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 financial report, which singled out Cameron for criticism on several occasions, was commissioned by the current CWI board and conducted by independent auditors Pannell Kerr Foster (PKF). Among other things, it raised concerns regarding an inadequate accounting system that enabled financial irregularities to go unreported.
Cameron’s legal team has already requested a copy of the contentious document, which has already been leaked, but Astaphan has also been quick to point out that the structure of the CWI remains a board of directors and all decisions were taken and approved at that level.
“If the auditor is in fact making so-called findings on matters that were dealt with by the board and they are so concerned about irregularities and abuses; the directors, including the present ones, from top to bottom, are going to have to come forward and explain their votes to the region and the shareholders,” Astaphan said on the Mason and Guest radio show.
“You can’t just decide to throw one man overboard and say well there goes Cameron swimming down the lagoon again. Collective responsibility is very important,” he added.
The lawyer strongly rejected the notion that the board members were bullied into voting by the former president, as has been previously suggested.
“It was said that the directors were subservient, subservient, grown men, grown independent men, successful businessmen, politicians and all were subservient to Cameron, that is why they went along with the votes. As a Caribbean man I would consider that to be contemptuous of my position on the board.”
“There is an implication that there was this and that but everyone went along with Dave Cameron like the pied piper and the rats into the pond.”
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.
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.”
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.”
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 ofThe Commentatorspodcast 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.
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.
The comparison between the all-rounders, ranked one and two in the world, has come to the fore as they go head-to-head in the ongoing Test series. Despite a strong performance from Holder, who claimed seven wickets in a win for the West Indies in the first Test, it is Stokes who has had the edge.
In the second Test, the England utility player scored a blistering 176 in the first innings, and 78 in the second, to play a crucial role in a big series-leveling win for England. In addition, Stokes claimed six wickets in the first Test, combined with innings of 43 and 46. For the series so far, Stokes has scored a total of 343 runs, claiming 9 wickets. Holder has claimed 8 wickets and scored 56 runs. It was the West Indian who started the series as the number one ranked all-rounder in the world but he has now been bumped into two by the Englishman. According to Estwick, however, in addition to having more responsibility as a bowler, Holder also has to focus on duties as a captain.
"Jason is a big player for us. He made a double hundred back in the Caribbean, he just needs people around him. Jason knows that once he can find partnerships and find some kind of rhythm he can be just as disruptive as Ben Stokes," Estwick told members of the media via a Zoom press conference.
"Also, remember the workload that Jason puts in as a bowler, Ben doesn’t put in. Ben will go through 15 overs a day, Jason will probably go through 20, 25 and then he is captain as well. So, mentally it not as easy as people think it is because he is one of our number one bowlers and we depend on him for his bowling as well. Ben will bowl a lot less so he can bat a little higher than Jason has.”
In total, Holder has bowled 78 overs in the Test match so far, compared to Stokes’ 51.2. Holder has registered among the team’s top three bowlers in deliveries so far this series, while Stokes is closer to the bottom.
Roberts believes that, in particular, the all-rounder still struggles with the setting of his field and making key leadership decisions at crucial times.
Holder’s captaincy has come under the microscope in recent months, on the back of disappointing results and underwhelming performances by the team against both England and New Zealand. The issues disgruntled pundits have pointed out have had to do with the his field placings and decisions whether to bat or bowl after winning the toss.
“I think Jason Holder as a captain on the field is lost. I don’t think he is aware of what is going on on the field because if I win a toss as a captain and before lunch on a green top pitch I am having a man on the point boundary, then I am lost,” Roberts told the Mason and Guest radio program.
“That’s the first thing. His field placing (leaves) a lot to be desired and I believe the time should come where he takes instructions from the coaches who can see the game better than he can,” he added.
Roberts, however, also believes Holder has been let down by players around him, while also calling on the all-rounder to be more aggressive.
“A captain is only as good as the men who he leads, so there has to be something wrong with the 11 guys on the field and cannot pinpoint certain things to the captain,” Roberts said.
“I would give him an ‘A’ grade for his interviews – he interviews very well. He’s a damn good cricketer but he needs to be more aggressive in his approach as a captain. He’s too defensive-minded.”
On Thursday, the 26-year-old Chanderpaul made 119 off 293 balls during the team’s warm-up game against a Prime Minister’s XI, in the ongoing four-day tour match in Canberra. The knock featured a risp 11 fours and a six on his way to reaching triple figures.
Chanderpaul, who was called up to the team last month, is widely expected to partner Windies captain Kraigg Brathwaite at the top of the innings for the match-up with the world number-one ranked Aussies, following the suspension of John Campbell.
Ahead of the player’s potential debut, comparisons to his famous father, West Indies legend Shivnarine Chanderpaul, are inescapable. In an outstanding 164 Test match career for the West Indies, Chanderpaul scored 11867 runs, which puts him second all-time behind the great Brian Lara. It’s a towering legacy to live up to.
“They’re big boots but I try and be myself. I can only be myself, so I just try and be me,” the young Chanderpaul said after Thursday's match.
Like his father, Tagenarine has shown the propensity to be watchful and patient at the crease, which could bode well for the regional team. The batsman, however, is hoping to eventually be recognized for his own style.
"I try and be myself. I can't replicate him, so I can only be myself. Fingers crossed… I'll try to get some runs if I'm selected."
The 24-year-old Joseph has spent a little over a month representing Worcestershire, where he made his debut following the West Indies home series against Sri Lanka. As per the arrangement, the player is now back in the Caribbean for the team’s upcoming series against South Africa.
In his six matches there, Joseph did make some impression, claiming 15 wickets, the second most in the team and adding 148 runs, with a high score of 61. In addition, he claimed an innings best of 2 for 22 and match best of 4 for 106.
The English championships is typically lauded as a good place for young cricketers to develop, not only due to the difficult and different conditions, but also the volume of cricket played in a short period of time. During the West Indies spell as the top cricketing nation, several of the players took part in the competition.
“He spent some time in England which everyone feels like that is the bedrock for development because of the amount of cricket that you play, but gone are the days when you use to play seven days or sometimes, 12 to 14 days in a row, and if you can’t develop from that system then you can’t develop,” Roberts, who represented Hampshire and Leicestershire, told the Antigua Observer.
“I am just hoping that he spent most of his time in the nets learning to hone his craft because there is no point to playing County cricket and you don’t learn nothing from playing County cricket. For years I’ve been saying the same thing over and over like the record is stuck; personal development is the key to success.”
The 26-year-old Chanderpaul, the son of legendary West Indies player Shivnarine Chanderpaul, earned plenty of plaudits after beginning his senior career against top Test team Australia last month.
On debut against the Aussies, Chanderpaul scored 160 runs, which was the second most behind the in-form Brathwaite, and had a top score of 51. In addition to his scoring, however, the player's relative comfort against top-class bowling on a good pitch was also of note.
“I think he’s world class, when you even look at a thing like the ‘leave alone’ that he has,” Brathwaite told member of the media, ahead of the team's tour of Southern Africa.
“...I think he will be a world class Test batsman, obviously he has the patience and you can see he has still the shots also. On some good Australian pitches his strike rate was higher than normal, so I really think he has a bright future,” he added.
“He is a very focussed player and very determined, so for sure he will make many West Indian’s proud.”
Brathwaite and Chanderpaul will look to lead from the front, as the team looks to bounce back from a poor showing in Australia last month.
The 42-year-old competed in his final World Cup match on Thursday, his third appearance overall at the premier T20 competition. Unlike the other two appearances, which had resulted in the West Indies lifting the trophy, however, this one ended in disappointment with the team limping to the line in second to last place and being eliminated at the group stages.
Nor was Gayle’s performance particularly statistically significant. In five matches, Gayle tottered to 45 runs with a high score of 15 and an average of 9. In fact, even before the tournament, the player's inclusion had divided opinion around the Caribbean region with many insisting that the batsman, no longer at the top of his game, should have stepped aside for younger talent. He admits it was not the fairytale ending.
“It was a very disappointing World Cup, disappointing for me as well. This is probably my worst World Cup, but these things happen and it's just sad that it came at the back end of my career,” Gayle told ICC Cricket media.
“We still have a lot to go in West Indies cricket, we have some great talent coming up right now, so all I can do is play my supporting role with them and wish West Indies Cricket the best.
“I’d love to play one more World Cup, but I don’t think they would allow me,” a laughing Gayle added.
“I haven’t announced any retirement because they have given me one more game in Jamaica, in front of my home crowd then I can saw alright, thanks, guys. So, let’s see. If it wasn’t for that I would have announced it a long time ago with DJ Bravo.”
Gayle has been one of the most dominant players in the sport of T20 cricket, with over 14,000 runs scored. Internationally, he has scored the most runs for the West Indies with 1899.
