Signs of Stability says Sammy     


       KHULNA, Bangladesh – Darren Sammy said WestIndies’ victory in their two-Test series against Bangladesh was testimony to the growing consistency of the side.

Keiron Powell scores back to back hundreds in the 1st test

The West Indies captain was reflecting on the series, following his side’s 10-wicket victory in the second and final Test on Sunday at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium here.

The result meant that West Indies had won four straight Test for the first time since 1993, and four Test in a year for the first time since 2002.

“It’s a good feeling when you are winning, and it’s even better when you plan and you go out and execute and see your teammates perform consistently,” said Sammy.

“It was good being a part of this Test series and to see the little steps we are taking in bettering ourselves and moving up the ladder in Tests.”

Marlon Sammuels obtained his highest score,260

Sammy said part of the reason for the recent string of successes has been the settled team that has played throughout the year.

“The guys in this team played against New Zealand and were in England, with Chris Gayle returning to the team, so it’s a more settled squad, just like our Twenty20 team is quite settled, so is our One-day International team,” he said.

“The more we play together on the cricket field, the more we know about each other. The most encouraging thing for me is that when we turn up, we know what to expect from the different players.”

He said: “You know what Tino Best will give you, or when Marlon Samuels goes out to bat and he starts his innings, you know what you will get from him, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and all of the other players.

Tino Best produced some match winning spells.Permaul was impressive on debut.

“We also have guys who continue to play domestic cricket at home who perform and will challenge for places in the team. The nucleus of the team is quite settled, but the guys have been performing consistently in the last 6 to 12 months, so it is a good sign for us.”

Sammy said he felt West Indies had gone through a process of developing a culture geared towards winning Tests, which they have been working hard to achieve over the last few years.

“We will continue to instill that work ethic in the dressing room, and continue to go out there and do what all the West Indies fans want us to do – play a brand of cricket that the World loves to see and be consistent and try to win more matches,” he said.

“We performed more consistently over the last 10 days of Test cricket and this was key to our winning. We didn’t take Bangladesh for granted. In key moments, like the second innings, we did more things better than them.”

Shiv Chanderpaul was award man of the series

Sammy dismissed suggestions that his side’s job was made a little easier by a lack of application from the Bangladesh batsmen.

“We had to work for most of our wickets and the pitches were really good for batting,” he said.

“We stuck to our plans for most of the time. In the first innings in Dhaka, our bowlers didn’t hit the areas. From the second innings and both innings in this Test, we bowled much better.”

He added: “The Bangladesh, like us, are naturally aggressive. . .but our batsmen were more patient and let the bowlers come to them, not try to go searching for runs. Once you applied yourself on these pitches, you were bound to get runs.

“We have a lot of respect for the Bangladesh players, but we always believed that we could come here, and achieve our goal of winning the two Tests, so we are just happy to have accomplished this.”

(WICB Media Release)

Tino Best six-for sets up 2-0 series win

The series has come and gone,and the West Indies have won 2-0.

Despite having a harmstring problem,Tino Best,just as he did in the 1st test produced a match winning spell of bowling,claiming 6 wickets to give the West Indies their series victory.

Nasir Hossain made sure Bangladesh avoided an innings defeat, but failed again to get his maiden Test hundred, after having missed it by four runs in Mirpur.

Shakib Al Hasan's suicidal charge in the last over on day four had crippled Bangladesh's chances of somehow salvaging a draw, and West Indies needed just 14 overs today to wrap up the innings.

Any faint hopes Bangladesh might have had disappeared off the fourth ball of the day. Mahmudullah under-edged a sweep to the wicketkeeper down the leg side off Veerasammy Permaul, who ended his debut series with eight wickets at an average of 31.62 compared to Sunil Narine's three at 114.33.

At the end of the Bangladeshi innings,the Windies needed 27 runs,and that target was obtain easily and quickly,with Chris Gayle smashing 5 fours,the target was reached within 5 overs.


“On behalf of the directors, management and staff of the WICB, I want to wish the players and the team management hearty congratulations on this achievement,” said WICB President Dr. Julian Hunte.

“They continue to bring pride and joy to the people of the Caribbean. Indeed, a huge achievement for the team, considering the tough conditions which they faced.

“But they did an excellent job, never losing faith in their collective ability, which eventually brought them to success.”

Dr. Hunte said this was another example of the hard work which the players and the team management have put in to achieve success.

“There have been challenges, but it is good to see the team is now reaping some measure of success,” he said.

“Though there is still plenty work for all of us to do to restore West Indies cricket to its ultimate place of excellence, this performance is another example that prospects for the future appear to be bright.”


Chanderpaul earned the Man-of-the-Series award after scoring a double-hundred in the first Test and 150 in the second Test, while Best was West Indies’ most successful bowler with 12 wickets.

Powell became the first West Indies batsman in nine years to score a century in each innings of a Test during the first Test at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka, and Samuels scored a maiden Test double hundred in the second Test at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in the south-western town of Khulna.

“They are all assets to the team, but every single player had a part to play in this success,” said the WICB President.

“We now look forward to further success in the five One-day Internationals and the Twenty20 International.”

West Indies vs Bangladesh,1st test report.

West Indies 527 for 4 dec (Chanderpaul 203*, Ramdin 126*, Powell 117) and 273 (Powell 110, Gazi 6-72) beat Bangladesh 556 (Naeem 108, Nasir 96) and 167 (Best 5-25, Permaul 3-32) win by 77 runs

On the rare occasion when Tino Best,combined both pace and control he was near unplayable.Tino's 4 wickets on either side of lunch was the final twist to the match as Bangladesh succumbed and their hard work in the first innings with the bat and good bowling in the 2nd innings went in vain.Bangladesh have lost 64 test out of 74 test.

The first wicket to fall in the Bangladeshi innings was aggressive opening batsman Tamim Iqbal,who fell for 5 runs to Ravi Rampaul.Best who was inconsistent throughout the game,finally found some control and subsequently claimed the wickets of Shakib Al Hasan and Mushifiqur Rahim.Debutant Verasammy Permaul was impressive on debut taking 3 wickets.

At lunch the game was still quite even with Bangladesh needing 200 more runs with eight batsman remaining.After lunch Best was hostile with ball and lip,went hard at Bangladesh.Shahriar Nafees got a mouthful , and heaved a top-edge off the next delivery, a short one into the body, for the bowler to take the catch.


Best now had even more encouragement, as if he ever needed it. Three balls later, he had taken out Shakib Al Hasan with a beauty that squared the batsman up and took the edge to the keeper as it moved away from middle.

Best went off the field for a while and returned to strike with his fourth delivery. After all the back-of-a-length stuff, Mushfiqur got one that swung in full and late, and trapped him in front. Best was now even more like a runaway locomotive than usual. He jagged one in to Naeem Islam's chest, and even as the batsman grimaced in pain, asked him to "come on". Mahmudullah was hit at least three times by short balls that he could not avoid but showed guts when he hooked Best for six over deep square leg.

Best ended the game by crashing the ball into Mahmudullah's middles stump. 

Keiron Powell was awarded the man of the match for scoring a century in each inning.

Is Powell the West Indies opening Solution ?

With the return of Chris Gayle to the West Indies side,the likes of Adrian Barath,kraig Brathwaite and  Keiron Powell have found themselves battling it out for the remaining opening position.Powell having been selected however to accompany Gayle in Bangladesh as he has done against New Zealand in the previous tour has somewhat provided a solid impact showing why he was selected.On the first day of the first test,Powell struck his 2nd century,providing the West Indies with a solid platform for a huge first innings total.Other significant contributers included the all so reliable,veteran batsman;Shivnarine Chanderpaul who brought up his 26 test hundred and Denesh Ramdin who is  unbeaten like Chanderpaul after raising his half century.

Powell gave praise to Chanderpaul saying he found it comfortable batting with him.

"I think batting with any senior player is easy. Shiv has lots of experience, something like 145 Test matches," Powell said after the day's play. "He takes all the pressure off you and lets you play the normal game. He keeps talking to you."

The age difference between the pair is around 16 years, a non-issue for Chanderpaul, who has been known to take young batsmen under his wing. "He's just telling me to be patient, stay positive, look to rotate the strike and put away the bad balls, and play straight," Powell said.

The competition is a nice one for the West Indians to find themselves in,positive competition where solid performances are needed to maintain their spots.Powell's century will surely add to his stats and his case,to cement his spot as Gayle's opening partner.

West Indes vs Bangladesh 

1st test,Day 1

                  West Indies Dominate as Powell and Chanderpaul hit centuries.

century makers Keiron Powell and Shiv Chanderpaul (source-cricinfo)

On a day which started positively for Bangladesh,claiming 3 wickets early before the lunch session including that of Chris Gayle,ended quite bad for the Bangladeshis as the West Indies build on centuries from the young opener Keiron Powell,and veteran Shiv Chanderpaul.West Indies ended the day on a imposing 361-4scoring at 4.01 runs per over.The West Indies quickly and comfortably progressed with 210 runs out of the final total coming in boundaries.

At the start Chris Gayle fired a couple into the stands before falling to debutant Sohag Gazi for 24.Bravo and Sammuels also fell without providing much to talk about,as each fell for 14 and 16 respectively.That was the only success Bangladesh would feel for a long time,as Powell and Chanderpaul shared a 4th wicket partnership of 125 before Powell feel to Gazi for 117,completing his 2nd test hundred.Ramdin joined Chanderpaul and continued the good work,and at stumps the two were not seperated.The partnership is currently 130 runs and it is the first century partnership between Shiv and Ramdin.

West Indies coming into the series with tremendous momentum on their side after winning the world cup T20 surely continued the good form,and are in a dominant position closing day one on 361-4.

Sohag Gazi and Abul Hasan get maiden Call-ups

  Off spinner Sohag Gazi and medium pacer Abul Hasan have both been selected in Bangladesh's test squad for the first time,for the first test which starts in Dhaka on November 13th.

  Squad: Mushfiqur Rahim (capt), Mahmudullah (vc), Tamim Iqbal, Junaid Siddique, Shahriar Nafees, Shakib Al Hasan, Naeem Islam, Nazimuddin, Nasir Hossain, Elias Sunny, Shahadat Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Abul Hasan, Sohag Gazi.