In today’s cricket europe news, learn more about the two-time World Cup winners West Indies who were knocked out of the ODI World Cup qualifiers on Saturday in Zimbabwe. Meanwhile, Luke Baker argues that despite the team’s 2-0 deficit in the Ashes, blaming the most recent loss only on the contentious dismissal of Jonny Bairstow is not productive.
West Indies Miss ODI World Cup
Original Source: Fallen giants West Indies fail to qualify for ODI World Cup
On Saturday, West Indies, the kings of one-day cricket and winners of the first two World Cups in 1975 and 1979 and runners-up in 1983, fell to their lowest point. For the first time, they were eliminated from the qualifiers and will miss the ODI World Cup.
After losing a Super Six game in Harare to unfancied Scotland, the Caribbean team will not play in this year’s competition in India.
Their qualification campaign was already falling apart after losing to hosts Zimbabwe and Netherlands. With matches against Oman and Sri Lanka remaining, they have failed to open their Super Six account after losing to Scotland for the first time.
The qualifying event’s top two teams will join the 2020-23 ODI Super League’s top eight teams in the 10-team World Cup. Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe are in excellent position to qualify with six points each.
Over the previous two decades, Caribbean cricket has steadily declined, but failing to qualify for an ODI World Cup is a disaster. In the tournament’s early years, West Indies under Clive Lloyd dominated. India won the 1983 World Cup, which celebrated its 40th anniversary on June 25. Indian supporters would have loved for the men in maroon to participate in this year’s carnival.
After finishing tenth in the ODI Super League, West Indies haven’t shown up since the qualifying event began on June 18. They were bowled out for 181 on Saturday as Scotland won with 6.3 overs to spare. West Indies were 81/6 after Nicholas Pooran’s dismissal, but all-rounder Jason Holder scored 45 to salvage the total.
“Honestly, I can’t pinpoint anything. Shai Hope, West Indies captain, remarked, “We let ourselves down.” “Preparation must improve. Without preparation, we cannot be an excellent team. We can’t wake up and be a fantastic team. We have two more games, so we need to rebound back.”
However, Hope was only selected ODI skipper in February. In May, West Indies’ white-ball teams were coached by Daren Sammy, who won two T20 World Cups in 2012 and 2016. Before assessing their suitability, they may need a longer run.
It’s more important to keep their finest players available. Since the rise of T20 leagues, Cricket West Indies (CWI) has struggled to get all its players to play for the national side. Four players who might have lifted the team in Zimbabwe were absent: Shimron Hetmyer, Evin Lewis, Andre Russell, and Sunil Narine. Russell and Narine haven’t played together since 2021.
After becoming coach, Sammy tried to reintegrate these players. I’ve reached out to Russell. I’ve also reached out to Sunil Narine and these guys. They still compete in several of our domestic competitions. He remarked, “I’m encouraged by our West Indies cricket discussions, outlining clear plans to reintegrate them.”
After the qualifications’ collapse, Sammy will want additional talent. They’ll lose more if they don’t.
England Must Stop Whining and Organize Itself
Original: Stop whining about the ‘spirit of cricket’ – England must get their own house in order
The Ashes’ most odd day followed the recriminations. The TV umpire confirmed Alex Carey’s opportunistic/scandalous stumping of Jonny Bairstow, and the normally quiet Lord’s Cricket Ground erupted in booing. “Same old Aussies, always cheating” cries followed.
Bairstow and skipper Ben Stokes, left stranded in the middle as his last recognized batting partner returned to the hutch, looked furious. It didn’t stop there. Stuart Broad, who has made a career of antagonizing and being antagonized by Australia on and off the field, including a memorable incident during the 2013 Ashes when he refused to walk after edging to slip, strode on to the field with thunder in his eyes and told Carey, “That’s all you’ll ever be remembered for, that.”
Broad then said, “That’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen in cricket,” to Australia captain Pat Cummins. He spent most of his innings ostentatiously anchoring his bat in his crease and checking with the Australian players to make sure he wasn’t stumped.
The MCC members verbally berated the tourists as they walked through the Long Room at lunch, resulting in the MCC apologizing to Australia and suspending three of the offenders. The incident overshadowed not only the second Test but possibly the entire series.
Deliberation followed. Carey’s stumping of Bairstow, who assumed the ball was dead and left his crease to talk to Stokes, was legal, but was it in the “spirit of cricket”? Should the Australians have withdrawn their request to follow the unwritten norms of the sport?
That’s right, despite the “spirit of cricket” debate that arises every time a Mankad or other controversial dismissal occurs being as dull as the VAR debate in football, here we are again.
Stokes criticized the Australians’ decision after the match, saying, “If I was fielding captain at the time, I would have put a lot more pressure on the umpires to ask them what their decision was around the ‘over’.” Then I would have considered the spirit of the game and whether I would want to win a game with anything like that happening. It wouldn’t.”
England coach Brendon McCullum, who stumped Zimbabwean Chris Mpofu as he celebrated his partner Blessing Mahwire’s maiden test half-century and Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan when he congratulated teammate Kumar Sangakkara on his ton, was similarly unequivocal.
McCullum told the BBC’s Test Match Special, “I can’t imagine we’ll be having a beer [with the Australians] any time soon.” Decisions made in the present can affect games and personalities.
From pundits and ex-players to MPs and even the prime minister Rishi Sunak (who supported Stokes’ claim that he wouldn’t want to win that way), everyone has an opinion.
However, getting lost in the endless debate over whether Australia have forever tainted cricket and should be ostracized is the fact that England are almost entirely to blame for being 2-0 down with three Tests to play in this Ashes series.
England were five wickets down and 180 runs short of Australia’s daunting total before Bairstow was removed. Yes, Stokes’ sheer determination and amazing skill as a cricketer nearly led him to a second Ashes miracle of his career, but the game was already lost.
From the opening day toss, when England comfortably chose to bowl but let Australia to reach 339-5 at close, the hosts couldn’t get out of their own way. An outstanding run of bowling to restrict the damage on the second morning and a promising start with the bat to advance to 188-1 was entirely wasted as they fell hook, line, and sinker into the Australians’ short-ball trap.
Rash shot after rash shot saw three wickets fall for 34 runs that evening and six for 46 the following morning in an unbelievable catastrophe. “Bazball” is about aggression and not being afraid of failure, but this went beyond that into reckless cricket, like lemmings walking down the same cliff.
In a chase of 371 runs, Bairstow should not have carelessly wandered out of his crease. Forget about the “spirit of cricket” debate. Bairstow could have avoided a tiresome dispute about whether Carey “did the right thing” in stumping him and not retracting the appeal by not being in that position in the first place. Michael Atherton called it “dozy cricket,” and it’s hard to disagree when club cricket’s brain-fade makes it to Test level.
England’s swashbuckling, thrilling cricket over the last year makes even a 2-0 deficit feel surmountable, but they need to stop caring about the spirit of the game, get their house in line, and cut out the blunders if they want to make Ashes history.
Summary of Today’s Cricket Sports News
Overall, the West Indies, long the undisputed kings of one-day cricket after winning the first two World Cups in 1975 and 1979 and coming in second in 1983, hit rock bottom on Saturday. Their elimination from the qualifying means they will not participate in the ODI World Cup for the first time in their history, which would be devastating to the game’s romantics. They had already lost their previous two qualifying matches, at home in Zimbabwe and in the Netherlands. They have yet to open their account in the Super Six stage, with matches against Oman and Sri Lanka still to come after suffering their first-ever defeat to Scotland in this format.
Finally, England’s swashbuckling and thrilling cricket over the previous year makes even a 2-0 deficit feel manageable, but if they want to make Ashes history, they need to stop caring about the spirit of the game, get their own house in order, and cut out the blunders according to Luke Baker.