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***Official*** West Indies in New Zealand 2017

Bahnz

Hall of Fame Member
van Beek really worked Hope over in that spell, his bowling has improved out of sight.
 

straw man

Hall of Fame Member
That was a god-awful shot from Blackwood - tried to hit a lofted straight drive to a ball short of a length from Van Beek.... so it went straight up.
 

Beamer

International Vice-Captain
That was a god-awful shot from Blackwood - tried to hit a lofted straight drive to a ball short of a length from Van Beek.... so it went straight up.
Ambris in and no matter what happens has looked far better than Blackwood. There has been some good bowling so far and the pitch looks decent with movement fr the seamers after 40 overs have been bowled. Excellent stream too.
 

straw man

Hall of Fame Member
Blackwood's scored some important runs for WI in recent times though? Not likely to be left out is he?

Ooh, Ambris looked plumb there unless he edge it.
 

Beamer

International Vice-Captain
Blackwood's scored some important runs for WI in recent times though? Not likely to be left out is he?

Ooh, Ambris looked plumb there unless he edge it.
Yeah I though he edged it but difficult to tell.

Blackwood has scored runs but his last few innings he's been out slogging basically. He's lost the plot.
 

morgieb

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Yeah I though he edged it but difficult to tell.

Blackwood has scored runs but his last few innings he's been out slogging basically. He's lost the plot.
Was Blackwood ever not a slogger? Pretty much everything I've seen of him suggest he never really had the plot.
 

Beamer

International Vice-Captain
Fascinating session. At first Van Beek and Ferguson looked lively and caused problems. Then Hope and Ambris made Bennett, Neesham and Astle look like cannon fodder by scoring at better than a run a ball.
 

Beamer

International Vice-Captain
Was Blackwood ever not a slogger? Pretty much everything I've seen of him suggest he never really had the plot.
As a youth cricketer he was a slogger. Than suddenly in 2014 he learned how to construct an innings and played a string of eye catching innings. He scored runs against New Zealand, England and South Africa. We thought the penny had dropped.

But this year he has been diabolical mostly and Ambris really looks the part so I'd certainly be dropping him.
 

Prince EWS

Global Moderator
So that's Ambris in for the first Test, then. Only question is whether it's Hetmyer or Blackwood who ends up left out.
 

straw man

Hall of Fame Member
Five-fer for Ferguson. Keep up this kind of performance and he's really going to push for a spot in the NZ test attack.
 

Beamer

International Vice-Captain
How's Ferguson's figures of 5-67 when the opposition scores 451/9 :blink:
He bowled so well. Nippy pace, lots of short balls and was still bowling briskly near close of play. He caused most batsmen problems. Only Ambris looked comfy against him really.

Speaking of which, Ambris and Hope looked a million dollars out there. Beautiful shots every single over. I really enjoyed watching them bat. They made Bennett look pedestrian and dealt with Astle and Neesham severely.
 

WindieWeathers

International Regular
I checked the score and it was 110/3, then a few hours later after a gruelling gym session I check it again and see Ambris has gone all "Sobers" on us :laugh: . Honestly though, what a f#cking knock by that young man :-O . And tbh he's been in incredible form all year really. Scored a double ton for Winwards earlier this year, and two tons for the A-team last month so he's probably done more than any batsman in recent times to earn a spot. Blackwood, when he was younger, used to be on the bench for Jamaica and getting a few chances here and there. He would often come in, score a quick 20 or 30 and then get out. But one day he came in and was really lighting up the place with big shots all over the park. And those 30s suddenly turned into 50s, and evenutally he got his first ton and followed that up with tons for the A-team. The one thing that always concerned me with Jermaine though is he's never really had a dominating season at first class level. He's play eye catching innings but never quite string together a consistent season for Jamaica. And that trend has followed him up to international level. He's played some remarkable innings. His knocks against England in Barbados virtually got us the win and a drawn series. He played a great 90 odd not out in Sri-lanka when all were falling around him, he done a similar thing in England in the embarrassing first test this year etc. So, I wouldn't be inclined to just totally dump the guy. BUT, I just want to see some growth from him instead of just staying as inconsistent as he's always been. Ambris deserves his spot in the side and we can only hope that this motivates Blackwood and forces him to take stock and improve on some things in the middle.

Now back to Ambris, like so many of our youngsters he was inconsistent a few years back. He had a season where he scored two tons and got into the A-team but then failed. But even when watching him when he played for the same WI u19s team as Kraigg, you could see he had loads of potential. And what encourages me is his two tons against SL-A were all done under huge pressure and all raging tuners against spin. And now he goes to NZ and scores on a pitch against pacers where the ball is moving around. So it shows very encouraging signs that he may be able to adapt his game accordingly.

Honestly though it just seems like we're finally seeing a lot of talented young batsmen rise up in the Caribbean finally and it's very exciting to see. For so long it was simply Kraigg and Darren Bravo who had come through with any competence to their games. Then Blackwood came along and now Shai Hope and Chase have stepped up etc. The Darren Bravo situation is still hurting us a little but we just have to pray that young Hetmyer takes his chance. He's very much like Blackwood but I think Hetty's celing is much higher as he's much better from a techical point of view.

Anyway should be interesting to see what our bowlings can do on this track. Hoping to see Roach, Gabby and Holder hit their strides quickly as they are gonna be vitally important to how we do in this series. Because as we saw in England, if they fire, then anything can happen.
 
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WindieWeathers

International Regular
He bowled so well. Nippy pace, lots of short balls and was still bowling briskly near close of play. He caused most batsmen problems. Only Ambris looked comfy against him really.

Speaking of which, Ambris and Hope looked a million dollars out there. Beautiful shots every single over. I really enjoyed watching them bat. They made Bennett look pedestrian and dealt with Astle and Neesham severely.
Beamer!!!..all these new batsmen coming up is rather exciting aye? :D Carty, Webster, Cariah, King, Allen, Cato, Paul, Nicholas, Jangoo etc all standing out in the first class competition this season aswell. Plus there are some major gems in the WI u19s that will be defending their title next year. Yadram, Kallicharan and Stewert bring just three names to mention. It's been a long time since we've seen this sort of talent coming up in the region imo and long may it continue.
 

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