Darren Sammy to be replaced as West Indies test captain

[G.I.Joe]

You'd have to think that if he's any good, he'll be a decent chance for completing the smallest ever time-gap between a father's retirement and a son's debut. Does anyone now what this is btw? I know that the time gap between Lance and Chris Cairns was pretty small (Lance retired after the Perth test in 1985, and Chris made his debut at the same ground slightly less than 4 years later), but I'm not sure if that's the record.

Tangenarine and Shiv had better work this out quick before Arjun Tendulkar decides to rain on their parade.

 

[WindieWeathers]

WW, now that all the domestic cricket is over, we know our captain and they have named the A side, what do you think the official 13 man squad will be for the first test at Sabina park? Lets see if anyone thinks similarly to our boneheaded selectors (I severely doubt it but lets give it a go!)

Here's my final guess:

1) Kieron Powell
2) Chris Gayle
3) Kirk Edwards
4) Marlon Samuels
5) Shivnarine Chanderpaul
6) Dwayne Bravo
7) Denesh Ramdin (C, WK)
8) Jerome Taylor
9) Sulieman Benn
10) Sunil Narine
11) Kemar Roach
12) Kraigg Braithwaite
13) Kenroy Peters

Notes:

- Like you said, there are strong rumours going around that Darren Bravo is still not mentally ready to return to test cricket.
- I personally wouldn't pick Dwayne Bravo yet as he has been injured but Ramdin's captaincy interview strongly hinted that he will be back to allow them to regularly play 2 spinners.
- I think Jason Holder's lack of cricket and sitting on the bench at IPL while Kenroy Peters wreaked havoc in our domestic competition will unfortunately count against him. If Roach isn't fit, Holder might well get a place in the squad.
- I really like Jonathan Carter but our selectors are conservative and I really doubt they will pick him unless he scores lots for the A team. Same thing for Leon Johnson and Jerrmaine Blackwood, who is the best young right handed batsman I have seen in the Caribbean since Sarwan.

Beamer!!..well done for setting the record straight regarding Sammy. I think some fans who have seen him from afar perhaps see his charming smile and "hard working" attitude and think he added something of value to our test side...but the truth is a different story. For me i could have accepted the man for a few years maybe but when it got to the point where his place in the side was set in stone regardless of how poor he performed then it just turned mine and almost every other WI fan's stomach...and in the end his position just became toxic.

Anyway this is the training squad for the NZ test series

Denesh Ramdin (captain), Chris Gayle, Kraigg Brathwaite, Keiran Powell, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Kirk Edwards, Jermaine Blackwood, Sunil Narine, Shannon Gabriel, Jerome Taylor, Sulieman Benn, Shane Shillingford, Kenroy Peters, Shane Dowrich, Ashley Nurse, Jason Holder and Kemar Roach

Which i'm delighted with tbh...it's certainly an indication that two spinners are certain to play, and it's great to see Darren in there after all the speculation...word is he's been doing well for his club side and is looking back to his old self so thats great. Also Roach has been training hard in the nets and is set to play for his club side while also being considered for the warm up matches vs NZ...if he comes through them fine then he'll be playing.

The opening slot is gonna be interesting..personally i'd go with Brathwaite, cause even though Powell has scored tons his form has been erratic while Kraigg just continues to impress and score big scores. The other five probably pick themselves although Samuels position might be in doubt if he doesn't sort himself out QUICK...young Blackwood is a handy little off-spinner himself so could easily take that number six position.

As for the pacers...we have PLENTY coming through...Cummings, Cotterrell, Delorn Johnson, Beaton and of course Holder...there's also other prospects like Raun Johnson who impressed me when he played for Guyana..it's just a matter of giving them better pitches and more games to hone their skills which should be the case when our new four day competition starts in November.

In the spin department it will be interesting to see how Narine and Benn play...i think it will be those two who are chosen in the end and i think they could cause serious problems for the kiwis tbh...well see .

 

[Beamer]

I'm delighted with the training squad too. After doing such a horrible job in India and New Zealand it appears they have finally got their act together. If we lose to the Kiwis this time we have absolutely no excuse as that is pretty much the best group of players they could have chosen at this time.

I'd also go with Braithwaite over Powell but I just have a feeling the selectors are sweet on Powell. KB will help himself by learning to rotate the strike more and thus upping his strike rate as that is many peoples reservation when it comes to his batting.

I'm extremely excited to see Jermaine Blackwood in the squad. He is such a talent and I really enjoyed watching him bat in our domestic competition.

 

[Hurricane]

Bring back Xavier Marshall IMO