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2016-04-05 01:29:32 UTC
British Columnist Mark Nicholas Profusely Apologizes To West Indies Team
http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/995027.html
West Indies' triumph of imagination and spirit
Mark Nicholas
The first thing is to loudly applaud West Indies cricket on a golden
day. The women were magnificent. The men more than matched them. The
finish was a miracle: a thing of devastating power, of a certain beauty,
and of destiny.
The second thing is to say that the West Indies cricketers who beat
England in Kolkata yesterday and triumphantly lifted the World T20 play
smart cricket that is both entertaining and hard to resist. There were
scatty, improbable turning points that swung the match this way and that
- so many of them that it was hard to keep track. In the end, the very
fact that West Indies pulled it off was the most epic thing about it.
The third is to offer an unreserved apology to Darren Sammy, a man I
hold in the highest regard, to his team and to the coaches around them
for the throwaway phrase I used in a recent column on these pages. I
would have made the same apology whatever the results of the day, but I
do so now in the knowledge that the people of the Caribbean will have
celebrated long into the night and well into today. The spirit of the
romantics will be with them and from thousands of miles away the rest of
us can almost taste the rum, feel its punch and dream of the day when we
return to the lapping shores of those incomparable islands.
Clearly, the West Indies team is not "short of brains". I wrote this in
a piece that was mainly about India and MS Dhoni and, partly tongue in
cheek, exaggerated a likely "triumph" - as in the ancient history of the
Roman Empire. In picking a winner, I could see no further than the hosts.
I suggested England were a threat and maybe Australia and South Africa
too. In three short and ill-conceived sentences I paid lip service to
the other teams, casually remarking that West Indies were "short of
brains but have IPL history in their ranks". I did not say West Indies
were "brainless" or had "no brains", as has been misquoted elsewhere,
but I did say something unworthy of the game and disrespectful to a
great cricketing legacy.
My thought was based a) on what I had seen in Australia, first during
the World Cup and then during the recent Test matches against the
Australians, when the admirable Jason Holder received scant support from
influential players around him, and then b) on the fact that many West
Indians know their way around the IPL, which must be useful. But it was
a throwaway, not a considered judgement, and frankly, pretty damn lazy
because it did not take account of the different personnel.
I regret it and apologise for it.
At Hampshire I played with two of the most intelligent cricketers of all
time. Andy Roberts led the thinking of a truly great collection of West
Indian fast bowlers. I caught my first first-class catch off him at
first slip and I swelled with pride at having my name associated with
his on a scorecard. Then I had 13 years with Malcolm Marshall, my best
friend in cricket. I also had the privilege of giving the eulogy at his
funeral in Barbados - the saddest occasion. I grew up as a disciple of
Sir Garry Sobers and, as a kid, played the game with my collar turned to
the sky and as much adventure as my limited talent allowed. When I was
taken to Lord's in 1973, Sobers made 150 and Rohan Kanhai much the same.
It was intoxicating stuff.
The same must be said of the performance yesterday by Sammy's team - it
was intoxicating stuff. Samuel Badree's legspin was delivered with
commitment and revs: the overspin did for Jason Roy and the disguise did
for Eoin Morgan. Sammy handled his attack with imagination and moved his
fielders as if they were chess pieces closing in on a hapless opponent's
board. In the field, West Indies looked organised and driven.
His heart bled at the injustice and at the misjudgement of his men, so
he looked to repair these wrongs. Those of us who have let him down took
a hammering
The West Indies Cricket Board were harsh when they took the Test match
and one-day international captaincy away from Sammy. He has the ability
to unite. Without sounding like I am running for cover, I wrote that at
the time. I also wrote in favour of Dwayne Bravo's team that walked out
on their tour of India. I advocated the BCCI bailing out the WICB to
keep the tour alive. Sammy's interview with ESPNcricinfo just a short
while back is required reading. He has given much to the cause of West
Indies cricket and thankfully has two T20 World Cups in return. This is
a man long on brains.
Alongside him are others. First among equals is Bravo, the craftiest
bowler in the tournament and the best at the death. He has a fast arm
for a bowler of little more than medium-pace, and this arm never appears
to change its speed of rotation or release. He uses his fingers and
wrists to vary pace and impart entirely different revolutions on the
ball. The wicket of Ben Stokes was a masterpiece of this modern art, the
art of confusion. Stokes was left in the dark by a delivery that was
perfectly well floodlit.
Another cricketer who seems a step ahead is Carlos Brathwaite, both with
bat and ball. He has the happy knack of making his own luck, primarily
because he appears to play the game without an iota of fear. He is a
strong man, of mind and matter, and an ideal role model to set before
the young cricketers of the Caribbean. Some of his interviews bely his
age and experience; it is like he is an old soul. His calm, his range
and his extraordinary hitting in the final over are born of sporting
passion, never say die, and a rare and priceless ability to find these
attributes when they most matter.
Finally to Marlon Samuels, who has been on the wrong end of many an
observer's written and spoken word. There is something about Samuels
that gets under the skin of opponents and audiences alike. But he played
an immense, unarguable hand yesterday: an innings of courage and
intelligence that kept his team in the game. He is lovely batsman to
watch, a player given flow and fabulous timing by the person who hands
out these gifts.
In his interview at the end of the match a deeply emotional Sammy let it
pour out. His heart bled at the injustice and at the misjudgement of his
men, so he looked to repair these wrongs. Those of us who have let him
down took a hammering. Fair enough too. But for all of that, what really
matters is that West Indies won. Of late, the game has been bereft of
West Indian style and celebration. It is the most missed story in sport.
A future can be built around the professional thinkers and performers we
saw yesterday. But they need to be engaged. They need to be on the park.
It would be terrific if the WICB responded in a way that helped mobilise
the momentum, enthusiasm and brilliance we saw yesterday in other
formats of the game. For lots of reasons, I shall never forget the World
T20 final of 2016. Neither will Sammy. I wish him and his men nothing
but joy.
Mark Nicholas, the former Hampshire captain, presents the cricket on
Channel Nine in Australia and Channel 5 in the UK
http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/995027.html
West Indies' triumph of imagination and spirit
Mark Nicholas
The first thing is to loudly applaud West Indies cricket on a golden
day. The women were magnificent. The men more than matched them. The
finish was a miracle: a thing of devastating power, of a certain beauty,
and of destiny.
The second thing is to say that the West Indies cricketers who beat
England in Kolkata yesterday and triumphantly lifted the World T20 play
smart cricket that is both entertaining and hard to resist. There were
scatty, improbable turning points that swung the match this way and that
- so many of them that it was hard to keep track. In the end, the very
fact that West Indies pulled it off was the most epic thing about it.
The third is to offer an unreserved apology to Darren Sammy, a man I
hold in the highest regard, to his team and to the coaches around them
for the throwaway phrase I used in a recent column on these pages. I
would have made the same apology whatever the results of the day, but I
do so now in the knowledge that the people of the Caribbean will have
celebrated long into the night and well into today. The spirit of the
romantics will be with them and from thousands of miles away the rest of
us can almost taste the rum, feel its punch and dream of the day when we
return to the lapping shores of those incomparable islands.
Clearly, the West Indies team is not "short of brains". I wrote this in
a piece that was mainly about India and MS Dhoni and, partly tongue in
cheek, exaggerated a likely "triumph" - as in the ancient history of the
Roman Empire. In picking a winner, I could see no further than the hosts.
I suggested England were a threat and maybe Australia and South Africa
too. In three short and ill-conceived sentences I paid lip service to
the other teams, casually remarking that West Indies were "short of
brains but have IPL history in their ranks". I did not say West Indies
were "brainless" or had "no brains", as has been misquoted elsewhere,
but I did say something unworthy of the game and disrespectful to a
great cricketing legacy.
My thought was based a) on what I had seen in Australia, first during
the World Cup and then during the recent Test matches against the
Australians, when the admirable Jason Holder received scant support from
influential players around him, and then b) on the fact that many West
Indians know their way around the IPL, which must be useful. But it was
a throwaway, not a considered judgement, and frankly, pretty damn lazy
because it did not take account of the different personnel.
I regret it and apologise for it.
At Hampshire I played with two of the most intelligent cricketers of all
time. Andy Roberts led the thinking of a truly great collection of West
Indian fast bowlers. I caught my first first-class catch off him at
first slip and I swelled with pride at having my name associated with
his on a scorecard. Then I had 13 years with Malcolm Marshall, my best
friend in cricket. I also had the privilege of giving the eulogy at his
funeral in Barbados - the saddest occasion. I grew up as a disciple of
Sir Garry Sobers and, as a kid, played the game with my collar turned to
the sky and as much adventure as my limited talent allowed. When I was
taken to Lord's in 1973, Sobers made 150 and Rohan Kanhai much the same.
It was intoxicating stuff.
The same must be said of the performance yesterday by Sammy's team - it
was intoxicating stuff. Samuel Badree's legspin was delivered with
commitment and revs: the overspin did for Jason Roy and the disguise did
for Eoin Morgan. Sammy handled his attack with imagination and moved his
fielders as if they were chess pieces closing in on a hapless opponent's
board. In the field, West Indies looked organised and driven.
His heart bled at the injustice and at the misjudgement of his men, so
he looked to repair these wrongs. Those of us who have let him down took
a hammering
The West Indies Cricket Board were harsh when they took the Test match
and one-day international captaincy away from Sammy. He has the ability
to unite. Without sounding like I am running for cover, I wrote that at
the time. I also wrote in favour of Dwayne Bravo's team that walked out
on their tour of India. I advocated the BCCI bailing out the WICB to
keep the tour alive. Sammy's interview with ESPNcricinfo just a short
while back is required reading. He has given much to the cause of West
Indies cricket and thankfully has two T20 World Cups in return. This is
a man long on brains.
Alongside him are others. First among equals is Bravo, the craftiest
bowler in the tournament and the best at the death. He has a fast arm
for a bowler of little more than medium-pace, and this arm never appears
to change its speed of rotation or release. He uses his fingers and
wrists to vary pace and impart entirely different revolutions on the
ball. The wicket of Ben Stokes was a masterpiece of this modern art, the
art of confusion. Stokes was left in the dark by a delivery that was
perfectly well floodlit.
Another cricketer who seems a step ahead is Carlos Brathwaite, both with
bat and ball. He has the happy knack of making his own luck, primarily
because he appears to play the game without an iota of fear. He is a
strong man, of mind and matter, and an ideal role model to set before
the young cricketers of the Caribbean. Some of his interviews bely his
age and experience; it is like he is an old soul. His calm, his range
and his extraordinary hitting in the final over are born of sporting
passion, never say die, and a rare and priceless ability to find these
attributes when they most matter.
Finally to Marlon Samuels, who has been on the wrong end of many an
observer's written and spoken word. There is something about Samuels
that gets under the skin of opponents and audiences alike. But he played
an immense, unarguable hand yesterday: an innings of courage and
intelligence that kept his team in the game. He is lovely batsman to
watch, a player given flow and fabulous timing by the person who hands
out these gifts.
In his interview at the end of the match a deeply emotional Sammy let it
pour out. His heart bled at the injustice and at the misjudgement of his
men, so he looked to repair these wrongs. Those of us who have let him
down took a hammering. Fair enough too. But for all of that, what really
matters is that West Indies won. Of late, the game has been bereft of
West Indian style and celebration. It is the most missed story in sport.
A future can be built around the professional thinkers and performers we
saw yesterday. But they need to be engaged. They need to be on the park.
It would be terrific if the WICB responded in a way that helped mobilise
the momentum, enthusiasm and brilliance we saw yesterday in other
formats of the game. For lots of reasons, I shall never forget the World
T20 final of 2016. Neither will Sammy. I wish him and his men nothing
but joy.
Mark Nicholas, the former Hampshire captain, presents the cricket on
Channel Nine in Australia and Channel 5 in the UK