West Indies All Time First Team, Second Team And Third Team.

Choosing an all time West Indies Team from different era is challenging, but stimulating. Each Team should consist of one of the following;

2 opening batsman 3 middle order batsman, 1 wicketkeeper/wicketkeeper batsman, 2 pace/fast bowler, 1 spin bowler and the last two spots can be any postion or

2 opening batsman, 3 middle order batsman, 1 wicketkeeper/wicketkeeper batsman, 1 allrounder, 2 pace/fast bowler, 1 spin bowler and the last spot can be any position.

Lets look at our openers: Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Roy Fredericks, Sir Conrad Hunte, Chris Gayle, Allan Rae, Jeffrey Stolleymeyer, Wavell Hinds (can open or bat middleorder) and Clifford Roach.

Middle order batsman: Sir Vivian Richards, Ritchie Richardson, Lawrence Rowe, Jimmy Adams, George Headley, Seymour Nurse, Sir Everton Weeks, Sir Frank Worrell, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Alvin Kallicharran, Rohan Kanhai, Clive Lloyd, Shivnarine Chanderpaul-(open in ODI), Hilary Gomez, Charlie Davis and Brian Lara.

wicketkeeper/wicketkeeper batsman: Sir Clyde Walcott, Jeffrey Dujon, Deryck Murray and Jackie Hendericks

Allrounders: Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Leary Constantine, Dwayne Bravo and Carl Hooper.

Pace/Fast Bowler: Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, Anderson Roberts, Joel Garner, Colin Croft, Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, Ian Bishop, Patrick Patterson, Roy Gilchrist, Wesley Hall, and Charlie Davis.

Based on the aformentioned cricketers, I will now choose my 'All time 1st team in chronological order;

Gordon Greenidge: Arguably West Indies greatest opening batsman
Desmond Haynes: West Indies most sucessful opening batsman alongside Greenidge.
George Headley: The greatest West Indies batsman of his era
Sir Vivian Richards: Indubitably The most destructive batsman ever
'Prince' Brian Lara: Considered one of the greatest batsman of all time, can be aggressive, and also be reliable-400 & 501 not out.
Sir Garfield Sobers-Undeniably the greatest allrounder
Sir Clyde Walcott-One of the famous 'W's (Sir Everton Weeks, and Sir Frank Worrell-the other two)
Malcolm Marshall-West Indian greatest fast/pace bowler
Michael Holding 'Whispering Death' The quickest of 'em all '
Curtly Ambrose One of the most economical bowler
Lance Gibbs-West Indies greatest off spinner

Second Team

Sir Conrad Hunte-The greatest West Indies opening batsman of his time.
Roy Fredericks-a great hook shot
Rohan Kanhai-The most creative batsman
Sir Everton Weeks-One of the famous 'W's
Sir Frank Worrell-Same as above
Clive Lloyd-West Indies greatest & most sucessful captain, whom save West Indies from defeat several times
Jeffrey Dujon-a strokeplayer, an elegant batsman a wicketkeeper batsman
Anderson Roberts-The premier of West Indies four pronged pace attack created in the 70's by captain Clive Lloyd
Joel'Big Bird Garner-Same as Curtly Ambrose-very economical bowler.
Alf Valentine-Great spinner
Courtney Walsh-West Indies most durable pace/fast bowler

My final -third team

Chris Gayle- One of the best ODI (One day player
Alf Valentine-Unfotunately no place for Jeff Stolleymeyer as I can only choose two openers
Lawrence Rowe- One of the most graceful batsman-unfortunately eyesight diminished
Alvin Kallicharran-a diminutive batsman whom can stroke with the best
Seymour Nurse-underatted batsman
Shivnarine Chanderpaul-One of the most dependable batsman
Deryck Murray-can bat better than Jackie Hendericks
Wesley Hall-One of the pioneers of West Indies pace/fast bowler
Charlie Griffith-One of the deadliest yorker
Colin Croft- One of the geratest outswinger/inswinger pace/fast bowler
Sonny Ramadhin-Note can be chosen in second team its a flip coin between him and Valentine :

Please note that players with immense talent whom did not live up to expectation were Carl Hooper-when on form, he can bat with the best
Ramnaresh Sarwan-still developing a talent waiting to happen. Augustine Logie- a diminutive batsman whom had array of strokes-too inconsistent. Unfortunately The great Sir Leary Constantine, Sorry!!
'
Note: Charlie Davis has a great average of over 50, but I rate him as a good batsman, not an elite batsman and Larry Gomes and Jimmy Adams- painstaking batsmen-but not an elite. Ritchie Richardson-great batsman, but he batted at the number 3 position, where the likes of the Master Blater ' Viv Richards, 'The Black Bradman' George Headley, Rohan Baboolall Kanhai, Sir Everton Weeks; and Lawrence Rowe batted. Ian Bishop was a great fast bowler, but West Indies had elite bowlers. Also Patrick Patterson and Roy Gilchrist can match Michael Holding with speed, but not accuracy and line and length and Jermaine Taylor is the upcoming fast/pace bowler whom has the potential to materialized to an elite player.

Some more interesting cricket facts:

1.Mohammed Azharruddin is the only player in the history of Test cricket to score a century in each of his first three test matches.
2.M.L.Jaisimha of India was the first batsman to bat on all five days of a Test.
3.India had to wait for a period of 19 years & 230 days before registering its first victory.
4.The legendary captain of the West Indies, Clive Lloyd was the first captain to win 25 Test Matches.
5.Narendra Hirwani took 16 wickets on his debut versus West Indies.
6.Allen Hill was the first player to hold a catch in Tests.
7.India is the only international team to be dismissed twice in a single day of test match.
8.Clem Hill’s scores in his first three Test innings was 99,98 and 97 runs.
9.Sunil Gavaskar has featured in a record 52 century partnerships.
10.Greg Chappell hit a century on debut and his last match.

D0 you know?

Sourav Ganguly is the only cricketer to have won four successive Man of the Match awards in One-day Internationals.

The first Test match began on 15 March 1877 and had a timeless format with four balls per over. It ended on 19 March 1877 with Australia winning by 45 runs.

The first Twenty20 international was between Australia and New Zealand in 2005.

The Test match between England and South Africa at Durban in 1939 was finally abandoned as a draw on the tenth day because England players had to catch their ship home.

The First Test between Young Sri Lanka and Young England at Columbo in 1987 was held up when a large iguana crept across the wicket.

Pakistan Railways beat Dera Ismail Khan by an innings and 851 runs in 1964. In reply to the railwaymen’s 910 for 6 declared, Dera Ismail Khan were bowled out 32 and 27.

Sussex batsman H.J. Heygate was given out in a match with Somerset in 1919 because he didn’t reach the crease within two minutes of the fall of the previous wicket. Poor Heygate was crippled with rheumatism.

There are 10 ways a batsman can be declared "out" in cricket:

1. Caught
2. Bowled
3. Leg Before Wicket
4. Hit Wicket
5. Timed Out (wonder what is this?)
6. Handling the ball
7. Obstructing the field
8. Hit the ball twice
9. Run Out
10. Stumped