Group B - Ireland, Scotland, West Indies, Zimbabwe

[Burgey]

****ing Raza man.

Raza uber alles

 

[Burgey]

Well done to Ireland, but jeez - struggling to remember seeing a worse performance by WI.

Man they’ve basically specialised on sporadically woeful performances since the late 90s

 

[Burgey]

Raza key, obv. He, Ervine and maybe some biff from Jongwe at the end.

Jongwe been a very valuable contributor for them tbh.

 

[straw man]

Congrats Zim, deserving qualifiers.

Scotland did a Namibia - beat the Full Member team and lost to the other two associates.
(associates-ish... What do Zim count as these days?)

 

[TheJediBrah]

Deserved result. Scotland ****ed it with dreadful middle-overs batting and Ervine & Raza played beautifully to ensure the win

 

[Chubb]

Oh thank **** for that.

 

[Beamer]

There’s some really good cricketers among the minnows but WI should still be ashamed of themselves

The reality is this current team is "minnow" level in white ball cricket. We only win games occasionally through indiviudal brilliance, there is no team plan or obvious strategy. Our team management and selectors deserve some flack too for being so inconsistent in their approach. Ultimately we don't deserve a place in this World Cup. Hopefully it is a white ball wake up call.

 

[Stefan9]

Congrats Zim, deserving qualifiers.

Scotland did a Namibia - beat the Full Member team and lost to the other two associates.
(associates-ish... What do Zim count as these days?)

Same as Ireland and Afghanistan. Test status nations but no one willing to play them as it doesn't earn enough $$$.

 

[Xuhaib]

I like current Zims not sure how long will last, hopefully Siks will have a gun main round

 

[pomnotenglish]

@pomnotenglish would you say the west indies limited-overs sides play a brand of "calypso cricket", overly reliant on athleticism and fasttwitch reaction time and entertaining when it comes off but ultimately lazy and unsustainable when it doesn't?

Everything about them seems unsustainable to me. The thing is I have been closely following their cricket (all formats) for the last 25 years or so and apart from a few flashes in the pan, I don't see any overall change in their way of playing or administration of the game. When I look at the current lot for example, did you feel they showed even an iota of responsibility or hunger with the bat or the ball in this world cup? To me, they were like tourists on an all-expenses paid trip to Australia.
My issue with them goes beyond the concept of performance on the field. It has to do more with their overall attitude and approach toward the game. As a fan, I feel deeply cheated and hurt, hence I don't have much hope for these players. Sure, they might delight once in a blue moon with a rollicking performance but when it comes to things like consistency, discipline and responsibility these are alien concepts for them it seems.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Moments like these are when radical changes are welcomed.

We suck. We sold our souls to the paper.

Mo money. No problems

 

[Beamer]

Everything about them seems unsustainable to me. The thing is I have been closely following their cricket (all formats) for the last 25 years or so and apart from a few flashes in the pan, I don't see any overall change in their way of playing or administration of the game. When I look at the current lot for example, did you feel they showed even an iota of responsibility or hunger with the bat or the ball in this world cup? To me, they were like tourists on an all-expenses paid trip to Australia.
My issue with them goes beyond the concept of performance on the field. It has to do more with their overall attitude and approach toward the game. As a fan, I feel deeply cheated and hurt, hence I don't have much hope for these players. Sure, they might delight once in a blue moon with a rollicking performance but when it comes to things like consistency, discipline and responsibility these are alien concepts for them it seems.

Two world cup wins and a Champions trophy is a flash in the pan?

Whilst you make some good points, I think your position is too simple and doesn't acknowledge our red ball side who generally works their arse off, with players like Kraigg and Josh Da Silva.

Your perception of laziness might be a little.....unfair.

 

[Starfighter]

Two world cup wins and a Champions trophy is a flash in the pan?

Whilst you make some good points, I think your position is too simple and doesn't acknowledge our red ball side who generally works their arse off, with players like Kraigg and Josh Da Silva.

Your perception of laziness might be a little.....unfair.

Not many people of the kind who frequent this forum care about the T20 World Cup and I was six when they won the Champions' Trophy.

I think @pomnotenglish is wide of the mark when it comes to players not necessarily putting in the effort*. Trouble is my alternative diagnosis is that they're just not very good, especially when it comes to the red ball side. WI's test batting average since '15 has been 25, which is ****.

I would put them as being more competitive than around 2015 but that's a reeealllyyyy low bar to clear. Fact is posts, threads, and on other websites, articles about WI turning the corner come with unfailing regularity. I haven't seen indications that WI is going to produce batsmen of the quality needed any time soon.

*though IMO some don't

 

[Beamer]

Not many people of the kind who frequent this forum care about the T20 World Cup and I was six when they won the Champions' Trophy.

I think @pomnotenglish is wide of the mark when it comes to players not necessarily putting in the effort*. Trouble is my alternative diagnosis is that they're just not very good, especially when it comes to the red ball side. WI's test batting average since '15 has been 25, which is ****.

I would put them as being more competitive than around 2015 but that's a reeealllyyyy low bar to clear. Fact is posts, threads, and on other websites, articles about WI turning the corner come with unfailing regularity. I haven't seen indications that WI is going to produce batsmen of the quality needed any time soon.

*though IMO some don't

Unfortunately the work on our batting has been happening at the grassroots level and will only start making an impact on young players emerging over the next 3 - 5 years.

I do have faith it will work because we had similar problems with pacers 10 years ago which we have resolved fairly handily.

It's going to require lots of patience from West Indies fans.

 

[pomnotenglish]

Few people here have confused my post as being about individual players themselves.

Probably, I was not clear in expressing myself but I was talking about qualities such as consistency, discipline and responsibility on part of both players and the administration.

I am not talking about individual names here. My point is that the above qualities have to be cultivated over time and that is something WI has been missing sorely in the last so many years. Why? That is a million-dollar question that doesn’t have an easy answer.

Skills differ from individual to individual and might be more or less but a sense of purpose, some discipline, and responsibility can be cultivated over a period of time. That is where I don’t see the needle moving forward for WI collectively as a team.

Change has to come from the grassroots level. Clearly, the grassroots have not changed much in the last 20-plus years.
Having said the above, everything I have written above is just my viewpoint and not something set in stone. I rest my case here.