Pakistan bounce back

Pakistan look to have got over their recent setbacks (Ovalgate, drugs, captaincy) with a straightforward win over the West Indies in Lahore. A huge 192 from Mohammad Yousuf pretty much won the game for them. Good to see that they aren’t letting problems bother them on the field as they often did in the past.

Big win for Australia in DLF Cup final

Australia have beaten the West Indies by 127 runs in the DLF Cup final in Kuala Lumpur. Batting first, the Aussies scored 240/6 from their 50 overs, Damien Martyn and Andrew Symonds both making 52. No West Indian batsman got a decent start, and Brett Lee took 4/24 to help dismiss the West Indies for just 113.

India win in close game

India have trumphed over the West Indies in a close game in Malaysia today. India batted first and made 162. They would have struggled if it wasn’t for a fine 65 from Sachin Tendulkar after Dwayne Smith demolished the Indian top order with 4/31. Despite a lower order fightback from the West Indies, led by Brian Lara (batting at 9!), India bowled them out for 146 for a 16 run win. India now need to beat Australia on Friday to get to the final.

Orgasmic?

Just had a quick look at the live scorecard of the current India v West Indies ODI, and they’ve described Dwayne Bravo’s dismissal of Agit Agakar as an “orgasmic slower ball”. I’m not sure I want to imagine what that might mean!

A conflict of interest?

In August, Bermuda will be visiting Canada, to play an Intercontinental Cup game and two ODIs against Canada, plus two ODIs against Kenya. The problem is, if they progress to the semi final or final of the Stanford 20/20, they will have to be in two places at once. Their fixture list would be like this:

• 9th August: 1st ODI v Kenya (Toronto)
• 10th August: 2nd ODI v Kenya (Toronto)
• 11th August: Stanford 20/20 Semi Final (Antigua)
• 12th August: 4 day game v Canada (Toronto)
• 13th August: Stanford 20/20 Final (Antigua)

This is obviously impossible. So what will happen? Teams are obligated to send their best XI to ICC events, but would Bermuda really send a second XI to a tournament with a million dollar first prize? I highly doubt it.

West Indies join the Twenty20 club

Tomorrow will see the start of the first Twenty20 competition in the Caribbean, the Stanford 20/20. The billionaire businessman Alan Stanford has already invested $28 million into the event, which as well as featuring all the countries/territories that make up the West Indies, will also see participation from Bermuda, the Bahamas, and the Cayman Islands.

There is a million dollars for the winner of the knockout competition, and an all-star team will take on South Africa in a one off match where the winners will take home a cool five million dollars later this year.

This leaves just three countries not to join the Twenty20 bandwagon; Zimbabwe, who’s domestic structure is in such a mess, a Twenty20 tournament wouldn’t even be worth bothering with, India, who have a severe phobia of Twenty20 in much the same way they avoided one day cricket for so long after it’s introduction (11 years), as well as Bangladesh.

It would be nice if Stanford could also get involved with the Twenty20 World Championship next year, especially if he could bring along his juicy prize money. Time will tell though wether Stanford is in for the long haul in West Indian cricket.

West Indies turn the floodlights on

The first ever floodlit game in the West Indies was played yesterday at St Lucia.

West Indies A beat England A by 118 runs in the encounter, which leaves Zimbabwe as the only test nation yet to host day/night cricket.

Zimbabwe will be the first team to play a full ODI under lights in the Carribean, when they play in St Lucia next month.