The enigma that is Chris Gayle

[shankycricket]

Mike,
Is Simmons back from injury? If he is,then I dont see the logic of a talented but an extremely raw player like Powell playing ahead of him.

[shankycricket]

The funny thing is, despite appearing fairly innocuous, Sammy will probably be our best bowler against England.

Yeah if we take him lightly.

[greyblazer]

Sammy is doing ok and WI need him to do a holding job.

[shankycricket]

Yeah he is an ok support bowler.But the problem with having your seamer who is at best a 3rd seamer as captain doesnt allow WI to play to their strengths which is to play 2 spinners for home tests on turning tracks.

[greyblazer]

As I said on twitter with WI it is better to play 5 bowlers.

[shankycricket]

As I said earlier, I dont think he is a bad bowler but a 3rd seamer just like your No.6 batsman doesnt command an automatic place in the side as those are the players you sacrifice in case of change in team composition.

And even as a 3rd seamer, though Sammy isnt bad, I see better alternatives in the West Indies.

[shankycricket]

As I said on twitter with WI it is better to play 5 bowlers.

It might have been an option if they had a keeper batsman. Sadly, none of the keepers in the West Indies are anywhere close to good enough to be batting at 6. And Sammy isnt a No.7
A handy slogger but if you want a bowling allrounder at 7 then Russell would be a better option. Much better technique as a batsman and a better bowler than Sammy based on their ODI appearances together.
He also has a good FC Record.

[greyblazer]

Russell has played only one test so how can you judge that he is a better option than Sammy? Sammy showed decent technique against OZ especially in the final test.

[greyblazer]

From what I have seen of Russell in the onedayers I won't say that he has much better technique than Sammy and would wait for him to play more tests before I judge him.

[shankycricket]

He does have a good FC record too.

[ddb]

15 FC games, lol, in WI too.

Basically have no weight to deciding a test team.

[ntini77]

Russell is a much better batsman than Sammy. Dynamite fielder, too. His bowling is err....somewhat inconsistent, though.

[shankycricket]

15 FC games, lol, in WI too.

Basically have no weight to deciding a test team.

I am not advocating his inclusion. I want the WI to play to their strengths and pick 2 spinners at home, which is not possible with Sammy as captain IMO. Not a No.7 IMO. More so when you have a Baugh or a Ramdin at 6.

[greyblazer]

From what I saw of Sammy he definitely showed decent technique in the last test against OZ. I won't get into this hype surrounding Russell for sure.

[shankycricket]

Russell is a much better batsman than Sammy. Dynamite fielder, too. His bowling is err....somewhat inconsistent, though.

I'd agree with that.