Tweet
Forget 'competing', it's time West Indies had a touch of class...
By Lawrence Booth
PUBLISHED: 14:49, 29 May 2012 | UPDATED: 14:49, 29 May 2012
TOP SPIN ON TWITTER
For more cricketing musings, please follow right here @the_topspin
Years ago, when England used to lose every time to Australia, the clue was in the verb. English cricketers would arrive Down Under, they said, hoping to ‘compete’.
The suggestion that they might actually ‘win’ barely came into it. And so they would play decent cricket for a session here, maybe even a day there. But the belief was missing. England would compete – and then Australia would win. The narrative became so predictable it got boring.
Which brings us to West Indies. As their coach, Ottis Gibson, spoke on Monday at length and with passion about the need for his top-order batsmen to sell their wickets more dearly – and to study the way Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook build their innings – you did not have to read between the lines to sense his frustration.
Lonely times: Darren Sammy departs after being dismissed at Trent Bridge
More from Lawrence Booth...
For Trent Bridge was yet more proof that West Indies have mastered the art of doing just enough to suggest they can win Tests without ever actually winning them. It is the culture of sufficiency. And it is some skill.
Their moment in Nottingham came when Darren Sammy – part of the problem, even while he strives whole-heartedly for the solution – had Strauss caught behind on Sunday afternoon. England were 363 for 7, and trailed by seven. A swift mopping-up of the tail and West Indies might even have been favourites.
Instead, Tim Bresnan and Stuart Broad added 53 before the pair of them tore in with James Anderson in the evening sunshine. When West Indies closed the third day on 61 for 6, a lead of three, there was no way back.
Recent history suggests that, if West Indies are intent on learning their lessons, they are learning them the hard way. At Lord’s, too, they kept knocking on the door. But 181 for 4 in the first innings quickly became 243 all out, and even though England then lost their last eight wickets for 154, it was only after they had reached 244 for 2.
West Indies recovered from 65 for 4 to 345 all out – further indication that their middle order possesses the technique so lacking in the top three. But after they reduced England to 57 for 4 in pursuit of 191, they never came close to sealing the deal.
Part-time Test cricket – and it was the same story against Australia in the Caribbean recently. In Dominica, they allowed the Aussies to recover from 169 for 7 in their first innings to 328.
In Trinidad, West Indies collapsed from 230 for 4 to 257. In Barbados, they made 449, then had Australia 285 for 8. Australia recovered to reach 406, then skittled West Indies for 148.
And it was the same in India. In Mumbai, West Indies were dismissed for 134 after beginning with 590. At Kolkata, they compiled 463 – but only while following on, having slipped to 153 first time round. At Delhi, they had a lead of 95, before falling to 180 all out.
What's going on? West Indies' players watch the repairs to the wicket
I could go on. But the point is this: cohesion and team spirit and all the other good things Sammy and Gibson keep telling us they are trying to instil are of little use if the players switch off halfway through each Test.
Of course, this is where it gets tricky. Last week I interviewed Michael Holding and Jerome Taylor, Jamaican fast bowlers past and present and both disillusioned with what they regard as the unyielding nature of West Indies’ management and administrators.
Holding’s point – which he has grown sick and tired of making – is that, while team discipline is self-evidently crucial, so too is making every effort to accommodate talent. Taylor’s story suggests this may not be happening.
These voices are easy to dismiss as whinges. But where has West Indies’ determination to rid their side of supposed troublemakers got them? Two Test wins out of 31 (excluding the non-event at North Sound v England) is the stark answer – one of those against Bangladesh, another by 40 runs against Pakistan on a lottery of a pitch in Guyana.
This is a humiliating set of results, and it cannot be assuaged by patronising pats on the head about team spirit and trying hard.
On what planet, for example, was a top three of Adrian Barath, Kieran Powell and Kirk Edwards ever going to thrive in England? And if Taylor is being ignored for not being properly fit, where does that leave the perennially knackered Fidel Edwards?
Duncan Fletcher used to speak of a ‘critical mass’ when it came to picking a cricket team. In essence, you didn’t want more than three feckless individuals out of 11: four or five, and they would start to infect the team.
West Indies seem intent on reducing that figure to none. But in the process they are depriving themselves of the touch of class which – if harnessed properly – could make a difference.
Now, if I hear the word ‘compete’ once more before next week’s third Test at Edgbaston, I won’t be held accountable for my actions...
THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS
Marlon’s magic
Has anyone made a faster transformation from so-called wastrel to coolest kid in class than Marlon Samuels? It’s not just the runs (310 at 103 so far in the series) but his off-message gift of the gab, a patter to refined that he was able to tell England’s chirping slip fielders on Monday: ‘Shut up guys – I’m about to get back-to-back hundreds.’
Leading light: Marlon Samuels marks his century at Trent Bridge
He was in the 40s at the time, and deprived of his boast only by the ducks endured by Nos 10 and 11 Shane Shillingford and Ravi Rampaul. But his best moment in Nottingham came as he addressed the press at stumps on day one, his third Test hundred safely in the bag. ‘I can talk and bat all day,’ he said. ‘Bowlers can’t talk and bowl.’
James Anderson, he said, was ‘someone who gets frustrated very easily – he needs to get stronger’. As he said this, he noticed Anderson waiting just outside the squash court which doubles as a press-conference room at Test matches. With a broad grin, he changed tack: ‘He’s my favourite bowler – I told him that at Lord’s too.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cri...#ixzz1wH1YasDO
By Lawrence Booth
PUBLISHED: 14:49, 29 May 2012 | UPDATED: 14:49, 29 May 2012
TOP SPIN ON TWITTER
For more cricketing musings, please follow right here @the_topspin
Years ago, when England used to lose every time to Australia, the clue was in the verb. English cricketers would arrive Down Under, they said, hoping to ‘compete’.
The suggestion that they might actually ‘win’ barely came into it. And so they would play decent cricket for a session here, maybe even a day there. But the belief was missing. England would compete – and then Australia would win. The narrative became so predictable it got boring.
Which brings us to West Indies. As their coach, Ottis Gibson, spoke on Monday at length and with passion about the need for his top-order batsmen to sell their wickets more dearly – and to study the way Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook build their innings – you did not have to read between the lines to sense his frustration.
Lonely times: Darren Sammy departs after being dismissed at Trent BridgeMore from Lawrence Booth...
- The Top Spin: England must reacquaint themselves with what they do best at Trent Bridge 22/05/12
- The Top Spin: Late bloomer Anderson is England's man for all seasons 15/05/12
- The Top Spin: Come in No 6! Five pressing questions for England to answer this summer 07/05/12
- The Top Spin: Forget the rain... the lack of Gayle-force Windies dampens series 30/04/12
- The Top Spin: Come what May tortured batsmen will weather cruel April's storm 24/04/12
- Top Spin: Time for Twenty20 to pay some of Test cricket's bills... it's what families do 17/04/12
- The Top Spin: Chastened, not disheartened - why England can afford a smile again 10/04/12
- Top Spin at the Test: Spinner Swann on song for England 04/04/12
- VIEW FULL ARCHIVE
For Trent Bridge was yet more proof that West Indies have mastered the art of doing just enough to suggest they can win Tests without ever actually winning them. It is the culture of sufficiency. And it is some skill.
Their moment in Nottingham came when Darren Sammy – part of the problem, even while he strives whole-heartedly for the solution – had Strauss caught behind on Sunday afternoon. England were 363 for 7, and trailed by seven. A swift mopping-up of the tail and West Indies might even have been favourites.
Instead, Tim Bresnan and Stuart Broad added 53 before the pair of them tore in with James Anderson in the evening sunshine. When West Indies closed the third day on 61 for 6, a lead of three, there was no way back.
Recent history suggests that, if West Indies are intent on learning their lessons, they are learning them the hard way. At Lord’s, too, they kept knocking on the door. But 181 for 4 in the first innings quickly became 243 all out, and even though England then lost their last eight wickets for 154, it was only after they had reached 244 for 2.
West Indies recovered from 65 for 4 to 345 all out – further indication that their middle order possesses the technique so lacking in the top three. But after they reduced England to 57 for 4 in pursuit of 191, they never came close to sealing the deal.
Part-time Test cricket – and it was the same story against Australia in the Caribbean recently. In Dominica, they allowed the Aussies to recover from 169 for 7 in their first innings to 328.
In Trinidad, West Indies collapsed from 230 for 4 to 257. In Barbados, they made 449, then had Australia 285 for 8. Australia recovered to reach 406, then skittled West Indies for 148.
And it was the same in India. In Mumbai, West Indies were dismissed for 134 after beginning with 590. At Kolkata, they compiled 463 – but only while following on, having slipped to 153 first time round. At Delhi, they had a lead of 95, before falling to 180 all out.
What's going on? West Indies' players watch the repairs to the wicketI could go on. But the point is this: cohesion and team spirit and all the other good things Sammy and Gibson keep telling us they are trying to instil are of little use if the players switch off halfway through each Test.
Of course, this is where it gets tricky. Last week I interviewed Michael Holding and Jerome Taylor, Jamaican fast bowlers past and present and both disillusioned with what they regard as the unyielding nature of West Indies’ management and administrators.
Holding’s point – which he has grown sick and tired of making – is that, while team discipline is self-evidently crucial, so too is making every effort to accommodate talent. Taylor’s story suggests this may not be happening.
These voices are easy to dismiss as whinges. But where has West Indies’ determination to rid their side of supposed troublemakers got them? Two Test wins out of 31 (excluding the non-event at North Sound v England) is the stark answer – one of those against Bangladesh, another by 40 runs against Pakistan on a lottery of a pitch in Guyana.
This is a humiliating set of results, and it cannot be assuaged by patronising pats on the head about team spirit and trying hard.
On what planet, for example, was a top three of Adrian Barath, Kieran Powell and Kirk Edwards ever going to thrive in England? And if Taylor is being ignored for not being properly fit, where does that leave the perennially knackered Fidel Edwards?
Duncan Fletcher used to speak of a ‘critical mass’ when it came to picking a cricket team. In essence, you didn’t want more than three feckless individuals out of 11: four or five, and they would start to infect the team.
West Indies seem intent on reducing that figure to none. But in the process they are depriving themselves of the touch of class which – if harnessed properly – could make a difference.
Now, if I hear the word ‘compete’ once more before next week’s third Test at Edgbaston, I won’t be held accountable for my actions...
THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS
Marlon’s magic
Has anyone made a faster transformation from so-called wastrel to coolest kid in class than Marlon Samuels? It’s not just the runs (310 at 103 so far in the series) but his off-message gift of the gab, a patter to refined that he was able to tell England’s chirping slip fielders on Monday: ‘Shut up guys – I’m about to get back-to-back hundreds.’
Leading light: Marlon Samuels marks his century at Trent BridgeHe was in the 40s at the time, and deprived of his boast only by the ducks endured by Nos 10 and 11 Shane Shillingford and Ravi Rampaul. But his best moment in Nottingham came as he addressed the press at stumps on day one, his third Test hundred safely in the bag. ‘I can talk and bat all day,’ he said. ‘Bowlers can’t talk and bowl.’
James Anderson, he said, was ‘someone who gets frustrated very easily – he needs to get stronger’. As he said this, he noticed Anderson waiting just outside the squash court which doubles as a press-conference room at Test matches. With a broad grin, he changed tack: ‘He’s my favourite bowler – I told him that at Lord’s too.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cri...#ixzz1wH1YasDO
Comment