England Cricket Tour to Sri Lanka

[fundy]

That is a good point about the pitches. I remember hearing that the last time we toured there. That makes no sense. Why would they alter their pitches that way?

lack of funding and investment in the game generally, a few newer grounds that have never had any pace, kids preferring to play basketball rather than be quick bowlers, been plenty of things blamed over the years

 

[Lord Tyrion]

lack of funding and investment in the game generally, a few newer grounds that have never had any pace, kids preferring to play basketball rather than be quick bowlers, been plenty of things blamed over the years

I understand why there has been a dearth of bowlers but altering the nature of the pitches away from a style that worked so well for so many years just seems strange.

 

[richart]

Don't pitches generally get slower and slower over time ? Imagine it would take a lot of work, money, to keep the pace up in a lot of them. I know the Oval used to be quick, and is a lot slower now. Even Aussie pitches like Perth have slowed down.

 

[fundy]

Don't pitches generally get slower and slower over time ? Imagine it would take a lot of work, money, to keep the pace up in a lot of them. I know the Oval used to be quick, and is a lot slower now. Even Aussie pitches like Perth have slowed down.

yep pitches die over time, takes a lot of effort and money to prepare fast bouncy pitches these days (which lead to 2 or 3 day test which dont fill the coffers) shame because the games so much better on a fast track

 

[patricks148]

Do they have pace bowlers any more? They haven't had any real quicks for a decade or more but perhaps they have someone coming through now? Still, they are quicker than spinners so he may still be in trouble.

even if they where Medium dobbers, i think they would still sort him out

 

[Dando]

That is a good point about the pitches. I remember hearing that the last time we toured there. That makes no sense. Why would they alter their pitches that way?

They don’t have the pace bowlers of years ago coming through. West Indies cricket has declined that much that youngsters aren't taking up the game now

 

[Lord Tyrion]

They don’t have the pace bowlers of years ago coming through. West Indies cricket has declined that much that youngsters aren't taking up the game now

Equally, they won't encourage any new ones if the pitches are dibbly dobbly. I've heard many a TMS discussion about the decline of West Indian cricket and it is a great shame for the game.

 

[Dando]

Equally, they won't encourage any new ones if the pitches are dibbly dobbly. I've heard many a TMS discussion about the decline of West Indian cricket and it is a great shame for the game.

Exactly! Why would any promising quick bowler want to break his back trying to bowl fast on a low slow track

 

[Deleted member 18588]

Equally, they won't encourage any new ones if the pitches are dibbly dobbly. I've heard many a TMS discussion about the decline of West Indian cricket and it is a great shame for the game.

Track & field and basketball have both grown massively in popularity amongst the schools in much of the West Indies as they can offer a route to US colleges.

Also football has become much bigger.

It will take much more than improving the pitches to revive cricket's waning popularity in the Caribbean

 

[Deleted member 15344]

The West Indies Cricket board over the past decade have also helped run down the countries cricket which the countless contract issues they have had - lost count the amount of strikes they have had and also players quitting test or international cricket

 

[Dando]

The West Indies Cricket board over the past decade have also helped run down the countries cricket which the countless contract issues they have had - lost count the amount of strikes they have had and also players quitting test or international cricket

Is that down to the board or the fact that some of the players like Gayle and Bravo were demanding a bigger salary to play International cricket while still be allowed to play on the T20 circuit

 

[Tongo]

Boycott in the Telegraph saying that the Sri Lanka series told us nothing about the Ashes. Yeah Geoff, well done for stating the obvious. He really is an insufferable airhorn.

 

[Deleted member 18588]

The West Indies Cricket board over the past decade have also helped run down the countries cricket which the countless contract issues they have had - lost count the amount of strikes they have had and also players quitting test or international cricket

All too easy to blame the Board.

Many of the countries that make up the West Indies are among the poorest, couple this with the fact that the West Indies, as such does not exist outside of cricket and you can see the difficulties that are faced in trying to generate the commercial income necessary to pay players similar to the contracts available to their counterparts elsewhere.

It then becomes a vicious circle as public support dwindles since they can see that they are no longer watching the best.

I'm not saying that the Board are faultless but, as always, it is a multi-faceted problem.

 

[fundy]

All too easy to blame the Board.

Many of the countries that make up the West Indies are among the poorest, couple this with the fact that the West Indies, as such does not exist outside of cricket and you can see the difficulties that are faced in trying to generate the commercial income necessary to pay players similar to the contracts available to their counterparts elsewhere.

It then becomes a vicious circle as public support dwindles since they can see that they are no longer watching the best.

I'm not saying that the Board are faultless but, as always, it is a multi-faceted problem.

I think if you delve into the history the board have to take a huge portion of the blame, been mismanaged for many many years, partly because the members of the board are continually trying to represent their Island rather than what is best for the combined WI. Some of the decision they have made have been horrendous

 

[patricks148]

also broad now looks like a no 12, even Anderson looks steadier with the Bat.

What happened to the guy, with a test 169 and twelve 50's of not so long ago. He looked like a serious all rounder not so long ago

 

[fundy]

also broad now looks like a no 12, even Anderson looks steadier with the Bat.

What happened to the guy, with a test 169 and twelve 50's of not so long ago. He looked like a serious all rounder not so long ago

took a nasty blow to the head from Varun Aaron of India, not been the same again, clearly scared and refuses to get in line, constantly stays a long way legside of the ball

 

[richart]

took a nasty blow to the head from Varun Aaron of India, not been the same again, clearly scared and refuses to get in line, constantly stays a long way legside of the ball

Except when facing spin and he moves offside and leaves his leg stump exposed.

Hit from Aaron did for him getting in line, though he can still give it a tonk but not on a regular basis. Scored two fifties last year so not quite a number 11 yet.

 

[Deleted member 18588]

I think if you delve into the history the board have to take a huge portion of the blame, been mismanaged for many many years, partly because the members of the board are continually trying to represent their Island rather than what is best for the combined WI. Some of the decision they have made have been horrendous

I agree and as I said the Board are not blameless.

However, the biggest problems now facing WI cricket are ones involving finance and participation.

These cannot be resolved by harking back to previous mistakes.

As for Stuart Broad I find it strange that he is now struggling to such an extent when he only ever became involved in representative cricket as a batsman and bowling was, until his late teens, only a second string to his bow.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

The pitches are definitely a long way from the tracks the likes of Holding and Marshall bowled on but I think it'll still be an interesting series. West Indian test cricket has definitely suffered by the antics of the board and a shame youngsters no longer want to emulate the quicks of years gone by

 

[Dan2501]

Jofra Archer is now eligible to play for England and could go on the Windies tour. Would be such a good addition to the OD team, a genuinely quick class death bowler is the only thing the ODi team have been missing. This XI is mad:

Roy
Bairstow
Root
Morgan
Buttler
Stokes
Ali
Woakes
Willey/Plunkett
Rashid
Archer

Variety, pace, unbelievable batting depth, spin, what a team.

Also saw the other day that Rashid has 76 International wickets in 2018 - more than anyone else in the world. Great year for him.