West Indies in England — Sammy’s reflections after the First Test

 

Darren Sammy said West Indies continued to show signs of a competitive edge, despite losing the first Test against England by five wickets on Monday at Lord’s here. The West Indies captain said he was “quite pleased” that his side had pushed the World No.1 Test side, but he felt there were areas where his side could tighten up, making them even more ready for action in future battles.
“We were told there were no fifth-day tickets printed,” said Sammy. “. . .But we took the game into the fifth day. The team continued to show the never-say-die attitude which we promised to bring out here in England. And we had some good performances from some of the players. We’ll take these positives into the next Test.”

Lankan Women gear up to face the Windies Women

The West Indies Women and Sri Lanka Women will be training on Monday and Tuesday at Kensington Oval ahead of the opening match in their eight-match series. At the conclusion of training a player or team official will be available to speak to the Media. 

Series Schedule

April 25: 1st ODI at Kensington Oval, Barbados – 9 am

April 27: 2nd ODI at Windward Cricket Club, Barbados – 9 am

April 29: 3rd ODI at Windward Cricket Club, Barbados – 9 am

May 1: 1st T20 at Kensington Oval, Barbados – 2:30 pm

May 2: 2nd T20 at Kensington Oval, Barbados – 2:30 pm

May 6: 3rd T20 at Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad – 2:30 pm

May 7: 4th T20 Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad – 6:30 pm

May 9: 5th T20 Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad – 2:30 pm

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History in the making as Shillingford prepare for “home” Test: Shane Shillingford is set to create history on Monday when

Warne’s Spirit and Approach inspires Clarke and the Aussies at Barbados

Brent Read, in the Australian, 13 April 2012, where adifferent title was deployed: “Clarke evokes warne to find a way to win“

FIND a way to win, Michael Clarke instructed his players, and find a way they did yesterday in the gathering gloom at Kensington Oval to achieve one of the great victories in Australian Test cricket history.

This was a triumph Norman Vincent Peale would have delighted in. A Test match win, like success generally, has many fathers usually but this one over the West Indies in the first of three Tests for the Frank Worrell Trophy series had only one – the power of positive thinking.

Before this victory – as special, Clarke said, as any in his career – could so dramatically be enacted on the field, it first of all had to be conceived and it is little short of astounding that any Australian would even have thought of it midway through the fourth day, with the West Indies needing only two more Australian wickets to take a massive lead of more than 150 runs into the second innings.

Windies down Aussies and Narine stands out as Man-of-Match

 Pic by AFP

“Special feeling” as Narine bowls Windies to win

Sunil Narine came to the party in a big way on Sunday with a superb spell of spin bowling as West Indies beat Australia by five wickets in the second Digicel One-Day International. The 23-year-old off-spinner took a career best four wickets for 27 runs off eight overs as the Windies limited the visitors to 154-9 off 40 overs in a rain-reduced match at Arnos Vale Cricket Ground. The target was then set at 158 (Duckworth/Lewis Method) and the home side romped home at 163-5 with 10 balls to spare.

The victory was celebrated by a capacity crowd of over 12,000. It was the Windies’ first win  Pic by Zee News  over the Aussies in an ODI since 2006, and brought them level 1-1 with three matches left in the five-match rubber. Big-hitter Kieron Pollard smashed four sixes in a topscore of 47 not out off 61 balls. Carlton Baugh ended the match with a big six over deep square-leg into the celebrating crowd. Earlier, vice captain Dwayne Bravo made a responsible 30 off 49 balls in a crucial fifth-wicket stand of 64 with Pollard.

Aussies arrive in the Caribbean as Narine shines in warm up practice match

Media Release: Australia captain Shane Watson said his side will be looking to build on the momentum they gained from success on home soil, when they face West Indies in the forthcoming Digicel 2012 Series.

Members of the Australian One-day and Twenty20 squads arrived on Saturday here, ahead of theDigicel 2012 Series, which includes five ODIs, two T20Is, and three Tests. “Hopefully, we can produce some very good cricket for the fans over here,” said Watson. “We have just come off a very big series in Australia, and hopefully, we can continue the form that weshowed and bring it in the games against West Indies.”

The Aussies arrived minus Michael Clarke. The regular Australia captain was sidelined with a hamstring injury and will miss the limited-overs matches on the tour. Watson expected his side to overcome the setback and play with typical aplomb.“We are always confident,” he said. “We know that if we are at the top of our game, we are goingto be very hard to beat. Right now, the most important thing is to make sure we have recovered from our long flight andmake the best of the next couple of days to make sure we are ready to go for the first match.”

Watson encouraged fans of the game to attend the matches, expecting spectators to get value for money from the battles on the field. “We have some really talented players and we expect that this series will be a spectacle, so people should come out to see it,” he said. “There is always an amazing following of the game in the West Indies and very passionate crowds always come out to the matches, so hopefully we can help to provide some entertainment that willallow the spectators to enjoy their days at the matches.”

Q and A with Courtney Walsh

Courtesy of PakPassion

PakPassion.net is delighted to present an exclusive interview with West Indian fast bowling great, Courtney Walsh. 49 year old Walsh is quite simply a legendary fast bowler who terrorised opposition international batsmen for over 16 years. Hailing from Jamaica, Walsh was a member of the great West Indian fast bowling quartets that took Caribbean cricket to the top of the cricketing ladder for many years. Walsh’s tremendous levels of fitness and his aptitude for hard work enabled him to take an incredible 519 Test wickets and bowl 30,019 balls in the 5 day format.

Extremely tall, unorthodox, but very effective Walsh formed one of the great opening bowling partnerships with Curtley Ambrose and between them they took 421 wickets from 49 Tests. Walsh was a true gentleman and well-liked by team mates and opponents. His facial expressions whilst bowling always brought great entertainment and his batting was equally entertaining. Walsh was also a loyal servant for English County side Gloucestershire whom he represented with great dignity for 14 seasons.