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Strauss drags England back
By Mark Tilley last year, at the end of March, 1 Comment »
For all the criticism they have received, it was refreshing in the extreme to see Andrew Strauss and co. show us that there’s still an England cricket team out there. Yesterday’s win was something of a jolt to the system – it came out of the blue, especially when in the game’s infancy Chris Gayle was happily dispatching England’s best and brightest way back into the Bajan public in the stands. Once he was nipped out by the progressively angry Stuart Broad, it was as if the tide of the match had reversed completely.
England bowled cannily, with the possible exception of one Steve Harmison, and picked up key wickets when it mattered. Dimitri Mascarenhas bowled the medium pacer role to absolute perfection, wobbling the ball around at a deceptive speed, not so much keeping the lid on West Indian scoring but almost stopping it in it’s tracks. He picked up three wickets into the bargain, including the one everyone cherishes so when bowling at the West Indies, Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
Only the brilliant Dwayne Bravo really annoyed the tourists. At 173-7, England might have entertained thoughts of an easy win but Bravo played a whole host of textbook and more unorthodox shots on his way to a commanding 69 off 72 balls. Without him, West Indies would have had significantly less hope than they did after compiling an achievable but respectable 239 all out.
Andrew Strauss then demanded the centre stage. I mentioned previously that Strauss would have to lead his team from the front and inspire them in ways only a captain should. Well, he certainly achieved that goal and answered a hell of a lot of critics simultaneously. Chasing a revised 135 off 20 overs due to persistent rain, Strauss’ 79 off 61 balls was exactly the kind of innings you would want in the match situation. Bold, authoritative and assured, Strauss, with the understated and excellent support from Ravi Bopara, guided England to their target with time to spare and proverbially stuck two fingers up to those who had lambasted his one day credentials.
As hard as it is to believe, England have levelled the series at 2-2. Both sides head to St Lucia for the final game and it’s sure to be a nail biter (or an England collapse). Yesterday’s win will have surprised a fair few and shows that England, albeit an unconvincing side in all formats of the game at present, shouldn’t be written off. Even though at times watching them makes you want to question your love for the game. It’s an endless struggle, England fans, get used to it soon.
1 Comment »Bollocks to the side strain: give me the ball
By Will 2 years ago, mid-January, 1 Comment »
South Africa won the first one-dayer against West Indies by six wickets today in Centurion. You can tell by that sentence how excited I was by the game, but the dullness was enlivened dramatically by the most stunning of caught-and-bowleds from Dwayne Bravo. He has a side strain and was not, by his own admission, expected to bowl for another two weeks. But balls to that, he thought, and on he trundled.
He found one to bounce on Justin Ontong who was squared up, fending it up in the air about a metre from his crease. Somehow, Bravo sprinted down the pitch, dived, clung on with both hands with the ball just a few inches off the turf. A brilliant piece of fielding, of spirit in adversity, of courage – and of captaincy.
Photo by Neil Lane Cricinfo Ltd ©
West Indian winners
By Will 3 years ago, at the end of December, 2 Comments »
Ryan has a couple of cracking shots of the West Indies celebrating their win over South Africa in their dressing room…including Dwayne Bravo doing a spot of karaoke:
And Chris Gayle
Bravo to them all
By Will 3 years ago, at the end of December, 2 Comments »
I’d added Sky Sports last night in preparation for a mammoth day in front of the box with a bottle of anything, watching what I hoped would be an historic win for West Indies, only to realise I had family duties in Dorset of all places. Not a chore, but still – no mobile reception and no way of following the cricket.
So I was relieved to see West Indies have beaten South Africa so comprehensively – bloody brilliant news and a fine achievement. Excluding their wins over Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, today’s win was their first victory overseas since beating England in 2000 at Edgbaston (remember that bitch of a pitch?). Looking back to that game, the Almanack says:
West Indies, having failed to win a Test outside the Caribbean since February 1997 – since when they had suffered ten consecutive overseas defeats – won this opening match by an innings inside three days, just as they had on their previous visit here in 1995. It was the 1,500th Test to be played.
All of this puts into perspective just how massive today’s feat is, and also what an impact Chris Gayle has on that motley bunch. South Africa played poorly (from what little I saw and read) – particularly batting in their first innings – but West Indies outplayed them in most sessions. We’ve seen them win occasional sessions, even whole days, but never consistently.
Today is a triumph; roll on the second Test. Oh, and this was Dwayne Bravo’s first win in 24 Tests…
2 Comments »Bravo that man
By Will 3 years ago, mid-June, 6 Comments »
Dwayne Bravo sounds more like a name of an American basketball player than a West Indian cricketer. And if this tour amounts to nothing more than a disaster in terms of results, at least the team has Dwayne and his heroics. This guy is seriously good and nothing less than entertaining to watch.
He is cocky and boastful. He bounced Kevin Pietersen, knocking his helmet off, then sprinted down the pitch in a mad celebration – completely disregarding Pietersen who might well have been injured. “Who cares?!” Bravo might’ve thought. “I’ve just dismissed one of the world’s very best batsmen”. One who, incidentally, then claimed he had “never been hit on the head before”, a statement which I think might well be a load of balderdash.
Watching him bat today was a fascinating experience. Owing to yet another damned delay due to rain, Sky were showing us highlights of the 1993-94 tour – the tour which first sparked my love of the game, as I’ve said far too many times – containing West Indian batsmanship of true Caribbean flair. Their opponents, England, were a mishmash of talent: immensely gifted batsmen with mental flaws, brought up in an equally flawed county system. England rarely took the attack to West Indies. It was all about grafting and grinding.
Fast forward 13 years and how things have changed. Two West Indian batsman – Bravo and Shivnarine Chanderpaul – battling it out as though their lives depended on it (their livlihoods probably do, but that’s a matter for another day). Battling it out like Atherton once did. And they did it brilliantly. Bravo to both of them, but particularly to Dwayne. He’s young and gifted and wants to succeed, badly. You can’t say that about many of his peers.
Incidentally, on comms today I nearly wrote “Barov” instead of Bravo. I told the readers this:
I nearly called Bravo “Barov” just then. Barov being Dwayne’s Russian cousin of course
A bored feedbacker wrote in to accuse me of being racist. Have the general public completely lost their sense of humour now?
6 Comments »Video of Kevin Pietersen losing his helmet
By Will 3 years ago, mid-June, 5 Comments »
Dwayne Bravo dismissed Kevin Pietersen yesterday, hit wicket, when a bouncer zeroed in on his head, smashing his helmet off which then landed on his stumps. Here’s the video.
Fascinating to see Bravo’s euphoric celebration while Pietersen stands there, stunned and shocked.
5 Comments »Australia clean up
By Scott 5 years ago, at the end of November, 3 Comments »
Australia made short work of the West Indies target, winning the Third Test with few alarms. Matt Hayden went on to 87 not out, narrowly falling short of getting five centuries in five Tests. Meanwhile Michael Hussey picked up 30 more runs, and he finishes his first Test series with a batting average of 120.
For all their troubles, the West Indies did look like they have made some improvement in their team on this tour, and they are less weak then they appear. Dwayne Bravo is the obvious ‘find’ of the tour, but the economy and line of Collymore is another positive.
From the Australian fan’s view point, it is good to see ‘normal service’ resume, but the real pleasing thing is the emergence of Hussey and Hodge in the middle order. We now have six Tests against South Africa to look forward to, and that is a good chance for the middle order to settle in, before the real challenge against England next summer.
3 Comments »Bravo, Dwayne. Bravo
By Will 5 years ago, at the end of November, No Comments; be the first!
I’ve not seen much of Dwayne Bravo’s feats against Australia – missed his hundred, for starters – but I did catch his wickets in this Test, in particular his outstanding catch, off his own bowling, to dismiss Shane Warne (think it was Warne anyway). Catching is one of those rare moments of individualism in cricket; no one else can help or hinder your effort, so perhaps that’s why a stunning catch is, well, so stunning. Bravo’s was nothing short of brilliant: diving full length to his left (off his own bowling, I reiterate!) – ah, it was a thing of great beauty and he deservedly celebrated like a clown.
I first saw Bravo when he played against England last year, and his potential was obvious – perhaps now he’s realising that. More brilliance on Monday, please, Dwayne – and bravo to that catch
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