The West Indies groundsmen not helping the West Indies team...

[RRamdin]

I know that using the pitch as an excuse for incompetence is not a valid argument- no matter what pitch you play on the best team, with the best players will usually win, but I can't help but thinking that the west indies groundsman and the WICB themselves are not helping the West Indies team.

Knowing that Sri Lanka are vulnerable to pace and the bouncing ball and that there strength lies in swing bowling, the WICB put both tests against sri lanka at Guyana and Trinidad; the two most spin friendly, slow and low bouncing wickets in the Caribbean. I not sure where we are scheduled to play the aussies, but I am going to guess we are gonna be playing them-with Brett Lee and co. at Barbados, Jamaica; the two traditionally fast wickets.

This has been happening for years now. I remember when we played India 2 years ago at Sabina, the groundsman set a turning wicket for Kumble and co. better than some of the pitches they get in India. Same against England, when they set the pitches to tailor for Harmison, nobody seems to use their brains.

[Deeks]

Good observation, but in the final analysis, a cricketer should be able to play on any wicket.

[Savannah boy]

Is not de Groundsmen dat played ridiculous shots to out on a featherbed wicket.  Remember also, if de wicket helping we bowlers, it go help de opposition too. 
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I find dat we does get bowl down easy on wickets that offer assistance to bowlers.  From a batting development point of view, yes our wickets could be prepared better so that our young batsmen can hone their skills.  Preparing fast wickets when equipped with a fearsome 4 pronged attack makes sense.  We don't have dat luxury right now.

On dat note, why Powell playing ahead of Edwards?  Edwards bowled well in SA till he breakdown.  Powell was not consistent.  Ah never see ah man who like to bowl short ball on dead wicket so.  Is like de re-incarnation of Franklyn Rose and Patrick Patterson.  Why Gayle keep playing him?  De boy duncy.  (Ah guess Gayle duncy too.  He failed to milk de strike and we lost 15 min before the close of play.  Steups).  Anyway, we not producing smart fast bowlers.  De only fast bowlers with guile are Collins and Collymore but dey not quick enough to be strike bowlers.  Jerome Taylor is coming along nicely.  Any which way, as a man who used to open de bowling, ah could tell yuh dat nibbling and looking for edge is easier when batsmen worried bout dey tonsils too.  Dat is when yuh does ketch dem flat footed.  Fear does real paralyze man yuh know.

Good observation, but in the final analysis, a cricketer should be able to play on any wicket.

Not always de case.  Trinis and Guyanese play spin better.  Dat is de environment dey grow up in.  Batsmen with high back lift (Lara is de only exception due to his quick footwork and bat speed) does go Australia on de fast bouncy wickets and shit down de place.  Ask Gordon Greenidge bout dat.      Mohammed Azharuddin was a next example.  Also, not every batsman can play late against de swinging ball as in English Conditions...not unless dey play County Cricket.

[dwolfman]

The team's quality is such that it doesn't matter what kind of wicket they play on they'll be inconsistent. How come Australia wins on any wicket in any part of the world?

[Savannah boy]

Wolf, we talking about opportunity and exposure.  I talking about individual players and what dey exposed to and you talking about a whole continent.  Plenty of dem Aussie playing County Cricket and if yuh was facing Shane Warne in de nets all de time, it doh get much better dat.  Dey have decent enough spinners to face in their domestic to give dem a fighting chance facing slow bowlers on de sub-continent.  Australia in turnover mode so doh feel dey could dominate like dey used to.  I doh know where you going with dis but have you ever considered how many First Class Matches an Aussie has played before his Test Debut vs a West Indian.  The difference is huge.  Yuh talking about a chasm here.  It have nutten to do with quality.  De Windies youth teams do ok.  Is what happens after dat which affects our quality as you put it.  The talent still there.  We are sending unprepared players out there to learn on de highest stage.  Yuh really feel Jaggas go bowl down Sri Lanka in a Test Match?  Dem men could bat spin with dey eyes closed.  Anyway in closing, all batsmen have their strengths and weaknesses.  Some perform better in certain conditions and dat is reflected in their overseas stats.  De truly great ones do well anywhere like Viv and Lara but dis is unique.  It is far from common.

[Deeks]

Guys,
All yuh should know by now that the real downfall of WI cricket was caused by the English. When they cut the amount of foreigners on a team, that is when our game fall back.

[Storeboy]

Guys,
All yuh should know by now that the real downfall of WI cricket was caused by the English. When they cut the amount of foreigners on a team, that is when our game fall back.

You are absolutely right.  West Indies players used to get the opportunity to play against top opposition and on varied pitches for many months per year, where they could hone their skills.  That is no more the case.  But now the WICBC should consider creating a league in the WI and invite some foreign players to participate.  Our boys will play more cricket and the population will get involved again.  We don't have a decent academy.  We don't have enouh tough competition until we meet in tests and one days.   Justa  thought!

[Deeks]

I think the should have a pro-leaugue. Split TT into 4 teams. North, Central, South, Tobago. Guyana probably 2 or 3. JA, 3 or 4. B'dos probably 2. All the smaller islands by themselves. Bring in Bahamas, Turk &C, Surinam(Probably)

[vale]

The Toss nor the conditions of the pitch ought to affect your team's chances of winning a match. A PROFESSIONAL MUST ADJUST TO ANY SITUATION. However, it would be nice sometimes for the our groundsmen to give some help now and then.

[dwolfman]

Wolf, we talking about opportunity and exposure.  I talking about individual players and what dey exposed to and you talking about a whole continent.  Plenty of dem Aussie playing County Cricket and if yuh was facing Shane Warne in de nets all de time, it doh get much better dat.  Dey have decent enough spinners to face in their domestic to give dem a fighting chance facing slow bowlers on de sub-continent.  Australia in turnover mode so doh feel dey could dominate like dey used to.  I doh know where you going with dis but have you ever considered how many First Class Matches an Aussie has played before his Test Debut vs a West Indian.  The difference is huge.  Yuh talking about a chasm here.  It have nutten to do with quality.  De Windies youth teams do ok.  Is what happens after dat which affects our quality as you put it.  The talent still there.  We are sending unprepared players out there to learn on de highest stage.  Yuh really feel Jaggas go bowl down Sri Lanka in a Test Match?  Dem men could bat spin with dey eyes closed.  Anyway in closing, all batsmen have their strengths and weaknesses.  Some perform better in certain conditions and dat is reflected in their overseas stats.  De truly great ones do well anywhere like Viv and Lara but dis is unique.  It is far from common.

I agree with you where the experience is concerned and the chasm in exposure, but what does all this have to do with our groundsmen and the pitches they prepare? I used Australia as an example because they are the best, but we can find examples from each of the countries ahead of us in the world ranking as well. The Asian teams might prefer the slower sub-continent pitches, but don't fall to pieces on fast bouncy wickets. Similarly South Africans would be more accustomed to fast bouncy wickets, but still compete on slow flat pitches. Horses for courses will apply to most sports and athletes, but we in the Windies can't improve if we hide behind excuses like our groundsmen not preparing favourable pitches.

[Deeks]

Like I said before, a good cricket should be able to play on any wicket. When we were on top, that was not a big issue with us.