England V West Indies, Lords, 1st Test Thread

[Duty281]

First topic message reminder :

Just a little under 15 hours now until the English Test Summer gets underway with the first of three tests against the lowly West Indies. This is seen as little more than a tune up for England, with the bigger obstacle of South Africa to come later in the summer.

Indeed, England are seen as overwhelming favourites for the series despite a disappointing Winter campaign in the UAE and Sri Lanka which saw them just about hold on to their World no.1 ranking. In the red corner, the West Indies are coming over to England on the back of a 2-0 home defeat to the Australians but their captain Darren Sammy remains hopeful of an upset.

Teams

England 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Ian Bell, 6 Jonny Bairstow, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Graeme Swann, 11 James Anderson

West Indies 1 Adrian Barath, 2 Kieran Powell, 3 Kirk Edwards, 4 Darren Bravo, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Marlon Samuels, 7 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 8 Darren Sammy (capt), 9 Kemar Roach, 10 Ravi Rampaul, 11 Fidel Edwards

Cricinfo Preview
10 Day Weather Forecast for London

Enjoy!

[VTR]

Didn't realise its only 3 vs SA. That's almost criminal! If there's a winner in the First Test that's going to be huge and home advantage could be more important than ever.

Only plus I can see is my nerves will be in better shape with less matches to follow as England never do it the easy way!

[Guest]

run chase trickier that it should have been however got home in the end, and 1-0 up going to trent bridge

[trebellbobaggins]

Good to see they repaid SwanPuss's faith in them today.


They started badly but Cook and Bell seemed to get back to doing what they had been doing well.

[trebellbobaggins]

Strauss was reading the V2 and decided that you need sleep alfie

gboycottnut, you are fast taking over trebbs job here

No because I support england. In a very wierd way i grant you.

[msp83]

Well, there is an interesting bit of news, West Indies captain Darren Sammy has said he is not closed to the idea of getting Chris Gayle to join the test side, as his IPL season is over and he's available for all formats. Sammy admited his side has had problems at the top, and he and the coach would certainly welcome Chris there.
Don't think the kind of relation he has with the WICB, Gayle would be called in early for the tests, but would have been really good. He has made runs in English tests in the past, although he has had some issues vs the swinging ball at times, and any day he's a better boler than Marlon Samuels is.

[msp83]

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-west-indies-2012/content/current/story/565697.html

[msp83]

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-west-indies-2012/content/current/story/565699.html

Read this as well, would explain why some of the senior players are miking dificult decisions, often stiprefering other options over playing for the West Indies.

[Shelsey93]

Gayle coming back would be a poor move for the Tests. For the one-dayers, sure. And for the NZ Tests too perhaps. But I don't think they should get in a position where WI cricket need Gayle more than he needs them. Sending him over specially having played one first-class match since his last Test in 2010 would be just that. It would be particularly embarrassing as the whole en passe began when he was left out of some T20s because of a policy of selecting only players who played in the Caribbean T20.

Essentially, they can't let Chris Gayle do whatever the hell he likes. If he does well in the one-dayers (which he has at least been playing in India) he can make a case for Test selection that way. His return will eventually be a good thing for the Test team - though it is wrong to assume that he is some sort of God that will blast a triple hundred in every game.

And I don't buy the idea that the players have no choice to make because of the money on offer at the IPL. International cricketers (even WI cricketers) live a very comfortable existence these days, and have plenty of opportunities outside of the IPL to line their pockets if they so wish. Instead I would argue that the players enjoy playing in a winning environment where they are hero-worshipped in a way they are not back in the Caribbean.

[Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler]

For me the issue isnt if the team wants him, its is he would really be that bothered. he hasnt exactly hidden that he doesnt like test cricket or places where the temperature gets below 30.

[GSC]

I would've cut all ties.

West Indies need players committed to the cause, not glorified mercenaries. Stay the course with their younger players rather than recalling the overrated slogger.

[msp83]

Seems like many of us see the absolutely good for nothing, terribly incompetent WICB as some kind of cricketing angels who take decisions to save the WI cricket. Most of the problems tha aflict WI cricket is their creation. And it is also obvious that some of us work with serious double standards.
Marlon Samuels, a player with a a rather inglorious track record on and off the field, who went to play the IPL skipping the home series against Australia gets the all clear, but the humiliated, unfairly discarded Chris Gayle stands for all that is wrong with West Indies cricket. Of course uncontroled player power is an issue that has to be factored in, but I think much of the criticism directed at Gayle is seriously unfair.
It is said players, including the WI players make lot of money these days. While there is some truth to it, it also has to be considered that Jerome Taylor, one of WI's major bowling tallents in recent years, after he got injured in early 2010, ended up losing his contract, and had to fend for himself. You can't then expect players to dance the demands of those incompetent idiots at the WICB all the time. resorting moralistic pretentious arguments like Country vs Club are not going to change it, if they don't address the real issues, they can always play with a 2nd rate squad with one world class player, Shiv, who himself isn't quite happy with the administration or the team management.
Think most people supported the Zimbabwe players revolted against the ZC earlier, I think the kind of rudd the WI cricket finds itself in, more questions have to be directed at the WICB, and more answers and actions have to come from their side.
Reading too much into Gayle's statement following that Off the FTP Last Minute Replacement Series against England a couple of years ago would not make much difference.

[Sponsored content]