3 thoughts on “The CRICKETher Weekly – Episode 142”
If you are going to the expense of putting on an U19 World Cup, all countries should put forward their best players otherwise you are not taking this competition seriously. Young players could have pride at winning a World Cup rather than be possibly sitting on the bench in the main World Cup.
Have been enjoying watching the West Indies series so far. When I say watch – it’s been tough at times as the quality of the coverage has been generally dire, with heaps of technical issues, freezing, poor replays and a score graphic that is rarely correct. It is the sort of thing that you might expect on low budget streamed coverage but BT Sport should have done something to improve it. Some of the umpiring decisions have also looked suspect.
ODI1
Very good performance from England to open up the series. Put in by West Indies in what later looked to be a questionable decision, England’s middle order made hay against a wayward Windies attack on a good pitch, Sciver and Wyatt dominating in an excellent stand. Some late hitting from Jones and Ecclestone took England past 300. The bowling from England was good as well, one slight issue being their fielding. I think at least 4 catches went down – Dunkley at square leg, one in the outfield, a sharp chance at midwicket and a dropped return catch to Ecclestone among them. The main problem turned out to be the injury to Capsey which saw the unlucky youngster have to return home. That meant Lamb could return in the opening spot for the 2nd ODI, as she was unlucky to lose her place.
ODI2
England would have felt very frustrated by their batting performance, having elected to bat first. A solid start was again punctuated by a few players giving their wickets away shortly after getting in. A series of cameos in the 20s, and Sciver out lbw for 5 playing back to a full one, was followed by the main theme of the innings, which really got under the England player’s skins – the consistent and deliberate bowling wide outside off-stump by West Indies. The tactic certainly resulted in a few cheap dismissals, and a little petulance here and there , as the England batters struggled to hit the ball effectively and were tempted into some poor shots. They were clearly not happy with proceedings. The wide bowling was a mixed bag in the end though, as it gave away 18 wides and failed to produce any chances on the wickets like bowled or LBW. It was an incredibly negative tactic to adopt.
Dunkley impressed for England, and Jones produced a second fine effort in a row, this time making an unbeaten 70* at better than a run a ball to play the main hand in 260. That was on top of her 4 catches including some good takes down leg side, and led to her deserved player of the match award. But this was a sub-optimal batting display from most of the England batters. I felt they were not street-wise enough, left almost 2 overs out there, and a better opposition may have punished England more. It looked like England were fueled by their batting frustrations though, as the opening bowlers Bell and Cross steamed in, and were brilliant in reducing West Indies to 8-4 and then 28-5. Bowling full and fast, they found plenty of swing and movement and the Windies top order had no answers. For the Windies it was all about Rashada Williams, who played brilliantly as a lone hand, with little support. She was playing on a different pitch, and looks to be a real prospect as the next big thing for the West Indies. England bowled much straighter at the stumps than West Indies, and it payed off as the home side were dismissed for a very poor 118.
ODI3
In the third ODI, gone was the wide bowling plan and lo and behold West Indies’ bowling was much improved. England again had a few players get some little cameos then get themselves out, some questionable shot selections again to blame. Sciver played brilliantly again, with some middle order support from Wyatt and Jones, but England suffered a couple of bizarre and unfortunate dismissals (Dunkley, Sciver). England were bowled out far too early and left lots of overs out there, although the run rate still meant a decent total was posted. Luckily for England, West Indies’ batting was nowhere near up to the task (But India or Australia would have been a different matter!) and Sciver and the spinners bowled excellently to round off a good series for England.
CRICKETher 
If you are going to the expense of putting on an U19 World Cup, all countries should put forward their best players otherwise you are not taking this competition seriously. Young players could have pride at winning a World Cup rather than be possibly sitting on the bench in the main World Cup.
LikeLike
Have been enjoying watching the West Indies series so far. When I say watch – it’s been tough at times as the quality of the coverage has been generally dire, with heaps of technical issues, freezing, poor replays and a score graphic that is rarely correct. It is the sort of thing that you might expect on low budget streamed coverage but BT Sport should have done something to improve it. Some of the umpiring decisions have also looked suspect.
LikeLike
Brief review of the ODIs.
ODI1
Very good performance from England to open up the series. Put in by West Indies in what later looked to be a questionable decision, England’s middle order made hay against a wayward Windies attack on a good pitch, Sciver and Wyatt dominating in an excellent stand. Some late hitting from Jones and Ecclestone took England past 300. The bowling from England was good as well, one slight issue being their fielding. I think at least 4 catches went down – Dunkley at square leg, one in the outfield, a sharp chance at midwicket and a dropped return catch to Ecclestone among them. The main problem turned out to be the injury to Capsey which saw the unlucky youngster have to return home. That meant Lamb could return in the opening spot for the 2nd ODI, as she was unlucky to lose her place.
ODI2
England would have felt very frustrated by their batting performance, having elected to bat first. A solid start was again punctuated by a few players giving their wickets away shortly after getting in. A series of cameos in the 20s, and Sciver out lbw for 5 playing back to a full one, was followed by the main theme of the innings, which really got under the England player’s skins – the consistent and deliberate bowling wide outside off-stump by West Indies. The tactic certainly resulted in a few cheap dismissals, and a little petulance here and there , as the England batters struggled to hit the ball effectively and were tempted into some poor shots. They were clearly not happy with proceedings. The wide bowling was a mixed bag in the end though, as it gave away 18 wides and failed to produce any chances on the wickets like bowled or LBW. It was an incredibly negative tactic to adopt.
Dunkley impressed for England, and Jones produced a second fine effort in a row, this time making an unbeaten 70* at better than a run a ball to play the main hand in 260. That was on top of her 4 catches including some good takes down leg side, and led to her deserved player of the match award. But this was a sub-optimal batting display from most of the England batters. I felt they were not street-wise enough, left almost 2 overs out there, and a better opposition may have punished England more. It looked like England were fueled by their batting frustrations though, as the opening bowlers Bell and Cross steamed in, and were brilliant in reducing West Indies to 8-4 and then 28-5. Bowling full and fast, they found plenty of swing and movement and the Windies top order had no answers. For the Windies it was all about Rashada Williams, who played brilliantly as a lone hand, with little support. She was playing on a different pitch, and looks to be a real prospect as the next big thing for the West Indies. England bowled much straighter at the stumps than West Indies, and it payed off as the home side were dismissed for a very poor 118.
ODI3
In the third ODI, gone was the wide bowling plan and lo and behold West Indies’ bowling was much improved. England again had a few players get some little cameos then get themselves out, some questionable shot selections again to blame. Sciver played brilliantly again, with some middle order support from Wyatt and Jones, but England suffered a couple of bizarre and unfortunate dismissals (Dunkley, Sciver). England were bowled out far too early and left lots of overs out there, although the run rate still meant a decent total was posted. Luckily for England, West Indies’ batting was nowhere near up to the task (But India or Australia would have been a different matter!) and Sciver and the spinners bowled excellently to round off a good series for England.
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