October 19, 2011 issue
Cricket
Tony McWatt
The West Indies are currently engaged in an eight-match (two warm-ups, one T20, three ODIs and two Tests) Tour of Bangladesh. As such one would expect the attention of Caribbean cricket fans to be focused primarily on events as they occur in that part of the Indian sub continent. That is not the case this year however, as the Caribbean Regional Super 50 Limited Overs Competition being played in Guyana from October 19 – 29, is now arguably garnering far more fan attention and interest than the Bangladesh-West Indies Series.
With five of the eight scheduled matches of their Bangladesh Tour already completed, the West Indies have so far boasted a near perfect record. To date they have won the two Warmup Matches against Bangladesh's Board X1s - the first a T20 and the second, a 50 Overs - by comfortable margins of 75 and 65 runs respectively. The blemish of a three wicket loss in the Official T20 against their hosts, was very quickly rectified by back-to-back victories in the first two of the three scheduled ODIs.
Despite the fact that Bangladesh came right back to rout West Indies for 61 and win the 3rd decisively by eight wickets, the ease and comfort of the respective results have been sufficient to confirm how meaningless the current Series is. Other than favorably padding the statistics of those players, such as Lendl Simmons and Marlon Samuels, who have chosen to capitalize on the offerings of their inferior opponents, the Series now offers little value as any true measure of the West Indies players' performances.
The Series may be useful in revealing the glaring inadequacies of Darren Sammy's captaincy. He was hardly missed as Captain in the first ODI, after withdrawing with reported stomach cramps. In his absence Dinesh Ramdin captained the team superbly, leading the West Indies to their comprehensive 40 run victory.
Sammy's return in the 2nd ODI revealed the non-value of his performances as a player. Not required to contribute with the bat, he had figures of 2-42 from 8.5 overs with the ball in Bangladesh's total of 220. His economy rate of 4.75 was marginally lower than that of Marlon Samuels' 4.80 (1-24 from five overs) and Kemar Roach's 4.90 (3-49 from 10 0vers).
Roach's role in the team though, is that of a front-line, attacking wicket-taking pacer. It would be expected that his economy rate would be fairly high. Samuels on the other hand is a part-time spinner, merely to provide some fill-in overs. An economy rate of under 5.00 from such a bowler would be most welcome.
Contrast their returns to Sammy's who, as captain and the fourth seamer, is supposed to be amongst the most economical of the bowlers. His two wickets were numbers eight and 10 in the order. One of the unmistakable characteristics of Sammy's bowling changes as a captain, is that he always allows himself the greatest opportunities to bowl at his opponents' weakest batsmen.
Sammy's continuing shenanigans and the apparent inferiority of the Bangladeshi opposition have left Caribbean cricket fans clamoring for some cricket with greater meaning. This year's Guyana-hosted Super 50 Regional Limited Overs Competition seems fully capable of offering just that.
For starters the Competition, named the Clive Lloyd Super50 in honor of the former Guyana and West Indies captain, will incorporate several innovations recently decreed by cricket's governing body, the International Cricket Council. Two balls will be used in each innings, with the opening bowlers starting with a new ball from each end. The batting and bowling Powerplays will be taken between the 16th and 40th overs. But there are a couple of other innovations unique to the Competition. Two bowlers from each side will be allowed to bowl 12 overs each. The remaining, as is the case for all bowlers in the 50-over format, will be allowed a maximum of 10. Also, the mandatory close-catcher rule during the field restrictions will be done away with and up to four fielders (not five as is the current rule) will be allowed outside the 30-yard circle in the non-Powerplay overs.
It will be interesting to witness the effect these changes will have on the participating player's performances. Much greater interest though will be on the individual performances of some key players. None more so than Jamaica's Chris Gayle. Excluded from his rightful place in the West Indies team, because of an ongoing war-of-words with the West Indies Board hierarchy and Team Coach, Gayle will be anxious to let his bat do his talking as loudly as it did during the recently concluded Indian Premier League and the Champions Trophy. If his performances in any way mirror the amazing power hitting he demonstrated during those games and other T20 Matches, the Guyanese spectators will be in for a real treat.
In the 22 T20 Matches he has played this year, Gayle has scored an incredible 1025 runs at an innings average of 53.94. His Average Strike Rate in those 22 Matches has been 186.02 the absolute highest amongst all players. He has scored two hundreds and seven fifties and has hit 81 sixes and 86 fours. Yet he remains on the sidelines of the West Indies team!
Like Gayle, fellow Jamaican Jerome Taylor, will be anxious to use his performances in the Clive Lloyd Super50 Competition to re-establish his right to be included in the West Indies team. Undoubtedly one the Region's best fast bowlers, with proven International performances of the highest order in every form of the game, Taylor is another whose continuing exclusion from the West Indies team defies comprehension. Gayle's skills with the bat and Taylor's with the ball, could well power Jamaica to victory in the Competition.
The biggest threat to Jamaica's chances of claiming overall supremacy could come from Trinidad. Despite having lost seven of their top players who are fulfilling duties with the West Indies team in Bangladesh, Trinidad still has the talent to do very well in the Competition. Kevin Cooper and Samuel Badree, fresh from their commendable performances in the recently concluded IPL Champions League, will be amongst those seeking to make a mark during the Tournament.
With squads from Barbados, Windwards, Leewards, the Combined Campuses & Colleges, the Sagicor High Performance and hosts Guyana rounding out the 8-Team rosters, the Championship matches to be played from October 18-28 should be brimful of interest. Far more so, than the West Indies now meaningless encounters against lowly and inferior Bangladesh.
The BCCI has made a presentation to the other member boards of the ICC on the controversial Umpire Decision Review System (DRS) to show how Hot Spot technology had failed during India's tour of England, said president N Srinivasan.
He said the Indian board convinced the other member boards to end the mandatory use of DRS in international cricket and make it optional.
"The BCCI takes positions based not just on its own interests but also on its view on cricket. In England, everyone could see the problems with Hot Spot, so we took the matter up again. We made a presentation of the decisions that clearly showed that Hot Spot was lacking accuracy. That is what convinced the members to revert to an optional DRS," Srinivasan said.
In its executive board meeting in Dubai last week, the ICC had reversed its earlier decision of making the DRS mandatory by leaving its use subject to bilateral agreements between the participating boards.
The ICC's decision was a reversal of the agreement reached between the world body and its member boards at the annual conference in Hong Kong, when Hot Spot was made mandatory subject to its availability, though the use of ball-tracking was left to the playing boards to decide.
In England, Hot Spot failed on more than one occasion, with Rahul Dravid falling victim three times. Another controversy erupted when former England captain Mike Atherton alleged that VVS Laxman might have used Vaseline on the edge of his bat to avoid detection by the technology.
Srinivasan reiterated that the BCCI remained unconvinced about Hot Spot and that it was not a bully of world cricket.
"We are not at all the bullies of world cricket... but on the contrary we go out of our way to assist other member nations. It's difficult to dispel the notion that we are (bullies) because it is constantly referred to, but it is not a fact," he said.
Srinivasan also refused to accept the claim that India's crammed calendar led to a number of injuries during the England tour, where they were whitewashed in all three formats of the game, and said India are playing the same amount of cricket as all other countries.
"If we had won on the England tour no one would have brought up the packed schedule. It was a tour where we had bad luck. A number of players got injured during matches. Also, cricketers are highly paid professionals and are expected to take care of themselves," he said.
"The board would look at the schedule again, critically to see if anything can be done but I don't accept the criticism that there is too much cricket being played. It's not so much the IPL and the Champions League, we have now got one ICC event every year ... on the whole it is a crowded calendar," he added.
Srinivasan denied that BCCI is solely into money-making business and should be taxed.
"We are not a profit-driven organisation. As a professional, I would naturally like to get the best value for the product I have.
"Beyond that all the income we have is applied to cricketing activities: 26 per cent goes back to the players, we spend on infrastructure, 70 per cent of our income goes to the state cricketing associations and we also give them subsidies to build stadiums, plus the National Cricket Academy has a budget of 10 crores every year. So, the 190 crores is a surplus, not a profit.
"By our own charter we have to spend 85 per cent of the money we make in a year on cricket activities. If we don't we can keep it in a fund but that needs to be spent in five years," said Srinivasan.
Short of plopping into a sofa in their living rooms, Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir couldn't have been any more comfortable at home than they were at the Ferozeshah Kotla on Monday. They played by the numbers, an assured ease and a calculated approach to help India overhaul England's 238-target with surprising ease. Kohli, in particular, made another strong claim for a berth in the Test squad for the upcoming series against the West Indies with an unbeaten 98-ball 112, his seventh ODI century.
Gambhir returned to international form following injury and the painful incidents of the England tour. He played an excellent senior statesman's role with a fluent, unbeaten 84.
India finished the game with 80 balls remaining and eight wickets in hand. Vinay Kumar picked up a career-best haul and even the English fielders were outshone by their Indian counterparts.
The chase didn't start out easy, though, since after 8.5 overs, India too were exactly 35/2 like England had been earlier in the day, both teams having lost the openers. But while Cook and Kieswetter departed without putting up a run on the board and the Trott-Pietersen combine perished after a decent start, Gambhir and Kohli - having found themselves together after 6.5 overs - clinically proceeded to fashion a new record for the third wicket with their unconquered 209-run stand.
England had their moments, like when Steven Finn bowled with fire and repeatedly beat the bat. They often employed aggressive fields too, but not at times when it was really required, and will be left wondering whether Cook's captaincy was a little underdone.
India are now up 2-0 in the 5-match ODI series having won the first ODI on October 14, played at Hyderabad by a convincing 126 runs.
Summary of Matches played - Eng v India
1st ODI, Hyderabad, Oct 14
India - 300 runs for 7 wickets in 50 overs.
England - 174 all out in 36.4 overs
India won by 126 runs
2nd ODI, Delhi, Oct 17
England - 237 all out in 48.2 overs
India - 238 for 2 wickets in 36.4 ov.
India won by 8 wickets with 80 balls remaining
but win series 2-1
Bangladesh demolished West Indies for their second-lowest total in one-day internationals, after which their batsmen knocked off the paltry target of 61 runs in 20 overs. From 33 for 1, Bangladesh's bowlers began to hack through the West Indies line-up as nine wickets fell for 28 runs. The strong crowd that turned up cheered as the home side dished out retribution for the two defeats in the series, and for the humiliation in the 2011 World Cup.
Summary of Matches played - WI v Bang
1st ODI, Mirpur, Oct 13
West Indies - 298 runs for 4 wickets in 50 overs
LMP Simmons 122
Bangladesh - 258 for 7 in 50 overs
West Indies won by 40 runs
2nd ODI, Mirpur, Oct 15
Bangladesh - 220 all out in 48.5 overs
West Indies - 221 runs for 2 wkts in 42.4 overs
LMP Simmons 80; MN Samuels 88 n.o.
West Indies won by 8 wkts, 44 balls remaining.
3rd ODI, Chittagong, Oct 18
West Indies - 61 runs all out in 22 overs
Shakib al Hassan - 4 wkts for 16 runs in 5 overs
Bangladesh - 62 for 2 in 20 overs
Bang won by 8 wkts with 180 balls remaining.
T20 International, Mirpur, Oct 11
West Indies - 132 runs for 8 wkts in 20 overs
Bangladesh - 135 for 7 wkts in 19.5 overs
Bangladesh won by 3 wkts, 1 ball remaining