“ICC WT-20 2012 – West Indies taking small steps towards the big hurdles to come!”

Sep 30, 2012 Sports

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Colin E. H. Croft

 

Right now, West Indies could still win ICC WT-20 2012, but it is not going to be easy; still about 50-50!  That showing against England, especially after the embarrassing debacle against Australia, should give West Indies’ legs more lift for hurdles to come.  Yesterday’s (Saturday) game, v Sri Lanka, was one such!

Hurdles are sometimes very tough things to overcome, might they be human, metal, even psychological!
Athletically, especially on tracks, 110m hurdles, 400m hurdles, and 3000m steeplechase are probably the toughest races to compete in, and win, disregarding such races as marathons.  The stresses that bodies go through to compete in, and complete, hurdles must be much more than running on just flats!
Human hurdles can be overcome by simply ignoring the idiots in your way, passing around, or through, them.  As that old saying goes, “The only person who could stop anyone achieving his or her objective is that person himself or herself!”  No-one can stop me getting where I want to be!
Psychologically, hurdles are mostly self-inflicted, as, ‘if you believe it, then it is true!’  There is nothing like self belief.  As Theodore Roosevelt suggested, “The only thing to fear is fear itself!”
That should be West Indies’ motto for the rest of tournament.  Time will tell if they have such fortitude!
The game against Australia had me, many others too, asking the same questions:  What the hell do these guys do in those camps that they hold before championships and competitions?  What exactly do they need to know, or learn, from camps, to bowl four overs – 24 legal deliveries – in the right spot?
The bowling performance against Australia was as obtuse as ever.  How can any entire bowling attack go to such pieces when the head coach was a bowler?  There must be something wrong with that picture!
West Indies were always destined to beat Ireland, to get to Super 8’s.  For a short while there, though, I am sure that there was panic around, even if Darren Sammy and his players pretended that all was well.   It really was not.  For supposed favorites, West Indies still looks quite shaky, especially in its bowling!
Weeks ago, I warned of Shane Watson.  Now, he is even ‘out-Kallising’ the great maestro, Jacques Kallis!   Watson has been player, so far, of the tournament.  His efforts v West Indies were stupendous; 4-0-29-2, ever so parsimonious, even as West Indies managed the tournament’s 2nd highest total to date; 191-8.
Then, to rub salt, or sand, in that gaping wound that was West Indies bowling, Watson made 41, from 24 balls, as Australia totally man-handled them; 100-1, 9.1 overs; to win by the Duckworth-Lewis method.

Every team has one bad game per tournament.  West Indies must hope that theirs, v Australia, has gone.  They certainly cannot, or should not, play that badly again!
One commentator even confirmed that West Indies bowled too many bad balls!  You think?  Dotish!  That is like saying that sun, stars and moon are in the heavens!  Tell us something that we did not know!
If Watson was good against West Indies, he was even more unbelievable against fluctuating – one day hot, one day cold – Indians.  3-34 (4 overs) in a paltry Indian 140, then a muscled 72, from 42 balls – seven sixes and two fours – confirmed Shane Watson as, now, being the world’s premier T-20 cricketer.
Some of West Indies bowlers seem out of kilter.  Sunil Narine looks to have lost his fizz, while Fidel Edwards is fast, furious but not as fertile as he should be, especially with his long playing experiences.
Kieron Pollard needs runs.  Reputations do not make scores.  The openers, especially Chris Gayle, and, in that game against England, Johnson Charles have done a very good job.  However, it should be noted that the score was 103-1 (11 overs) when Gayle went for 58.  Yet West Indies only mustered 179.  Poor!
Had Charles not played the innings, in any format, of his life, to make 84, West Indies would have been in shambles.  Even as Ravi Rampaul got two wickets in his first over, England still came much too close, losing by just 15 runs.  West Indies should have ensured a bigger margin by getting much closer to 200!
The dependence on Gayle is way too much.  He has good form, but, even with his much more disciplined approach; one might even suggest a dressing room plan; more is needed from the other batsmen.
New Zealand, to date, jointly holds that 2nd spot total, 191, with West Indies.  For West Indies to progress properly to semis, they must beat New Zealand, regardless of the outcome of yesterday’s game, v Sri Lanka.  New Zealand will not win ICC WT-20 102, but they surely can spoil West Indies’ bid!
Most of my predictions come through.  I expect West Indies will get to semi-finals, where they could meet Pakistan, but, somehow, I think that they will again meet Australia, their waterloo!  If Australia and West Indies head their respective groups, it is even possible that they could meet in the final!  Enjoy!

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