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The Roar

Garfield Robinson

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Joined January 2012

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I am a huge cricket fan from Jamaica now living in USA.

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Nice article Ben. And quite valid points.

West Indies cricket: Lament for a lost superpower

Didn’t think I’d see Merv Hughes’ name mentioned in a conversation about the greatest fast bowlers.

Dale Steyn might just be the best

Thanks Peeeko.

Should we chastise swashbuckling batsmen when they fail?

I appreciate you reading my articles sheik. And I have gained much knowledge from your comments to my cricket articles.

Cheating in sports and Lance's lessons

Thank you Kate.

Cheating in sports and Lance's lessons

I am backing Clarke to make runs too as he is a great player of spin, but I am not sure the rest of the batting will be able to cope against the Indian spinners on turning wickets.

Lyon and Beer will certainly get more assistance on Indian pitches than on Australian ones but they will be up against batsmen accustomed to playing spin and I don’t expect them to bowl as well as Panesar and Swann did. Your pacers would put the Indian batting under pressure if the matches were going to be played on your wickets. In India they will rarely have conditions where they can dominate the Indian batting.

India must start favourites to win.

India will avenge 4-0 drubbing at home by Australia

England is better but the main reason I think Australia will lose is their lack of high quality spin — something that England had. Your pace attack is better than India’s but pace will probably not be very effective in those conditions. The Indian batsmen will be able to make enough runs for their spinners to bowl you out in spin-friendly conditions.

India will avenge 4-0 drubbing at home by Australia

No. Kanhai played his last test in England in 1974.

Lawrence Rowe: the most elegant batsman ever

Going from memory I think he made something like 107 in the first test that I think was at Brisbane. The West Indies won the second test at Perth but I dont remember Rowe making a big score. Fredericks made a terrific 169 and I think Lloyd made a hundred too.

Lawrence Rowe: the most elegant batsman ever

Reports are that Worrell asked for Gilchrist specifically for the purpose of beating Australia but the board would not relent. There is little doubt in my mind that had he toured in 1960/61 WI would have won that series.

Roy Gilchrist: the man who filled batsmen with fear

Wow! It appears a knife was his weapon of choice. It is said that he drew a knife at Hendricks in India and that was one cause of the tension between them. There is also a story that he swore, which was against team rules, and refused to apologize.

How I would love to talk to your neighbor.

Roy Gilchrist: the man who filled batsmen with fear

Well said.

Nothing wrong with playing against the spin

I agree that driving through off means you are more likely to edge to slip or wicketkeeper. And you are right that too full or too short and it doesnt really matter. I am saying that abiding by the rule of not playing against the spin makes you more likely to edge the ball or miss it altogether. Take the example of Thorpe: Fletcher said he learnt that he should play Murali to off (being a left-hander), and he had to tell him that he really should, considering the angle, play him back to leg. But I take your points.

Nothing wrong with playing against the spin

I think I disagree. My point is that you stand a better chance of playing the ball if you present the full face of the bat. Working the offspinner through midwicket or behind square is riskier because it diminishes your chances of making contact. You are therefore more likely to edge the ball than if you played the ball in the direction from which it was coming. If you work out the angles it is clear that you are following the rules of good batting technique by getting behind the line.

Nothing wrong with playing against the spin

You are right. He is indeed a master swing bowler who, if anything, often swings it too much. I also found that when he was bowling on the second day of the Lords test, his inswinger started a bit too early. He swung it later in the second innings but it often still swung too much and the batsmen were not good enough to make contact.

It might be instructive that though he was the one swinging it miles, it was Broad who picked up 6 wickets. Also, with skills like his he should not be averaging over 30 and his strike rate should be a bit lower than the over 56 that it is. Still, he might be the games foremost exponent of the art at present. Steyn I feel is more dangerous because he consistently swings the new ball away considerably later than anyone else, but he does not posses the skills of each way swing that Anderson has.

Arise Sir James Anderson, the finest swing bowler ever

I wonder if thats some kind of record. Never heard of left-handers occupying the first seven spots in a line-up before. How did they do?

Of the top 30 batsmen with the most runs in tests I think 11 are left-handers too. That’s almost 37%. Amazing.

The left-handed advantage in cricket

Brett, Peter Roebuck wrote an excellent article some time ago making that very point about the top hand. He mentioned too that Tendulkar plays tennis left-handed and so his left hand was his dominant hand. Still, I think the right-hander who bats left-handed derives more benefit than the left-hander who bats right-handed because of the LBW law etc. What do you think?

The left-handed advantage in cricket

You are right. It would not apply to Brian Lara, for example, because he is a natural right-hander, but he would still have benefitted from the other advantages that all those who bat left-handed enjoy.

The left-handed advantage in cricket

I am a cricket tragic as well and I have not watched a single IPL game. Cant wait for it to be over.

IPL is quickly losing its appeal

I think Michael Hussey is somewhat like Chanderpaul in his ability to battle in difficult situations. What do you think jameswm and Disco?

Will West Indies batsmen learn from Chanderpaul?

I agree. He is batting as well as I have ever seen him bat.

Will West Indies batsmen learn from Chanderpaul?

Thanks sheek and Fivehole. I am going to disagree slightly with something you said Fivehole. Chanderpaul I believe has loads of talent, and was marked from very early as a very talented player. He has all the shots and can play them when he wants to. At one point he used to open the batting in ODIs and was hardly ever outscored.

I think he loves to bat more than most and has somewhat perfected the art of survival at the crease and has elevated that as the major part of his game.

Will West Indies batsmen learn from Chanderpaul?

Thanks Rhys. That was careless of me. I guess I was so certain of the spelling that I didn’t bother to check.

Time for Ricky Ponting to say goodbye

Vas, do you think the openers, Cowan and Warner, should be persevered with? I happen to think they should be looked at. Even when I saw Warner making big scores I was not that impressed with him. Not impressed with Cowan either. Everyone is looking to the ashes but I think these openers will be meat and drink for the England seamers in English conditions.

Time for Ricky Ponting to say goodbye

If anything he looked worse against NZ. He struggled against SA too.

Time for Ricky Ponting to say goodbye

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