Messages

1

Cricket Anyone / Re: TT vs Barbados - Four Day, April 10-13. QPO

« on: April 10, 2013, 10:18:22 PM »

I took in the Barbados innings. Our bowling was good, nothing spectacular, just steady and the pitch was a little uneven with the bounce, but nothing that proper application couldn't overcome. Our bowlers lost focus when they got to the tail and start to bowl short. We've only gone past 200 against Guyana, CCC and the Leewards, teams who will finish below us in the league anyway. We need to do better against Barbados, Jamaica and Windwards. The batting in the region needs to get better.

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Football / Re: Thread for the T&T vs Peru Game (26-Mar-2013).

« on: March 26, 2013, 10:06:02 PM »

Poorly defended. Men looking for throw to be taken on exact spot and forget that they aren't refs.

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What about Track & Field / Re: Oscar Pistorius 'shoots girlfirend'

« on: February 17, 2013, 01:21:09 PM »

I still find this whole thing unbelievable.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/9874979/Oscar-Pistorius-Reeva-Steenkamp-gives-haunting-TV-interview.html

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Football / Re: "You'll Never Walk Alone" - de Official Liverpool thread

« on: February 17, 2013, 01:01:17 PM »

Thank goodness for Swansea's upcoming Cup Final at Wembley.

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Cricket Anyone / Re: TnT vs WWI 4 day game .

« on: February 17, 2013, 12:54:21 PM »

Look at the Ja vs. Bds game this season and Barataria's last post to hone in on part of the problem. T20 cricket hides flaws because it is a game of high risk / high rewards. Test Match/First Class cricket is about patience and good sense. West Indian cricketers are in short supply of patience and sense so our cricket suffers for it. We have problems putting together inning scores in excess of 200 when 360 overs are available for play. We batted for a total of 105 overs and the Windwards needed 81 to beat us. That's barely half of the available overs used up. We had 3 individual scores over 20 in TOTAL against what can hardly be described as an intimidating attack. 5 of our players have Test match experience while only Smith from the Windwards has any.

Last year in around 12 or 13 innings we were bowled out for under 200 seven times while getting to 300 plus three times. We won a match by over 150 runs despite never getting to 230 in either innings and in our semi-final defeat we batted fewer than 90 overs in total. The more of that kind of mediocrity the regional game continues to produce the longer this lean spell in anything longer than 20 overs will last.

Rally Round the West Indies and Red Force.

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Cricket Anyone / Re: Cozier: Try Pollard in Zimbabwe Test i cricinfo

« on: February 17, 2013, 12:16:08 PM »

Nobody had any comments about this? I figured people would be screaming for his inclusion. While I'm not sure that he's ready for Test Match cricket, Cozier is right in suggesting that this Zimbabwe Series is as good as any to try him out. He can't be worse than some of the others there. I wonder if Big Bravo will get a look in.

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Cricket Anyone / Re: ICC Women's World Cup 2013 (ODI)

« on: February 17, 2013, 12:08:18 PM »

I was disappointed watching our batting performance, but still pleased that we made it to the final. Their fielding effort wasn't the best that I've seen from them, but the 30 or so runs they gifted the Aussies hardly made a difference given the margin of defeat (although we can argue scoreboard pressure). The batsmen soaked up too many dot balls, but as I said, we played in the final and we did fight hard. Ultimately, the better team won. Congrats to both teams.

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Cricket Anyone / Re: Caribbean T20 Tournament

« on: January 22, 2013, 10:10:21 PM »

If the format is simply to reform regional teams then why bother with this competition at all? Who cares if Pollard plays for a team that hails from Barbados? Wouldn't our players stand to gain from playing against quality players, regardless of the island they come from? Why do we have to wait for the IPL to see Narine go up against Pollard or Bravo? Wouldn't Beaton from Guyana get better rubbing sharing dressing rooms with guys who have IPL, Big Bash or CL experience?

Being Kings of a dung heap is nothing to boast overlong about. I'm happy we won this tournament for the third year running, but we have to keep that accomplishment in perspective. We were good enough to win that tournament without Pollard, Narine, Cooper or Bravo that's how unconvincing the competition was. Gayle played 2 matches and outscored everyone except Lil Bravo and Barnwell. Leewards scored less than 100 twice and only cleared 120 twice in 6 innings. Barbados crossed 100 twice as well and past 120 once. Pathetic! Some of you might wish for us to go it alone as much as we want, but that isn't happening. In the meantime wouldn't cricket in the region make us happier if the quality improved? I'm not sure that this franchise thing is going to "rescue" cricket in the region, but I am pretty certain that regurgitating the same product in a different marketing package is pointless.

9

Cricket Anyone / Re: Caribbean T20 Tournament

« on: January 21, 2013, 09:13:00 PM »

We need more quality competition in the region. This provides an opportunity to have the best in the region play against each other more regularly. That can only be good for everybody.

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Cricket Anyone / Re: West Indies vs South Africa T20 (Women) January 19 - 20

« on: January 21, 2013, 09:06:13 PM »

I hope they'll be firing like this for the World Cup. India, England and Sri Lanka in our group.

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Cricket Anyone / Re: Caribbean T20 Tournament

« on: January 16, 2013, 10:25:23 PM »

That Dwayne Smith run out is worse than bush league cricket. The term for it is Mankading, after V. Mankad of India back in the 30s or 40s (too lazy to do the research). By convention, Smith should have warned Bravo before running him out in that manner. Furthermore the rule was changed to allow this type of run out to stand to prevent batsmen from attempting to steal runs. Bravo was in the course of a normal back up rather than running early making it even more distasteful. Good teams never resort to such a cheap way to get wickets. Ian Bishop was no better than Smith with that bullshit "it's in the rules so the spirit of the game doesn't apply" nonsense. He's got no spine and while I thought Ramdin could have have shown a bit more tact during his interview I respect that he addressed the issue directly and honestly. I don't even think that there are 10 instances of run outs of this nature in either Test Match or ODI cricket. Courtney Walsh famously didn't run out a batsman (last out too) when he was well within his rights to do so and the Windies went on to lose the match in the 1987 World Cup. Either last year or 2011 India recalled an appeal against a Sri Lankan batsman who was legitimately out in this manner.

12

Cricket Anyone / Re: ICC World Twenty20 2012

« on: October 05, 2012, 02:38:10 PM »

84 runs came from the long ball. It doesn't make sense trying to get this team to play for 1s or 2s. Their strength is in their big hitting and that is what they need to play to in the final. In the match in which they scored 190 they hit 11 sixes. So to be successful it is not their approach that needs to change, it is the execution. I don't like the large number of dot balls they face, but in the end we need to accept that their style is their style. They'll either blow opposition away or be blown away.

I'm looking forward to watching the replay later tonight. I was hoping for a win from the women, but when I saw the Aussies go past the 100 I figured it would be difficult from there. The good news is a lot of their better players aren't 25 yet. There's time for growth.

13

Cricket Anyone / Re: ICC World Twenty20 2012

« on: October 05, 2012, 04:00:42 AM »

Not getting the match on Flow's cable.  3 run 15th bowled by Taylor. 78/4 after 15 overs. I'm hoping we can chase what might be a small target.

14

Cricket Anyone / Re: TTCB replaces ‘more money’ players

« on: October 05, 2012, 03:56:36 AM »

THE FULL TEAM will be playing.
Saw it on the news tonight. Suruj Ragoonath said there was an issue but it was dealt with.

VB

As in, "We folded to their demands." Steups!

15

Cricket Anyone / Re: ICC World Twenty20 2012

« on: October 04, 2012, 03:37:24 PM »

The women have a more difficult task I think based on history. Plus, their one loss in the tournament came against Sri Lanka - arguably the weakest team in the tournament.

The men are still too inconsistent and the bowling continues to be a concern, but hopefully the pitch condition works in our favour. Just as Gayle is the man to get for the Aussies, Watson is the man to get for us.

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Cricket Anyone / Re: TTCB replaces ‘more money’ players

« on: October 04, 2012, 03:32:21 PM »

This is their job, so this country first thing is not an argument. They not taking time off from a job in Petrotrin to go play, cricket is how they pay their bills. That said, demanding money received to compensate the absence of Bravo, Pollard and Narine doesn't make any sense. Why should they be entitled to that? That is the issue. I also continue to lose respect for WIPA and their policy of "ransom" negotiations. Every disagreement can't be a cause for strike action. I would like to see disciplinary action against the 5 players. I am all for them being paid fairly, but they in turn must be fair in their demands and responsible in their actions. They have been neither here.

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Cricket Anyone / Re: ICC World Twenty20 2012

« on: October 03, 2012, 08:44:08 PM »

If there were no Super Overs in the Super 8s the points would have looked like this:

Sri Lanka - 5 points: 2 wins x 2 and 1 win
West Indies - 3 points: 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss
England - 2 points: 1 win, 2 losses
New Zealand 2 points: 0 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss

So I don't see what all the fuss is about. Why is it unfair for a team to win no matches to go through because they played well? Obviously they didn't play well enough to win even though they had the opportunities.

I wouldn't drop Ramdin for a non-specialist either, but Pollard hasn't been convincing. The thing is you never know when that big innings will come from him. Is it worth the risk to wait for it?

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Cricket Anyone / Re: Chanderpaul and his son make runs!!

« on: October 01, 2012, 03:12:34 PM »

He have such a big son? Wow!

19

Cricket Anyone / Re: ICC World Twenty20 2012

« on: October 01, 2012, 03:09:22 PM »

You want them to complain about the absurdity of a Super Over in non-knockout games.

This is a quote from one of the post match articles. The interesting thing about this view is that Super Overs have been a part of T20 cricket from the start, before there was a World Cup in the format. Why now, when it is easy to feel sorry for NZ does it become an issue? Complain from the very beginning, not just when "justice" wasn't served. I also saw another complaint about boundaries hit being a match decider ahead of wickets taken. Again, that is not new and they are both quite arbitrary as  separator... why complain now?

We made tough work of NZ but I'm pleased to be in the semis. Too often we've been in winning positions only to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. I'll take an ugly win over no win any day.

20

Cricket Anyone / T&T Quadrangular T20

« on: September 05, 2012, 04:13:32 PM »

This T20 competition that they've been advertising for this weekend, does anyone know where I can get information online? I've yet to hear the radio ad completely. I want to know which day to go... can't make all.

21

Cricket Anyone / Re: Pollard, Bravo, Narine stay with T&T for Champions League

« on: September 05, 2012, 04:11:32 PM »

Easy way to fix that. Get our players to stop doing well.

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General Discussion / Re: To meddle in a medal discussion

« on: August 09, 2012, 01:14:34 PM »

 

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General Discussion / Re: To meddle in a medal discussion

« on: August 08, 2012, 07:16:29 PM »

I'm sure you found that in an American dictionary. 

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Cricket Anyone / Re: Cricket In The Olympics

« on: August 08, 2012, 07:13:08 PM »

Unless the West Indies is the representative "country" for us at the Olympics - like Great Britain - then any representation in the Games must be under individual countries. The was 50-over cricket in the 1998 Commonwealth Games (Malaysia) and was given List A status rather than full ODI status. Jamaica, Barbados and Antigua/Barbuda participated and none moved on to the semi-finals (just giving some history). The competition was not considered a success for various reasons.

I think T20 can and should be played at the Olympics, but we're waiting to see if it'll be included in the 2014 Commonwealth Games programme first. If the Commonwealth can't be convinced, how can the IOC?

25

Cricket Anyone / Re: Pollard, Bravo, Narine stay with T&T for Champions League

« on: August 08, 2012, 07:01:04 PM »

International cricket is a funny sport. The "country" for those purposes is the West Indies and since international players come from the "club" level the clubs in the West Indies make up the island territories. Obviously we understand that the island territories are sovereign states, rather than actual clubs, but we would be remiss not to pay attention to the "cricket circumstance" that is present because of the existence of the West Indies.

The IPL is a club tournament, plain and simple. The IPL CL is also a club tournament. The IPL decided to invite the winner of the West Indian T20 competition as they represented the best "club" in the region. Roberts gone hyping up the situation mentioning Indian cricketers representing their country when all of them are available for their clubs. He should have left it as a club arrangement and tried to "buy out" their contractual obligations rather than publicly brow-beat the IPL clubs. If the clubs agree to let them play for us, great, if not then we use the opportunity to expose more cricketers. Cooper, Badree and Narine stepped up in the absence of Pollard and Bravo. Otherwise we negotiate for the right to have the player represent T&T first should their IPL team qualify for the CL. Again, if it works, great, if not at least there would be the understanding early on that they play for their IPL team first.

We need to stop operating like 3rd world country bush men if we want to be taken seriously internationally. With no economic power, it is our intelligence and diplomacy that will get us what we want, not insensitive and inflexible rants.

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General Discussion / To meddle in a medal discussion

« on: August 08, 2012, 06:24:57 PM »

Am I the only person who has a problem with the use of the noun - medal - as a verb? It is now common place to hear someone say, "the athlete should 'medal' in the event" while medal is defined as a metal disc with an inscription or design, awarded for an achievement or to mark an event. The verb is meddle and that means to interfere in something that doesn't concern you. I can ignore it now so that I don't correct people when I hear them using it, but wow it bothers me. Olympic Games time is prime time for hearing medal the noun become a verb so is pressure like gobar.

So am I the only one?

That ends my rant. Carry on.

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What about Track & Field / Re: Paging Ato Boldon !!!!!!

« on: August 08, 2012, 06:18:25 PM »

In the face of excellence, especially when they are already mediocre, it is natural for many to find at least one thing (no matter how mundane) to criticize. If it's not her hair, it is that she speaks about God too much or she didn't put her hand to her heart during the playing of the national anthem...

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Olympic Discussion / Re: Thread for the London Olympics 2012: Fri.27th July to Sun.12th August!

« on: August 08, 2012, 06:15:35 PM »

don't worry about coming last in test son, at least yuh was there

That was my friend's status on facebook and it was aimed at the public response to Semoy Hackett's 8th place finish. I've significantly reduced my comments to stuff people say because I am quick to argue a useless battle hard. I broke that by responding to that because on the one hand 8th place is last in the final, but on the other hand I felt his response belittled how difficult it was for her to get into the final in the first place. I figure if you don't think she deserves congratulations then it is better to say nothing to make light of her accomplishment. If it were that easy for female T&T athletes to get to the final, wouldn't we have seen more over the years? I got comparisons to beauty pageants, finishing 10th in the Premier League and references to Kirani James to show why he should say that.

How hard is it for us to set realistic expectations of our athletes at this elite level? Who determines what is realistic and where do we draw the line between mediocrity and a great effort just not being good enough? I don't think we should roll out the red carpet or give a million dollars every time an athlete achieves international acclaim, but surely it won't cost us much to appreciate a job well done - even if that job is 8th place.

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Cricket Anyone / Re: They hurt me mentally - Sarwan

« on: May 21, 2012, 10:31:03 PM »

So his shit was someone else's fault? I'm not sympathetic, he's an international player and at that level there will be pressure to perform. He's the first and only player to have his coach say something negative about him? If he's too weak to deal with it then he's exactly where he belongs and good luck to him.

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Cricket Anyone / Re: Fallen giants face daunting task (cricinfo)

« on: May 21, 2012, 10:26:03 PM »

Based on the Australia series Shillingford probably would have been a good option too, but in the end none of the bowlers who were there applied consistent pressure on England. Runs came far too quickly and it was never a matter of if, but when they'd get the runs.

That being said I am still pleased that they didn't roll over and die. Much is being made of our "IPL players", but no one remembers how the team performed when they were there (except Narine and Cooper who obviously weren't around). I'm not saying don't pick them, but the team's performance without them (results aside) cannot be ignored.