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Green Track Awaits Team India at Sabina Park


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Shortly before joining his team-mates for his first day of training as a member of West Indies' Test squad, Alzarri Joseph was made to climb a staircase at Sabina Park's North Stand. From somewhere near the middle of the ground, the WICB's media manager trained a 300mm lens on him. He took a few backward steps, eye glued to viewfinder, and stopped moving only when the framing was just right: Joseph on top of the staircase, hands on balustrade, and below him a sign saying "Courtney Walsh End".

No pressure, young man.

Walsh bowled 30,019 balls in Test cricket, the most by any fast bowler, ever. Joseph is yet to play Test cricket, of course, and has only bowled 949 balls in first-class cricket. He is only 19.

The cricketing world has seen what Joseph can do in short bursts. At the Under-19 World Cup, he sent the leg stump of Zimbabwe's Brendan Sly flying with the fastest ball of the tournament, measured at 143kph, and, in the semi-final, showed he could be just as nasty at the other end of the length spectrum, roughing up the Bangladesh opener Pinak Ghosh with a series of bouncers, one of which clattered into the side of his helmet.

Can Joseph sustain that pace, and that intensity, into his third spell of a sweltering day, the way Walsh did time after time in a 16-year Test career? Will West Indies pick Joseph for the second Test against India, and give the cricketing world the opportunity of finding out?

Marlon Samuels will not make that decision, but he made his thoughts as clear as possible when he spoke to the media on Thursday.

"Me? I would definitely play him," he said. "Fit, fast and fearless. When are you going to play him? At 25? He's 19 now, it's the best time to just let him go and enjoy himself and express himself."

Conditions at Sabina Park might just allow Joseph - or any combination of fast bowlers West Indies pick - to do that. Two days before the Test match, the pitch wore a thick coat of grass. At 10.45am, when the white sheet covering it first came off to allow the umpires to look at it, it was a bright, almost neon green. In the afternoon, when the West Indian players arrived at the ground, and sang "Happy Birthday" to Sir Garfield Sobers on his 80th, it was still green, but not alarmingly so.

Nothing had happened to the pitch in the interim. Perhaps it looked less green because the shock of first seeing it had worn off; perhaps it was just the sun sucking away the morning's moisture. It was just a different shade of green.

By the time the Test match commences, the grass might lose a few millimeters, and some of it might get rolled into the surface, but much of it will probably remain in place.

Behind the western square boundary is the Kingston Cricket Club's pavilion, and mounted on the roof beams of the members' bar are plaques commemorating every batsman to have scored centuries in both innings of Test matches. If the pitch for this Test match plays true to its appearance, it will take some effort for anyone to join Clyde Walcott and Lawrence Rowe in achieving that feat at Sabina Park.

But batsmen, according to the groundsman Charlie Joseph, will enjoy true bounce, at least on the first two days.

"Mikey [Michael Holding] always used to tell me, you need bounce on the first two days," Charlie Joseph said. "What happens on the third and fourth day, that's not up to you. That's nature. But you want true bounce on the first two days. You want to put your foot here," he says, planting left foot firmly forward, "and do that" - a shadow cover drive, on the up. "That's good cricket."

We will only know for certain on Saturday, but conditions could cause both teams to alter the strategies they employed in Antigua. West Indies are chasing the series, and a green pitch gives them as good a chance as they'll probably get to bowl India out twice. A green pitch could also narrow the gap between the bowling attacks, but West Indies will need to do some of that narrowing themselves. That will mean picking Joseph, or Miguel Cummins, or both, to partner Shannon Gabriel and give the pace attack more bite.

India played five bowlers in Antigua, on a slow pitch that offered bounce but little sideways movement. Here, four bowlers could do the job, with the legspin of Amit Mishra potentially surplus to requirements. This could allow them the security of an extra batsman. With only four players - Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul and Bhuvneshwar Kumar - turning up for an optional session on Thursday, India did not reveal any of their cards. By Friday, a clearer picture should emerge.

Whichever way the teams go, they will probably need to contend with a green track. Kent Crafton, the WICB's regional curator, who is overseeing the preparation of all the pitches for this series, said the board has made a concerted push to prepare quicker, bouncier pitches. "We want to get it back up here," he said, bringing his hands up to chest level.

Going by the bounce seen in Antigua, and the look of the pitch in Kingston, the efforts seem to be paying off. It's a positive sign, a rare one in West Indies Test cricket.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/west-indies-v-india-2016/content/story/1040275.html

Edited by Nova
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I feel sorry for that Joseph kid.  19 years old debutant and its almost as if hopes of entire team are riding on him.  That too in a test match.  Look at how Rabada was introduced to international cricket.  That's how its done.  Throwing a kid into a test match with a top team, its risking his development.  And sends the wrong messages to a Miguel Cummins or whoever else is on the fringe of test XI selection.

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i think his fastest in U19 WC was 147 and not 143.  and his comparison with Walsh is chalk and cheese. Walsh was never a genuine fast bowler but more of a work horse who could bowl decent pace spells here and there but was mostly medium fast to fast medium, never really being seen as fast.

Edited by rkt.india
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5 minutes ago, rkt.india said:

i think his fastest in U19 WC was 147 and not 143.  and his comparison with Walsh is chalk and cheese. Walsh was never a genuine fast bowler but more of a work horse who could bowl decent pace spells here and there but was mostly medium fast to fast medium, never really being seen as fast.

 

Walsh was mainly a 140-145k max bowler.Not medium fast but not express either.

 

Ambrose may have been similar.

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17 minutes ago, Malcolm Merlyn said:

 

Walsh was mainly a 140-145k max bowler.Not medium fast but not express either.

 

Ambrose may have been similar.

Speed guns were not regularly used for a huge part of the careers of Walsh and Ambrose, so we can't be sure....but they did not look more than 130 k to 140 k seamers who got steep bounce. I doubt they bowled 140 k to 145 k barring maybe the first couple of years of their careers.

 

Shastri was saying in commentary how they were very accurate and bouncy but not very  quick.

 

 

Edited by express bowling
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9 minutes ago, MultiB48 said:

rabada too was similar during his u19 wc ,remember beaton ,he too was similar to rabada and joseph but now bowls around 135,so you have to wait and watch how he goes

 I expect Joseph to bowl much quicker in the coming years , may become genuinely quick as his body matures, stamina increases and he gets used to bowling a lot of overs.  Just not sure what his usual pace range  would be in a test match played in the middle of 2016.  He may bowl a couple of much quicker deliveries though, as he has done in the U19 WC.

Edited by express bowling
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34 minutes ago, Malcolm Merlyn said:

 

Walsh was mainly a 140-145k max bowler.Not medium fast but not express either.

 

Ambrose may have been similar.

are you serious. Walsh wasnt a 140-145 bowler, in late 90s to 2000s. he was bowling in low 120s, so, he was probably 130-140 max at  his peak, probably like McGrath.

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are you serious. Walsh wasnt a 140-145 bowler, in late 90s to 2000s. he was bowling in low 120s, so, he was probably 130-140 max at  his peak, probably like McGrath.

He was 38 at that time and not fit.

Mcgrath at his fastest when he made his debut was a 90mph bowler before he cut down his run up and pace to become a great seam bowler.

Both Ambrose and Walsh were 140-145ks with Bishop being in 150s.

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7 minutes ago, Malcolm Merlyn said:

He was 38 at that time and not fit.

Mcgrath at his fastest when he made his debut was a 90mph bowler before he cut down his run up and pace to become a great seam bowler.

Both Ambrose and Walsh were 140-145ks with Bishop being in 150s.

McGrath was never a 90 mph bowler. Here is the video of 1990, Ian bishop and Walsh bowling together, trying to bowl quick and rough up Robin Smith. You can see Walsh is far slower to Bishop who is probably bowling 145-150, while Walsh is around 135-140 at best.

 

 

Edited by rkt.india
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McGrath was never a 90 mph bowler. Here is the video of 1990, Ian bishop and Walsh bowling together, trying to bowl quick and rough up Robin Smith. You can see Walsh is far slower to Bishop who is probably bowling 145-150, while Walsh is around 135-140 at best.

 

 

Mcgrath was 90MPH when he started his career in early 90s.He later became a line length seam bowler.Most commentators of that time also said the same.

Bishop was as quick as Waqar and Donald at his peak so he was a 150k bowler and not 145-150k.

Walsh was 140-145ks So was Ambrose.

You seem to have substracted 5ks off all their speeds.

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1 hour ago, sandeep said:

I feel sorry for that Joseph kid.  19 years old debutant and its almost as if hopes of entire team are riding on him.  That too in a test match.  Look at how Rabada was introduced to international cricket.  That's how its done.  Throwing a kid into a test match with a top team, its risking his development.  And sends the wrong messages to a Miguel Cummins or whoever else is on the fringe of test XI selection.

Don't think they will be putting pressure on the kid. If he is in the playing 11, they will just ask him to run in hard and bowl quick. That's what Marlon Samuels was saying when he was asked about Joseph - "Me? I would definitely play him," he said. "Fit, fast and fearless. When are you going to play him? At 25? He's 19 now, it's the best time to just let him go and enjoy himself and express himself." But he should be bowled in shorter spells.

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7 minutes ago, Malcolm Merlyn said:

Mcgrath was 90MPH when he started his career in early 90s.He later became a line length seam bowler.Most commentators of that time also said the same.

Bishop was as quick as Waqar and Donald at his peak so he was a 150k bowler and not 145-150k.

Walsh was 140-145ks So was Ambrose.

You seem to have substracted 5ks off all their speeds.

You're right on Mcgrath and Bishop but Walsh and Ambrose were never really quick in the air, they could get the ball to explode off the pitch at a discomforting bounce though. The important point here is that West Indies never had good spinners, so the bulk of overs had to be bowled by fast bowlers which would mean that Ambrose had to bowl 13-15 over spells many times. At best, I would say that they were as quick as Peter Siddle, brisk but not express.

 

In that 2001 Kolkata test, McGrath was getting no seam movement, so he was bowling in 135- 144 range to get batsmen beaten for pace.

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2 minutes ago, Malcolm Merlyn said:

Mcgrath was 90MPH when he started his career in early 90s.He later became a line length seam bowler.Most commentators of that time also said the same.

Bishop was as quick as Waqar and Donald at his peak so he was a 150k bowler and not 145-150k.

Walsh was 140-145ks So was Ambrose.

You seem to have substracted 5ks off all their speeds.

Steep bounce off the deck and bouncy pitches create an illusion of pace, especially for tall bowlers.  These did not generally bowl at the speeds that you mention.  There is no evidence of them doing so.

 

I remember one tour of  Zimbabwe by India....there were no speed guns...and everyone thought that  tall Unadkat was bowling quicker than short Shami.

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