Cricket

The Jamaica-born pace-bowler created shockwaves, at Sabina Park, after effecting the run-out of Gordon Greenidge and dismissing Richards twice in a crushing 9-wicket win for England, at the start of the series. 

The then 27-year-old bowler figured, he might be on to something, first dismissing the iconic batsman lbw and then having him clean bowled in the second innings.  A confident answer at a post match press conference had seen the young bowler dubbed 'the chemist' in the following day's reports.  With the second Test abandoned, Malcolm continued his good form in the third Test after claiming six wickets in a drawn match, which Richards missed.  But then, Richards returned for the fourth Test.

“When Vivy walked out on that field, I knew Vivy meant business,” Malcolm recalled on the Mason and Guest radio show recently.

“The very first ball I bowled to Viv Richards he put me out the park for six.  The second ball met the same fate, to be honest,” he added

“The first two he hit me for six, I thought, right, maybe a half a chance because it was the short boundary, Alex Stewart was under it and I thought straight down Alex Stewart’s throat, but they went just over his head, six, six," Malcolm said.

"As a young fast bowler, Viv Richards actually knew what the third ball was going to be.  So, I like a fool ran up and just pitched the ball up a little bit further.  It wasn’t a short ball I bowled, I pitched it up outside of off stump, a bit wide, and I tell you Viv Richards climbed into that ball so hard it hit off the cover boundary and bounced some 20 yards back on the field.  He actually said to me grass will never grow there again.  

“That over I remember he took me for about 18.  It was 18 so far and the final ball of the over, I pitched one up and Vivy just knocked it to extra cover run past me and said ‘that one should be another four man, but I hope the captain keeps you on.”

Malcolm did stay on, ending the match with disastrous figures of 0 for 142 in 33 overs, as the West Indies won the match by a crushing 164 runs and later claimed the series 2-1.  The bowler, however, has fond memories of the incident.

“That was one of the most expensive overs I have ever bowled in international cricket, but that was one of my most exciting overs because I thought I could have had Viv Richards out three times in the over.  Viv Richards wasn’t going to back down, I wasn’t going to back down.”  

The Caribbean team has endured a disappointing few months on the back of a disastrous showing at the T20 World Cup, followed by defeats in Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

 A few of the team’s most experienced players have retired following a lackluster showing at the World Cup and the team did not select a few other regulars for the tour of Pakistan.  Despite a 3-0 T20 series loss in Pakistan, Simmons was encouraged by the team’s fervor.

“The way we started in Pakistan is the way we want to play now, have a lot more energy, more enthusiasm,” Simmons told members of the media earlier this week.

“It's a young group of guys and we are trying to mould them and get them into a winning frame of mind.  We want to win, and we want to do everything that it takes to win,” he added.

The team will see the likes of Brandon King and Odean Smith returning a potential debut for Justin Greaves and spinner Gudakesh Motie set to earn a second cap.

The changing of the ball just before rain stopped play on the fourth day, when openers David Warner and Usman Khawaja were well set, sparked a fair amount of outrage among Australian journalists and pundits.

The Daily Telegraph in Australia described the ball change as “disgraceful”, while Peter Lalor in The Australian asked if a “blunder” by the umpires had cost Australia the series victory, saying the change “appeared to alter the course of the game” and argued it “cost the visitors dearly”.

And the Sydney Morning Herald quoted former Australian captain Ricky Ponting on Sky Sports who described it as “a huge blunder that needs to be investigated”.

He said: “The biggest concern I have is the big discrepancy in the condition of the ball chosen to replace it.

“There is no way in the world you can even look at those two balls there and say in any way they are comparable.

“That is a huge moment in this game, potentially a huge moment in the Test match. And something I think has to be investigated.

“I will put my hand up and say I have no doubt at all that [old] ball would not have done anywhere near as much as that one did this morning.”

But writing for the same title, Daniel Brettig argued “ballgate” was not to blame for Australia’s defeat.

He said: “It may be tempting to apply a conspiratorial lens to the replacement ball.

“But the underlying truth of The Oval, and indeed the second half of this Ashes series, is that Australia too often left themselves in positions where they needed to perform miracles in order to get ahead of the game.

“It will be a source of significant disappointment that a team of maturity and even temper was unable to summon a single performance good enough to win any of the last three Tests.”

Both the Sydney Morning Herald and The Daily Telegraph reported the customary post-series drinks did not happen.

The Herald quoted an England spokesman who said it had been a “misunderstanding” and Australia’s players had left the ground when they invited them in.

The report said an Australian team spokesman declined to comment, but quoted sources close to the team who said they knocked on the England dressing room door a number of times and waited for more than an hour.

The Australian’s Gideon Haigh looked beyond the drama of the five-match series and expressed concerns for the future of the format, despite England captain Ben Stokes’ assertion it was “what Test cricket needs”.

While conceding the series “contained classic matches, and imperishable passages of play, mainly from the hosts”, Haigh criticised the way the Ashes had been shoehorned into such a short period to make room for more short-form cricket.

He wrote: “This was an Ashes series not an Ashes summer. Australia have shoehorned six Tests into 54 days, England six into 60. Australia now does not play its next Test until December 14, England its next until January 25.

“Hours before the day began, one team beat another in Dallas, concluding a fortnight of T20 funded largely Indian capital and principally sponsored by an online betting company; today, one team plays another in Nottingham to commence The Hundred, in which the England Cricket Board will in due course try selling to similar corporate interests.

“Viva the Ashes! Long live Test cricket! That might be the most premature celebration of all.”

The Daily Telegraph also had some sobering news for cricket as it said viewing figures for Australia’s victory over Canada in the Women’s World Cup – which coincided with the first session – beat the final day drama at The Oval “by an enormous margin”.

The phrase was coined to describe the swashbuckling brand of cricket England’s red-ball side adopted after McCullum – nicknamed ‘Baz’ – took over 18 months ago.

The New Zealander is known not to like the terminology, which he feels over-simplifies the philosophy and takes emphasis away from the players – but it has become common shorthand for the ultra-aggressive tactics employed since he and captain Ben Stokes took charge.

It gained even wider appreciation with the added profile of this summer’s Ashes series and was one of 10 shortlisted candidates for Collins’ 2023 ‘word of the year’.

Categorised as a noun, the formal entry carries the definition: “A style of Test cricket in which the batting side plays in a highly aggressive manner.”

The winning word was ‘AI’ which edged out other suggestions including ‘debanking’, ‘ULEZ’, ‘nepo baby’ and ‘greedflation’.

England fought back to square a thrilling series 2-2 after finding themselves 2-0 down against the world Test champions.

It would surely have been better had rain not halted England in the fourth Test at Old Trafford – the outcome vindicating the bold ‘Bazball’ policy that has attracted new fans into the longer format of the game.

“I think it has been awesome for the game,” said former Australia batter Hussey, known throughout the sport as ‘Mr Cricket’ because of his obsession for it.

“It’s created so much interest in Test cricket. You’re going to get that with an Ashes series anyway, but it’s created even more hype around it.

“It’s exciting to watch and that can only be good for the game.

“I was intrigued to see if England would have the courage to play that way because it’s not easy to smack high-quality bowlers out of the park on pitches doing a bit. But they did.”

Hussey scored 6,235 runs in 79 Test matches between 2005 and 2013 and played in three Ashes series.

The 48-year-old watched the start of the 2023 Ashes edition at home in Australia before heading to the UK to coach the Welsh Fire men’s team at The Hundred.

Hussey said: “Observing the Australian team, I think they were concerned about ‘Bazball’. The effect it was going to have and the extra pressure it was going to put on the bowling unit.

“But the Australians stuck to their guns and the way they wanted to play. Pat Cummins copped a bit of stick for his captaincy, but I thought he did well.

“Australia backed their way of playing and said: ‘If England want to play that way it’s fine, we can plan for that. We’re not going to change the way we play our best cricket’.

“They did that and Australians are absolutely delighted that we’ve retained the Ashes.”

Hussey had a clear insight into the England set-up when he was appointed as a batting consultant for the successful T20 World Cup campaign last year.

He insisted England’s approach to Test cricket would continue to develop under coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes and that it could be a far different Australia side they face in the 2025-26 Ashes Down Under.

Hussey said: “Knowing Brendon and also spending time with Ben at CSK (Chennai Super Kings) in the IPL (Indian Premier League), they are very invested in this way of playing, not just to win games but to bring Test cricket as an enjoyable product for everyone to watch.

“The Australian team over the next few years is also going to be fascinating to watch.

“David Warner and Usman Khawaja are coming to the back end of their career and who knows how long Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood will keep playing for?

“Nathan Lyon’s also injured at the moment and we are going to start getting a glimpse of what the next era for us looks like.”

The victory will have gone some way in easing the pressure faced by both the captain and the team itself following an anemic performance at the T20 World Cup and a shock loss to Ireland in its most recent One Day International series.

During the England series, the West Indies were once again put in a negative spotlight as rumours of player victimization, pertaining to fast bowler Odean Smith came to the surface.

A performance against world number one England, albeit an understrength unit, and particularly one where so many players put in exceptional performances, was timely.  The fact did not escape Pollard.

“Every single one in the dressing room, we rallied together through everything.  Every time we won a game there was something negative against us, but we came out and the guys really won it,” Pollard said after briefly opening with his own rendition of a verse from the popular Jamaica dancehall artist.

“Empty vessels make the most noise.  The guys have worked tirelessly, when we came back from Jamaica our heads were down.  We had conversations in the dressing room regarding how we wanted to play the cricket and I think the guys bounced back pretty well,” he added.

“It’s one series but we have been on the losing end of a lot of series and a lot of games and you have to take this one.  The guys needed an opportunity to just free up themselves and enjoy themselves for a couple of games.”

Particularly pleasing for the team would have been the performance of former captain Jason Holder who claimed man of the series following a virtuoso performance just months after being controversially left out of the 15-man T20 World Cup starting team.

The 41-year-old Gayle has struggled to make a positive impact with the bat since being recalled to the team in February of this year, after two years away from the squad.

The batsman's selection to the preliminary World Cup squad has proven to be a source of controversy with opinion sharply split into two camps.  On one hand, many believe the batsman's ability to change a game within a few deliveries continues to make him an indispensable asset heading into the tournament, others point to his decline in explosiveness and fitness as evidence that the spot should be taken up a younger player.

His performances so far have done little to make a strong case for his inclusion.  In eight matches, against Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Australia, Gayle has averaged 12.71, with a combined 89 runs, and has a highest score of 31.  In addition, the batsman has a strike rate of 94.68, well below his career average of 139.71.

Speaking just before the start of the Australia series, Gray suggested the batsman could be running out of time to repay the faith of the selectors.

“I think initially the selectors did a good job of picking this T20 squad.  You have to give Chris Gayle the chance to show he has some kind of form, but if he is getting the opportunity and not firing, I would not pick him,” Gray told the Mason and Guest radio show.

Gayle is the all-time leading runs scorer for the West Indies in T20 international cricket, having scored 1716 in 66 matches.

"I think they need to have a serious word with Chris Gayle in the sense that he is 41 years old now, and obviously they have to have some sort of system where they say to Chris Gayle that 'we're giving you about nine games,'" Gray said.

"If you're not firing for nine games, then the remaining games before the World Cup, we have to give a young player', so that's the sort of system they need with Chris Gayle,” he added.

"If he doesn't fire against Australia for the first two games, I'm not taking him to the World Cup. That would be seven games - against Sri Lanka and South Africa - and the next two games would be nine games, he had an opportunity to fire.”

Gayle made just 4 runs in the opening match against Australia on Friday.

After surprisingly ending six years of the Cameron administration in 2019, the Skerritt and Shallow body promised significant improvements to the player, regional cricket board dynamic, which had soured over previous decades.

Under the new administration, the cricketers, board and players association seem to enjoy a less acrimonious existence, but previous issues of players choosing to make themselves unavailable for the regional team, while continuing to take part in lucrative T20 leagues around the world has remained an issue. 

The Skerritt association has, however, insisted that no action would be taken against players who choose to go that route.  Cameron has again questioned the merit of the approach.  

“The Shallow-Skerritt experiment has failed, basically what that Shallow-Skerritt experiment did was it put the players ahead of the region and that is the challenge,” Cameron told the Mason and Guest radio program.

“Someone had attacked me and said some players weren’t happy and I said to him you could name the players that weren’t happy on one hand versus the region,” he added.

“If you are running a business and you are trying to move the system forward you have to look at greater good not just what’s good for a few players.”

Sir Andy not skilful enough

Ambrose Windies cricket in trouble

Underwood, who has died aged 78, remains the country’s most prolific, successful and revered spin bowler of his or any other period, claiming an unmatched career haul of 297 wickets.

His ubiquitous nickname was uttered affectionately by those who played alongside him and fearfully by those he came up against, a recognition of his ability to wreak havoc with his unique set of skills.

Quicker and flatter than the average slow left-armer – the first word of that descriptor always seemed out of place – he was renowned as a master manipulator of damp surfaces in the eras of uncovered pitches.

That puts him comfortably clear at the top of the England lineage – 42 ahead of the next best, Graeme Swann, and streets beyond significant figures like Tony Lock (174), Jim Laker (193) and Moeen Ali (204).

While Underwood’s record tally was undoubtedly aided by the ‘sticky dog’ conditions which later disappeared from the game, he was several decades too early to cash in on the goldmine of DRS.

While Swann won 70 lbw decisions with technology on his side, Underwood earned just 24 in a time when batters could confidently use their pad as a first line of defence.

His impressive final haul, and the legacy that goes with it, would have been even more striking were it not for two self-imposed interruptions to his international career, first for joining Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket and later for his role in the first ‘rebel tour’ of South Africa.

The International Cricket Council’s official rankings, applied retrospectively, now places Underwood as the world’s number one Test bowler for almost four years between 1969-1973.

Among many highs, including 17 five-wicket hauls and six 10-wicket matches, he is most fondly remembered for a starring role in a classic Ashes finish at the Oval in 1968.

With a downpour threatening to preserve Australia’s 2-1 series lead, members of the crowd helped with the mopping up work to allow Colin Cowdrey’s side little more than half-an-hour to take the six wickets they needed for victory.

All eyes were on Underwood, who exploited a made-to-measure surface with a sequence of four wickets for six runs in 27 balls, wrapping things up with barely five minutes to spare and finishing with seven for 50.

In similar circumstances against Sussex five years later, he proved positively unplayable as he gorged himself with cartoonish figures of eight for nine.

Born on June 8 1945 in Bromley to a cricketing family, his aptitude revealed itself early at Dulwich College Preparatory School when he took nine wickets in an innings for the under-10s.

He went one better by claiming all 10 in an outing for Beckenham and Penge Grammar School and was later spotted by Lock, who passed an excited recommendation on to Kent.

After making his first-class debut for them at just 17, taking 101 wickets in each of his first two seasons, he progressed to the Test arena by the tender age of 21.

A year later Alan Knott, a long-time accomplice from schoolboy cricket to the Kent first XI, followed him and one of England’s defining bowler-wicketkeeper partnerships took root.

Mark Nicholas, broadcaster and former Hampshire captain, once described batting against the pair as being “piggy-in-the-middle of a collaboration in genius”.

Underwood proved himself a reliable matchwinner when the elements assisted – it was said England carried him like an umbrella, for he was indispensable when it rained – and relentlessly miserly when they did not.

That combination had already yielded 265 Test scalps in 74 caps when he was lured away by the Packer revolution in 1977, a decision that brought overdue financial security and no real regrets.

He was welcomed back for a lower-key second act, making 12 more appearances and signing off with eight wickets in Sri Lanka’s inaugural Test, before bringing down the curtain for good by joining the controversial trip to Apartheid-era South Africa in 1982.

Underwood continued to turn out for Kent for several seasons and finished up a three-time County Championship winner, including the 1970 title which ended a 57-year wait.

Having reached 1,000 first-class wickets as a 25-year-old – only Wilfred Rhodes and George Lohmann had ever completed the feat quicker – he finally added a century to his list of achievements at the age of 39.

For a batter best known for belligerent efforts as a nightwatchman, it was a proud late addition to an already-glittering CV.

Husband to Dawn and father to two daughters, Heather and Fiona, he was appointed president of the MCC in 2008 and an honorary fellow of Canterbury Christ Church University in later life.

A relatively low-profile retirement followed, belying his status as a fixture in any conversation about an all-time England XI.

The ODI format has been the team’s least productive over the last few years, having won just 9 of 51 series played in the last 10 years, which amounts to a 17 percent win rate.  In the last three consecutive series, the regional team has failed to win a game after being swept aside 3-0 by Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India.

In three of the last four matches against Bangladesh and then India, however, the team at least managed to put in strong batting performances despite losing the match.

“The first two games we batted the 50 overs and looked like we understood what batting 50 overs was about.  I think that’s a step forward and we will just have to keep trying to move forward with that,” Simmons told members of the media on Wednesday.

“The bowlers have been doing it in a few games and not the batsmen.  Now it’s turned around.  So, we’ve got to get everything together.  The one plus is that the fielding keeps getting better and better, so we have to put everything together,” he added.

“Everything takes time, the guys have been playing together more and more and we are having a squad play together more and more.  That’s what happened with the Test team, the guys played together for a while and now we are seeing the fruits of that.  Let’s see what happens with the ODI team.”

The West Indies looked up to the task of being competitive after securing a convincing four-wicket win over England in the first Test.  The introduction of England pace bowler, Stuart Broad, who was omitted for the first Test, however, drastically changed the equation.  In the fourth evening of the second Test, with the West Indies enjoying some level of comfort, Broad took the new ball and claimed 3 for 14 in a devastating nine-over spell. 

He dominated the rest of the series, going on to claim 10 wickets in the third and final Test, for 16 overall, en route to man-of-the-series honours.

While Small was quick to acclaim Broad’s indisputable ability and the rest of the England bowling line-up for that matter, he insisted it was inexcusable that the West Indies batsmen made no adjustment’s in facing the bowler.

“If it was a school report after the series, the bowlers tried brilliantly, you would probably mark them with a B-.  They were big-hearted and kept going but three Test matches in three weeks is unrelenting,” Small told the Mason and Guest radio program.

“The batsmen, I can only see them getting an F.  Perhaps, I’m being generous,” he added.

“They faced good bowling, credit where credit is due.  England bowlers, obviously the records are there to show, Anderson, Broad…Woakes and obviously Jofra Archer, those English bowlers are brilliant in English conditions. With the new ball in hand, they are very tough. 

"The one thing you cannot do is play those guys on the backfoot, you can’t.  Broad and Anderson are fine bowlers but they’re not going to knock you over or intimidate you with pace.  You have to get on the front foot to nullify their movement.  To see your best batsman, well your most experienced batsman in the line-up, Kraigg Brathwaite, how many times did he get out on the backfoot, that for me is pure nonsense.  Big failure.”     

Australia’s Mitchell Starc was looking forward to “a great spectacle of cricket” after his side book their spot in the World Cup final against hosts India.

Starc helped Australia conquer South Africa in the semi-final at Eden Gardens, claiming three for 34 and holding up his end in a vital partnership with captain Pat Cummins during the closing moments of a tense chase.

In the end Australia squeaked home by three wickets in a low-scoring encounter, with Starc’s new-ball burst doing a huge amount of heavy lifting.

He set the tone for the day by removing Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma in the first over, then dismissed Aiden Markram as he and Josh Hazlewood reduced their opponents to 24 for four.

The intensity is only going to be dialled up when they take on undefeated home favourites India in Ahmedabad on Sunday, with up to 100,000 locals ready to roar their nation on at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

And it is a prospect Starc is ready to embrace.

“It’s certainly going to be a big occasion, a World Cup Final in India. It’s going to be loud,” he said.

“I think it’s just going to be a great spectacle of cricket, no doubt. There’s going to be a lot of passion there. Certainly, everyone in our changing room is looking forward to it.

“I don’t think either changing room is new to big occasions. You want to take on the best and that’s why we play the game. They’ve been the best team in the tournament so far and we both find ourselves in the final. That’s what World Cups are about.”

Starc’s skipper, Cummins, was equally enthused about the prospect having been part of Australia’s last ODI world champion squad on home soil eight years ago.

“The stadium is going to be packed, pretty one-sided, but we’ve got to embrace it,” he said.

“The 2015 World Cup was a career highlight, so to be out there in a final in India, I can’t wait.”

Starc agreed with the idea that over the course of a hard-fought contest against South Africa, Australia’s victory lay in their aggression during the powerplay overs. While he and Hazlewood established a stranglehold over the batters, Travis Head and David Warner went on the attack as they raided 60 runs off the first six.

On both occasions, damage was done that could not be clawed back by the Proteas.

“We’ve seen throughout the tournament how tough the first 10 overs can be at certain times…when you’re willing to take the game on like that, sometimes you take a little bit of luck with you,” he said.

“It certainly went to plan with the ball today and the way we set up with the bat is to really be aggressive, take the game on and the freedom to give those guys to go out and play the way they like to.”

Losing coach Rob Walter gave South Africa credit for battling back into contention after their early collapse, making 212 on the back of David Miller’s 101, and insisted the age-old tag of ‘chokers’ was no longer fitting.

“It’s obviously gutting to lose a semi-final but beyond that, I’m incredibly proud of the fight shown by the lads,” he said.

“I guess you need to define what a ‘choke’ is. For me, a choke is losing a game that you’re in a position to win. In this instance, we were behind the eight ball right from the word go and we actually fought our way back into the competition and put up a score that gave us a chance.

“For me there’s nothing even remotely close to a choke that happened out there today. It’s a serious contest between two good teams, number two and three in the tournament.”

Of course, the Asian team has claimed the ICC World Cup twice, first in 1983 and then again in 2011.  the special circumstance surrounding the team’s spirited defense of the Border-Gavaskar trophy, for this particular series, however, will put this historical result right alongside the best of them.

Shorn of some of its most experienced players, due to injury, and having seen inspirational captain Virat Kohli head back to India after just one Test, for the birth of his daughter, few expected India to be able to make the series competitive, let alone retain the trophy.

In addition, the team allegedly faced racism from the crowd during the second Test in Sydney, which no doubt added fuel to the fire.  Perhaps it was fitting it came down to the last hour of the final day with all four results a possibility.

Spurred on by Rishabh Pant who stayed not out and hit a wonderful 89, young opener, Shunhman Gill also contributed with 91 at the top and the gritty Cheteshwar Pujara who held up his end for 56.

Prior to the unlikely triumph on enemy territory, no team had chased more than 236 at the Gabba, a ground where Australia had not lost a Test since 1988.

“It wasn’t just solid, it was inspirational,” Mohammed told the SportsMax Zone.

“All of the experts when it comes to Indian cricket, I can’t fault what any of them have said…when you try your best and put it into context with all of the different issues and primarily the loss of almost all of their prominent players throughout the four-Test matches, and being routed for 36 in the first Test.  Everyone had written them off with the departure of Kohli," he added.

 “To see Ajinkya Rahane holding the trophy, not with a drawn series but with a historic victory, they don’t win at Brisbane, no one beats Australia at Brisbane.  When you lump everything together, when you put all of the contexts of the individual players and their own personal journeys, to this point it has to be the greatest moment in Indian cricket, certainly when it comes to Test cricket”

The Australian bowler dismissed the West Indian star more than any other batsman, claiming Lara’s wicket 15 times in 24 matches.  McGrath also had good success in seeing off the Indian legend 13 times, one less than fellow Australian Brett Lee.

“I may have got him out 15 times, but he also scored big hundreds and double hundreds against us when both me and Warnie (Shane Warne) were playing together for Australia,” McGrath told the Times of India.

 “When it was his day, he could do absolutely anything. Sachin was equally as good, but there was something about Brian where he could just keep going and he was slightly harder to bowl to than Sachin. He was more fearless,” he added.

Lara holds the record for the highest individual score in a Test after scoring 400 not out in 2004 against England.  The batsman could also be particularly brutal against Australia.  Lara struck 277 runs against Australia in Sydney, his maiden Test century and the fourth-highest maiden Test century by any batsman.

The 27-year-old batsman, who was dropped from the team after a poor run of form last November, has looked sharp since returning to the fold.  Against Sri Lanka, in March, Hope slammed 258 runs in the three-match series, including a shot-filled 110.

He certainly looks to have taken that type of form into red-ball cricket with the West Indies Best vs Best four-day practice match this week.  Hope made 79 in the first innings and got another century, 104, in the second.

Interestingly, however, because of a lack of quality options in the position, Perreira believes Hope can be used as an opener alongside West Indies Test captain Kraigg Brathwaite for the upcoming series.

“It’s been a little mystery why they didn’t want to use him as an opener.  If you have stacks of openers then you probably don’t want to sacrifice a middle-order batsman,” Perreira told the Mason and Guest radio program.

“However, when the cupboard is very bare, it’s not reinventing the wheel, it’s not magical thinking, Hope has definitely got to play…I certainly would be opening with Brathwaite and Hope.”

Hope opened at the top of the innings for the four-day practice match.

After seven years in charge, Holder was replaced as captain of the Test team last month by Kraigg Brathwaite.  Brathwaite was himself promoted to the post after successfully taking charge during a successful tour of Bangladesh, which Holder had opted out of, along with 11 other players.

The change in circumstances has, however, not affected Holder’s play on the field and, equally importantly, he has been vocal with his encouragement of teammates on the field.  The previously mentioned characteristic is one many of his critics believe was absent during the majority of his tenure as captain.

 “Jason brought a different personality to the dressing room than what was in Bangladesh and it’s been working out nicely, especially the hard times in the field, Jason has been behind the guys, pushing us to do well.  I think him being skipper stopped that for a few years,” Mayers told SportsMax.tv’s The Commentators podcast.

“That’s the type of person he actually is.  A jovial person, always making fun, talking a lot.  I guess as captain being focused on the game, he couldn’t do that as much but now he is free, probably just trying to play as well as he can and be as free as he can,” he added.

“For me, if you are enjoying cricket more and you have less to worry about, it should make you better.  You focus more on yourself.”

Catch the full episode of The Commentators podcast below 

The recent decision by Cricket West Indies (CWI) to recall the batsman for the recent series against Sri Lanka was met with criticism in some quarters, with some believing the selectors should have opted for younger talent.  The player's struggles in the series did little to dispel that notion.

Sammy, the two-time T20 World Cup-winning captain, however, does not agree.

“After watching Chris Gayle play in the Pakistan Super League, the IPL late last year, and looking at his career, I think he should definitely go to the World Cup,” Sammy told Line and Length on SportsMax.

“Whether he plays in the final XI is a matter for the guys on tour because you will have Evin (Lewis) and (Lendl) Simmons, but Chris’ experience in India and what he brings to the team, I would have him with me,” he added.

“Chris is a batting leader! He has over 20 hundreds in T20s and the next person after that has eight or nine and his experience cannot be underrated so I would have him with me. He knows the big occasion and you bet he can still turn it on…. I will go with him,” said Sammy from his home in St. Lucia.

Gayle has played 31 T20s for the West Indies and scored two centuries and 13 half-centuries, with an average of 31.24 and a strike rate of 140.81. At the last World Cup, he scored an unbeaten 100 in the first match against England but ended the series with 113 runs from four innings.

Sammy, who was at the helm when the team won the T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka, in 2012, versus the hosts, and in 2016 against England, thinks that the West Indies can win again if they improve their bowling attack.

“We have the batting firepower, but we are missing two x-factor bowlers. Fidel is back and brings some pace, but I think our best chance will be chasing totals. We don’t have that Sunil Narine type of bowler and, to be honest, that’s the missing link. We can win but we need a couple of bowlers to put pressure on for eight overs,” explained Sammy.

The 32-year-old mystery spinner was reported during the team’s win over Kings XI Punjab last week.  Although the player remains free to bowl, until a second report is made, he was not selected by the KKR for their clash against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday.

It was not the first occasion that the spinner action has been placed under the microscope.  He was suspended in 2014 after being called in successive matches during the Champions League Twenty20.  The player missed out on the World Cup the following year, while he worked on his remodeled action.

It is reported that his bowling coach Carl Crowe is with him at the tournament and will help the player work through any issues.  Dr Nigel Camacho, acting president of Narine’s parent club Queen’s Park, believes the issue can be sorted with minimal fuss.

“As his parent club, we’ll continue to support him,” said Camacho. “We have brought in the Australian (Crowe). He has a great relationship with his coach at Queen’s Park, David Furlonge. Whatever Sunil needs at Queen’s Park, we are very willing to give him support.

“If they suspect that there is something amiss with his action, we’ll support Sunil 100 percent and we’ll make sure he can perform to the best of his ability,” he added.

“He had this before and he came back almost as strong or stronger than before. Narine is just a fantastic bowler. Even if he is to make a change to his action, I am confident he will be back stronger than before.”

Hope spent several months out of the team, after being dropped in November of last year, working on technical and mental issues following a poor run of form.

The 27-year-old’s return against South Africa last week, however, was a baptism of fire, so to speak, as he was uprooted for scores of 15 and 12.  Hope, who opened in the first innings and batted third in the second, was, however, far from the only batsman who struggled on the day with the team only managing 97 in the first innings.

Ahead of the start of the second Test, on Friday, however, Brathwaite has given assurances that the batsman is confident and mentally in good shape.

“Just like any batsman, it’s important how they are feeling.  He is feeling good at the top but I back him for whichever position, whether opening or number 5, I know he will do a good job,” Brathwaite told members of the media on Thursday.

“He’s always up for the challenge and he’s up for the challenge for any position, opening is obviously different but he’s ready for any position.  He is in a good space and that’s one of the main things.  Once the batter has that positive mindset and is confident then that’s the way forward.”

Hope will be looking to replicate some of the form from the Windies Best vs Best practice match where he impressed selectors with a century.

The selection of the final team for the upcoming tournament has caused a torrent of discontent around the Caribbean, with strong opinions regarding which players should have be included or left out making the rounds.

Despite agreeing that leaving Holder out of the squad was a mistake, he believes the majority of the team was determined over the last three months and has been selected along the lines of a certain philosophy.

“You saw the team in various matches around and the Caribbean and you could see the pattern of players.  So, it was obvious that what the team has agreed to is what I call a very high-octane policy,” Murray told the Mason and Guest radio program.

“West Indies are undoubtedly going to be the best team to watch, I’m not sure if they’ll be the best team to support, but every moment of every game they play is going to be exciting,” he added.

“Every player is put in there to play a little cameo of some sort, batting bowling or whatever and it is going to be thrilling, people or going to be on the edge of their seats. To me what they’ve decided is these players are going to give us winner take all.”

The West Indies have been placed in a difficult group alongside Australia, England and South Africa.