Rally ‘round WI, happy birthday to Sir Garfield Sobers and Cammie Smith

Emotions among cricket fans are running high over disappointing performances by both West Indies red-ball and white-ball teams.

On the heels of Kraigg Brathwaite’s side losing the two-match Test series against India 1-0, the humiliating five-wicket defeat in the first CG United One-Day International at Kensington Oval yesterday only provided more ammunition for relentless critics.

Shai Hope is the relatively new captain of the 50-over team. Like Brathwaite, he is a Barbadian and therefore coming from this 166-square-mile island with a rich history of producing excellent world-class cricketers, they know the passion and expectations of local and by extension Caribbean supporters.

After yesterday’s woeful batting display, which resulted in West Indies falling for their lowest total in an ODI at ‘The Mecca’ – 114 in 23 overs – Hope had quite a lot to say about the surface, especially against the background of the bounce and carry for seamers and prodigious turn for spinners.

But hold it! The West Indies batting lacked application, as Hope conceded. Enough attention was not paid to detail.

Sent in, West Indies lost their last seven wickets for 26 runs in 7.2 overs as left-arm wrist spinner and Player- of-the Match Kudeep Yadav grabbed four for six off three overs – the best figures by an Indian bowler at Kensington Oval – after coming on as the last of six bowlers. Ravindra Jadeja, another left-arm spinner, took three for 37 off six overs.

Hope hit the top-score of 43 off 45 balls with four fours and one six at No. 4.

India triumphed in 22.5 overs, led by Ishan Kishan’s 52 off 46 deliveries including seven fours an one six at the top of the order.

“Too many words come to mind but let’s just say we didn’t play the way we needed to,” Hope said. “On a challenging surface like that, as a batting group, we need to find ways to score.

“Anyone who was watching can see what happened there. Any 9.30 a.m. start in the Caribbean will be difficult [for batting] and the Indian bowlers bowled pretty well on this surface, but again we didn’t score enough runs.”

The India captain, Rohit Sharma remarked: “To be honest, I never thought the pitch was going to play like that. It had everything for seamers and spinners, and the run-scoring was quite difficult. But to restrict them to that score was a superb effort from our bowling unit.

“We never thought we would lose five wickets but it was good to give some game time to a lot of those ODI guys who have just come in. But firstly, it was important for us to get into a good position.

“Restricting them to 115 [114] was a great effort, and I thought we had that commanding position that we needed, which is why we thought okay, we could try some of those guys who haven’t played a lot of cricket in a while and give them a go.”

The previous lowest West Indies total in an ODI at Kensington was 123 in 26.2 overs against Australia two years ago (July 20) in the first of a three-match series when they were beaten by 133 runs (D/L method).

All three matches were at Kensington and all were day/night. West Indies lost the series 2-1.

Yesterday’s total was also the second lowest by West Indies in an ODI against India. The lowest is 104 in 31.5 overs at Thiruvananthapuram in 2018 (November 1). West Indies lost by nine wickets with India achieving their target in 14.5 overs.

Three members of the West Indies side, who played yesterday, also turned out in that match. They were: Hope, the current vice-captain Rovman Powell and Shimron Hetmyer.

And in the India team from yesterday’s match were Rohit Sharma, who made 63 not out, Virat Kohli, who was the skipper, Jadeja, who took four for 34, which earned him the Player-of- the-match award and Kuldeep Yadav.

Now let’s rally ‘round the West Indies and make your presence felt with a big turnout in the second ODI tomorrow. The final match is slated for August 1 in Trinidad at the Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba.

The teams then contest a five-match Twenty20 series – August 3 (Tarouba), August 6 (Providence, Guyana), August 8 (Providence), August 12 (Lauderhill) and August 13 (Lauderhill).

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Happy 87th birthday to Sir Garfield Sobers, 90th for Cammie Smith

Happy birthday to National Hero, The Right Excellent Sir Garfield Sobers, the former Barbados and West Indies captain, who celebrated his 87th today and his former Barbados and West Indies teammate Cammie Smith, who turns 90 tomorrow.

Unquestionably the world’s greatest ever all-rounder, Sir Garfield played 93 Test matches. A left-hander, he scored 8032 runs including 26 centuries and 30 half-centuries at an average of 57.78, and took 235 wickets at 34.03 runs apiece, bowling either left-arm fast-medium, or two styles of spin – orthodox and wrist. He also held 109 catches.

In 383 first-class matches, Sobers amassed 28314 runs with 86 centuries and 121 half-centuries, at an average of 54.87. He took 1043 wickets (Ave: 27.74) and held 407 catches.

Smith was an attacking opening batsman who played five Tests. He made his debut against Australia at Brisbane in the first-ever tied Test in the 1960-61 series. In that match, Sobers slammed 132 in the first innings.

A former president of the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA), Smith also served as a West Indies team manager and an ICC match referee. Locally, he is best known for scoring a triple century in one afternoon for Spartan against Police at Queen’s Park in the First division (now called Elite division) Championship.

In relation to Sir Garfield, I have been privileged to interview him on several occasions. It is a pleasure to share at least one excerpt of an interview with the focus on assessing bowlers and analysing the great pacers West Indies once boasted of.

HOLDER: Do you agree with those who suggest that for West Indies to return to the glory days of the late 1970s, the 1980s and early ‘90s, they should consistently play four fast bowlers again?

SOBERS: Well, the West Indies played their fast bowlers because they were good and it was a new trend to cricket. In the early days you had two fast bowlers, a medium-pacer and two spinners. You had fast bowlers but when those West Indian bowlers came on the scene they were not just fast. They were express. And they all had different deliveries and bounce.

You take for instance Joel Garner who used to come from something like 11 to 12 feet in the air. And then you had Michael Holding, who they called Whispering Death. He used to pass you so smoothly you didn’t even hear when he passed you. Then you had Colin Croft who used to come from an angle and angle the ball into you. You also had Andy Roberts who was great and could disguise it.

And as you went on you had Malcolm Marshall, who they say was the best and Curtly Ambrose who bowled it on one spot just short of a length and kept you in trouble. There was also Courtney Walsh.

I remember when Malcolm first started he came to me one day and he said he couldn’t bowl the outswinger. And I said to him you would never be able to bowl a proper outswinger because you run too straight. I said you have to come in from an angle so that you can get your left side in and you get swing from the body action, and so when you get there you are side on and then when you bowl the ball you would get the outswinger. Then he started to bowl the outswinger and became one of the best fast bowlers the world has ever seen because they all tell you it doesn’t matter where or when or how. People tell you in England, Australia, India, Pakistan, wherever he played, Malcolm Marshall was one of the best.

And I mean we didn’t just have bests. We had greats. We had Michael Holding, Andy Roberts and Joel Garner. Croft might have probably been the weakest but he was still very good. We had class bowlers and I don’t think we could get to those class bowlers again. So if we are trying to look for that kind of team with those kinds of bowlers with penetration we are very foolish.

We have to start looking for bowlers who can use their brains and people who can recognise weaknesses in batsmen and where they have to bowl the ball. Those kinds of things have to be taught and you have to learn how to get batsmen out, not just how to tie them down but what you have to do to make them make mistakes and that kind of thing.

On good wickets you have to learn how to bowl a good line, try and be able to vary the ball, a little bit of flight here, a little one drifting and that kind of thing. And we don’t have many of those around in the world today. We certainly don’t have many of them in Barbados or the West Indies at the present moment. We have some reasonably good fast bowlers but they need to think and understand the game and work out a batsman. You must be able to find his weaknesses and his strengths and see where they can bowl the ball and what line.

Keith Holder is a veteran, award-winning freelance sports journalist, who has been covering local, regional and International cricket since 1980 as a writer and commentator. He has compiled statistics on the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) Division 1 (rebranded Elite in 2012) Championship for over four decades and provides statistics and stories for the BCA website (www.barbadoscricket.org). Email: Keithfholder@gmail.com

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