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In another blast from the past I would like to have a look at Corky’s heroics against the Caribbean team at Lords in 2000. Cork wasn’t consistent as a player but had some great moments in his career like that 7 for 43 on his debut at Lords, the hat-trick and of course his heroics at Lords in 2000. He also did well in NZ in 97 as a batsman.

In 2000 the Caribbean team was a side that had lost its aura as a great team and were losing lots of matches still they were expected to crush the England team as England were in a rebuilding phase. The series started with the Caribbean side under the leadership of Mike’s favourite and the most boring batsman I have seen Adams crushing England by an innings at Edgbaston. Hussain was injured in the match as he was hit on the finger for the umpteenth time probably by Walsh and was ruled out of the second test.

So it looked all doom and gloom for England going into the second test. The selectors surprisingly selected Cork for the second test. At that time Cork was in the wilderness. It did surprise many of the experts and as expected Botham said the selectors are rubbish but in the end it proved to be an inspirational choice.

So with Hussain out it was Stewart who took up the mantle of captaining the side but the situation looked grim when Campbell and Griffith came up with a century partnership. Enter the mercurial Cork who suddenly started to bowl bouncers at Campball. The commentators didn’t like but it worked as Campbell fell into the trap and got out. Cork picked three more wickets as the Caribbean team were all out for 250 odd runs.

England’s batsmen must have been confident of doing well but Walsh and Ambi so many times the nemesis of the England team ripped through England’s batting line up as wickets fell like a pack of cards. England in the end were bowled out for just 130 odd runs.

So with a lead of more then 100 runs the Caribbean team seemed well on their way to a 2-0 lead and many experts even thought a whitewash was on the cards but Caddick came up with an inspirational spell with Gough and Cork supporting him well as the unpredictable Caribbean team were bowled out for just 52!!!

So England were left with a target of 189. It didn’t look good though when Ramps for the second time got out early. The look on Ramps’s face on the Lords balcony said it all. It looked like Ramps would like to be left alone on some Sahara desert rather than be on the Lords balcony with the cameras focusing on him. Anyhow coming back to the match Atherton and Vaughan came up with a partnership of about 100 runs but with England one always expects a collapse and olah didn’t England collapse big time? So from a score of about 90 for 1 England lost 7 wickets for about 60 runs what with still 30 odd runs required for victory. It looked like England would again lose from a position of strength.

The Lords specialist Cork though had other ideas and with his pace bowling partner Gough he came up with a match winning partnership as he turned the game on its head. I still remember the way he smashed Rose for 16 runs in a over to change the course of the game. The 6 he hit of a full length delivery from Rose over the mid wicket region would be etched in my memory forever. Ambi and Walsh tried their best but it was too late as England won by just 2 wickets.

So it was the heroics of the so called show pony which helped England to a memorable victory at Lords. Cork may have been inconsistent but he had the ability to win matches.

To end it was a great test match though it wasn’t easy to watch the final moments of match

With a first class history that dates back to the beginning of the 20th century, Zimbabwean cricket has had more than it’s share of ups and downs. From humble beginnings to the appointment of Test status, the relatively small African country was able to make a positive impression on the cricket world, only to completely come apart along with the economy of the nation thanks largely to Mr Robert Mugabe. The life and death of cricket in Zimbabwe is a tragedy, but with the first tentative steps on the long road back from disaster having recently been taken, the rest of the cricket world watches, waits, and hopes.

Whilst the first foray in serious cricket ended in an innings defeat at the hands of Transvaal in South Africa’s Currie Cup competition, cricket in this part of the world would be slow to develop. As a British colony, Rhodesia did not become a regular feature of South African domestic cricket until the end of the Second World War. This association continued right up until the 1979-80 season, when Zimbabwe became independant. Up until this point in time, Rhodesia managed to produce a number of players who went on to play Test cricket for South Africa, the last being John Traicos in 1970, who was selected to play against Bill Lawry’s Australians just before South Africa fell into exile over Apartied policies at home. In spite of having good players through the years, Rhodesia never managed to win the Currie Cup.

Joining the ICC as an associate member in 1981, Zimbabwe won the 1982 ICC Trophy, beating Bermuda in the final, and subsequantly qualified for the 1983 World Cup, where they turned over a star-studed Aussie line-up in their first match. Nine years later, Zimbabwe played in their first Test match, against India at the Harare Sports Club, earning a draw and becoming only the second team in Test history not to lose their first ever Test match. David Houghton, long considered the best cricketer beyond the Test world lead the home team by example, scoring 121 on debut. John Traicos at the age of 45 became the 14th player to represent 2 countries in Test cricket, and picked up 5 wickets in the first innings, including that of Sachin Tendulkar for a duck.  

Fast forward to the 1999 World Cup, played in England and featuring 12 teams - the 9 Test match playing nations (which included Zimbabwe), along with Bangladesh, Kenya and Scotland. In the group stage, The Alistair Campbell-lead Zimbabweans won 3 of their 5 matches, and included victories over South Africa and India, allowing Zimbabwe to qualify to the next stage with maximum points carried forward. Losses to Australia and Pakistan in the next stage of competition saw an end to Zimbabwe’s most successful World Cup campaign to date. Both Australia and Pakistan went on to contest the final, which was won by the Aussies.

At the onset of the new millenia, Zimbabwe cricket seemed to be on the verge of a major break-through, with the likes of the Flower brothers, Murray Goodwin, Heath Streak, Paul Strang and others, forming the core of what was fast becoming a very respectable international outfit.

When the 2003 World Cup came around, Zimbabwe were co-hosts with South Africa and Kenya. This resulted in 5 out of 6 group matches for Zimbabwe being played at home, where things were not as rosey as they once were. Subsequantly, England forfeited their match, citing security concerns as their reason for pulling out of the fixture and effectively costing them a place in the next round. An even bigger controversy occured in Zimbabwe’s opening match against Namibia. Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower and Henry Olonga both wore black armbands mourning the death of democracy in Zimbabwe. Both players would retire form international cricket following this tournament, and were forced to emigrate abroad for their own safety.

The following year witnessed Zimbabwean cricket come apart at the seams. Captain Heath Streak was reported to have resigned, although later it became clear he’d been pushed. This lead to a 14 player walk-out of the national squad, following the the dismissal of a list of demands present to Zimbabwe Cricket, which included the reinstatement of Streak as captain and the permanent removal of a number of administrators. A considerably weakened team was fielded against the touring Sri Lankans, and was predicably flogged in all matches. This in turn lead to calls for Zimbabwe’s Test staus to be suspended until a resolution could be found to solve the internal problems that were occuring within the ranks of Zimbabwe cricket. With player ranks now severely depleted, ZC had little choice but to pull out of pre-arranged Test fixtures for the remainder of the 2004.

2005 brought with it new hope in Zimbabwe when Heath Streak was reinstated as captain. This was short lived, however, with the increasingly alarming actions that were being carried out by the Mugabe regime, including the much despised “Operation Drive Out Trash.” This obviously impacted on the national cricket team, who seem to be bouncing from one walloping to another, including a Test loss inside 2 days to New Zealand. This resulted in coach Phil Simmons being shown the door, much to the anger of the Zimbabwe players.

When Heath Streak then retired, it seemed that Zimbabwe cricket was in a downward spiral from which there seemed no escape. Within the space of a few months, the new captain Tatenda Taibu then resigned over sustained political interferance in the way the game was administered, amongst other concerns. Ultimately, this lead Zimbabwe Cricket to announce that it wold not be taking part in any Test fixtures in 2006. To make matters worse, the Logan Cup was called off, there-by completely killing off first class cricket in a country where the game seem to be taking off only a few years earlier.

With contract issues and financial problems continuing to hamper the situation, 2007 witnessed some remarkable results, including the stunning upset win that Ireland were able to achieve over Pakistan. Ireland had played Zimbabwe in the group opener which finished in a thrilling tie, giving Zimbabwe the only point they would earn from the tournament. In another tournament played later that year, the inugural World T20, Zimbabwe pulled off upset of the tournament by knocking over Australia. By the end of the year, however, several front-line Zimbabwe players were so disenchanted by their own board, several decided to seek greater riches elsewhere, most notably in English County cricket.

The general elections that took place in 2008 eventually resulted in a sharing of power with Morgan Tsvangirai. This in turn lead to some changes in the administrative structure of the game in Zimbabwe, which has included the appointment of a new cricket committee, headed by former captain Alistair Campbell. Other recent developments have including inclusion in the ICC Intercontinental Cup, where Zimbabwe will compete against the likes of Canada, the Netherlands, Ireland, Scotland, Afghanistan and others. The Logan Cup has been resurrected and will be contested by five franchise teams. One such franchise, the Southern Rocks, have been linked with Kenya’s Steve Tikolo, who it is hoped will join the franchise as player/coach.  

In terms of Zimbabwe’s future as a Test nation, this remains to be seen. I would suggest that a number of things still need to happen before a return to Test ranks can be possible. Firstly, the Logan Cup needs to be a success. With a number of players being linked with the re-jigged century-old competition, this looks like a possibility. Secondly, the Campbell-lead cricket committee needs to rid itself entirely of the likes of Peter Chingoka and Ozais Bvute, which will probably only happen once Robert Mugabe has been removed from power and relocates to Hong Kong to live out his days in exile. Thirdly, the situation in Zimbabwe simply has to change, but again, this is unlikely to happen until Mugabe is disposed of. Finally, cricket boards from other countries have to agree to tour Zimbabwe again. And guess what has to occur before that happens!?

The future of Zimbabwe is unknown. Riddled with more problems that you can shake a stick at, it seems that forces have long been working against the development of cricket in the beleagured southern African state. It seems to me that the game bottomed out a few years ago. Although the climb back into the Test fold has really only just begun. I’m not sure when Zimbabwe will succeed in making it back into the Test arena, if indeed they do. What I am sure about is the fact that the game there has been all but destroyed by a regime hell bent on clinging on to power no matter what the cost, and in the case of Zimbabwe, the cost has been considerable to say the least.

Every team enjoys success at some point or another in their history (bar the Arizona Cardinals), and some are better than others at achieving success be it down to personel, determination or sheer luck. The Proteas can count two of those facets amongst their armoury but the third appears to alude them on any stage involving the dreaded phrase ‘knock-out’. A quick scan of the squad to take on the rest of the world on home soil in the up and coming Champions Trophy highlights a strong presence of fine cricketers. In Johan Botha and Roelof van der Merwe, South Africa possess spin twins to rival the magic of Murali and Mendis in the limited overs game. Though neither has the awe of Murali or the mystery of Mendis, both off-spinners have the enviable ability to prize out batsmen. If on the rare occasion this doesn’t occur, their accuracy and changes of pace, flight mean that opposing batsmen often have to take uneccessary risks later on in the innings to boost a dwindling run-rate.

Elsewhere the bowling looks equally as dangerous - Dale Steyn has pace and attitude. He is more than capable of sending back some of the world’s finest in the opening overs with agressive pitched up swing bowling and an attacking field to match. At the other end is the emerging left armer Wayne Parnell. At the tender age of 19, he already possesses a demon yorker to stifle an end of innings counter attack, and can also keep it tight on off-stump during the opening overs. To back this up Graeme Smith can call upon Jacques Kallis, Albie Morkel and JP Duminy to reinforce the four main attackers.

The batting’s not bad either. Smith and Kallis offer brutal, technically correct hitting at the top, with Gibbs floating around to take a game away if he gets his eye in. de Villiers acts as the rock in the middle order who can both destroy and rebuild with ease. Duminy provides another safety net as well as some late order hitting at 5. To finish an innings off in style, South Africa have probably the finest lower-middle order in Morkel, Boucher and van der Merwe. Though he is past his best, Boucher can still thrive at the highest level on his day and van der Merwe can match the best in the world in terms of six hitting. Morkel needs no introduction.

So why are South Africa perhaps not most people’s favourites to lift the trophy? Possibly because on paper they look the most complete unit, and New Zealand rugby fans will be well aware that this does not automatically give you the cup. Barring Australia in the last 12 years, the team tagged ‘favouites’ have often been betted on with caution, mainly due to the unpredictability of cricket, and the fact that a star can appear from nowhere and win the game against the odds. History plays an unfortunate part, too - Shaun Pollock crossed Messrs Duckworth and Lewis off his christmas card list (Boucher crossed out Pollock too) after the nightmare of 2003 on home turf as clear cut favourites. Further back in time you’ll find a haunted Klusener and a man by the name of Donald who never enjoyed having a bat in his hand, although running was usually his forte. Fast forward to the semi-final of the World 20/20 this year and an inspired Shahid Afridi, and you’ll quickly understand why a bet on South Africa should be approached with extreme caution.

So how do teams get past the world number 1 and overwhelming favourites? Apart from arranging a semi-final meeting, weaknesses can be found in the Protea juggernaut. Firstly, take the attack to Steyn. Steyn feeds off batsmen staying back in their crease instinctively due to his raw speed and swing. Even stepping out of the crease by a foot can turn those nasty away swingers into low full bungers, and if you can overcome him mentally, Steyn will begin to lose his composure. Rotating the strike on the spinners prevents them from getting any pressure to build. Also, if you can take the risk and hit one of them out of the attack, you can force Smith out of the comfort of his bowling plans, and he may be forced to alter the bowling lineup so that it could become easier to score later on in the innings off a less accomplished bowler.

To conquer the batting lineup, Gibbs needs to be either starved of the strike or gotten early. A subtle change of pace can turn Gibbs’ favourite smear over extra cover into a simple catch by the man on the edge of the inner circle. Keeping him at the non-striker’s end can also force him into a rash shot. Smith enjoys anything on his legs. He also likes it either full on off stump or around chest height so that he can punch it into the leg side. It would be better to send the ball around the nose and search for either a top edge or a bit of glove. The best way to stifle South Africa’s powerful lower order is to take them out of their comfort zone. Though he is extremely talented, Duminy can become bogged down if the bowling is tight, and can end up chewing up overs scratching around for singles rather than increasing the rate. Morkel, Boucher and van der Merwe enjoy entering the fray with around 6 overs to go so as to hit out at will. Getting them in early will force them to play a game that is not natural to them.

As you can see, it is obvious like any other team South Africa possess strengths and weaknesses in the One Day arena in both batting and bowling. To expose these weaknesses, opposing teams must be proactive in their approach - sitting back and expecting something to happen will play into the Proteas’ hands. Instead, captains must take risks and capitalise on even the smallest of opportunities, as historically it is clear that the South African machine can de-rail thanks to a tiny wobble. In their quests for glory, Australia, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will also thank the ICC for making South Africa the hosts, too.

With cricket being in the state that it presently finds itself in, Test cricket is in trouble. The proliferation of T20 coupled with problems of varrying degrees existing in several member states strongly suggest that the time honoured traditions of Test cricket could soon be a thing of the past, unless something radical happens to ensure the format many consider to be the game’s ultimate.

For some time, long before T20 was first introduced to first class cricket by the ECB (bless their cotton socks!), crowds for Test cricket have have come a poor second to ODI’s, with the Ashes being the only exception. It seems to me that it’s really only a matter of time before cricket boards around the world reconsider how they feel about the purest form of the game, particularly given that the world finds itself economically hamstrung for various reasons.

It would be a tragedy if Test cricket was to die the long, slow, horrible death it seems to be destined to have. With the FTP running out in 2012, the powers that be at the ICC need to collectively grow a pair and start making tough decisions.

One of the many problems faced by Test cricket today is that teams play a different amount of Tests to each other, and the number of Tests played from year to year can differ greatly. The solution to this problem would be to uniform fixtures. The only way to do this (this may hurt many) is to scrap the concept of Tests series and play one off fixtures - every Test team plays each other once during the course of 12 months, alternating each year with the home and away fixtures. This would mean that with 9 Test nations presently active, each team would play 8 Tests over the course of a calender year. This would provide for an annual Test Premiership, which would put an end to endless arguments that take place daily on cricket forums throughout cyber-space, amongst other places. A ODI and T20I Premiership could also exist along similar lines.

The traditional tours that once took place which featured a number warm up games, it seems, is no longer a priority. That said, England spent 4 months in the West Indies for a tour that meant very little in the overall scheme of things. Whilst I’d personally love to have 4 months touring the West indies, I’d be more interested in seeing meaningful cricket played by all teams at all times.

From 2013 onward, cricket tours should take no more than 2 and a half weeks, enough time to play 1 Test match, 2 ODI’s and 2 T20I’s. With 4 home tours and 4 away tours each year, the total amount of international cricket would amount to 8 Tests, and 16 ODI’s and T20I’s respectively - 72 days per year of international cricket, taking up a total of about 20 calendar weeks over the course of a calendar year. This would allow international players to be available for domestic fixtures in their home countries, and more importantly, have players available to take part in the IPL, which I predict will eventually expand to 16 teams. The rest of the time the players would have to themselves for rest, recovery, or whatever it is that international cricketers do when they’re not playing international cricket, or any other form of cricket, for that matter.

Regarding the future of IPL, I can forsee a 3 month window being created, along with expansion taking place so that the number of franchises will eventually be 16. Love it loathe it, the IPL is here to stay.

The FTP could be finalised in 2 year cycles, allowing for the possibility in the reduction or addition of teams.

This is the future as I see it, at least with the crystal ball I recently aquired from a Gypsy garage sale.

Feel free to agree, disagree, comment, or just read.

It is great to see that Vettori has got 300 test wickets, and he has already scored 3000 test runs too.

He has just carried NZ’S bowling attack on his shoulders for many years. Chris Cairns got wickets, but he was injury prone. Bond has so much talent, but again has been injury prone, and lost a few years of his cricket as he played in the ICL. So Vettori has done a great job for the Black Caps as he has been consistent as a bowler. He has scored vital runs lower down the order too.

I first saw a bespectacled Vettori against England in 97. It was a series in which he showed great control for a 18 year old, and troubled all England’s batsmen. He has never been a big spinner of the ball, but clever changes off pace, a bit of flight, the arm ball and more importantly his control has helped him to become a very good bowler.

Early in his career he showed his class by taking crucial wickets in places like Srilanka. If I am right he even helped the Black caps to defeat Lanka in a test match in 98 as he teamed up with the off spinner Wiseman to take NZ to victory.

In England in 99 Dion Nash and Cairns bowled superbly, but Vettori did chip in with crucial wickets. It was also the time when he started to improve his batting. I remember him playing a gutsy innings at Oval as Chris Cairns played a magical innings in the end to turn the match on its head at Oval and NZ won that series. At that time he used to score a lot of his runs through the third man and the square leg. He still does it, but nowadays he has a better range of shots and a better defence too.

One also has to remember he had to battle with back problems, and it looked like it may threaten his career! He had to even change his action slightly, but he has made a fine come back from it.

As the years went by Bond came into the attack, and bowlers like Tuffey started to do well, but Bond being injury prone, and after he left for ICL it was Vettori, who became the main bowler. He took up the mantle of captaining the side as well as Fleming retired from international cricket. He continued to bowl well, and even played some fine knocks like that hundred against India recently. He almost took NZ to a fine victory against England at Old Trafford in 08 with a fine spell of bowling only to see his inexperienced batsmen throwing their wickets away to Monty, and England winning the match. He also played an important part in a fine victory against England in NZ at Hamilton in 2008. The Black caps had to depend on him even against Bangladesh in 08 as he took wickets, and scored runs to help them to avoid embarrassment.

As a captain too he is doing an admirable job especially when one considers the limited resources he has at his disposal.

So one can think of him as a very good bowler, as a batsman he has improved, a good captain and nowadays he is also a selector! A very good cricketer indeed.

The list of great players to have never played a test match is an esteemed one. Be it international conflict, apartheid or simply very bad luck, numerous cricketers have been unable to showcase their obvious talent on the biggest stage of all. One of these players is Stephen Ogonji Tikolo, certainly the best player amongst the associate nations, and even at the age of 38, still a formidable force in the world of cricket. The reward to Kenya of full One-Day status in 1996 has provided Tikolo with a deserved chance to take on the very best with both bat and ball, and has regularly held his own. A resilient innings in a losing cause against Sri Lanka at Kandy in 1996 was a case in point. After Sri Lanka had racked up a then world record 398 from their fifty overs thanks to a majestic 145 from Aravinda de Silva, Tikolo proved to be head and shoulders above his fellow countrymen in what was a losing cause even before the Kenyans came out to bat. As the other Kenyan batsmen succumbed to the might of Vaas and Murali, Tikolo blazed eight 4s and four maximums in a 95 ball 96 to provide Kenya with some respectability as they finished on 254-7.

Though he never struck a century against the top nations, Tikolo provided defiant knock after defiant knock, often unbeaten, and you suspect that if there had been more consistency amongst the other Kenyan batsmen, then Tikolo may well have reached that elusive century more than once. An example of this was an innings of 68* against Pollock, Nel, Ntini and Kallis at Benoni in 2001. This innings is put into sharper context when the next highest score was 24 in the Kenyan innings, and was infact the highest score of the entire match, with Gary Kirsten’s 17 off 18 balls being the only innings to surpass Tikolo’s on strike rate.

3230 ODI runs, a first class average of 50.45, and a highest first class score of 220 is respectable for any player of any nation, and his two innings against Canada recently in a four day match highlight the fact that Tikolo is still at the top of his game. A score of 158, with the next highest score being 36 in the first innings, and 169 in the second innings show the sheer class of the man. Holding a strike rate of over 80 in both innings is just as impressive, too. But it’s not just the batting that sets Tikolo apart from the rest of the associate players. Tikolo can count Jayawardene, Laxman, Tendulkar, Lara, Kallis, Gayle, Dravid and Yousuf amongst his international victims with his right-arm off spinners, and was probably the most successful captain of Kenya. In one of the greatest underdog stories in cricket, Tikolo lead Kenya to the semi-final of the 2003 World Cup in South Africa, defeating Canada, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka before being knocked out one step from a final with Australia by India.

This achievement was the highest point of Kenya’s and Tikolo’s One-Day history, as afterwards results worsened, and opportunities to play the best teams in the world declined. However, Tikolo was selected to represent Africa against Asia in a series in 2007. He renounced the captaincy of Kenya soon after, and declared in April of this year that he would be retiring from cricket at the end of 2009.

Very few Associate players even come close to Tikolo in terms of achievement, success and class. Davison and Johnston stand out from the others, but Tikolo is long into the distance. A king amongst amateurs in the Associates, surely a great alongside other greats in the full International arena.

It is not often that a player born for 20/20 is able to make a solid yet promising start to a test career. Jesse Ryder comes to mind, as does JP Duminy, but the list effectively stops there. It appears, however that the 22 year old allrounder Angelo Mathews, who was vital in Sri Lanka reaching the final of the 20/20 World Cup in England earlier this year will join this list. When drafting the ideal 20/20 player, Mathews pretty much fits the bill - a powerful hitter of the ball who is also quick between the wickets and can rotate the strike, an effective medium pace bowler, and a live wire in the field (remember THAT boundary stop?). Therefore, it is even more fulfilling to see a player be able to transfer these skills into the test arena at a dangerous time when players are starting to chose between the longest and shortest formats as a career choice.

So far, Mathews has played just the three tests against Pakistan in his home country. As an allrounder coming in to bat anywhere between 6 and 8, his figures stand up to scrutiny so far. In five innings, Mathews hit 191 runs at an average of nearly 48, with a highest score of 64* and scoring no lower than 27. Notably, his highest score came in a gritty 3 hour vigil with his captain to save the third test match. His bowling so far has been perhaps less noticable, as he was employed as a second or third change bowler to hold one end whilst the spinners worked away at the other, and to give the strike bowlers a breather. However, he does hold respectability with his bowling, having picked up 4 wickets in the series at an average of 34.5. You suspect, however, that as his status increases within the team, Sangakkara will be more likely to throw Mathews the ball earlier on in an innings.

New Zealand at home will be another ideal series for Mathews to continue finding his feet and his role within the team. If he bowls well, then there are wickets to be had, but if he strays, then the likes of Taylor, Ryder and Guptill will punish him. Likewise he will face his sternest test whilst batting against possibly the world’s most thoughtful yet dangerous bowler, Dan Vettori. However, he can find runs against the likes of Tuffey and Butler if he focuses. With a prominent part to play in Sri Lanka’s Champions Trophy squad, Mathews is certainly making waves in all forms of the game.

Everyone knew that cricket in the Caribbean was going through tough times, but it is sad to see the situation getting worse as it is not just the battle between WIPA, and the board, but the coach of the team Dyson has been made a scapegoat for the defeat against Bangladesh and sacked, though one can surely say the side that lost to Bangladesh was a second string side.

The cricket in Caribbean has been on a slow decline for more than 15 years now, but the sad fact is it is getting worse,  and probably it has reached its nadir.

I do remember senior players like Marshall, Dujon etc at the time of their retirement in 91/92 saying everything isn’t rosy as far as cricket in the Caribbean is concerned.

In 1995 Richie Richardson had problems with the star batsman Lara, and Lara didn’t even tour Australia in 95/96. Finally Richardson retired after the 96 world cup as Walsh became the captain. I have also heard about disunity at that time itself.

Lara was finally given the chance to captain the side in 98, but again even in 98 there were problems between the board, and the players association before a tour to SA, though it was resolved just in time, but it did affect the performance of the side as they lost 5-0 in SA.

For a brief period Lara got disillusioned with cricket, and took a break as Adams took over the captaincy, but the Caribbean team lost most of their matches as Adams finally resigned from the job of captaining the side.

Hooper, who had retired from the game came back to take up the mantle of captaincy as he, and the coach Logie did a decent job, but the stop gap arrangement didn’t last long, and finally it ended after a disappointing world cup campaign in 03.

Players strike came back to haunt the side in 04 during the tour of Lanka when Chanders took up the mantle of captaining a second string side, and he continued to be the captain in spite of senior players coming back into the side only to see the team lose match after match as he finally resigned as Lara again became the captain.

King the coach of the side at that time wasn’t said to be good, and was criticised for his methods as he eventually resigned after the a disappointing 2007 world cup. It was also the last time we saw of Lara. Yes, he was a great batsman, but was involved in lots of controversies.

Temporary coaches like Moore came and went as finally Dyson took over, and it looked like Gayle and Dyson were doing a decent job as the team defeated England at home in a test series, which was a  decent achievement, but again the controversies came back to haunt cricket in the Caribbean as the board, and the association fought on the issue of contracts. The board fielded a second string side against Bangladesh, and that side promptly lost to Bangladesh. The board had to find some scape goat, and it was of course the coach Dyson, who was sacked! On the other hand the association lead by Ramnaraine and the board are still at each other’s throat, and the board has selected again a second string side for the champions trophy!

So, who is to be blamed for the mess???

The board lead by Hunte seems to be as incompetent as it gets, but I believe players, who have played for the last few years or so also have to take some blame for the cricket in Caribbean reaching such a bad state.

The Caribbean team haven’t utilised whatever talent has been there as well as most of the players, who  looked like had some talent either were dropped too soon, or have stagnated.

So what is the future for players like Darren Bravo, Barath, Roach etc? Can they make a living out of a sport which is in such a mess?

I have also heard about Trinidad and Tobago even thinking of competing as a different entity!

On this issue Tony Cozier has got it bang on right as in his column he rightly points out if the the Caribbean team gets fragmented into smaller teams, and end up playing in the proposed second division with Zimb, Bangladesh etc no sponsors would be interested. So, with no money around cricket would ultimately suffer.

So, one can think of players disunity, strikes, bad selection, board being incompetent etc. The situation for a team which produced some of the greatest cricketers like Ambrose, Walsh, Lara, Marshall, Hall, Richards, Lloyd, 3 W’S, Headley, Holding etc can’t get worse, and there doesn’t seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel!

The plan to hold a Sunday League next season where a match consists of two innings of 20 overs per side has thankfully been scrapped. Having also consigned the ‘P20′ to the scrap heap, the ECB, after pressure from the counties, the national side and probably a few human rights lawyers have realised the importance of one day matches in the cricketing world. It was announced that a 50 overs per side league would replace the Friend’s Provident Trophy and the Pro40 so as to align the domestic structure fully with that of the International calendar. These matches will take place on Sundays during April, May, August and September as they sandwich the expanded 20/20 during June and July.

My personal preference would have been for a 40 over competition rather than a fifty over one. Therefore, matches could start early afternoon rather than mid morning, and the Pro40 tends to attract the larger crowds than the current 50 over tournament. However, the ECB have made their decision, and have made the shrewd move of inviting the Dutch to compete alongside the 18 counties plus Ireland and Scotland. There will be 3 conferences with seven teams in each. My guess is that the top two from each conference plus the two best third placed teams will enter the quarter finals. The semi finals and final at least will be competed in September, which raises concerns over both attendances and weather.

Overall though, the ECB have succeeded in two large respects. Firstly, they have refrained from sending 20/20 into overkill, whilst providing a welcome change in format length. Provided the new Sunday League can be marketed properly, then Clarke and chums are onto a winner. Something I’ve not said for quite a while.

Since England’s debacle at Headingely there has been a huge debate regarding whether Ramps should be recalled or not? did he fail in tests due to lack of ability, or was it because he didn’t had test match temperament?

To start with I am not a fan of Ramps, and if I look at his average of 27.32 I would say he isn’t good enough, but if one looks deeper into it I may say the selectors didn’t handle him well.

His critics will always say he played in 52 tests, and was given ample opportunities, but they don’t see the number of times he has been dropped after every 2 or 3 games.

Ramps made his debut in 1991 against Ambrose Walsh, Bishop and co. and as expected he didn’t do well against an superb bowling attack.  Next up he had to play 2 tests against Akram and Younis and was dropped after that series.

It is not right to pick a player against such type of quality bowlers, and then to drop him so soon.

Anyhow coming back to Ramps the pattern continued as in 93 he came back against Aus, and did well only to be dropped after another series against Ambi and co.

He was again picked against Ambi and co in 95,but again dropped after 1 bad series against SA.

In 98 he started to play better, and these are his averages in that period.

66.5 against Ambi and Walsh.

31.12 against Donald and co.

47.37 in Aus. against Warne and McGrath.

47.5 against Murali and co.

25.4 against NZ.

Again one bad series and he was dropped!!

He came back in 2000 only to be dropped again after a few games.

In 2001 he again came back, and made a splendid hundred against Aus only to be dropped very soon in 2002.  He has not played test cricket after he was dropped in 2002.

The selectors never gave him a decent run in the side, and when he looked good in 98 he was dropped after one bad series against NZ though he had succeeded against his nemesis Ambi and Walsh, McGrath, Murali etc.

Anyhow coming back to the test at Oval I would say there aren’t many candidates for the middle order slot.

Ramps is still in great form in CC.

I don’t see too many question marks regarding his ability as he plays late, and has more time on his hands than the average County batsman.

He is 39 years of age which can go against him.

His mental toughness would be a question mark as he hasn’t succeeded in test cricket,  but he does average 42 against Australia!

I was against England picking Ramps, but on second thoughts if I look at the candidates available for selection I would say Ramps need not be the worst pick.