.

Here is some thought. sarwin has to be the number one choice! chandu simply sucks! gayle is just too girly; he won't be able to handle the pressure. ( i keed! Lara will not make it happen)

[Edited on 4-6-2004 by rassel]

[reverse_swing]

Wisden CricInfo staff

June 4, 2004



Brian Lara, only seven weeks after smashing the world Test batting record, has promised to resign as captain if West Indies do not beat lowly Bangladesh in the second Test at Sabina Park, starting today.

"If we don't win," Lara announced at a pre-Test news conference, "then I don't think I'm going to lead the team to England.

"If we don't beat Bangladesh in five good days of cricket in Jamaica, I think we need another leader."

Lara was urged by many in his homeland to give up the job during West Indies' recent 3-0 thrashing by England. He appeared to have fought off his critics with his brilliant and unprecedented 400 not out in the fourth Test of that series.

Now, after trailing Bangladesh on the first innings on the way to a scratchy draw at St Lucia, his leadership is again under intense scrutiny. Even a draw in the second and last Test, it seems, will not save him.

His former coach Bryan Davis, the West Indian Test opener of the 1960s, criticised the timing of his threat to quit.

"Lara must shoulder some of the burden for the poor showing of the team but I don't think he should have spoken out at this time," said Davis. "The timing of the decision is poor.

"While I understand how Lara feels, I can't agree with his statement at this time. I feel it is premature. Certainly to say this before the match is not good. A statement like that is putting a lot of pressure on himself and his team."

Lara has lost nine, drawn six and won only two Tests since beginning his second stint as West Indies captain a year ago. His overall record is almost as dismal: 19 defeats, nine victories, seven draws. But if his leadership has not inspired his troops it has at least had an uplifting effect on his own batting. In 35 Tests as captain he has hit 10 hundreds and averages 61.72.

Lara is hopeful the bouncier Sabina Park track will suit his team, although he did make a point of offering the following cautionary advice to his four-man pace attack.

"I hope what they don't do is think that because it's quick and bouncy we need to intimidate the Bangladeshi batsmen," said Lara. "We are going to get the bounce and the pace out of it. We just need to bowl the right line and length."

Fail to do that and the repercussions for Caribbean cricket scarcely bear thinking about.

© Wisden Cricinfo Ltd

[Tehsin]

Let's look at it this way, if some of the players dislike Lara enough to want to see him go, this is a good opportunity for them. All they have to do s simply bowl aimlessly, field comically and bat like our top order. If that fails, they have Lara to make all the wrong decisions and then blame everything else for the loss.

[Rubu]

They have strengthened their line-up by omitting Faisal Hossain, who made his debut in St. Lucia, and including left-arm spin bowler and determined batsman Manjural Islam Rana in the only change from their First Test squad.

this was exactly what i needed to hear. rana is in. how reliable is this source? does anyone else hear anything like this from anyother sources? it doesn't matter whether its faisal or hannan or who ever, and also doesn't matter the pitch analysis crap, i want to see rana in.

[chinaman]

Originally posted by tehsin
Let's look at it this way, if some of the players dislike Lara enough to want to see him go, this is a good opportunity for them. All they have to do s simply bowl aimlessly, field comically and bat like our top order. If that fails, they have Lara to make all the wrong decisions and then blame everything else for the loss.

Million dollar suggestions!

[Piranha]

Now I am already feeling nervous about the match. The stakes have suddenly become higher!

It is a wierd feeling i've gotta say, never before have i thought about a BD match in this way the night before it starts!

[capslock]

Originally posted by tehsin
Let's look at it this way, if some of the players dislike Lara enough to want to see him go, this is a good opportunity for them. All they have to do s simply bowl aimlessly, field comically and bat like our top order.

I am confused, isn't that what they did in the first test?

[mzia]

Brian Lara, good player, rich caliber, before making the history breaking test 400, Geoffrey Boycott said regarding him that for salvation of pride of WI Lara should come up with his normal play and he is such a type of player he could not be out of form for a long time. A great cricketer’s honest compliment is to other.

Lara said he would be no more as captain if WI could not beat Ban after playing 5 days at SP. Ban could some how manage draw only 3 tests out of 30, so there is no reason for non-winning result against Ban in SP, he also said.

It’s very sad. I feel for poor Lara. This is the reflection of the present WI cricket malady. Resultant the gentleman norm is being evaporating form even class level. It is not good sign for cricket of WI. Though they don’t have racial problem like Zim, but their direction is almost the fate of Zim present Cricket situation.

Good thing is Viv, Roberts, Gordon like characters are still with the WI cricket but they need to do motivate the player first to be simple player not holding the majestically pride always here and there.

[fab]

Originally posted by AussieBloke
My advice - Move Hannan from the cordon area and place him anywhere but slip, cover, point and gully.

I think in general Hannan has pretty safe hands, I recall him taking some pretty difficult catches in the last series. In fact, isn't that why they use him as the sub in ODI? I think he's just been having a pretty bad patch all round..

[babon]

ya fab, i agree with you

[babon]

mzia, WI donot have racial problems, but they do have island problem.

[sheshprohor]

This is THAT lara I used to respect?????

I am begining to hate this guy....."Pride is the root of Downfall."







Prohor