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28/07/2025

Hi Folks!

It's rant time!

Most of you know that I was born and raised in New Zealand (nearly 75 years ago) and that I retain New Zealand Citizenship as a dual Citizen of both Australia and New Zealand. In last night's 5th and final day of the 4th Test between India and England at Old Trafford, two incidents occurred which have left me distinctly embarrassed that I share Kiwi heritage with a current England player.

That player is Ben Stokes who was born in Christchurch NZ back in 1991, and moved to England (with his parents) whilst a child. He eventually became a UK Citizen, and now holds the elevated position of Captain of the England Cricket team.

The two incidents which got my blood boiling overnight were:

In the 71st over of the day's play, bowled by Stokes, he struck the Indian batter K.L. Rahul on the pads right in front of the stumps. Protocol (in fact, the Laws of the Game) state that when such an event occurs, the fielding side must appeal to the standing Umpire to render a decision. That decision must either be "out" or "not out" and if that decision runs contrary to the beliefs of the fielding side, they can use one of their referrals and have the 3rd Umpire either uphold or reverse the decision of the on-field Umpire.

What happened after the ball struck Rahul on the pads was a clear demonstration of the arrogance that has all-too frequently been displayed by the England Cricket team. Not once at any stage of the appeal process did Stokes turn to the Umpire, as is protocol, and await his decision before going into "celebratory mode". He continued to charge down the pitch, arms flailing about like a helicopter rotor, mouthing off in the direction of Rahul (yes, there were obscenities uttered ... one doesn't need to have a degree in lip-reading to pick that one up) until he reached his approaching team mates.

His persona for those 5 seconds or so was "That's out, smashing into middle stump, anyone can see that you're out, Rahul, so p**s off!" Never mind that according to the Laws of the Game, the Umpire has to render a decision ... "Who needs an Umpire for that, anyone can see it's out!" Never mind that Rahul might have got a little edge on the ball ... "He's not good enough to have got a nick on that!" Never mind that Stokes might have delivered a no-ball ... "Nah, we're England Cricketers, we don't bowl no-balls!"

Never mind that you're the Captain of the England Cricket team and, as such, are expected to behave in a sportsmanlike manner, upholding all the Laws of the Game and adhering to the "Spirit of Cricket" which, it is worth reiterating, is NOT actually enshrined into the Laws of the Game! This was just an appalling display of arrogance and lack of sportsmanship the likes of which should have (and maybe still might) earn Stokes a heavy rebuke from Jeff Crowe, the Match Referee.

The second appalling display of bad sportsmanship concerns Stokes' attempt to have the match called off before the start of the first of the final 15 overs of the day's play. At that stage, Indian batters Ravindra Jadeja, on 89, and Washington Sundar, on 80, had combined for a partnership that was nearing 200 runs, and both batters had their eyes on a Test century. However, Stokes decided that he didn't want to give another two Indian batters the honour of their names going up on the Old Trafford Honours Board, so he approached the Indians with his arm outstretched to offer the traditional end of game handshake.

As was their right, both Indian batters refused to agree that the match was over, as did Indian skipper Shubman Gill (who's name was also about to go onto the Honours Board following his knock of 103) who gesticulated from the Pavilion that Jadeja and Sundar should keep batting. Mind you, neither Jadeja or Sundar needed any urging from their skipper to keep batting! Jadeja turned to Umpire Rod Tucker who very swiftly and clearly indicated that the match was not yet over, and that England should continue bowling.

There followed an unedifying display of petulance from many England players, Stokes among them, as comments from Ben Duckett ("How long do you need, another hour?"), Zac Crawley ("Just shake hands, how # # # # embarrassing!"), and Stokes himself ("You wanna get a Test hundred against Harry Brook?" and "If you wanted to score a century, you should have batted like you wanted to get it!") showed just what a bunch of complete "our s**t don't smell" tossers this England Cricket team have become under Stokes' leadership.

It turned out, Ben Duckett, that Jadeja (107 not out) and Sundar (101 not out) only needed a further 15 minutes to bring up their hundreds, whereupon the match was declared a draw. I'll bet if Duckett and Crawley were on 89 and 90 respectively, nobody would have gone near them offering an end of game handshake, and Stokes would have been replicating the gesturing of Shubman Gill in demanding his batters continue.

To make matters worse, this is what Stokes said in the post-match interview: "Heap a load of credit for the way Washington and Jadeja played, got to give them a lot of credit to do what they did from that position!" Blimey ... how rapidly the wind changes!

Now before anyone comes along with comments along the lines of "oh, that's all in the heat of the moment" or "that's just normal on-field banter", I'm sorry, but that sort of behaviour on a Cricket field by ANY side and by ANY Captain is simply not on. Someone within the ECB needs to take Stokes aside and give him more than just a bit of a talking to. The biggest problem with that is those who "run" the ECB are themselves cut from the same cloth as Stokes, so waiting for this to happen is going to be completely fruitless.

The final Test of this series begins at The Oval in London later this week. All I can say is "Thank God it's the last, and the series will be over!" I should also add "Thank God that Stokes is no longer a New Zealander!"

Then I remember that England will be here for an Ashes tour in a
little over 3 months from now! Bloody 'eck ... anyone in outer Mongolia with no Internet connection need a house guest for a few months?

Rant over! Have a lovely day!

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15/07/2025

Hi Folks!

If, like me, you woke at a civilised hour this morning, having had the foresight to record the first session of play and in the expectation of watching a full and gripping day of Test Cricket between the West Indies and Australia … you are probably rubbing your eyes and muttering expressions such as “wtf?” and “did I really see THAT?”

The Test has wrapped up in an incredible manner with the West Indies going close to recording the lowest total in Test Cricket history as they collapsed for just 27 in the chase of a victory target of 204! That score of 27 included 7 ducks, a hat-trick to Australia’s Scott Boland, Test-best figures of 6 for 9 to Mitch Starc which included his 400th Test wicket (in his 100th Test match) and lasted just 14 overs & 3 balls!

Now, whilst I go and calm myself with another morning coffee, here are “the stats” … completing a personal hat-trick of wins at the toss, Pat Cummins decided that Australia would bat first. The scores were:
AUSTRALIA - 225 (Smith 48, Green 46, Cummins 24, Khawaja 23, S. Joseph 4/33, Greaves 3/56, Seales 3/59) and 121 (Green 42, S. Joseph 5/27, S. Joseph 4/34) defeated
WEST INDIES - 143 (Campbell 36, Hope 23, Boland 3/34, Hazlewood 2/32, Cummins 2/24) and [target of 204] 27 (Greaves 11, Starc 6/9, Boland 3/2) by 176 runs.

The West Indies made three changes to their 2nd Test side, omitting the out-of-form Kraigg Brathwaite for Mikyle Louis, giving a Test debut to Kevlon Anderson in place of Kacey Carty, and returning spinner Jomel Warrican for Anderson Phillip. Australia made just one change, but it raised more than a few eyebrows. Whilst 100% fit to play, spinner Nathan Lyon was omitted for the first time (barring injury) since 2013 in favour of quick Scott Boland. Yes … that one took me by surprise, too!

Australia struggled yet again to master the West Indian bowling attack, and their 1st innings total of 225 saw 6 batters get a decent start, yet none managed to pass 50. This was, in the main, due to some great bowling by Shamar Joseph, backed up by the dangerously under-rated Jayden Seales and Justin Greaves. Yes, there were a couple of injudicious shots that resulted in wickets, but the pressure exerted on the Aussies by the bowlers was telling.

The West Indian reply was going along okay at 5 for 124 when we saw yet another “Calypso Collapso” which resulted in the last 5 wickets falling for just 19 runs in 6.2 overs! This handed the Australians a somewhat unexpected first innings lead of 82 for which they were immensely grateful when their 2nd innings crumbled to 6 for 99 at Stumps with Cam Green holding things together on 42 not out.

On Day 3, Green lasted 1 ball from Shamar Joseph which cleaned him up, and with the exception of Mitch Starc’s 11 not out, nobody managed to last with him and the Aussies were all out for 121. This left the West Indies a 204-run victory target and two full days plus nearly 2 sessions to get ‘em! By the Tea break, they had lost 6 for 22 and, as we know, a Scott Boland hat-trick left the last wicket for Mitch Starc as the Windies fell for 27 … just one run better than the lowest ever Test total for a completed innings.

It's difficult to analyse this Test nor, for that matter this entire series as having been played on anything other than bowler friendly pitches in bowler friendly conditions. Whether this was by accident or design is moot because the facts stare one in the face: the highest team score in the series was Australia’s 310 in the 2nd innings of the 1st Test, and there were only 4 innings totals above 200 for the entire series. West Indies scores were 190, 141, 253, 143, 143 and 27 as against Australia’s 180, 310, 286, 243, 225 and 121. Definitely not batting paradise!

Run scoring was tricky for most, yet the Australian middle order did fairly well and rescued the side more than once. Four Aussies (Head 224, Carey 187, Green 184 and Webster 150) managed over 150 runs for the series. West Indies had five players (King 129, Chase 114, Hope 113, Shamar Joseph 113 and Campbell 106) who scored over 100 runs. Much has been said about Sam Konstas with his 50 runs for the series @ 8.33 with 2 ducks and innings of 17 & 25 boosting things, and he’ll be a topic of much debate once the preparations for the Ashes commence.

Similarly, the West Indies had some serious under-performers with the bat … none more so than former skipper Kraigg Brathwaite who, after scores of 4, 4, 0 and 7, found himself on the sidelines after his 100th Test at Grenada. The highly rated Kacey Carty managed 50 runs in 2 Tests before he, too, was dropped, and both Shai Hope and new skipper Roston Chase got a couple of starts but went no further.

On the bowling front, the stats tend to speak for themselves. Shamar Joseph topped the charts with 22 wickets @ 14.95 for the series, followed by Mitch Starc with 15 @ 14.80, Josh Hazlewood with 14 @ 14.42, Alzarri Joseph with 13 @ 20.38 and Jayden Seales with 13 @ 22.69. Controversial selection Scott Boland returned figures of 6 wickets @ 6.00 each in his only appearance and the poor guy he displaced (Nathan Lyon) managed 9 wickets @ 23.66. Yep … bowler friendly pitches and conditions such as we’ve seen at these 3 Tests will bring about figures like those every time!

Alex Carey, who copped a nasty blow on the helmet from an Alzarri Joseph delivery in Australia’s 2nd innings at Sabina Park, failed a concussion test overnight, so Josh Inglis took the gloves in the West Indian 2nd innings. Carey will be “monitored” over the next 48 hours prior to flying home with the rest of the squad.

What now for the Aussies? Many will return home … some licking their wounds despite retaining the Frank Worrell Trophy … to prepare for the up-coming Ashes which are just 4 months away. Josh Inglis, Cam Green and Matt Kuhnemann will remain in the West Indies with the Aussie T20 squad for their 5-game series which commences on Monday morning at 10am AEST or midday across the Ditch!

Speaking of the Ditch, and in spite of the West Indian’s efforts to equal or lower the lowest completed innings score in Test history, the honour of being the holder of this “record” still rests with New Zealand, with their innings of 26 against England at Eden Park back in 1955. Okay … enough said!

Oh, just one other thing … what happened to all those thunderstorms that were expected in Kingston, Jamaica, over the last few days? Never trust The Weather Channel!

Have a lovely day!

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08/07/2025

Hi Folks!

Australia has wrapped up their series against the West Indies with their victory in the 2nd Test at Grenada. They have retained the Frank Worrell Trophy … one which they have held now for 30 years!

The win was achieved on the 4th day which, in spite of some minor interruptions for showers, was again played on a pitch of somewhat interesting character. Pitches of this kind don’t normally lead to flowing batting and high scores, and in this case, the highest score in the Test came on Day 1.

For the second time in as many Tests, Pat Cummins of Australia won the toss and decided to bat first. The scores were:
AUSTRALIA - 286 (Carey 63, Webster 60, Head 29, Green 26, Konstas 25, A. Joseph 4/61, Seales 2/45,) and 243 (Smith 71, Green 52, Head 39, Carey 30, S. Joseph 5/87, Greaves 2/22, Seales 2/29) defeated
WEST INDIES - 253 (King 75, Campbell 40, S. Joseph 29, A. Joseph 27, Lyon 3/75, Hazlewood 2/43, Cummins 2/46) and [target of 277] 143 (Chase 34, S. Joseph 24, Starc 3/24, Lyon 3/42, Hazlewood 2/33) by 133 runs.

Both sides made just one change each from those which took the field in the 1st Test. Josh Inglis made way as Steve Smith returned from finger injury for the Aussies, and right-arm quick Anderson Phillip replaced left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican in the Windies team.

When bad light stopped play on Day 1, the West Indian openers had just walked onto the field to reply to Australia’s 1st Innings, but hadn’t been able to even take guard. That day followed a similar pattern to Day 1 at Bridgetown (minus any batting from the Windies) as the Australians were in trouble early at 3 for 50 and then 5 for 110, but owed their score of 286 to yet another contribution of significance from Alex Carey (63) and Beau Webster (60). Their partnership of 112 for the 6th wicket gave some respectability to the batting card.

The West Indies response fell 33 runs short of taking a 1st innings lead, and was largely at the hands of Brandon King (75) in just his 2nd Test, and John Campbell with a solid 40. When King fell at 6 for 169 and Greaves fell just 5 runs later, the Aussies must have been thinking on a 1st innings lead of close to 100, but that wasn’t to be. Again, it was Shamar Joseph (29) assisted by Alzarri Joseph (27) who took the score past the 200 mark, and some more l***y hitting saw them eventually reach 253.

Australia had just 6 overs to face before Stumps on Day 2, yet they somehow managed to lose Konstas (a 4-ball duck) and Khawaja (2) who stupidly reviewed an LBW call that even Shane Watson wouldn’t even have reviewed, leaving them teetering dangerously on 2 for 12 at Stumps. Next morning, they lost night-watchman Nathan Lyon early, but were “rescued” by a partnership of 93 between Steve Smith, who eventually fell for 71 at 5 for 179, and a return to form from Cameron Green (52).

That they managed to get to 243 and set the Windies a target of 277 came down to another solid performance with the bat from Alex Carey with 30, and some support from Mitch Starc with 13 not out, but in reality, it was the Windies attack of Seales, Greaves and the two Josephs (not related) who, together with the vagaries of the pitch, made the Aussies fight and fight hard for almost every run.

How the West Indian supporters must have wished that their side had even half as much fight in them as their opponents, for their chase of the 277-run victory target was virtually over just as it started. They lost 4 for 33 by the Lunch break, and were 7 for 99 in just 26 overs before Alzarri Joseph (13), Anderson Phillip (11*) and Shamar Joseph (24) enabled them to reach 143 and a loss by 133 runs with a full day and a full session remaining.

I mentioned the vagaries of the pitch earlier. It was yet another bowler’s pitch and, for this old fast bowler, that’s nice to see! Yet one could be forgiven for expressing some dismay when deliveries lept through to the ‘keeper off a decent length and also kept disconcertingly low … all this on Day 1! The delivery from Alzarri Joseph which bowled Pat Cummins in the 56th over of Day 1 never rose above shin height and yet, in Joseph’s previous over, a delivery had lept off close to a half-volley length and was only just prevented from heading for 4 byes by a leaping Shai Hope behind the stumps. Not good enough, West Indies Cricket!

The ICC must also be concerned with the standard of the two pitches that have been prepared so far in this series. Many would suggest that it’s about time there was less “domination” of the ball by the bat, but is that really “good for Cricket” in general? There’s been just one 300+run score in the series, 3 scores of between 243 and 286 and 4 scores of 190 or less. Both Tests have given the impression of being a tight struggle until the 4th innings when, on both occasions, the Windies have crashed chasing 301 in Bridgetown and 277 in Grenada.

The West Indian batting must be of concern as the likes of Kraigg Brathwaite with scores of 4 & 4 at Bridgetown and 0 & 7 at Grenada in his 100th Test match could well be considered to be on shaky ground. Similarly, the Aussie top order continues to struggle and give concern to those hoping there will be a strong showing in the up-coming 2025-26 Ashes series.

It could be said that Sam Konstas is going to be on his “final chance” in the Jamaica Test starting this Sunday morning, just as it could also be said that the selectors continued persistence with Usman Khawaja (who will turn 39 in December) is nothing more than a “golden handshake” for his anticipated retirement at the end of the 5th Ashes Test in Sydney next January. That’s if he survives that long! Last year, one which produced 415 runs @ 25.9, he recorded two fifties but no hundreds. To date in 2025, his return is 425 runs @ 42.5, but there are no scores over 50 save for his 233 at Galle in March … that’s more than 50% of his year’s return from one innings! Not good enough, Uzzie!

As we look towards Sunday’s day/night Test under lights in Kingston, Jamaica, we have to wonder about 3 things: 1, what changes (if any) will there be to each side’s line-up, 2, what kind of pitch will the ground staff at Sabina Park deliver for the contest, and 3, what kind of weather will the elements deliver? On the 3rd point, here is what The Weather Channel suggests might occur:

Sunday Min 76 Max 90 Morning Thunderstorms
Monday Min 76 Max 89 Scattered Thunderstorms
Tuesday Min 77 Max 88 Scattered Thunderstorms
Wednesday Min 78 Max 89 Partly Cloudy
Thursday Min 79 Max 90 Isolated Thunderstorms

I’m wondering what the difference is between “scattered” thunderstorms and “isolated” thunderstorms? Hmmmm......

Have a lovely day!

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30/06/2025

Hi Folks!

The 1st Test in the 3-match series between Australia and host the West Indies has been completed in just 3 days at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados.

The match was actually finished at around 8.30am (AEST) last Saturday, so I guess you’re wondering why I’ve left it for 2 full days before posting my review! Well, it’s like this … there is a lot to tell, simply because a lot went on during the 3 days of play. A bit went on after play finished, and I’ll deal with that shortly.

Pat Cummins of Australia won the toss and decided to bat first. The scores in the Test were:
AUSTRALIA - 180 (Head 59, Khawaja 47, Cummins 28, Seales 5/60, S. Joseph 4/46) and 310 (Carey 65, Webster 63, Head 61, S. Joseph 5/87, A. Joseph 2/65) defeated
WEST INDIES - 190 (Hope 48, Chase 44, King 26, Starc 3/65, Webster 2/20, Cummins 2/34, Hazlewood 2/41) and [target of 301] 141 (S. Joseph 44, Greaves 38*, Campbell 23, Hazlewood 5/43, Lyon 2/20) by 159 runs.

At Stumps on Day 1 with Australia having been dismissed for 180 and the West Indies in some difficulty at 4 down for 57 in reply, one could be forgiven for thinking “que?” The Kensington Oval pitch has always been regarded as one of the hardest and fastest in the entire West Indies, and yet here we saw one side get rolled for under 200 and the other side still 2/3 of the way off a 1st Innings lead with their top 4 already back in the Pavilion!

Day 2 didn’t change one’s thinking on the matter, as it was only a partnership of 67 between Shai Hope and skipper Roston Chase, plus some l***y hitting from Alzarri Joseph that managed to see the Windies take a 10-run 1st Innings lead. By Stumps, the Australians had turned that deficit into a lead of 82, yet they, too, had lost their top 4 in the process!

Day 3 was the day that all the locals had insisted would be the very best day for batting, yet we saw 16 wickets tumble for 369 with 10 of those falling in a final session which was extended to 152 minutes, during which 30.5 overs were bowled! A 102-run 5th wicket partnership between Beau Webster (63) and Player Of The Match recipient Travis Head (61), plus a solid knock of 65 from Alex Carey, enabled the Aussies to set a victory target of 301 for the West Indians.

As things transpired, 201 or even 151 would have been sufficient for Australia to wrap up a win as Josh Hazlewood ripped their run-chase to shreds in a spell of 3 overs and 3 balls during which he took 4 wickets for 7! After Mitch Starc had removed Kraigg Brathwaite with the final ball of the first over, things looked “okay” for the West Indies as John Campbell (23) and Keacy Carty (20) added 43 runs in a comfortable manner.

Then, Hazlewood struck! He removed Campbell and Brandon King with successive deliveries in the 10th over, followed by Roston Chase and Carty in successive overs. From 1 for 47, the Windies had crumbled to 5 for 57 in a flash! The 6th wicket fell at 61, the 7th at 73 and the 8th at 86 before Shamar Joseph (44) and Justin Greaves (38*) took the score to 141 before Joseph and last-man Jayden Seales fell on successive deliveries from Lyon.

One doesn’t like to and probably shouldn’t use phrases like “Calypso Collapso” to describe the West Indies 2nd Innings, but it’s a pretty apt description. They managed to hand victory to the Aussies on a plate through some inept batting and, in one case, terrible calling. Yes, the Australian bowling lifted from their performance on Days 1 & 2 when they gave up a slender 1st Innings lead, but … Hazlewood aside … it was far from threatening. Mind you, matters for the Windies might have been considerably better had they not dropped 7 catches!

The Kensington Oval pitch was not sub-standard, but it was far from the Kensington Oval pitches of years gone by. It was tailor-made for new ball bowlers, and when the ball became softer after a dozen or so overs, it wasn’t nearly as difficult to score on as the completed scores would tend to indicate. Australia lost wickets at 8, 14 and 22 in their first knock and 27, 34, 57 and 65 in their second … all before 25 overs had been completed, whilst in the same period, the Windies lost wickets at 10, 16, 52 and 53 first time around, then lost 7 for 73 in their run-chase.

Both sides can thank their lucky stars for their middle order batting which rescued them … twice for the Aussies and once for the Windies. There’s been a stack of talk about Sam Konstas and his double failure (3 and 5), the same for Cam Green (3 and 15) and Josh Inglis (5 and 12). Steve Smith is rumoured to have recovered from his fractured finger and the discussion surrounding him is who will make way for him in the side for the 2nd Test at St Kitts.

The West Indies have some major issues with their catching in the cordon where no less than 7 catches were spilled. Catches win matches, so they say, and I don’t think there can be much doubt that the Windies would have walked away from Bridgetown with a win had they held these seven chances. On the bright side for them, Shamar Joseph has again proven himself to be a huge threat with both the new and the older ball, even if he’s dropped a couple of kph in speed.

Now, I should like to address the topic of the Umpiring … specifically, the performance of the 3rd Umpire, Adrian Holdstock of South Africa. It is difficult to criticise the two on-field Umpires, Nitin Menon of India and Richard Kettleborough of England, for both did a fine job and exercised common sense in referring decisions to the 3rd Umpire. That, sadly, is where things fell apart.

For some inexplicable reason, Adrian Holdstock had a shocker in the video room. He managed to overlook, in spite of crystal clear video evidence, that: a) Roston Chase had edged a delivery into his pad and ruled that there was “a clear gap between ball and bat” and ruled Chase was out LBW, b) that in attempting to complete a catch from the bat of Shai Hope, Aussie ‘keeper Alex Carey had allowed the ball to clearly touch the ground and ruled that Hope was out cleanly caught, and c) that Hope had completed a clean and fair catch of Travis Head, the ball had not touched the ground, and had clearly taken the edge of Head’s bat. For some inexplicable reason, Head was given “not out”.

Those were three incredible decisions which completely defied what everyone could see in replay after replay after replay. How Adrian Holdstock couldn’t see what everyone else could see defies all logic. There are a couple of sad parts of this saga, one of which is that he will be standing on-field in both the 2nd and 3rd Tests of this series, unless the ICC decides to “intervene”.

The second sad part of this is that a justifiably upset West Indian coach, Darren Sammy, has been fined by the ICC and hit with a demerit point for his comments over the decisions made by Holdstock. Where Sammy erred, in my humble view, was that he mentioned in his comments to the media the fact that he had held concerns about Holdstock's umpiring from the recent ODI series in England. He should have left that one alone, but you can understand him mentioning it … if not forgive him for it.

The main reason why I have delayed this review until now was simply to see if there had been any reaction from the ICC to the furore surrounding Adrian Holdstock’s performance … and there has been none. Well, not so far, anyway. The Global Voice of Cricket wishes to place on record it’s belief that just like when a pitch is ruled by the ICC as being “sub-standard” or “poor” and future Tests at that venue are moved to another venue, so too should the ICC remove from the Elite Umpire Panel any Umpire who turns in a “sub-standard” or a “poor” performance … whether on-field or as a 3rd Umpire. It would be almost impossible not to describe Holdstock’s performance in this Test as “sub-standard” or “poor”.

That Holdstock, as of today anyway, remains on track to be one of the two on-field Umpires for both of the remaining Tests in this series is a travesty, and one can easily understand the high level of anxiety over his continued engagement in this series which surrounds the West Indian camp as they approach Friday’s 2nd Test.

So, it seems that yet again, we’ve had a series get off to a rocky start from an officiating point of view. Let us hope that things take a massive turn for the better at St Kitts and at Kingston, and that if it doesn’t improve, the chorus of protests from either of the contesting camps results in the ICC actually listening and acting, instead of simply fining and issuing demerit points.

Have a lovely day!

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20/06/2025

Hi Folks!

Following hard on the heels of losing their crown as ICC World Test Champions, the Australian team is now in Barbados, preparing for their Test and T20 series against the West Indies. These are the first of each team’s schedule for the 2025-2027 World Test Championship.

The itinerary for the Test portion of the tour is as follows:

1st Test at Bridgetown, Barbados, 26-30 June
2nd Test at St George’s, Grenada, 4-8 July
3rd Test at Kingston, Jamaica, 13-17 July

It should be noted that in the first two Tests, play is scheduled to commence at midnight Australian Eastern Standard time on the morning of the first date shown, i.e. for those sitting up to watch, or setting their alarms to wake them up, they should be “ready to roll” at midnight on the night before the first date shown! In Kingston, the Test is a day/night affair, with play commencing at 4.30am AEST.

The respective squads for the Test series are:
AUSTRALIA: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc and Beau Webster.
WEST INDIES: Roston Chase (c), Jomel Warrican, Kevlon Anderson, Kraigg Brathwaite, John Campbell, Keacy Carty, Justin Greaves, Shai Hope, Tevin Imlach, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King, Johann Layne, Mikyle Louis, Anderson Phillip and Jayden Seales.

The schedule for the 5 x T20s is:

1st and 2nd T20s at Kingston, Jamaica, on 21 and 23 July, commencing at 10.00am AEST
3rd, 4th and 5th T20s at Basseterre, St Kitts, on 26th, 27th and 29th July commencing at 9.00am AEST

The Australian squad for the T20 series is:
Mitch Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Matthew Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Owen, Matthew Short and Adam Zampa.

The West Indies have not yet announced their squad, and there is no indication as yet on when that squad will be announced.

Australia announced their squad for the 1st Test earlier today, and the selectors have finally lost patience with Marnus Labuschagne … as had the vast majority of the Australian Cricketing public several months ago! Aside from three 50s (from 9 innings) in his 232 Border-Gavaskar series runs, Labuschagne couldn’t get past 72 and had scores of 2 & 3 in Perth, 12 & 1 in Brisbane, and 2 & 6 in Sydney. Those scores had already heightened calls for his omission from the side on the Sri Lanka tour, where he recorded unconvincing innings of 20, 4 & 26* at #3 in the order, followed by equally unconvincing returns of 17 and 22 when opening in the recent WTC Final at Lord’s.

Together with the injured Steve Smith, those are the only changes to the team which contested and lost the WTC Final at Lord’s last week. Sam Konstas and Josh Inglis are the two replacements for Labuschagne and Smith. The final XI and the batting order will be confirmed closer to the Test, although Konstas will likely open with Usman Khawaja. Whilst it is doubtful that Cameron Green will stay at #3 with Inglis likely to occupy that spot, there is some flexibility.

Depending on conditions, there is a chance Australia could opt for two frontline spinners with Matt Kuhnemann partnering Nathan Lyon, however this is far less likely to occur on the pitch at Bridgetown, Barbados, than on those for the 2nd and 3rd Tests at St Kitts and Kingston.

The West Indies will go into this series buoyed by the memory of their stunning defeat of Australia on the last occasion that they met. This was at The Gabba Ground in Brisbane in January of 2024, when an injured Shamar Joseph in just his second Test match, rocked the Aussie line-up with a 2nd innings haul of 7 for 68 as Australia attempted to achieve a victory target of 216 and fell just 8 runs short. Things haven’t gone quite as swimmingly for Joseph since then, but Cameron Green, Travis Head, and Alex Carey will be remembering those searing Joseph yorkers from 18 months ago!

Roston Chase assumes the mantle (some would refer to it as a poisoned chalice) of West Indies captaincy, as they host the Aussies for Tests for the first time in 10 years. There are some names within the squad that the Aussies will be very familiar with, such as Alzarri Joseph, Kraigg Brathwaite, Justin Greaves and Shai Hope, but there are also names from the party which toured Australia 18 months ago who are missing. Names such as Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Kirk McKenzie, Alick Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Josh Da Silva, Kevin Sinclair and Kemar Roach … yes, seven of the winning West Indian side from January last year are gone.

It could well be said, and I believe this shows quite a degree of truth, that such an occurrence reflects the true “here today, gone tomorrow” state of West Indian Cricket. They have performed poorly in recent years across all three formats of the game, and much of the reasoning behind that can be laid at the feet of the glut of T20 Franchise competitions operating on a regular basis across the globe, and the sometimes obscene amounts of money they offer to “attract” players. Especially, I might add, players from nations which lack the financial resources to even think about matching the T20 Franchises … especially, nations like the West Indies.

That said, let us hope that those of us who stay up late or rise disgustingly early to watch these two series over the coming months end up being rewarded for our respective individual sacrifices by seeing some really great Cricket played. I, for one, will be keen to see how an Australian batting line-up copes … for the first time since 2019 … without Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne in the ranks!

Have a lovely day!

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