**Official** West Indies in England 2012

[Flem274*]

Originally Posted by WindieWeathers

Well i don't think i'll have to for too long!!.. Gayle is back, Rampaul is back, Jerome Taylor is training again and Narine will be back from the IPL soon!! .

I'm starting to doubt Jerome Taylor will play test cricket again. He's been on the recovery wagon how long now?

It's a shame.

[WindieWeathers]

Originally Posted by Jono

Agree with TT. Was about to come here and say that Sammy is adding more to the team than Fidel. Can't drop him.

Sammy is being dropped for Rampaul and Fidel for Shilly!!.. at the end of the day Sammy is meant to be a BOWLER, and quite frankly he's not cutting it at test level.

[flibbertyjibber]

Originally Posted by TT Boy

Sammy is still better value to the team right now than Peter or Fidel, so should play until the Windies have a 3rd quick of reputable quality. Samuels, Ramdin and then Rampaul at 8, that’s pretty iffy. Dwayne Bravo would be a nice number 8, not good enough for top six, probably too good for 8 but batting average is closer to Broad than it is of a test batsman.

Bravo would be a good number 7 if fit and committed.

Surely Andre Russell would be a better option than Sammy too, similar bat but a much more dangerous bowler. It isn't as though there aren't options for WI. Trouble is would the team be as committed under someone else as they have been of late.

[WindieWeathers]

Originally Posted by Flem274*

I'm starting to doubt Jerome Taylor will play test cricket again. He's been on the recovery wagon how long now?

It's a shame.

Yeah i'd say it's 50-50, the latest is he's training hard with one of his cricket coaches back in Jamaica in order to get fit for the domestic one day competition later this year, i think he's been a massive loss to us because he does everything Sammy does only ten times better, still only 27 though and if he can be managed right this time then i'm confident he can come back for us.

[Jono]

Originally Posted by WindieWeathers

Sammy is being dropped for Rampaul and Fidel for Shilly!!.. at the end of the day Sammy is meant to be a BOWLER, and quite frankly he's not cutting it at test level.

Well if the other players adding less value than Sammy are dropped, then yes, I have no issue with Sammy being dropped.

[WindieWeathers]

Originally Posted by flibbertyjibber

Bravo would be a good number 7 if fit and committed.

Surely Andre Russell would be a better option than Sammy too, similar bat but a much more dangerous bowler. It isn't as though there aren't options for WI. Trouble is would the team be as committed under someone else as they have been of late.

If you're not winning games does it really matter who the leader is? imo we need the best eleven on the park to have the best chance of winning, and the best elevel simply does include Sammy.

Andre is a good call but his bowling of late (apart from a few good spells vs aus) has left a lot to be desired, the one we're all waiting on is Jason Holder to be honest, many believe he could be the next Ambrose and he's rated much higher than Gabriel, he's in the A-team right now that's gonna play three four day games vs India-A in the next month or so so if he does well his name is gonna be in the frame, he's also handy with the bat too.

[wellAlbidarned]

Where's the Sammy love? The guy is a solid all-round player, the WI need more like him. Who gives a **** if he can't bowl a bouncer and hit the sight-screen on the full.

[WindieWeathers]

Originally Posted by Jono

Well if the other players adding less value than Sammy are dropped, then yes, I have no issue with Sammy being dropped.

Powell will be dropped for Gayle, so who else should be dropped? i don't see anyone, Kirk Edwards has had a tough time in England but he still averages in the 40s so he deserves a chance, other than that no-one else is gonna be dropped.

[Jono]

No I am agreeing with you. If Fidel and Powel go out as well as Sammy, fair deal.

[BackFootPunch]

Originally Posted by WindieWeathers

Edwards (c)

Are you sure Edwards is the best man to lead, given he scored just 1 run in the first Test? (To be fair he got sold down the river in the 2nd dig)

I think part of why I feel Sammy is actually the best guy to captain is because if/when he gets the sack you're not exactly getting rid of a potentially world-class player. If he performs and the team performs then great, no need to change anything. If, however, he sucks then he's pretty expendable. The team is undeniably improving at the moment, whether that has anything to do with Sammy is hard to know. But there's no point getting rid of him when replacing his captaincy means putting an unnecessary burden on a young guy and there isn't an obviously superior all-rounder available. What happens if you give Edwards the job and his runs dry up? There goes your most impressive young player after Bravo.

Roach, Rampaul, Sammy, Shillingford is a pretty decent attack I reckon. Playing Gabriel or Edwards wouldn't add a whole lot.

[roseboy64]

Originally Posted by Flem274*

I'm starting to doubt Jerome Taylor will play test cricket again. He's been on the recovery wagon how long now?

It's a shame.

From what I've pieced together he pretty much was happy with the Stanford money and didn't really feel like playing cricket again. Plus he lives on the western side of the island and had his rehab sessions in the east. The current head coach was his coach in high school and lives near him and it's he who Jerome is working with now. Seems there's some effort now from him to get back to the game.

[roseboy64]

Tino Best drafted into the squad. Clearly an injury to one of the bowlers.

[vic_orthdox]

I don't think Gabriel was that good that you'd have him in the team in front of Sammy. Was pretty uninspiring.

EDIT: not that there's "nothing" to work with, but give him a taste, maybe a few ODIs, and see if there's some further improvement. He's not ready yet, IMO.

[TT Boy]

Originally Posted by roseboy64

Tino Best drafted into the squad. Clearly an injury to one of the bowlers.

If anyone says Sammy should be dropped when the Windies are drafting in guys like this needs to button up,

[TT Boy]

Originally Posted by WindieWeathers

Powell will be dropped for Gayle, so who else should be dropped? i don't see anyone, Kirk Edwards has had a tough time in England but he still averages in the 40s so he deserves a chance, other than that no-one else is gonna be dropped.

And he averaged in the 50s before the 1st test and it’s likely to be sub 40 if he plays to type in the second. He isn’t a number three and looks technically very short and even when amassing runs against India and Bangladesh looked pretty limited. Reminds me a bit of Runako Morton actually.