We were a broken team in the final of the DLF cup because the batting order was diabolical. Sarwan is the best number 3 in the world so for some reason he moves down to 4 to accomodate Morton? Lara also moves down to 5 to accomodate Morton? You know what i think of Chanderpaul opening.
If you look at our ODI international results over the last few years you will see that when we pick the right team we are a real force in ODI cricket. We are the current holders of the ICC Champions Trophy and i don't care what anyone says, every team were out to win that trophy.
In ODIs over the last 3 years when the batting order has been
1. Gayle
3. Sarwan
4.Lara
5. Chanderpaul
we have...
got to the final of the Natwest Series knocking out England (in 2004)
won the ICC Champions trophy beating South Africa, Pakistan and England along the way (in 2004)
lost 5-0 to South Africa (in 2005)
beaten India 4-1 (in 2006)
In ODIs over the last 3 years when these Gayle, Sarwan, Lara and Chanders have played and this has not been the batting order we have
come bottom of VB Series to Australia and Pakistan (in 2005)
lost 4-1 to New Zealand (in 2006)
got to the final of DLF Cup knocking out India (in 2006)
We can see from this than when Gayle bats 1, Sarwan bats 3, Lara bats 4, and Chanders bats 5 we win more than we lose. Granted we lost 5-0 to South Africa in 2005 which does show that other still need to pull their weight if we are going to win consistently. We cannot rely on Gayle, Sarwan, Lara and Chanderpaul to score the runs every game. We need others to step up to the mark.
However we need a stable batting order. Players need to know what their role is in the side. If Chanderpaul opens then we need to find a number 5 of his calibre to replace him. Who has the ability to do what Chanderpaul does for us at number 5? We need Bravo to turn into a world class number 6 so he should bat at number 6 every game. We need a big hitter at 7 and it looks like Dwayne Smith could be the man. Yes he needs to play straighter and stop hitting across the line, but only if we let him bat at number 7 for a sustained period of time only then can we judge if his batting is good enough. If Dwayne Smith is batting at a different number every game it is not good for him or the team. Regardless of whether Baugh or Ramdin are picked, the keeper should be slotted in at 8 for the time being so that they learn how to finish off games. Ramdin was a great finisher at the under 19 World Cup.
It is when players like W.Hinds, Morton and Samuels get put into the middle order with no long term strategy that the whole balance of the side is affected and players do not know whether they are coming or going. I have nothing against any of these players but the way that they are selected leaves a lot to be desired. It would have made sense to let one of these guys open (or if selected, Ganga) and keep the rest of the side consistent. After all we had just come of the back of beating India 4-1.
With the successful Australian side which won the World Cup in 1999 and 2003 it was common knowledge what their best eleven was and at what number each player would bat. It seems as though Bennett King does not have a clue what our best eleven is, let alone the batting order.
