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West Indies, prospects?

Anil

Hall of Fame Member
Mr Mxyzptlk said:
No. Everyone should support the West Indies team out of pity. It's not like the West Indies ever had a good time in this game of cricket. True hard luck story, they are.
you are kidding right? the past 6-7 years have not been kind to them but ever???
 

Matt79

Global Moderator
It would be great leading into "their" World Cup for the Windies to win the CT. If Australia are not to win, I would like to see the Windies take it out.
 

tooextracool

International Coach
Mr Mxyzptlk said:
* haul

And no, it wasn't a fluke. Dwayne Bravo put in the hard yards for that. And to suggest that a 6-wicket haul against Australia in Australia is a fluke is pushing it a tad.

The thing about Bravo is not that he can't bowl accurately, but that he gets bored too easily. Too often he tries to make things happen at times when he would be better served to continue to plug away on a line and length. That's the kind of cricketer Bravo is - he tries to make things happen all the time. I don't agree with that mentality entirely though, as I believe that in order to be successful - especially in ODIs - you have to learn to allow things to happen as well.

The dismissal of Clarke today shows why he's so essential to the team though, because he can do things like that under pressure. He's the kind of character the West Indies team needs, because he seems to thrive under pressure and always seems upbeat, regardless of his personal or the team's situation.

With time he will mature, I have no doubt, and learn the service of bowling tight spells. Lest we forget, he just turned 23.

Theres no doubting that he has a lot of potential for his age. But for mine his 6 wickets against Australia wasnt well deserved because it was more poor batting than it was good bowling to be honest. There were few wicket taking balls bowled and plenty of poor shots all around. I think too much is made about his bowling when he doesnt do much other than get the ball to reverse a little bit. I like his attitude and never say die character but i also think that bowling is more about consistency and variety than it is about bowling the odd clever slower ball to Clarke.
 

Mr Mxyzptlk

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tooextracool said:
Theres no doubting that he has a lot of potential for his age. But for mine his 6 wickets against Australia wasnt well deserved because it was more poor batting than it was good bowling to be honest. There were few wicket taking balls bowled and plenty of poor shots all around. I think too much is made about his bowling when he doesnt do much other than get the ball to reverse a little bit. I like his attitude and never say die character but i also think that bowling is more about consistency and variety than it is about bowling the odd clever slower ball to Clarke.
How much variety does a player need to be successful though? Bravo has a lot of variety - too miuch. He has a great slower ball and he uses it well. He's also proven that he can bowl a good yorker when needed. Then, as you say, he can reverse swing the ball. That's three big tools. That's a helluva lot of variety.

The problem with Bravo is that he tries too much when he should just be bowling line and length sometimes, without the variety.
 

tooextracool

International Coach
Mr Mxyzptlk said:
How much variety does a player need to be successful though? Bravo has a lot of variety - too miuch. He has a great slower ball and he uses it well. He's also proven that he can bowl a good yorker when needed. Then, as you say, he can reverse swing the ball. That's three big tools. That's a helluva lot of variety.

The problem with Bravo is that he tries too much when he should just be bowling line and length sometimes, without the variety.
enough variety to be able to trouble batsmen in most conditions. Bravo doesnt have the pace to trouble too many batsmen, nor does he have the height. therefore hes more or less relying upon variations in his bowling to get wickets.
Slower balls arent going to get very many batsmen out in test match cricket, no matter how well you disguise it. It maybe a useful tool in ODIs but in tests its not really worth much other than the odd surprise delivery. A yorker isnt really a variation, unless you want to call it a variation in length, which would be similar to saying so and so has a good bouncer. His one major asset is that he can get the ball to reverse, but even with that hes more or less restricted to taking wickets after the ball is 50 overs old, nor is he exactly a master of the art as someone like Simon Jones or Waqar Younis was. Yes as he gets older he'll add to his bowling in terms of variety, but to be honest with you, i dont ever see Bravo becoming anything more than a handy bowler that can break partnerships and bowl the odd decent delivery without ever being a strike bowler.
 

Mr Mxyzptlk

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tooextracool said:
i dont ever see Bravo becoming anything more than a handy bowler that can break partnerships and bowl the odd decent delivery without ever being a strike bowler.
I don't think anyone expects Bravo to become a strike bowler. That doesn't mean he's not talented enough to become a really good bowler though. He takes wickets. If he can bowl economically between those wicket-taking deliveries, he'll have a lower average.
 

tooextracool

International Coach
Mr Mxyzptlk said:
I don't think anyone expects Bravo to become a strike bowler. That doesn't mean he's not talented enough to become a really good bowler though. He takes wickets. If he can bowl economically between those wicket-taking deliveries, he'll have a lower average.
He may do so, but i think he is a mediocre one at the moment despite having a bit of potential and age on his side.
 

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