Letters From The West Village

Carl Stone on Jamaica

According to Carl Stone; “What we have seen in Jamaica ...............................................

is a shift from a society from where you regulate behaviour through norms and values to a situation where you regulate behaviour through force…and the threat of force.” (Stone cited in Figueroa 1996: 23)

 

 

Part 2: The West Indians in Austraila (VB Series 2005)

Match Report Australia Vs West Indies, MCG, Jan 14 2005
By Alexander Lowe  (CWI Staff Writer)

On this bright sun shiny morning at the MCG with 50,000 spectators in attendance, Ricky Ponting won the toss and elected to bat in this day/night opening encounter of the VB Series.

The first 50 overs of the tournament emphatically confirmed that the West Indians were indeed a bowler (maybe 2/3) short. And as I said earlier, the bits and pieces bowling of Gayle, Sarwan and Hinds was duly exposed by the formidable Australian batting. Hinds and Gale bowled three overs a piece and went for 21 and 20 runs respectively. That’s 41 from six overs. Sarwan bowled 8 overs and his eight cost 49 runs. That’s a 100 runs yielded by part-time bowlers and probably a 100 runs which accounts for the difference between victory and defeat. Again it’s worthwhile remembering that bits and pieces bowlers will always be taken to pieces by competent batting sides. Australia is more than a competent side. After 50 overs they had accumulated 301/4.

Dillon’s performance was nothing new. It was the same insanely infuriating Merv Dillon. His first 4 overs cost 37 runs. In a curious move Lara switched his end and he Dillon came back to finish 7 overs for 49 runs. Right at the death Lara again turned to Dillon and he proceeded to concede 18 runs in his last over. Dillon then has the proud distinction of bowling 8 overs for 69 runs. Even by Dillon’s perverse standards this was a hellish performance. He succeeded in compounding matters by imitating a diving fieldsman only his dive took him over the ball and turned what should have been two runs into four. Dillon is sloppy, Dillon is lousy, and Dillon is the same old same old. And were it not for the fact that the Lara has a some mysterious loyalty towards Big Merv I’m certain that he would have been out of this team some time ago.

Samuels, Bravo and Bradshaw in particular all performed creditably with ball but these guys while they bowl with economy are not wicket taking bowlers. And I wonder as to the thinking behind the team selection. West Indies selected a team which was unlikely to bowl Australia out in 50 overs. The thinking therefore must have been restrict the runs and let the batting do the work. And although the team had batting down to #10, I believe the plan back fired because of Mervyn Dillon and the bits and pieces bowlers.

In the end the West Indians did remarkably well to restrict the Australians to 301. With Lara in a batting line up, as the Nike advert says “the impossible is nothing.” There were some good things in the West Indian fielding. Notably Bravo’s catch to dismiss Gilchrist for a rare duck off of Bradshaw right at the top of the Australian batting order. There was also Chanderpaul precision throw from the deep to run out Ponting, but there blemishes as well. Dillon was the biggest blemish of all, but then there was young Marshall’s failure to hang on to a sharp chance offered by Clarke in the early stages of his innings and far too many extras (22) to be comfortable with.

Such is the depth of the Australian batting that even the early dismissal of Gilchrist was not enough to wrest the initiative from this confident Australian line up. Gilchrist departed and Clarke applied himself and ended up with 66 runs from 91 balls (with eight fours). In the end Samuels accounted for Clarke. Ponting then took it upon himself to score 78 from 92 balls before he left via the run out route. And lastly, Damien Martyn then constructed a well paced and classy 95 not out. Symonds and Lehmann both supported with useful scores of 20 each in quick time.

When it came time for the vaunted West Indies batting to do its thing, disaster struck in the very first over. Gayle was lbw to Lee (beaten by pace and the inability to move his feet) for a mighty duck. Hinds was then run out by Symonds after scoring 5 in the third over and then Sarwan caught Gilchrist bowled Lee for four in the fourth over. Lara who batted at #4 was joined at the crease by debutant Marshall but again Marshall faltered bowled by Lee for five. In four outings so far the much touted Xavier Marshall has shown us absolutely nothing.

Chanderpaul and Lara once again combined in a face-saving exercising. Captain and Vice Captain and put on 98 runs. This was the one bright spot in the West Indian batting. The partnership while not flawless lifted the West Indians from 33/4 to 131/5. Lara being undone by Hogg returned to the pavilion after scoring 58 from 111 balls. Hogg then proceeded to dismiss Chanderpaul (46), Samuels (9), Bravo (3) and Bradshaw (12). In between Browne batted sensibly and scored an unbeaten 20 from 47 deliveries. The end came in over number 46 when Kasprowicz dismissed Dillon for 6 and the West Indians for 185. Lee had taken care of the top order and Hogg ripped the belly out of the lower order.

All around this was a pretty pathetic display by the West Indians with bat, with ball and in the field. The West Indians gambled on their batting and the gamble failed. They gambled by playing two bowlers and one of the two failed miserably. Now here’s the rub, if the West Indians are going to perform creditably then in the first instance, Dillon cannot be left to shoulder the responsibility of the bowling. He is just not up to it and we know it. He needs to have Collins or King or both bowling in tandem with him. Second, the experiment with young Xavier Marshall must stop. Talented he may be, but he clearly is not ready for this level of competition and placing him in the firing line at a premature stage will do more damage than good.

Last, why on earth was Collins left out? Is he injured? He is the one consistent bowler the West Indians have and he is left out. It absolutely makes no sense. The West Indians have an unbalanced squad choc full of potential batsmen. More often than not they will chase down good totals, but I suspect that 301 in 50 overs was just too much for this talented but inexperienced line up.

No doubt Bennett King has brought considerable technical acumen with him. That is going to be an asset. But what I want to know is, has he brought any common sense with him? Seems not!

The West Indians in the VB Series!

The West Indians in the VB Series

Part 1 - All Eyes on Reon King!

 

By Alexander Lowe (CWI Staff Writer)

 

Reon King is representing the West Indies again. It’s the first time since 2001. The route back has been arduous, injury, then stints with Northern League clubs and a stint in South Africa. He’s 29 years old, no longer young in cricket terms, mature and he knows that it is the time to stand and deliver.

His recall owes a lot to the hiring of new West Indian cricket Supremo and namesake –Bennett King. It’s not productive to engage in iffy speculation but would King have earned his recall under a West Indian Coach? For many in the Caribbean the recall is a mystery. Reports from the pre tour training camp suggested that Reon looked ordinary. And in his two outings so far, he has not looked anything near the menace he was in his youth. He has bowled creditably taking five wickets. Yet the sense of doubt remains. The last three wickets taken in the last match against Australia A were decidedly on the expensive side. And the tendency to miss his run up fuels the doubt that King is a bowler destined for ordinariness.

Perhaps Bennett King has a good memory and recalls the promise of the young Reon King. Perhaps Bennett has looked at the statistics and realized that Reon has a good record in one-day internationals, 73 wickets in 48 matches at an average of 23.23. Those in and of themselves are impressive numbers. Yet the doubt persists. And no doubt Reon King is at this moment chuffed at being back in the team. He’s said so; "It's good to be back in the team. The hard work has paid off." Well the hard work certainly has paid off. Reon King is back in the reckonings courtesy of Bennett King.

I for one am wishing Reon King all the best on his return to international cricket. If nothing else he has proved he has true grit and has slowly and over time earned the right to represent the West Indians. What he must show us all now is that the unbounded talent evident in his youth has now come to fruition.

The other half of the West Indies “pace” duo is Mervyn Dillon. He too has been recalled by Bennett King. On the evidence of his two starts so far I have to conclude nothing much has changed. It’s still the same old same old with Dillon. He started in the first match he was ordinary. He was omitted in the second game and brought back for the third where he was tidy and efficient and a bit of a menace. He seems incapable of being a consistent performance. There is no need to reiterate here what we all know about Mervyn Dillon (indeed what he must know of himself) but the clock is ticking and under the B King dispensation I would hate to see us continue with an in-out performer like Big Merv. Again, I’m hoping and praying that Dillon can over the next several weeks turn in a performance where he does the simple things well. Line and length, easy to say but seemingly hard to do.

It appears that B King and the strategists amongst the West Indians have pinned their sales on a talented batting line up. A line up with the likes of Gayle, Sarwan, Samuels (another recall) is undoubtedly talented. In addition Shiv, Bravo and the great man himself add not only brilliance but depth to the batting line up. But clearly, and again on the basis of the first three practice patches – the West Indians are a bowler short.

There is Collins and there is Collins. Far and away the best bowler in the line up Collins is the main string in the bow. Who amongst the others is going to fill the remaining ten overs. Will it be Samuels, Gayle, Hinds or all three? Therein lies the problem. Gayle apart all others are bits and pieces bowlers and world class batting will take bits and pieces bowlers apart. What B King appears to be gambling on is that somehow miraculously Mervyn Dillon finds himself and R King confirms his promise of yore. Personally, I think that’s too big a gamble. A batting line up, with the likes of Ponting, Clarke and the outstanding Gilchrist has to be snuffed out with bowlers who are certain of their trade. One cannot be sure that either King or Collins know theirs. So the whole scheme is a gamble. To be fair, the loss of a Ryan Hinds to injury is probably the main reason that the bowling appears the way it does. Whatever the reason, there seems to be a major imbalance in the make up of the squad. It is clear to me that with the available personnel and in the current circumstances Bennett King and the West Indians can do themselves a power of good by playing young Bradshaw. In his one match so far, he has shown that he can bowl a tight line and length in or around the infamous corridor. Bradshaw ought to play.

And finally, what on earth is Christopher Gayle doing at the top of the West Indian order. It is appalling that Gayle is cast or has cast himself in the role of playing five over forty something score cameos. Mr. King surely is a coach of stature. I am no coach but common sense tells us all that Gayle ought to set out to be there at the end. Kamikaze cricket (the type that Gayle is playing) is mindless and surely Bennett King is not mindless.

Wither Africa?

It came as a bit of a surprise to me that the Tsunami which so horrendously wrought havoc on the people of S Asia also wrought havoc in E Africa.

Poor Africa, even with a disaster of this magnitude, that suffereing continent is largely ignored. Africa and Africans had better wake up. We are black people, that means in many peoples eyes, we are not exactly human and therefore not worthy of human consideration (a point piognatly made in the "must see" movie Hotel Rwanda. Black people must help themselves, because despite the smiles, despite the show of decency, no one really cares.

No one cares that people committed genocide in Rwanda. No one cares that blacks are being slaugtered in in Dharfur. No one cares that governance has broken down in Somalia, in the Sudan, they dont care about AIDS, about poverty .....they just dont care.

So its up to Africans, wake up or die.

One Last Effort

The finishing post is in sight. So now's the time to dig deep for the one last final push.

My 5 Star Ratings: WI in Australia, Jan 2005

WI Tour Five Star Ratings after 3 Matches

Gayle***
Earns 3 stars for his explosive batting at the top of the order. You get the feeling he is set to build a big innings some time soon. Is there something of a head case in Gayle or is he playing under instructions? Does he gift his wicket when he is set?

Hinds***
Surely one of the unluckiest batsmen in any form of the game. Earns 3 stars for his half century in the Australia A losing effort. From here he ought to go on and play 2 decent or three decent knocks.

Sarwan**
Earns two stars. So far disappointing. The class is there but is he in form?

Lara*****
There’s only one Brian Lara and he is ready. Earns five stars for the splendid century in the first Australia A match.

Samuels*
One star for young Marlon Samuels. Showed signs of his class in the last practice match.  But before that nothing to speak of.

Chanderpaul***
Three stars for Shiv. The solid innings in support of Lara and a reasonable though losing effort as Captain earn the tiger three stars.

Bravo**
Tidy bowling earns Bravo two stars. His handling of the willow could earn him more. Two stars.

Browne****
Nothing wrong with what Browne is doing. He’s keeping well and batting responsibly. Four stars here so far.

Collins****
The most impressive bowler so far! Four stars.

Dillon**
Suggestions of the same old same old, but he’s just doing enough to keep you guessing. One thing is clear; the brunt of the pace bowlers work is not to be undertaken by Big Merv alone. He needs a Collins or a King or both to work with. Two stars

King***
Perfectly respectable performances. Lets hope that Reon goes on to fulfill his early promise in this triangular series. 31/2 stars for Reon.

Bradshaw****
The minute Dillon shows his same old, same old tendencies, this man should be given a chance. Good, solid economical bowling in the second tour match earns Braddie four stars.

Marshall
This young man has so far shown nothing. Nothing at all. So no stars here.

US Bloggers Gone Wild!

Came across this interesting read on the beeb "Blog reading explodes in America"

Americans are becoming avid blog readers, with 32 million getting hooked in 2004, according to new research.

The survey, conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, showed that blog readership has shot up by 58% in the last year.

Some of this growth is attributable to political blogs written and read during the US presidential campaign.

Despite the explosive growth, more than 60% of online Americans have still never heard of blogs, the survey found.

Blogs, or web logs, are online spaces in which people can publish their thoughts, opinions or spread news events in their own words.

Companies such as Google and Microsoft provide users with the tools to publish their own blogs.

Getting involved

The rise of blogs has spawned a new desire for immediate news and information, with six million Americans now using RSS aggregators.

RSS aggregators are downloaded to PCs and are programmed to subscribe to feeds from blogs, news sites and other websites.

The aggregators automatically compile the latest information published online from the blogs or news sites.

Reading blogs remains far more popular than writing them, the survey found.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4145191.stm

Blog as 'therapy'

People blog for all sorts of reasons. To some it is a chance to have a good moan about life in general, and to many that includes life at work.

"Tom", a London ambulance worker, has been blogging for 18 months and gets about 4,000 hits a day on his weblog, Random Acts of Reality.

He thought people might be interested in what happens in an ambulance, a place people prefer not to experience.

"It's a glimpse into the rather secret world of ambulance work, a chance to realise that we aren't like Josh in Casualty [a medical TV show in the UK].

 

Happy New Year Everyone

Happy 2005 to the whole wide world and all its billions of people . I am hoping for a better time for all. If you think about it, the world aint all that perfect now. So Im hoping and asking the Great Umpire in the sky to let a few of the close decisions go our way and not against us. Like we dont have to be sending people to die in Iraq. We really dont.

Lets put a little love in our hearts and hope and work for better, cos its about time and we deserve it.

Good Riddance 2004

You have a sting in your tail, 120,000 dead. 5 million at risk. Iraqi ...good riddance  to bad rubbish i say. Welcome 2005, and lets get past this!

Here's hoping all the best for 2004, for every one of us - the human race.

Tsunami in Asia

The following are accepting donations for aid they or affiliates will provide to those affected by the deadly tsunami in Asia

If you are looking for information on a U.S. citizen feared missing, contact the U.S. State Department at 888-407-4747, or, from overseas, at 317-472-2328.

For those folks who live in the USA here is a list of organizations where donations can be made. The contact information with the addresses are as follows;

Action Against Hunger
247 West 37th Street, Suite 1201
New York, NY 10018
212-967-7800

www.aah-usa.org

ADRA International
Asia Tsunami Crisis Fund
12501 Old Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20904
800-424-2372

www.adra.org

Air Serv International
6583 Merchant Place, Suite 100
Warrenton, VA 20187

www.airserv.org

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
JDC: South Asia Tsunami Relief
Box 321
847A Second Avenue
New York, NY 10017
212-885-0867

www.jdc.org

American Jewish World Service
45 West 36th Street, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10018
800-889-7146

www.ajws.org

American Red Cross
International Response Fund
PO Box 37243
Washington, DC 20013
800-HELP-NOW

www.redcross.org

AmeriCares
88 Hamilton Ave.
Stamford, CT 06902
800-486-4357

www.americares.org

ARMDI, Israeli Red Cross
Tsunami Emergency Fund
888 7th Ave.
Suite #403
New York, NY 10106
866-632-2763

Baptist World Aid
Asia Tidal Waves
405 North Washington St.
Falls Church, VA 22046
703-790-8980
www.bwanet.org/bwaid

B’nai B’rith International
B’nai B’rith Disaster Relief Fund
2020 K. St. NW
7th Floor
Washington, DC 20006
212-490-3290
www.bnaibrith.org

Brother’s Brother Foundation
1200 Galveston Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15233
412-321-3160
www.brothersbrother.org

CARE
151 Ellis Street, NE
Atlanta, GA 30303-2440
800-521-CARE
www.care.org

Catholic Relief Services
209 West Fayette St.
Baltimore, MD 21201
877-HELP-CRS
www.catholicrelief.org

Christian Children’s Fund
Child Alert Fund
PO Box 26484
Richmond, VA 23261
800-776-6767
www.christianchildrensfund.org

Christian Reformed World Relief Committee
South Asia Earthquake
2850 Kalamazoo Ave. SE
Grand Rapids, MI, 49560
800-55-CRWRC
www.crwrc.org

Church World Service
PO Box 968
Elkhart, IN 46515
800-297-1516
www.churchworldservice.org

Direct Relief International
27 South La Patera Lane
Santa Barbara, CA 93117
805-964-4767
www.directrelief.org

Food for the Hungry
Asia Quake Relief
1224 E. Washington St.
Phoenix, AZ 85034
800-2-HUNGERS
www.fh.org

Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres
PO Box 2247
New York, NY 10116-2247
888-392-0392
www.doctorswithoutborders.org

International Aid
17011 W. Hickory
Spring Lake, MI 49456
800-968-7490
www.internationalaid.org

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
PO Box 372
CH-1211 Geneva 19
Switzerland41-22-730-4222
www.ifrc.org

International Medical Corps
Tsunami Emergency Response
1919 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 300
Santa Monica, CA 90404-1950
800-481-4462
www.imcworldwide.org

International Orthodox Christian Charities
PO Box 630225
Baltimore, MD 21263-0225
877-803-4622
www.iocc.org

International Relief Teams
Asia Earthquake/Floods
3547 Camino Del Rio South, Suite C
San Diego, CA 92108
619-284-7979
www.IRTeams.org

International Rescue Committee
PO Box 5058
Hagerstown, MD 21741-9874
877-REFUGEE or 733-8433
www.theIRC.org

Latter-Day Saint Charities
Welfare Services Emergency Response
50 East North Temple Street, Room 701
Salt Lake City, Utah, 84150-6800
801-240-3544
http://www.lds.org/ldsfoundation

Lutheran World Relief
South Asia Tsunami
700 Light St.
Baltimore, MD 21230
410-230-2700
www.lwr.org

MAP International
PO Box 215000
Brunswick, GA 3121-5000
800-225-8550
www.map.org

Mercy Corps
Southeast Asia Earthquake
Dept. W
PO Box 2669
Portland, OR 97208
800-852-2100
www.mercycorps.org

Northwest Medical Teams
PO Box 10
Portland, OR 97207-0010
503-624-1000
www.nwmedicalteams.org

Operation USA
8320 Melrose Avenue, Ste. 200
Los Angles, CA 90069
800-678-7255
www.opusa.org

Oxfam America
Asia Earthquake Fund
P.O. Box 1211
Albert Lea, MN 56007-1211
800-77-Oxfam
http://www.oxfamamerica.org

Plan USA
Asia Disaster
155 Plan Way
Warwick, RI 02886
800-556-7918
www.planusa.org

Project Concern International
Asia Tsunamis Press List
5151 Murphy Canyon Road Suite 320
San Diego, CA 92123
858-279-9690
www.projectconcern.org

Project HOPE
Asia Tsunami Response
255 Carter Hall Lane
Millwood, VA 22646
800-544-4673

Relief International
11965 Venice Blvd. .405
Los Angeles, CA 90066
800-572-3332
www.ri.org

Save the Children
Asia Earthquake/Tidal Wave Relief Fund
54 Wilton Road
Westport, CT 06880
800-728-3843
www.savethechildren.org

SAWSO (Salvation Army World Service Office)
South Asia Relief Fund
615 Slaters Lane
Alexandria, VA, 22313
800-SAL-ARMY

Stop Hunger Now
SE Asia crisis
2501 Clark Ave, Suite 200
Raleigh, NC 27607
888-501-8440
www.stophungernow.org

US Fund for UNICEF
333 East 38th Street
New York, NY 10016
800-4-UNICEF
www.unicefusa.org

World Concern
19303 Fremont Ave. N
Seattle, WA 98133
800-755-5022
www.worldconcern.org

World Emergency Relief
2270-D Camino Vida Roble
Carlsbad, CA 92009
760-930-8001
www.worldemergencyrelief.org

World Vision
PO Box 70288
Tacoma, Washington 98481-0288
888-56-CHILD
www.worldvision.org