Are WI finally on the rise?

[Gambit]

It's taken a long time but the signs are encouraging. It all started with Lara's exit. The team at times seemed to be dwarfed by his presence but once he left, the youngsters along with a few 'seniors' like Sarwan,Gayle and Chanderpaul start to gel together. They were decent in England, terrific in RSA where they managed to win a test and managed to draw a test against Sri Lanka in WI. Now they've given Australia a pretty good fight in this series. They were in with a chance to win in both the first and the third test but inexperience in winning games cost them. Signs look good for WI.

[Cricketics]

yes, after the retirement of lara, windies have surprsingly improved on their game and players like Bravo, edwards have been really good for this side.. they might have lost the series by 2-0, but they played some really good test cricket in this series, and had their moments. i hope they can show this much fight whenever they tour overseas

[Gambit]

Bishop and Adams talked about most WI players not realising when they were in a winning situation. It's almost as if they know they are going to lose and seem to treat a positive or favourable situation as a fleeting anamoly. This inexperience has cost them many a game in the recent past but once they start to draw tight games and sneak in the odd win, they will start to win again.

[satishg]

yea i agree with u..they are doing much better now than wat they were wen the Prince was around..im sure Lara wud be really happy now to see the team performing the way they are..like yea it wud have been gud had they won atleast one of the test matches in this series coz they really had aussies on the mat on more than one occasion but somehow they seem to throw the advantage away..hope they learn quickly..also i wud love to see Ramdin contributing more with his bat..he is actually a gud talent and he did perform very well against us..so im quite surprised y he is not performing that well..they need someone else to fire in the middle order they are too reliant on Shiv..so if someone else performs consistently that wud be gr8 for this team..Marshall seems to be a very gud prospect hope he turns out to be better than Sarwan..coz Sarwan for all the talent he has has been an under achiever..and their bowling also looks more than decent..so all in all gud signs for the windies..:two_thumbs_up:

[King]

Oh no.... I don't want to hear this. I've heard WI are on the rise since a decade and a half. They just lost 2-0 at home (they usually do well at home) and we are singing praises of them. I guess they have set such low standards even a little fight sounds like they have won the series. They are not on the up and I can't see how they can win series' knowing they have stuffed up from situations from where they could have taken control of the game.

[Gambit]

Oh no.... I don't want to hear this. I've heard WI are on the rise since a decade and a half. They just lost 2-0 at home (they usually do well at home) and we are singing praises of them. I guess they have set such low standards even a little fight sounds like they have won the series. They are not on the up and I can't see how they can win series' knowing they have stuffed up from situations from where they could have taken control of the game.

Ravi, these guys had fallen to such a level where they were getting whitewashed by team after team left right and center. I remember that almost every top test playing nation whitewashed WI in home test series between 2002 and 2005(India beat them 2-0 and drew the 3rd test.) Last year and the performance in this series shows a lot of promise. They managed to win a test in RSA of all places, where since RSA's readmission, WI have been butchered. Even in England last year, they put up a fight and IIRC made nearly 400 chasing 450 in one of the tests. Sure, on paper, OZ beat them 2-0 but each and everyone of the tests were keenly contested and there was no outright winner until the last day/session. They are not going to turn the corner in a day. It will take time and this WI team seems to have some fight to it.

[printex]

Yes,they are improving

[Dhondy]

They need to play Pakistan to feel really good about themselves.:D

[gs]

They need to play Pakistan to feel really good about themselves.:D

I dont think they'll like the tag of minnow bashers after competing so well with the Aussies :giggle:

[punjabi_khota]

Their batsmen are mostly swashbuckler types, and couldn't care less about team situation. Other than of course, the superman with the most ugly stance and average almost 50. That has and will hurt them the most in test cricket, since its all about building big partnerships. Sarwan's poor conversion rate from 50s to 100s is one example. And their captain Gayle plays all kinds of irresponsible strokes at top of the order. Somehow, they don't seem to learn.

[Ram]

Its so heartwarming to see the Windies do so well. Few of the main reasons for the resuergence: Their pace battery of Edwards+Taylor+Powell and Shivnarine Chanderpaul That guy is TRULY unbelievable!

[veer]

on the rise?? what you talking about?? take chanders out and you have above par minnow test playing country.. take out sarwan and bravo and u will have a minnow playin country.. chanders left 2-3 years in him.. and then wat?

[Guest Hiten.]

on the rise?? what you talking about?? take chanders out and you have above par minnow test playing country.. take out sarwan and bravo and u will have a minnow playin country.. chanders left 2-3 years in him.. and then wat?

Why take them out, first of all ? As you said Chanders has 2-3 years left and that is a good amount of time for a team to find a replacement for him.

[chanakya]

they should really play more cricket in the Carri bean itself. Their bowling is nearly international test match standard already. Some of their batsmen need to learn from Chanderpaul.

[Desi Cartman]

on the rise?? what you talking about?? take chanders out and you have above par minnow test playing country.. take out sarwan and bravo and u will have a minnow playin country.. chanders left 2-3 years in him.. and then wat?

what ? How well will india do without its top 3 (SRT , VVS/RD and Kumble) or for that matter even Aussies find it tough without Hayden so if u take Hayden , ponting and lee out then they might also struggle ... You can only judge a team by the playing XI

[Desi Cartman]

every time I see Bravo do well it reminds me of what Flintoff told him 4-5 years ago . Bravo was just starting his career at that time and in a test match flintoff gave him a mouthful and when Bravo replied, flintoff got annoyed and replied "we will see where you are in 3 years time ..bla bla bla ". I know flintoff is an exceptional talent but it seems Bravo is more useful cuz he is available to play !

[theguyinallblue]

Punjabi K is right to some extent that WI batsmen play test cricket in ODI style..except of course some players of Indian origin like Chanders or Ram Naresh Sarwan..etc.. Their bowling is looking good..but lack a quality spinner...a quality spinner is a necessity in a good test team.. for example...England...unless monty came..they were poor...now with return of monty....they have won many tests because of him.... so IMO...a good spinner and another Shiva type run accumulator will greatly help the WI team to seriously give other top test teams like India, Eng and SA...a run for their money.... Their players are gaining confidence...the way WI team fought aussies...it will boost their confidence... now only if Gayle grows some brain cells...and play test cricket...as it should be played..

[flamy]

Punjabi K is right to some extent that WI batsmen play test cricket in ODI style..except of course some players of Indian origin like Chanders or Ram Naresh Sarwan..etc.. Their bowling is looking good..but lack a quality spinner...a quality spinner is a necessity in a good test team.. for example...England...unless monty came..they were poor...now with return of monty....they have won many tests because of him.... so IMO...a good spinner and another Shiva type run accumulator will greatly help the WI team to seriously give other top test teams like India, Eng and SA...a run for their money.... Their players are gaining confidence...the way WI team fought aussies...it will boost their confidence... now only if Gayle grows some brain cells...and play test cricket...as it should be played..

so basically these teams need Indian blood to have any hopes of performing at the Test level. :isalute:

[veer]

what ? How well will india do without its top 3 (SRT , VVS/RD and Kumble) or for that matter even Aussies find it tough without Hayden so if u take Hayden , ponting and lee out then they might also struggle ... You can only judge a team by the playing XI

ok ..WI 0-2 in own backyard.. with all 3.. :two_thumbs_up: and India 1-1 in their backyard with all 3 .. mind you.. we almost had a win at sydney.. see the difference?

[Predator_05]

WI are always supposed to be "on the rise", but these "rises" never materialise. I heard a lot of the same stuff right after their world record breaking 4th innings chase back in '03, and Lara even went as far as to claim that his side won't lose another test series that year. We all know what happened to them in South Africa shortly after. I wouldn't get carried away by this one test series - WI's team is still good enough to produce one good performance a year, but they are a terrible team on the road and still a very beatable side at home. England will smash them when they tour WI next spring.