December 26, 2008
Posted by Cricinfo at
in West Indies Cricket
Little Kalli
From Basab Majumdar, India
For a person following cricket closely now for a good twenty years, one would think it would be challenging to zero in on a favourite cricketer. Strangely it isn't and I can say with some certainty that my affection and admiration for no other cricketer reached the extent to which I admired Alvin Kallicharran.
Little Kalli, left handed, elegant and compact, came into my life in the winter of 1974. I was just a tad over 6 and this was the first cricket series I remembered following with some intent and interest - in fact, I manufactured my first cricket scrap book where Kallicharran and his latest statistcs adorned pride of place. At that age it was obviously not some rational choice but the newspapers were writing a lot about him in the run up to the tour as a batsman to watch out for. His career was still at a fledgling stage but he had acquired a reputation with centuries in his first two tests a couple of years ago ,and then the monumental 158 against England at home (with the infamous run out incident involving Tony Grieg).
In India through that winter he did enough and more to enhance his reputation. In the first Test (where a certain pair by the name of Gordon Greenidge and IVA Richards made their debut), Kalli scored a fine 124 against the best of Indian spinners on a dust bowl in Bangalore and followed that up with fine knocks in Calcutta, Madras and Mumbai. I followed his career closely and apart from some fine hundreds, he had the dubious distinction of getting out in the 90's 7 times.
His career ended in controversy. Bitter at being ignored for the captaincy after leading West Indies during the Packer regime, he lost some form and it seemed interest. He decided to take part in the rebel tour of South Africa and ended up being suspended from all internationals. He finished his career with some excellent seasons with Warwickshire but at 4500 odd runs and 14 hundreds, the figures do not do justice for one of Windies and indeed cricket's all-time great batsmen.
Kallicharran was a complete player and had every stroke in the book. He played spin and pace with equal poise and alacrity and accumulated runs against Indian spinners and Aussie pacers alike, at their pomp. He was also a big-match player with a penchant for playing crucial knocks at critical times. Of the many gems he played, my favourite is of course the much remembered assault on Lillee in the World Cup group game in 1978. Australia scored 190 odd which the West Indies were chasing. Kallicharran got his eye in and then launched himself into the Aussie pace attack, particularly Lillee. One incredible sequence of hooking and pulling produced 30 odd runs of just 10 Lillee deliveries.
Not since Sobers splattered him all over MCG enroute to the 254 for the World XI a few summers ago had Lillee been so severely dealt with. Kalli's 78 in that game and the subsequent 71 in the semifinal against New Zealand made him the player of the series and one of my pleasant memories of childhood is recalling Tony Cozier over the radio brilliantly describing Kalli's assault that memorable afternoon so long ago.
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Posted by Cricinfo at
in West Indies Cricket
The rise of West Indies?
From Gopal Rangachary, India
While the cricketing world spent the last week rejoicing at the end of Australia's era of domination, and celebrating the definitive Tendulkar innings, a quite extraordinary set of events were quietly unfolding themselves in Napier, New Zealand. No - it wasnt that Chanderpaul got a first ball duck, or that Chris Gayle batted 5 sessions - but that the Test match, and hence the Test series ended in a draw.
Well - the basement battle between two uninspiring sides ended in a draw. Nothing to write home about you would think. But, especially if you were Tony Cozier or one of the long suffering West Indies cricket journalists, this was a red letter day. For the first time in 13 years, and after 17 series (since the English summer of 1995), West Indies were NOT beaten in an overseas Test series ( of course let's leave the pseudo Tests against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh out). To put this in perspective, for the entire duration of Saurav Ganguly's Test career, West Indies lost every overseas tour they went on.
Chanderpaul is the only West Indies player to have tasted anything but defeat in this period. A closer reading is even more depressing. In the 60 matches that were played across those 17 series, West Indies won just 4, drew 6 ( of which 4 were rain-affected) and lost the other 50 matches. What is most mind-numbing is to recall that West Indies were unbeaten in 27 test series in the preceding 15 years (1980-1995). They fell off a particularly steep cliff didn't they?
There have been a few false dawns in these dark days of West Indies cricket - particularly at home. They have won Test series against Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka , England and New Zealand, and shared one with Australia. Despite the Perth heroics of de Villiers & Co., they still hold the record for the highest 4th innings target chased. Lara has played several memorable innings, Chanderpaul many valiant ones, Courtney Walsh became the leading wicket taker in world cricket and even Chris Gayle has a Test triple hundred. However, with the West Indies, it has seemed every step forward was inevitably followed by three longer ones backward.
That said, there is some reason for cautious optimism in the Chris Gayle era - A first ever Test win in South Africa, a drawn Test series against a decent SL side, a Test series against Australia which was much more competitive than was anticipated, and now this drawn one in New Zealand . Of course the backdrop to this has been the Bradmanesque efforts of the under-appreciated Chanderpaul in this period, but there have been other signs of life - Fidel Edwards and Jerome Taylor are a handy bowling partnership, Dwayne Bravo is enthusiastic and talented, and the fielding and the general way that the West Indies seem to be going about their business has significantly improved.
There are many areas to fix though, scarcely a series goes by without wrangling between Digicel and Cable and Wireless (although the toxic West Indies Players Association and the obnoxious Dinanath Ramnarine seem to have evaporated), Allen Stanford has funded the game, but muddied the waters, and the regional infighting seems to grow in inverse proportion to the team's performance on the field. Darren Powell shouldn't see the inside of a Test ground again, and surely there must be someone other than Dinesh Ramdin and Carlton Baugh. Chris Gayle needs to find an opening batsman who will be a partner rather than a one-night stand. However this draw against a mediocre New Zealand side may just be the beginning of the era of the era of West Indies submission.
If only that maniac, John Bracewell had been around as NZ coach, the West Indies may even have won it.
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