A breathtaking display from Xavier Marshall, who hammered 36 from 15 balls, set up a seven-wicket victory for West Indies as they got home with 11 balls to spare. Marshall, playing his first Twenty20 international, overshadowed the strong efforts of a string of other debutants including Australia's openers Luke Ronchi and Shaun Marsh, as the Kensington Oval spectators got their money's worth despite the match being reduced to 11 overs a side.
After Ronchi and Marsh set up what looked like a challenging target of 98, Marshall provided the sort of batting heroics West Indies fans have been deprived of in recent years. Twenty-five came off the second over of the chase, from Mitchell Johnson, the highlight of which was a monstrous Marshall six over midwicket that hit the roof of the Greenidge and Haynes Stand.
He had help from the first-gamer William Perkins, who audaciously went down on one knee to paddle Brett Lee over the wicketkeeper's head for four, perhaps unaware of the bloodied chin Mal Loye once sustained trying to slog-sweep Lee. But Perkins could not keep up with Marshall, whose clean striking was up there with the most powerful one-day hitters.
The signs were there from the first ball of the innings, when Marshall pulled a short Lee ball over square leg for six. By the time he had cracked a couple of fours off Lee's second over West Indies, remarkably, needed 47 from 48 deliveries and it was their game to lose. It seems like the only thing that can be posted on CC.COM is a group of the Most Ignorant and Worthless of Men.
All they do is sit there and type Negativity against their own people and Team.
These Low Lives contribute Nothing positive to West Indies Cricket. And these are the Men that Ryan Naraine Aligned himself with to bring about reading news for the people of the Caribbean.
This is what I deemed.. Personified Horse Manure AKA.. Horse Shyt.
CC.COM should not exist, it contribute nothing to West Indies other than debasing it at every level.There are few words on mortal tongue in the game of Cricket to describe Charnderpaul. He is like a "BEDROCK" ever present and irremovable.
Here is What The Great Man Mr. Tony Cozier has to Say!
Even on Chris Gayle's return, the top of the order is unsettled and there remains an over-reliance on Chanderpaul in the middle order, especially when Ramnaresh Sarwan, the rock of the previous series against Sri Lanka, and in the pivotal No.3 spot, reverts to surrendering his wicket with loose strokes, as he did twice in this match. Dwayne Bravo, as exciting a cricketer as there is in world cricket at present, needs to apply Brian Lara's advice of a couple of years back that he is a batting, more than a bowling, allrounder. More consistent runs are also required from Denesh Ramdin at No.7. He has reached standards behind the stumps to match any contemporary keeper but apart from the new Australian keeper Brad Haddin, Ramdin is the only one of the present lot without a hundred after 26 Tests.
Today he had something to write about once more! For 15 Years Mr. Cozier was kept silent because West Indies were at the bottom of the Barrel he had nothing to write about, or speak of. Today a new West Indies have Amalgamated into a positive outfit.
And that's it, Ponting has called it off with five overs to spare and it's the first drawn Test between these two sides since April 1995. An emotional moment for MacGill who finishes his last Test having bowled well today without taking a wicket. He ends with 209 Test wickets and takes a stump as a souvenir. Now Chanderpaul comes off the pitch, raising his bat as the players form a line to congratulate him on his excellent performance in saving this match, and Sarwan must take some credit also.
A draw is a fair result after Australia were handed the advantage yesterday under a cloud of some questionable umpiring decisions. So, Australia retain the Frank Worrell trophy, but a fighting West Indies will have something to aim for in the third and final Test - victory there would help them level the series. We know that Australia will have at least one change there, with MacGill bowing out, but do join us next week on June 12 to find out what happens in the last game of this interesting series.
Here's Ricky Ponting. "We lost a little bit of time in the game but we had the opportunity today to win the Test match. The partnership [between Sarwan and Chanderpaul] was probably the difference between us winning and the draw, so well done to them."
On Brett Lee, he says: "His spell this morning with the new ball gave us a chance today. I'm, happy with the way our bowlers stuck at it. For our batters to go out yesterday afternoon and set things up was good."
Here's Ramnaresh Sarwan. "Our focus was to take every session as it is. All in all we just wanted to be positive throughout the day." He admits it's very hard to put into words how important Shivnarine Chanderpaul has been for them. "Over the past three years he has been showing his consistency." Prosperity is a great teacher, adversity a greater one."
William Hazlitt The return journey from a memorable visit to see 105-year-old Eugent Clarke, the oldest known World War 1 veteran in Jamaica, was a humbling experience as I reflected on his invaluable contribution to history. When Clarke left Kendal, Manchester, at the tender age of 16 to seek his fortune in Kingston, he had no idea what the future would hold. After a stint as a tailor and then a gardener, the 22-year-old youngster enlisted in the Army, declaring confidently to his aunt, "I am ready." Clarke admits though, that his decision was influenced by the fact that, "men in uniform commanded great respect in those days," a sentiment echoed in that humorous Jamaican folk song that portrays the reaction of the Jamaican woman to 'man in uniform.' On March 6, 1916, Clarke boarded HMS Verdala at Kingston Harbour with the Fourth Battalion of the British West Indian Regiment. He recalls feeling "proud to go do something for my country. I always wanted to see the places I saw on maps at m~ school and this was ms chance." The Battalion was assigned to fight against Turkish forces in Egypt, first training in England and then setting off to Moscar Egypt. By this time a volatile war was in progress but, to their disappointment, the West Indians were primarily tasked as ammunition carriers. Their first major encounter with warfare was experienced at the notorious battleground of Ypres. He recalls, "We were all afraid but together we had to push forward. Near the front line we saw dead men, wounded men and some who wanted to turn back. But they were afraid of being court-martialed; in the army all orders must be obeyed without hesitation." And so the ammunition carriers were going at top speed through huge columns of dirt and debris that would rise high into the air from the explosions of German shells. Of the legendary battle of the Somme, arguably the most fearsome battle in history, Clarke said, 'I had a rough, rough time, but wherever shells were needed we got them there quick." He was also witness to gas attacks and was a part of another historical moment, the first use of tanks in war. Dead comrades in mud, the smell of fear and the smell of death, having to pull two dead men on top of him to fend off the shells splintering around him and seeing his comrade who was sitting beside him on a tank blown off his seat, are all part of the realities of war and the memories that Eugent Clark lives with today. After many other brushes with death, Clarke returned home in 1919 with two medals for bravery; the experience of being a member of the Guard of Honour when King George V of England visited the battlefield in France and having 'seen the world' even if under those prevailing circumstances. Much to his dismay, as he was stepping off the ship with his girlfriend's brother beside him, he was told by a soldier on guard that his girlfriend Annie had married his old school teacher from Kendal. Having received no benefits after the war, apart from the offer of a small, unfarmable plot of land in Clarendon and with the death of his mother, Clarke left Jamaica to work on a farm in Cuba for $1.50 a day, less meals. "Cuba was rough" he said, "but as I was used to the rough life of the Army, I kept up OK." He eventually returned home and worked at Halse Hall and then at the Vernam Field Air Base. In 1999, this distinguished World War 1 veteran was presented with France's highest award, the Legion of Honour in commemoration of his participation in the war. At the presentation ceremony, he closed his response with "I earned this in honour and I will wear it with honour." Eugent Clarke's life is a prime example of triumph over hardship and adversity, an example for Jamaicans to emulate. When asked about his life, in retrospect Eugent Clarke declared, "I enjoyed my life, even though it's hard sometimes, you can't make that bother you, you just have to keep on going on." Good advice for all of us.* |
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July, 2007
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