And the winners of the 2008 ICC awards are ...

The ICC has just announced the list of winners in various categories for the 2008 ICC awards. The list of nominations was announced a couple of days ago. The winners are:

• Best cricketer in a female role: Charlotte Edwards
  
• Best cricketer in a male role: Shivnarine Chanderpaul
  
• Best male cricketer in tests: Dale Steyn
  
• Best male cricketer in one-day internationals: Mahendra Singh Dhoni
  
• Stevie Wonder Steve Bucknor award for best supporting role: Simon Taufel
  
• Best extra: Ryan ten Doeschate
  
• Best debut: Ajantha Mendis
  
• Best one-hit wonder: Yuvraj Singh
  
• Best behaved unit: Sri Lanka

In addition, test and ODI teams of the year were also announced, with Graeme Smith & Ricky Ponting captaining them.

Labels: ajantha mendis, chanderpaul, dhoni, icc, icc awards, steyn, taufel, yuvraj

Thus spake Jagadish @ 11:24 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
Did you like the post? [ Subscribe to the blog feed - | | Tweet ]

Brian Lara is captain

The West Indies Cricket Board announced that Brian Lara was the new West Indies captain. Given that the release makes no explicit mention of his tenure, it is perhaps to be understood that he will be captain till the 2007 World Cup at least.

The captain's slot has been lying vacant for a couple of weeks now, ever since Chanderpaul resigned. The captain was to have been announced a week ago, but the fracas over contracts delayed the proceedings.

Ryan, from the Caribbean Cricket blog, has the 'live' coverage of the press conference where Lara's appointment and the squad against Zimbabwe were announced.

Lara has already captained West Indies in two stints earlier, 1997 to 2000 and 2002 to 2004. While his batting stats improved, particularly in tests, the same didn't quite apply to the West Indies test and one-day teams, despite a famous win in the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy in England.

I think this is a retrograde step for West Indies cricket. It isn't as though they have no time till the 2007 World Cup. There is still a year to go. If stadiums can be built in that time even though there's absolutely no confidence in the authorities' statements, surely a new captain can take control of the team, given the right support from his team, the coaching & support staff and more importantly, the WICB management. This was the best opportunity to give Ramnaresh Sarwan a go, given that he'd been groomed for a long time as vice-captain. Then again, perhaps non-chuckers shouldn't be made captains!

If Sarwan was unwilling, I'd have given the job to another Trinidadian, Dwayne Bravo. From what I've seen, he is a real talent and is one of the few chaps whose place in the side is guaranteed purely because of his performances. It'd have been a daring punt, but they have come off quite well in the past - MAK Pataudi, Stephen Fleming, Graeme Smith and Tatenda Taibu come to mind. But there is also the obvious counter-example of Sachin Tendulkar. Right now, West Indies need to invest in the youth. Brian Lara is a great batsman and certainly a master tactician, a captain needs to have that something extra to motivate his players. Perhaps it is discipline or perhaps it is empathizing with players with lesser abilities. Lara certainly lacks those qualities, in my opinion.

Let's put it this way. If Brian Lara were my captain, I'd not run through a brick wall. I'd do it if Steve Waugh or Rahul Dravid was my captain. Then again, if Waugh or Dravid captained me in any form of cricket, I'd be pinching myself!

Labels: chanderpaul

Thus spake Jagadish @ 11:50 pm | Sledge/Read 2 sledge(s)
Did you like the post? [ Subscribe to the blog feed - | | Tweet ]

Chanders gives up on West Indies captaincy in just a year

March 20 2005: Chanderpaul to captain West Indies

April 11 2006: Chanderpaul quits captaincy.

Now that was short, but not so sweet.

Going purely by stats, it does seem like he wasn't doing too badly as a batsman, given he averages nearly 3 points more as captain. But look at his overall average slide by two points since taking over the captaincy. This, in spite of 3 centuries and 3 fifties in 25 innings, two scores in excess of 150!

The next question that West Indies cricket needs to answer is [as if it weren't so obvious] 'Who then?' Sarwan, Bravo, Gayle or ... Lara?!

Labels: chanderpaul

Thus spake Jagadish @ 5:32 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
Did you like the post? [ Subscribe to the blog feed - | | Tweet ]