The sixth round is completed and once again despite some mediocre innings the overall average per innings is better than for the corresponding round last season. In this round every team save Trinidad Red Force managed to score over 240 runs in at least one innings and the results show in the overall average per innings (450/5d by Barbados Pride, 368/8d by the Leewards Hurricanes, 280 by Jamaica Scorpions, 250 by Windwards Volcanoes and 244/4 d by Guyana Jaguars):
2015/16 PCL season:
Round-----Total scores of 250 or more-----Total Innings-----% of 250+ scores-----Total Runs-----Runs/innings-----Highest score-----300+ scores-----400+ scores
1-----3-----11-----27.27%-----2190-----199.09-----373-----3-----0
2-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2518-----228.90-----419/9d-----1-----1
3-----4-----12-----33.33%-----2039-----169.92-----337-----1-----0
BREAK
4-----3-----11-----27.27%-----2619-----238.09-----475-----1-----1
BREAK
5-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2443-----222.09-----368-----3-----0
BREAK
6-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2662-----242-----450/5d-----1-----1
This round was interesting for a number of reasons. Firstly, Nkrumah Bonner, one the players selected via draft who was from another territory (Jamaica), was made captain of the Leeward Islands Hurricanes and his first assignment was the match against Jamaica in this round. Now whether or not the captaincy inspired any performance in others is debatable. What isn't debatable is the fact that in this round the Leewards made their highest score of the season so far (and passing the 300 mark too for the first time), even if Bonner himself did not contribute with the bat this time. Secondly, in this round, we saw Jamaica's leading batsman being Kirk Edwards, who was an import from Barbados via the player drafting system. And finally this whole dynamic seemed to have been rather similar in the Trinidad v. Guyana match, where one the leading run scorers for Trinidad was actually Deonarine (an import from Guyana who was originally drafted for the Leewards) who wanted to be near to his wife and family. These three factors should hopefully make the acceptance of the player draft system more complete and encourage further inter-territorial transfers of players (which will be good for the system as a whole as players from one territory become familiar with other cricketing grounds and players from other territories but not just in the capacity of playing against them but in playing alongside them).
WI Domestic Season
Re: WI Domestic Season
Seventh round done and dusted and we see the Leewards making another strong showing. They passed 300 for the second time this season and drew their match with the Windwards. Except for the Jamaica v Trinidad match, all the matches featured scores of 250 or more runs in at least one innings. The Leewards/Windwards card featured both teams passing 300 runs and the Barbados/Guyana match featured 3 innings of 250+ (274 and 320/4d by Barbados and 252/7 by Guyana). This round has been FAR, FAR better than the corresponding round last season and excepting for Round 4 from last season and Round 6 from this season it has been better than all the previous rounds this season and the first 8 rounds of last season in terms of the average number of runs per innings. In terms of the absolute number and percentage of 250+ innings this round is also better than any other round from this season and last season save for the final two rounds of last season. This encouraging as is the fact that for two consecutive rounds the average number of runs per innings has been 240 or more. And had the Barbados/Leewards game from Round 5 not ended with Barbados needing to score just 1 run in their second innings to win, then the average number of runs per innings would have run like this for Rounds 4-7: 238, 244, 242, 244. That is also very encouraging as last season the teams did not begin consistently scoring over 235 runs per innings on average until Round 9:
2015/16 PCL season:
Round-----Total scores of 250 or more-----Total Innings-----% of 250+ scores-----Total Runs-----Runs/innings-----Highest score-----300+ scores-----400+ scores
1-----3-----11-----27.27%-----2190-----199.09-----373-----3-----0
2-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2518-----228.90-----419/9d-----1-----1
3-----4-----12-----33.33%-----2039-----169.92-----337-----1-----0
BREAK
4-----3-----11-----27.27%-----2619-----238.09-----475-----1-----1
BREAK
5-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2443-----222.09-----368-----3-----0
BREAK
6-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2662-----242-----450/5d-----1-----1
7-----5-----11-----45.45%-----2687-----244.27-----389-----3-----0
I've read recently where the WICB might attempt to start the double round robin first class season in May come next season. I think this would be a major mistake given the weather concerns (hurricane season/rainy season is June to November) but I suppose if it doesn't work out they can revert to a November to March/April format (honestly I think it would be better to attempt 2-day and maybe 3-day cricket at the intra-territorial level during May to November across the West Indies - shorter matches means less chance of rain affecting a result and makes it easier to schedule in reserve weekends for matches in case of rain).
2015/16 PCL season:
Round-----Total scores of 250 or more-----Total Innings-----% of 250+ scores-----Total Runs-----Runs/innings-----Highest score-----300+ scores-----400+ scores
1-----3-----11-----27.27%-----2190-----199.09-----373-----3-----0
2-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2518-----228.90-----419/9d-----1-----1
3-----4-----12-----33.33%-----2039-----169.92-----337-----1-----0
BREAK
4-----3-----11-----27.27%-----2619-----238.09-----475-----1-----1
BREAK
5-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2443-----222.09-----368-----3-----0
BREAK
6-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2662-----242-----450/5d-----1-----1
7-----5-----11-----45.45%-----2687-----244.27-----389-----3-----0
I've read recently where the WICB might attempt to start the double round robin first class season in May come next season. I think this would be a major mistake given the weather concerns (hurricane season/rainy season is June to November) but I suppose if it doesn't work out they can revert to a November to March/April format (honestly I think it would be better to attempt 2-day and maybe 3-day cricket at the intra-territorial level during May to November across the West Indies - shorter matches means less chance of rain affecting a result and makes it easier to schedule in reserve weekends for matches in case of rain).
Re: WI Domestic Season
The eighth round is done and dusted and it had a number of low scores. Only 3 scores of 250+: 287 by the Leeward Islands, 406/9 by Trinidad and Tobago, and 339 by Guyana. The 400+ innings by Trinidad was probably the only thing keeping the average of the innings at over 200 runs. A disappointing round in terms of performances.
2015/16 PCL season:
Round-----Total scores of 250 or more-----Total Innings-----% of 250+ scores-----Total Runs-----Runs/innings-----Highest score-----300+ scores-----400+ scores
1-----3-----11-----27.27%-----2190-----199.09-----373-----3-----0
2-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2518-----228.90-----419/9d-----1-----1
3-----4-----12-----33.33%-----2039-----169.92-----337-----1-----0
BREAK
4-----3-----11-----27.27%-----2619-----238.09-----475-----1-----1
BREAK
5-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2443-----222.09-----368-----3-----0
BREAK
6-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2662-----242-----450/5d-----1-----1
7-----5-----11-----45.45%-----2687-----244.27-----389-----3-----0
8-----3-----12-----25%-----2453-----204.41-----406/9-----1-----1
2015/16 PCL season:
Round-----Total scores of 250 or more-----Total Innings-----% of 250+ scores-----Total Runs-----Runs/innings-----Highest score-----300+ scores-----400+ scores
1-----3-----11-----27.27%-----2190-----199.09-----373-----3-----0
2-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2518-----228.90-----419/9d-----1-----1
3-----4-----12-----33.33%-----2039-----169.92-----337-----1-----0
BREAK
4-----3-----11-----27.27%-----2619-----238.09-----475-----1-----1
BREAK
5-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2443-----222.09-----368-----3-----0
BREAK
6-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2662-----242-----450/5d-----1-----1
7-----5-----11-----45.45%-----2687-----244.27-----389-----3-----0
8-----3-----12-----25%-----2453-----204.41-----406/9-----1-----1
Re: WI Domestic Season
The ninth round is concluded and it was an interesting round. Only 4 scores of 250 runs or more, but each of those innings were fairly big: 445 by Jamaica, 430 by the Leewards (who were threatening Guyana with an innings defeat at one point), 396 by Barbados and 350 by the Windwards Those massive first innings scores (or second innings in the case of the Windwards) helped keep the average runs per innings rather high at 268 (Trinidad scoring 240 in their second innings also helped). Overall the round was mixed in terms of performances, especially when compared to last season. Last season saw 7 scores of 250 runs or more (accounting for nearly 60% of all the innings). This season saw only 4 such scores accounting for just over 36% of the innings. The big scores helped to ensure that the average runs per innings in this year's 9th round was even higher than last year's own (268 v 255) but it is still disappointing that more 250+ scores weren't spread out across the total number of innings. The highest score in the 9th round last season was also higher than for this year's ninth round (480 last season v 445 this season). In a rather interesting development for this round the teams that batted second were all forced to follow on as they made scores in reply ranging from 190 to 233. This round was also just 4 runs short in the Barbados innings of seeing 3 scores of 400 or more in a single round for the first time across the the two seasons of the PCL format thus far.
2015/16 PCL season:
Round-----Total scores of 250 or more-----Total Innings-----% of 250+ scores-----Total Runs-----Runs/innings-----Highest score-----300+ scores-----400+ scores
1-----3-----11-----27.27%-----2190-----199.09-----373-----3-----0
2-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2518-----228.90-----419/9d-----1-----1
3-----4-----12-----33.33%-----2039-----169.92-----337-----1-----0
BREAK
4-----3-----11-----27.27%-----2619-----238.09-----475-----1-----1
BREAK
5-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2443-----222.09-----368-----3-----0
BREAK
6-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2662-----242-----450/5d-----1-----1
7-----5-----11-----45.45%-----2687-----244.27-----389-----3-----0
8-----3-----12-----25%-----2453-----204.41-----406/9-----1-----1
BREAK
9-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2949-----268.09-----445-----2-----2
2015/16 PCL season:
Round-----Total scores of 250 or more-----Total Innings-----% of 250+ scores-----Total Runs-----Runs/innings-----Highest score-----300+ scores-----400+ scores
1-----3-----11-----27.27%-----2190-----199.09-----373-----3-----0
2-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2518-----228.90-----419/9d-----1-----1
3-----4-----12-----33.33%-----2039-----169.92-----337-----1-----0
BREAK
4-----3-----11-----27.27%-----2619-----238.09-----475-----1-----1
BREAK
5-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2443-----222.09-----368-----3-----0
BREAK
6-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2662-----242-----450/5d-----1-----1
7-----5-----11-----45.45%-----2687-----244.27-----389-----3-----0
8-----3-----12-----25%-----2453-----204.41-----406/9-----1-----1
BREAK
9-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2949-----268.09-----445-----2-----2
Re: WI Domestic Season
The tenth and final round is concluded and it was a relatively disappointing round. Only 3 scores of 250 runs or more, but as with Round 9 each of those innings were fairly big: 420 by Guyana, 436 by Barbados and 289 by the the Windwards. The overall average number of runs per innings was around 247. That's not bad and encouraging given the results for Rounds 4-7 and Round 9.
It would have been more encouraging if Round 10 had mirrored last season's results with an average higher than the previous Round (Round 9), but this season saw 5 rounds with averages of 235+ runs per innings versus only 3 rounds last season with averages over 235+ runs per innings.
The overall average runs per innings for 2014/15 was 218.35. For 2015/16 it was 225.55 (about 1,017 more runs were also scored this season than last season). It is clearly only very marginal improvement but if next season the overall average is higher still then it might be an indication that things are going in the right direction with the professional set up.
The Guyana Jaguars came out on tops as the winners (retaining their title from last year). Both Guyana and Barbados were clearly better than the other teams this season and the next nearest challengers (Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago) were rarely in serious contention for the title. Only Barbados were and in the end they fell 7 points short (by contrast Jamaica were 64 points short of Guyana at the end of the season).
2015/16 PCL season:
Round-----Total scores of 250 or more-----Total Innings-----% of 250+ scores-----Total Runs-----Runs/innings-----Highest score-----300+ scores-----400+ scores
1-----3-----11-----27.27%-----2190-----199.09-----373-----3-----0
2-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2518-----228.90-----419/9d-----1-----1
3-----4-----12-----33.33%-----2039-----169.92-----337-----1-----0
BREAK
4-----3-----11-----27.27%-----2619-----238.09-----475-----1-----1
BREAK
5-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2443-----222.09-----368-----3-----0
BREAK
6-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2662-----242-----450/5d-----1-----1
7-----5-----11-----45.45%-----2687-----244.27-----389-----3-----0
8-----3-----12-----25%-----2453-----204.41-----406/9-----1-----1
BREAK
9-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2949-----268.09-----445-----2-----2
10-----3-----10-----30%-----2476-----247.6-----436-----0-----2
It would have been more encouraging if Round 10 had mirrored last season's results with an average higher than the previous Round (Round 9), but this season saw 5 rounds with averages of 235+ runs per innings versus only 3 rounds last season with averages over 235+ runs per innings.
The overall average runs per innings for 2014/15 was 218.35. For 2015/16 it was 225.55 (about 1,017 more runs were also scored this season than last season). It is clearly only very marginal improvement but if next season the overall average is higher still then it might be an indication that things are going in the right direction with the professional set up.
The Guyana Jaguars came out on tops as the winners (retaining their title from last year). Both Guyana and Barbados were clearly better than the other teams this season and the next nearest challengers (Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago) were rarely in serious contention for the title. Only Barbados were and in the end they fell 7 points short (by contrast Jamaica were 64 points short of Guyana at the end of the season).
2015/16 PCL season:
Round-----Total scores of 250 or more-----Total Innings-----% of 250+ scores-----Total Runs-----Runs/innings-----Highest score-----300+ scores-----400+ scores
1-----3-----11-----27.27%-----2190-----199.09-----373-----3-----0
2-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2518-----228.90-----419/9d-----1-----1
3-----4-----12-----33.33%-----2039-----169.92-----337-----1-----0
BREAK
4-----3-----11-----27.27%-----2619-----238.09-----475-----1-----1
BREAK
5-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2443-----222.09-----368-----3-----0
BREAK
6-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2662-----242-----450/5d-----1-----1
7-----5-----11-----45.45%-----2687-----244.27-----389-----3-----0
8-----3-----12-----25%-----2453-----204.41-----406/9-----1-----1
BREAK
9-----4-----11-----36.36%-----2949-----268.09-----445-----2-----2
10-----3-----10-----30%-----2476-----247.6-----436-----0-----2
Re: WI Domestic Season
Interesting stuff.
I really like the concept of the PCL. This step seemed essential for WI cricket, and if it was not possible without the national team players' wage cuts, then I fully support the board over Sammy et al on that particular issue.
I really like the concept of the PCL. This step seemed essential for WI cricket, and if it was not possible without the national team players' wage cuts, then I fully support the board over Sammy et al on that particular issue.
Re: WI Domestic Season
aydee wrote:Interesting stuff.
I really like the concept of the PCL. This step seemed essential for WI cricket, and if it was not possible without the national team players' wage cuts, then I fully support the board over Sammy et al on that particular issue.
Yes, on that I agree.
I'm elated about the West Indies' men and women gaining the World T20 titles (especially in the face of so many writing the West Indies off as crappy - I'm not sure why some people seem intent on disparaging any team ever, whether by calling them minnows or crap...I think it reflects poorly on the person saying it). And yes, Sammy and the other do have legitimate grievances with the manner in which the board handles affairs (the board is often high-handed and arrogant) but compromise requires both sides to give something up. That is not something the players are used to since Ramnarine used to be able to get things to go 100% the players way in disputes with the board as a result of an MOU that was heavily skewed in favour of the Players' Association at the time. What was nice about the way the men's team went about their dispute with the board this time was that they didn't withdraw their services as in the past. Instead they did what I think they should have been doing all along - play on, play hard, play well and freaking WIN to give themselves a strong negotiating hand. In the past Ramnarine would encourage striking but that produced a negative feedback loop since the frequent strikes would discourage fans from watching the West Indian players and thus decrease the revenue of the board and thereby decreasing the earning capacity of the very board that the players wanted more money from. And it is not like cricket is some kind of essential service like garbage collection, the police or firefighters. With essential services, the general population will be clamouring for their return. With cricket the general population will simply decide to focus on entertaining themselves in other ways. So the players were shooting the board and themselves in the foot with the strikes. Had they instead focused on winning they would have brought in more money and kept the public interested and on the side of the players and then just sued the board if resolution was not forthcoming.
Having become so used to having their cake and eating it, for many players they now seem unable to come back to the reality that it cannot always be so. This is even reflected in their demands to negotiate separately from the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA). This is very comical because the Board was sued by Ramnarine (successfully) for attempting to do just that in the past when Ramnarine was head of WIPA. So according to the courts, the WICB cannot negotiate with the players entirely separate from the WIPA. The players back then backed Ramnarine on the issue. Now they have been wanting the board to do exactly that which they successfully sued the board for trying to do in the first place. The irony. Luckily for them Cameron has invited them to dicussions in June (but WIPA will be in attendance, so I think it can be fudged that they aren't negotiating separately).
What the board seems to be pushing for now is for the various global T20 players to commit to playing domestic cricket in the West Indies as well. I see nothing wrong with that and indeed, Cameron in an interview recently said part of the motivation behind it was to have those players impart the skills and experience they pick up around the world on the other local players. So in that sense Cameron has a very good point - if players are going to play in the domestic T20 competitions in South Africa, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan/UAE, England and Australia then that doesn't leave any time really for them to play domestic cricket in the West Indies. After all for those competitions this is what the general schedule looks like:
- November to mid December: Ram Slam in South Africa; BPL in Bangladesh
- mid December to end of January: BBL in Australia
- basically all of February: PSL in Pakistan/UAE
- start of April to end of May (some of the best time to play international cricket in the West Indies by the way): IPL in India (and the WICB has now been unofficially avoiding scheduling international matches in April/May now)
- mid May to end of August: Natwest T20 Blast in England
- June to July: CPL in the West Indies
out of interest and for completeness, the Sri Lankan T20 competition is from the end of December to the end of January, the New Zealander competition is from November to December and Zimbabwe's is in February.
So in theory with the PCL covering the Regional Four Day competition (from start of November to end of March with a break in January for the Nagico Super50) and the Nagico Super50 (basically all of January) it is quite possible for the elite players to miss the entire 50 overs competition and most of the the 4-day competition due to commitments in South Africa, Bangladesh, Australia and Pakistan/UAE.
I have no issue with players wanting to maximize their earnings, but surely they could come to some agreement that they would play at least one (or better yet at least two) matches in the List A competition and in the First Class competition for the year. After all these same players make themselves available for the CPL in June and July (granted most of them are actually free at that time since only Darren Sammy and Chris Gayle play in the English competition I believe; but even so Sammy and Gayle are available for the CPL and then go to the Natwest T20 Blast).
How hard would it be to play say one round of four day cricket in November (we had 3 rounds in November) and then go about your business in South Africa and Bangladesh and then Australia before returning home to play two List A matches in January (say January 7 and 9) before going back to Australia for the BBL and then when the PSL is finished at the end of February coming home again to play in the final two rounds of first class cricket in March before heading to India for the IPL? Even if you skip the November round of first-class cricket it should still be possible to devote say 5 days in January as well as 2-3 weeks in March for domestic cricket in the West Indies.
And presto! All those players would become eligible for selection in all formats and also eligible for retainers (if they so choose). But the players need to be honest with themselves, the fans and the board about what they want. They can't claim to want to play test cricket but then the ONLY first-class cricket they plan to play is test cricket. It's not supposed to work like that and it will cause up and coming players to question why the can't do like Gayle or Bravo and just get selected for the Test team while only playing Twenty20 cricket around the world. In any case as I pointed out earlier a lack of first-class cricket experience has shown up in the way Bravo played in his last few first-class matches (he was by no means dazzling and certainly didn't warrant test selection ahead of some others based on stats alone). Perhaps though if he attempted to transfer his more recent skills of mixing up the speed of his deliveries to both the List A and FC domestic cricket in the West Indies he might get better returns and become a sure pick for the Test and ODI squads.
The board has many other things it needs to do (establish a longer women's competition and encourage each territorial board to set up school cricket competition for girls and club/league competitions for women outside of the school system for instance) but there some things it has gotten right so far even if the execution could have been better...and in light of the above I have to wonder if the Board's plans to shift the PCL to a start time in May might not be an attempt to further appease the elite players by scheduling the competition so it doesn't clash with the Twenty20 competitions around the world (except for England's).
I don't think that would be the right move on account of the fact that the players need to recognize that there needs to be a balance. Shifting our own domestic competition to a time of unfavourable weather just so the players can play in every possible match in the rest of the world is...well..stupid. What if at some point the English clubs begin drafting many of the West Indians? That will only really leave the months of March, September and October as being free for the West Indies to schedule not only their domestic competition but their international fixtures. That's ridiculous. Other players from other countries strike the balance between overseas commitments and domestic and international commitments and it should be no different for the West Indian players.
Re: WI Domestic Season
Fascinating response, thanks for that. Didn't know the details of WIPA previously suing WICB for trying to negotiate in a way that the international players are now calling for.
Re: WI Domestic Season
Am a bit late in starting this, but the third season of the Professional Cricket League (PCL) has started in the West Indies and four rounds have been completed.
The teams are now supposed to have been professional outfits for just over 2 years now. This is now the first time the teams are going to be playing after what is supposed to have been a year as a professional outfit (with year round training etc). We shall see what kind of an impact this has had on the performances.
The fourth round is completed and despite some poor innings the overall average per innings is higher now as a result of the few good innings being really good innings (261/7d and 296 by Barbados Pride and 475 by Guyana Jaguars):
2016/17 PCL season:
Round-----Total scores of 250 or more-----Total Innings-----% of 250+ scores-----Total Runs-----Runs/innings-----Highest score-----300+ scores-----400+ scores
1-----3-----12-----25%-----2699-----224.92-----377-----1-----0
2-----3-----12-----25%-----2461-----205.08-----372/6-----2-----0
3-----2-----7-----28.57%-----1397-----199.57-----287/8-----0-----0
BREAK
4-----7-----12-----58.33%-----2873-----239.42-----333/8d-----3-----0
So far we've had a mixed bag of results. The number of 300+ and 400+ scores has more or less remained the same as past seasons and actually been a bit more disappointing as this is the first season of the professional set up where four rounds have been completed and no team made 400 runs in an innings. On the other hand, Round 4 was very, very encouraging as it was the first time since the ninth round of the 2014/15 season (when the 4 day tournament was played as the PCL for the first time) that we have seen over 50% of the innings having scores of 250 runs or more. At no point in the last season did we see this and only in the penultimate and ultimate rounds of the 2014/15 season did we see this.
Also, encouragingly the proportion of innings featuring 250 or more runs seems to be on the uptick from season to season:
Round------2014/15------2015/16------2016/17
1------20%------27.27%------25%
2------10%------36.36%------25%
3------25%------33.33%------28.57%
4------36.36%------27.27%------58.33%
The 2015/16 season had teams more consistently putting up 250+ scores in around a third of the innings, however this season has seen teams putting up 250+ scores in no fewer than a quarter of the innings and well over half of the innings in this just completed round.
The average number of runs per innings has followed a generally similar pattern from season to season - it starts off in the low 200s for the first two rounds and then dips into the 160-190 range for the third round before shooting up to the 235-245 range for the fourth round. That said each subsequent season seems to have seen some improvement in this statistic in some way over the past 3 years.
In terms of team performances, the Leeward Islands started off with a bang this year. Once regional powerhouses (in the 1980s when combined with the Windwards as the Combined Islands; and producing the likes of Andy Roberts, Curtly Ambrose, Richie Richardson and Viv Richards), in the 2000s they slumped to being the weakest team in the first-class system. This season though they started off by drawing with Barbados (producing a first innings knock of 377, the highest of Round 1) and then beating Guyana (breaking a record for the highest fourth innings chase in regional first class cricket by getting 372/6).
Guyana started off strongly but were beaten by the Leewards and had a fairly weak batting performance in the third round. They put up a stronger showing in the fourth round, but have still to recapture that all-conquering display from the first two seasons.
Barbados have been consistent with some very decent batting performances and a very strong innings of 317/2d in their match against Trinidad in the second round.
Windwards have been noticeably weaker than in the previous two seasons when they were often the third or fourth strongest team. They were beaten by Trinidad and Jamaica before putting on a really strong show in the fourth round.
Jamaica have made only one score over 250; a 314 run score in their match against Trinidad in the fourth round. Excepting for that solitary score, all of Jamaica's other batting innings have produced completed scores only ranging from 147 to 229. Despite that though Jamaica currently lead the points table on 46.8 points (with 2 wins; against Trinidad and the Windwards), followed by Guyana on 44; Barbados on 43.2; the Leewards on 36.6 and then the Windwards on 35.2 and Trinidad on 32.4. Jamaica's pole position is due to some very, very good bowling (the match against the Windwards produced a win out of nowhere when Windwards should have won it) and a good batting display against what may in fact be the weakest team in the tournament this season: Trinidad
Trinidad have been perhaps the weakest team this season. They started off with a strong win in a low scoring game against the Windwards, before being utterly crushed in the second round by Barbados (scores and result: Barbados 242 and 317/2d beat Trinidad & Tobago 168 and 99 by 292 runs). They put on their strongest batting of the tournament in a drawn match in the third round (287/8) against the Leewards (rain and a wet outfield ended the Trini innings on that score and washed out the rest of the match). They then lost to Jamaica by a healthy 132 runs in the fourth round with some low scores of 205 and 206 by Trinidad. Why have Trinidad been so weak? Well a number of what many would consider their best players seem to have no interest in playing for Trinidad except when it suits them: Dwyane Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Evin Lewis, Nicholas Pooran, Lendl Simmons, Kevon Cooper, Sunil Narine, and Rayad Emrit have all been playing in the Bangladesh Premier League (a T20 competition). Dwayne Bravo and Pollard retired from first-class cricket to focus almost entirely on T20 and Lendl Simmons hasn't seemed interested in first-class cricket . The others have still played first-class cricket occasionally but it seems this season a lot of them have preferred to chase the T20 money. Other teams have had what are supposedly their best players also playing T20 in Bangladesh, but not as much as 8 players at a time - Barbados has seen 3 (including Dwayne Smith who no longer features in the selectors plans anyway), Jamaica and the Windwards have seen 4 each. At this point the TTCB is likely going to have to rebuild the first-class team around players who are not the T20 stars if they want to have a consistent first-class team. This might well be the time and the tournament to do it.
The teams are now supposed to have been professional outfits for just over 2 years now. This is now the first time the teams are going to be playing after what is supposed to have been a year as a professional outfit (with year round training etc). We shall see what kind of an impact this has had on the performances.
The fourth round is completed and despite some poor innings the overall average per innings is higher now as a result of the few good innings being really good innings (261/7d and 296 by Barbados Pride and 475 by Guyana Jaguars):
2016/17 PCL season:
Round-----Total scores of 250 or more-----Total Innings-----% of 250+ scores-----Total Runs-----Runs/innings-----Highest score-----300+ scores-----400+ scores
1-----3-----12-----25%-----2699-----224.92-----377-----1-----0
2-----3-----12-----25%-----2461-----205.08-----372/6-----2-----0
3-----2-----7-----28.57%-----1397-----199.57-----287/8-----0-----0
BREAK
4-----7-----12-----58.33%-----2873-----239.42-----333/8d-----3-----0
So far we've had a mixed bag of results. The number of 300+ and 400+ scores has more or less remained the same as past seasons and actually been a bit more disappointing as this is the first season of the professional set up where four rounds have been completed and no team made 400 runs in an innings. On the other hand, Round 4 was very, very encouraging as it was the first time since the ninth round of the 2014/15 season (when the 4 day tournament was played as the PCL for the first time) that we have seen over 50% of the innings having scores of 250 runs or more. At no point in the last season did we see this and only in the penultimate and ultimate rounds of the 2014/15 season did we see this.
Also, encouragingly the proportion of innings featuring 250 or more runs seems to be on the uptick from season to season:
Round------2014/15------2015/16------2016/17
1------20%------27.27%------25%
2------10%------36.36%------25%
3------25%------33.33%------28.57%
4------36.36%------27.27%------58.33%
The 2015/16 season had teams more consistently putting up 250+ scores in around a third of the innings, however this season has seen teams putting up 250+ scores in no fewer than a quarter of the innings and well over half of the innings in this just completed round.
The average number of runs per innings has followed a generally similar pattern from season to season - it starts off in the low 200s for the first two rounds and then dips into the 160-190 range for the third round before shooting up to the 235-245 range for the fourth round. That said each subsequent season seems to have seen some improvement in this statistic in some way over the past 3 years.
In terms of team performances, the Leeward Islands started off with a bang this year. Once regional powerhouses (in the 1980s when combined with the Windwards as the Combined Islands; and producing the likes of Andy Roberts, Curtly Ambrose, Richie Richardson and Viv Richards), in the 2000s they slumped to being the weakest team in the first-class system. This season though they started off by drawing with Barbados (producing a first innings knock of 377, the highest of Round 1) and then beating Guyana (breaking a record for the highest fourth innings chase in regional first class cricket by getting 372/6).
Guyana started off strongly but were beaten by the Leewards and had a fairly weak batting performance in the third round. They put up a stronger showing in the fourth round, but have still to recapture that all-conquering display from the first two seasons.
Barbados have been consistent with some very decent batting performances and a very strong innings of 317/2d in their match against Trinidad in the second round.
Windwards have been noticeably weaker than in the previous two seasons when they were often the third or fourth strongest team. They were beaten by Trinidad and Jamaica before putting on a really strong show in the fourth round.
Jamaica have made only one score over 250; a 314 run score in their match against Trinidad in the fourth round. Excepting for that solitary score, all of Jamaica's other batting innings have produced completed scores only ranging from 147 to 229. Despite that though Jamaica currently lead the points table on 46.8 points (with 2 wins; against Trinidad and the Windwards), followed by Guyana on 44; Barbados on 43.2; the Leewards on 36.6 and then the Windwards on 35.2 and Trinidad on 32.4. Jamaica's pole position is due to some very, very good bowling (the match against the Windwards produced a win out of nowhere when Windwards should have won it) and a good batting display against what may in fact be the weakest team in the tournament this season: Trinidad
Trinidad have been perhaps the weakest team this season. They started off with a strong win in a low scoring game against the Windwards, before being utterly crushed in the second round by Barbados (scores and result: Barbados 242 and 317/2d beat Trinidad & Tobago 168 and 99 by 292 runs). They put on their strongest batting of the tournament in a drawn match in the third round (287/8) against the Leewards (rain and a wet outfield ended the Trini innings on that score and washed out the rest of the match). They then lost to Jamaica by a healthy 132 runs in the fourth round with some low scores of 205 and 206 by Trinidad. Why have Trinidad been so weak? Well a number of what many would consider their best players seem to have no interest in playing for Trinidad except when it suits them: Dwyane Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Evin Lewis, Nicholas Pooran, Lendl Simmons, Kevon Cooper, Sunil Narine, and Rayad Emrit have all been playing in the Bangladesh Premier League (a T20 competition). Dwayne Bravo and Pollard retired from first-class cricket to focus almost entirely on T20 and Lendl Simmons hasn't seemed interested in first-class cricket . The others have still played first-class cricket occasionally but it seems this season a lot of them have preferred to chase the T20 money. Other teams have had what are supposedly their best players also playing T20 in Bangladesh, but not as much as 8 players at a time - Barbados has seen 3 (including Dwayne Smith who no longer features in the selectors plans anyway), Jamaica and the Windwards have seen 4 each. At this point the TTCB is likely going to have to rebuild the first-class team around players who are not the T20 stars if they want to have a consistent first-class team. This might well be the time and the tournament to do it.
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Re: WI Domestic Season
I was going to hold off until after this round was finished as there is a break until March. I was interested to see how many internationals/BPL players appeared.
Forgetting the usual 20/20 professionals (I'm sure I read last year Lendl Simmons did retire from FC cricket when he appeared in the Aussie BBL), let's see how many commit to the WI domestic scene with no international cricket till March.
The season started with a whimper. For me, just when you need the highest standard at domestic level, below strength teams competed. Although in the 4th round, several internationals returned. I'm not too sure how many West Indians are part of the Aussie BBL.
Anyway, bowling wise, business as usual when you see name like Miller, Shillingford, Permaul, Khan, Cornwall, Warrican & Jacobs at the top of the averages. WI 'A' tourist Keon Joseph is the only fast bowler up there amongst this group & Kemar Roach has useful figures but hasn't ripped sides apart.
The batting is its usual disappointment. 4 centuries in 12 games. But it has one shining light- 23 year old Anthony Alleyne of Barbados. He has 451 runs including a big century & 3 fifties. And this despite a failure in the last round against Guyana. Let's hope he builds on this.
Also, glimmers exist in Kyle Hope (brother of Shai) & Jahmar Hamilton. Both were part of the 'A' tour to Sri Lanka & have had a solid season so far. Both have been around a while & Hope is yet to record a FC century.
Other international or 'A' internationals have useful stats but not breaking records. Blackwood, Chase, Chadrika, Ambris, Campbell, Brooks & Keiran Powell are all thereabouts. Shimron Hetmyer is also in this field & I'm thinking the selectors are hoping he kicks on. Another centurion is Montcin Hodge of the Leewards. He's been around for ages but since coming back to FC cricket last year, he has been in career best form.
But, for the West Indies in 2016/17, I think you have to worry when the elder Chanderpaul is high in the batting averages & aggregates.
So, let's see what round 5 this weekend offers. Then a break.
What price when the comp resumes in March, it coincides with the Pakistan tour.
Forgetting the usual 20/20 professionals (I'm sure I read last year Lendl Simmons did retire from FC cricket when he appeared in the Aussie BBL), let's see how many commit to the WI domestic scene with no international cricket till March.
The season started with a whimper. For me, just when you need the highest standard at domestic level, below strength teams competed. Although in the 4th round, several internationals returned. I'm not too sure how many West Indians are part of the Aussie BBL.
Anyway, bowling wise, business as usual when you see name like Miller, Shillingford, Permaul, Khan, Cornwall, Warrican & Jacobs at the top of the averages. WI 'A' tourist Keon Joseph is the only fast bowler up there amongst this group & Kemar Roach has useful figures but hasn't ripped sides apart.
The batting is its usual disappointment. 4 centuries in 12 games. But it has one shining light- 23 year old Anthony Alleyne of Barbados. He has 451 runs including a big century & 3 fifties. And this despite a failure in the last round against Guyana. Let's hope he builds on this.
Also, glimmers exist in Kyle Hope (brother of Shai) & Jahmar Hamilton. Both were part of the 'A' tour to Sri Lanka & have had a solid season so far. Both have been around a while & Hope is yet to record a FC century.
Other international or 'A' internationals have useful stats but not breaking records. Blackwood, Chase, Chadrika, Ambris, Campbell, Brooks & Keiran Powell are all thereabouts. Shimron Hetmyer is also in this field & I'm thinking the selectors are hoping he kicks on. Another centurion is Montcin Hodge of the Leewards. He's been around for ages but since coming back to FC cricket last year, he has been in career best form.
But, for the West Indies in 2016/17, I think you have to worry when the elder Chanderpaul is high in the batting averages & aggregates.
So, let's see what round 5 this weekend offers. Then a break.
What price when the comp resumes in March, it coincides with the Pakistan tour.