All posts by h716a5.icu

Report from day 3 at the Rose Bowl

Ivo Tennant at the Rose Bowl14-Apr-2012This match merits, and could well have, quite a finish. No play was possible on the third day before 3 o’clock owing to prolonged April showers, and thereafter Gloucestershire did not bat with quite the nous or durability they had shown in their first innings. They had taken Hampshire’s three remaining wickets cheaply enough, but then lost five batsmen for 71 on another day on which anyone venturing out of the pavilion atrium was liable to catch a chill.The bowler who excelled for Hampshire was not David Balcombe, who had taken eight wickets in Gloucestershire’s first innings – although he did have Dan Housego brilliantly held left handed at fourth slip by Danny Briggs – but Hamza Riazuddin. If the name is largely unknown beyond these parts, that is because he is what is known in football as a squad member. He came to the club from Mark Nicholas’ Bradfield College and has represented England u-19s. Although his bowling would appear to be little more than military medium to professional cricketers, in conditions such as these that is sufficient.Riazuddin, now 22, tries to bowl the lot: outswing, inswing, seamers, even quick leg breaks. If he does not know what the ball is going to do – and it would not be unkind to say that some of the time he does not – then the batsman won’t, either. He is playing only because Kabir Ali, James Tomlinson and Dimitri Mascarenhas are not, but this was the ideal kind of pitch, coupled with constant cloud cover, for him to make an impression.The cold weather seemingly did not prevent him from obtaining some movement through the air as well as off the pitch. He had Richard Coughtrie leg before with one that appeared not to deviate at all, and he dismissed Alex Gidman through a mistimed flick to short midwicket. His removal of Hamish Marshall, taken by Michael Bates behind the stumps, could be attributed to his own skill. Never before had he taken three wickets in an innings at this level.The key wicket was that of Chris Dent, a century maker in the first innings, who now was picked up very well low at second slip by Liam Dawson off Chris Wood. A further wicket or two before the close and Hampshire would have left the field wholly satisfied. As it is, theyhave some batting as well as further bowling to do to win this match, for Ian Cockbain and Will Gidman added an unbroken 58 in the final session of a day of 51 overs. The upshot is that Gloucestershire have a lead of 244 runs.Hampshire resumed, when the rain relented and the drainage on this fast drying ground had proved the worth of a huge investment, on 182 for seven. Dent soon took his fourth slip catch to account for Wood, off Will Gidman’s medium pace – we have seen little else in thiscontest – and the same bowler had Briggs leg before. David Payne finished off the innings through bowling Riazuddin..So a match which seemed likely to finish well inside four days, given Gloucestershire’s fragile batting last week and general impecunious state which has affected the strength of their playing staff, will probably continue longer than any other fixture in this round. That has had something to do with the weather, but also is down to the players trying to contend with difficult batting conditions without recourse to attempting to clear the in-field in one day mode. The ancients would have approved.

The fifth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), comprising nine teams and 76 matches, will begin on April 4 and conclude on May 27

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jan-2012The fifth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), comprising nine teams and 76 matches, will begin and end in Chennai, with the opening match on April 4 and the final on May 27. The teams will play each other at home and away during a league phase consisting of 72 games at 12, possibly 13, venues, beginning with the defending champions Chennai Super Kings playing Champions League T20 winners Mumbai Indians.There won’t, however, be any matches in Sri Lanka, the BCCI apparently turning down a suggestion by Sri Lanka Cricket to stage a few games there.The Pune Warriors franchise will host eight games at the new stadium in Pune, subject to its completion. In 2011, Pune had to stage their ‘home’ games at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai. Dharamsala and Visakhapatman will also host two games each, and Cuttack is listed as an alternate venue to Hyderabad for two matches.The first Qualifier, which will be contested by the top two teams in the league, and the Eliminator, contested by Nos. 3 and 4, will be held in Bangalore. Chennai will host the second Qualifier, which will be played between the winner of the Eliminator and the loser of the first Qualifier, and the tournament final.The tournament is scheduled to begin 12 days after the Asia Cup final and a week after the end of South Africa’s tour of New Zealand. At present there are three international series that will clash with the 2012 IPL and could affect player availability for both the franchises and the countries. Sri Lanka are hosting England in April, while West Indies host Australia and then travel to England in May.The next player auction for the IPL is scheduled for February 4.

Geoffrey Boycott thinks it is time for Steven Finn to be given a run in the England team and has tipped him to replace Tim Bresnan in the side

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jul-2012Geoffrey Boycott believes it is time for Steven Finn to be given a run in the England team even though that could mean fellow Yorkshireman, Tim Bresnan, missing out on playing on his home ground in the second Test against South Africa at Headingley.England’s bowling attack flopped in their innings-and-12-run defeat to South Africa at The Oval, as the visitors piled up 637 for 2, and Boycott told ESPNcricinfo he feels changes need to be made.After making his debut in 2010 against Bangladesh, Finn played 11 consecutive Tests before being dropped for Bresnan in Melbourne. Boycott believes it is now time to reverse that selection and for Finn to be given another run of games.”Finn will be in the squad for Headingley and he deserves to have a run in the side,” Boycott said. “He’s been carrying the drinks for far too long. He’s been playing well for his county and we need to find out if he can play well at Test level.”Finn has been in contention for selection in every Test since being left out for the fourth Ashes Test but has only played three more times – once in series home and away against Sri Lanka, and against West Indies at Edgbaston when James Anderson and Stuart Broad were rested.Finn has been in fine form for Middlesex this season, taking 22 first-class wickets at 20.04 and was also a key part of England’s ODI attack that beat Australia 4-0; Finn claimed eight wickets at 19.37.Bresnan’s place in the side has been much debated with his batting ability seen as the justification for his selection. He averages 39.00 from his 15 Tests and scored a best of 91 against India last year. With the ball he has claimed 56 wickets at 28.12 and took eight wickets at Trent Bridge against West Indies in May. Despite his record, and the fact that until The Oval defeat, England had won all but one of the Tests Bresnan had played in, Boycott feels Finn deserves a run in the side.”You have to find out if he can play well at Test level and you don’t get that by dropping somebody after one or two Tests,” Boycott said. “Eoin Morgan got a good chance and now Finn has to have a proper chance.”Through the same reasoning, Boycott feels Ravi Bopara is the man to occupy England’s other debated position – the No. 6 slot. Bopara was in line for a recall against Sri Lanka in April and West Indies in May but injuries on both occasions meant he was left out. He finally returned to the Test XI at The Oval but made 0 and 22, being dismissed with poor strokes in both innings.”Bopara is the right man to play,” Boycott said. “Whether he’s good enough is a different matter, but he has to have a proper go.”

Only Mark Ramprakash displayed the required application to fashion an innings worthy of note as Surrey limped into a 110-run lead at the mid-point of their Second Division match with Gloucestershire

20-Jun-2011
Scorecard
Only former England batsman Mark Ramprakash displayed the required application to fashion an innings worthy of note as Surrey limped into a 110-run lead at the mid-point of their Second Division match with Gloucestershire.Having finally dismissed the visitors for 261 on a sporting Oval pitch, to concede a first-innings lead of 35, Surrey reached 145 for 5 before rain led to a premature close. Ramprakash remained on 61 from 92 balls but his team-mates had failed to match his graft to leave the hosts in trouble.On an overcast afternoon in SE11 that favoured seam bowling, the hosts lost two wickets even before clearing the first innings deficit. But Ramprakash showed the mettle to dig in by adding 49 in tandem with Zander de Bruyn (13) then 42 with Steven Davies (14).The home reply started miserably when Jason Roy, off balance and playing around his front pad, went lbw to Ian Saxelby and 13 runs later Rory Hamilton-Brown aimed an expansive back-foot force against the same bowler only to drag the ball onto his stumps. De Bruyn padded up to Will Gidman’s last ball before tea to go leg-before and Davies was unlucky to see his backfoot defensive push bounce back up from the crease and onto the top of leg stump.In fading light Ramprakash posted the 147th first-class 50 of his career with a leg glance for four against Saxelby, but lost Tom Maynard for a 10-ball duck – bowled when looking to drive on the walk against the same bowler. Four balls later the umpires took the sides off for bad light and rain soon followed.Resuming on their overnight score of 171 for 4 at the start of the second day, Gloucestershire lost their last six wickets for 60 in posting a modest first-innings lead of 35. Their lead might have been even smaller had Surrey taken early chances, but Alex Gidman, on 32, then Payne, with five, were both dropped at second slip by Maynard and De Bruyn respectively.Neither batsman took full advantage, however, and both were soon undone by Tim Linley the pick of the Surrey attack with 3 for 66. Gidman fenced a legcutter to the keeper then Payne was squared up by an away swinger and shovelled a low catch to short extra cover.Just before lunch, left-hander Will Gidman edged a push drive against De Bruyn to see Davies pull off a stunning catch diving in front of first slip to make it 239 for 7 at the interval for a slender advantage of 13. Surrey needed a further 10 overs after the break to polish the job off. Ed Young was run out from mid-on by Yasir Arafat having been sent back to the non-striker’s end, then Saxelby went for a third-ball duck giving Davies his fourth catch of the innings.England one-day prospect Jade Dernbach finished off the innings by bowling last man Jonathan Lewis for 17 to return figures of 2 for 35 and see Surrey batting again by 2.30pm on day two.

S Badrinath, the injured India middle-order batsman, has said he hopes to return to first-class cricket in two weeks

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Nov-2011S Badrinath, the injured India middle-order batsman, has said he hopes to return to first-class cricket in two weeks. He has been sidelined since mid-October, after hurting his shoulder during the Challenger Trophy in Nagpur.”I’m making good progress. I have started batting from this week,” he said in Delhi. “I am aiming to play the upcoming Ranji match from December 6 [against Bengal]. I’ll get to know on Monday whether I would be able to take the field.”Badrinath is set to receive the Madhavrao Scindia award for the highest run-getter in last year’s Ranji season, where he amassed 922 runs at 131.71. “It was something I wanted to achieve. Last year I went into the season with an aim to do something phenomenal and make a statement with what I do on the field. So, I am happy I am able to achieve it and I hope it doesn’t go unnoticed.”He has missed the first three rounds of the Ranji Trophy, a tournament where he has been a heavy scorer over the past few seasons. Despite the early season set back, he has set his sights high this year as well. “I think I will come back and do whatever I can in the rest of the games. My aim is to make an impact. I have not got a triple century yet in a first-class game and that is what I want to do.”Badrinath, 31, last played for India during the tour of the West Indies earlier this year, and though there are several younger candidates for a spot in the middle-order, he remained optimistic of making a comeback. “I have been in the national team for a while, but didn’t get a chance to play [much]. In the back of my mind, I know I haven’t really lost. Maybe the [national] spots would open up soon and I feel I am the best guy to do the job.”

Royal Challengers Bangalore may as well rename him Criss Gayle

The Bulletin by Sidharth Monga27-May-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Chris Gayle was devastating once again•AFPIn Jamaica the term is used to suggest everything is all right. Royal Challengers Bangalore may as well rename him Criss Gayle. For with Gayle, they criss. Gayle fell 11 short of his third century this IPL, but for 15 overs he played so much above the game that the 37 that came in the five after his exit didn’t look far off par on this surface. Mumbai struggled to replicate Gayle’s impact except with the new ball when they got off to a flying start. Gayle came on then to stifle the openers with a two-run over. The pressure resulted in wickets, everything was criss again, and Bangalore were in the final of the IPL.When batting, Gayle was assisted by Mayank Agarwal, his 20-year-old opening partner yet to make first-class debut, who scored 41 off 31 in a 113-run opening stand. Gayle will be the first one to concede, though, that he couldn’t have found a more accommodating opposition. To begin with, Mumbai Indians opted to bowl on a track where sides batting first have won six out of seven games this season. Then they refused to take the bull by its horn, throwing the new ball to Abu Nechim as opposed to Lasith Malinga. It can be argued that they succeeded in the previous game with Dhawal Kulkarni bowling the first over, but surely against a side as heavily reliant on Gayle as Bangalore they would have unleashed their best bowler right away.Nechim can still argue he hardly bowled a bad ball in that first over, but he still went for 27. The first of the boundaries came off an edge past slip, the second burst through Sachin Tendulkar at mid-off. Nechim, though, bowled length, and Gayle took six, two and four off the rest of the over. Agarwal played his part, foiling Mumbai’s other strategic move of bowling Harbhajan Singh to Gayle. Gayle faced only one delivery in Harbhajan’s two overs at the start, with Agarwal dominating the strike and hitting big, down the ground and with the turn, taking 20 runs.More friendliness followed from Mumbai as Malinga dropped Agarwal at square leg. At 57 for 0 after four, it became a Gayle show. Malinga bowled one good over full of slower ones for just one, but Gayle had his way with the rest of the bowlers. Only Rohit Sharma escaped his wrath, but Agarwal tucked into him with a four and a six. The beauty of the partnership was obvious: the right-hand batsman took care of the offspinners, Gayle everything else. The best of Gayle revealed itself in the 10th over, when Nechim was almost through a decent comeback over for four runs. The last ball, though, hardly left the ground, and yet crashed into the sight screen. Gayle was on 61 off 32 then, Bangalore 111.Rohit dropped Agarwal in the next over, but made amends two balls later. Gayle, however, was not through, and went on to suggest that maybe he didn’t need any shielding from Harbhajan, smacking him for back-to-back sixes over midwicket. Munaf, who held his own along with Malinga, eventually got rid of Gayle with a slightly slower one, and patted Gayle’s back as he walked back. All of a sudden, slower balls started working, the ball started gripping the surface, inside edges appeared, and the batting seemed like hard work. Just how well Gayle batted was further driven home.Despite the early wickets, Tendulkar, through cricketing shots and some improvisation, kept Mumbai’s fans interested with 40 off 24, but ICL returnee J Syed Mohammad produced one sharp offbreak across Tendulkar to get him stumped. Kieron Pollard, who often teases the fans in such chases with late but insufficient hitting, was spectacularly and coolly caught by Abhimanyu Mithun on the edge of the long-on boundary. With the Mumbai dugout right behind him, Mithun stood with his feet six inches inside as the Mumbai extras made way for him, stretched over the boundary and completed the catch one-handed to shut the door on Mumbai. The filmstar Mithun, known for his outlandish stunts, would have been proud.

The Sri Lanka sports minister, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, has said that the Sri Lanka players would be paid 65% of their dues within the next two weeks

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Dec-2011The Sri Lanka sports minister, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, has said that the Sri Lanka players would be paid 65% of their dues within the next two weeks, while the balance amount would be paid by January 15 next year.”We will be able to complete the full payment by January,” Altuthgamage told the Sri Lankan parliament on Tuesday.Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has not paid their players their salaries since the 2011 World Cup ended in April after running up debts of US$32.5 million to finance the building of two international cricket stadiums in Hambantota and Pallekele, and to renovate the ground in Colombo, for the World Cup.Aluthgamage said that the ICC had agreed to pay US$2 million to SLC and that the coach and players would be paid out of those funds. The Sri Lankan Cricketers’ Association (SLCA) has contacted the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) seeking assistance over the delay in the cricketers’ salaries for series following the World Cup this year.South Africa’s cricketers lent their support to the Sri Lanka players ahead of the upcoming bilateral series between the sides, saying it was a credit to the Sri Lanka team that they had kept going, but the issue needed to be resolved soon.Tillakaratne Dilshan, the Sri Lanka captain, said the board had told him they would try and sort out the payments within the next week. ” We discussed with the Cricket Association last week and they promised it will be sorted out before the Test match, Dilshan told reporters at a press conference in Benoni. “I can’t push more than that. I’m here to play cricket. I have to focus on that.”Dilshan also thanked the South Africa players and FICA for their support. “It [statement by SA cricketers] has definitely helped. Thanks to Graeme Smith and AB [de Villiers] for giving a statement, and to FICA.”Sri Lanka have struggled since the World Cup, losing Test and ODI series to Australia, England and Pakistan. But Dilshan said he didn’t think that the payment saga had affected his team’s performances. “We try to play good cricket. Everyone wants to play cricket. We are not worried about payments. We know it is important but we have come here [South Africa] to play cricket. That’s the main target as a team.”

Ian Blackwell smashed 98 off 64 balls and then took three wickets to lead Durham to a 69-run victory over Leicestershire

02-May-2011
ScorecardIan Blackwell enjoyed a wonderful match as Durham won comfortably•Getty ImagesIan Blackwell smashed 98 off 64 balls and then took three wickets to lead Durham to a 69-run victory over Leicestershire in the Clydesdale Bank 40 Group B clash at Grace Road.Put into bat, Durham totalled 285 for 9, helped by Blackwell’s boundary-laden innings plus six additional runs awarded because of the Foxes’ failure to complete their overs in the allotted time. Blackwell then claimed three of the first four Leicestershire wickets to fall, including that of Josh Cobb, who hit a limited-overs best score of 87.Cobb’s effort, however, was not enough to keep the Foxes in contention and they were dismissed for 216 with 16 balls still remaining to give the Dynamos their second win of the season.Durham did not make the best of starts to their innings, with Kyle Coetzer caught at cover off Alex Wyatt in the third over. But a half-century off 39 balls from 19-year-old Ben Stokes launched the recovery, with Gordon Muchall also chipping in with a useful 32. But the innings only really took off when Blackwell arrived at the wicket. He made his intentions clear with two early sixes off Cobb and Wayne White and, after surviving a difficult chance to wicketkeeper Paul Dixey, reached 50 off 41 balls.The scoring rate then rocketed when the Dynamos took the batting powerplay. Blackwell and Gareth Breese hammered 54 off the four overs, with both batsmen piercing the field with a succession of boundaries, including further sixes. When Breese eventually skied a catch to long-on, the sixth-wicket pair had put on a record stand of 144 in 17 overs. Breese’s share was 44, with three fours and a six.Blackwell looked set for a century but, two runs short of it, popped up a return catch off a slower ball from Wyatt, having hit five sixes and seven fours in his blistering 64-ball innings. It was his best limited-overs score for Durham and his best for six years.Graham Onions claimed a quick wicket when the Foxes replied, but a second-wicket partnership of 97 between Cobb and James Taylor put them back into the game, with Cobb twice pulling Onions for six over square leg. However, Blackwell once again changed the course of the match with the wickets of Taylor, Paul Nixon and then Cobb, who he bowled for 87. Cobb hit two sixes and seven fours in his 78-ball knock.That ended Leicestershire’s hopes and Stokes also completed an excellent all-round performance, claiming three late wickets for six runs as the Foxes collapsed to 216 all out with 2.4 overs remaining.

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou has dropped a huge update on Tom Rogic ahead of the Hoops’ upcoming Premiership clash.

What’s the latest?

Speaking in his pre-match press conference (via Clyde 1 Superscoreboard), the 56-year-old Bhoys boss revealed that the 29-year-old will not be available for Wednesday evening’s Old Firm clash, as the midfielder is set to play 90 minutes in Australia’s World Cup qualifying fixture against Oman on Tuesday.

Speaking about the availability of Rogic, Postecoglou said: “Tommy will play [for Australia]. He’ll play 90 minutes so you can pretty much rule him out. So, he’ll be out.”

Fans will be gutted

Considering just how important a part of Postecoglou’s side Rogic has been so far this season, the news that the midfielder is definitely out of Wednesday’s top of the table clash is sure to have left the Parkhead faithful gutted.

Indeed, over his 18 Premiership appearances in the current campaign, the £1.35m-rated man has scored three goals, registered six assists and created nine big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.1 shots and making 1.8 key passes per game – with these returns seeing the midfielder average a SofaScore match rating of 7.00.

Furthermore, with Rogic’s fellow attacking midfielder, David Turnbull, also being unavailable for selection as a result of a hamstring injury, the 56-year-old Hoops manager will once again be left short of options in his three-man midfield for what is arguably Celtic’s biggest game of the season so far.

As such, it is clear for all to see that Rogic’s involvement with his national team will come as a major blow to Celtic’s chances of leaving Wednesday’s fixture with all three points – with a loss against the Bhoys’ Glasgow rivals potentially having disastrous consequences for Postecoglou’s title hopes.

In other news: Ange dropped grave deadline day error as fresh twist emerges on late Celtic deal

Newly-appointed team manager and former captain, Richie Richardson, says Darren Sammy’s team can “spring a few surprises”

Sharda Ugra10-Feb-2011The weather gods have rained on the West Indies’ parade all throughout their lead-up to the 2011 World Cup. Their five match-ODI series in Sri Lanka was first postponed due to bad weather, then shrunk down to three matches, one of which was, again, rained out. Then ten days before the World Cup began, the latest ICC rankings announced that the two-time World Cup-winning West Indies now find themselves at No.9, behind Bangladesh in the ODI rankings, their lowest position so far.Yet newly-appointed team manager and former captain, Richie Richardson, says Darren Sammy’s team can “spring a few surprises” in a World Cup where, “every team has a chance.”Richardson told ESPNcricinfo from Colombo, “We are not affected or thinking about our ranking… because we have gone down one spot in the ranking won’t have a negative effect on us. We are just trying to get our minds right, get our players in as good a condition as possible. In a one-day tournament, it’s how well a team plays on the day, and how consistent you are. If we can raise our game and if we can really come together and play as a unit, I believe we can spring a few surprises.”At the World Cup, the West Indies have been clubbed with India, South Africa, England, Bangladesh, Ireland and Netherlands in Group B, and are expected to struggle to make it to the knock-out stage. The team has had a very poor ODI record over the last two years, its last ODI victory over a Test team was in June 2009 versus India.Richardson, whose last international appearance was in the semi-final of the 1996 World Cup, said that every World Cup tournament acts as a clean slate. “At a World Cup, it doesn’t matter how you are doing, how good you are, what number in the ranking. Every team at the World Cup looks forward to go out there and win it. Sometimes you have some upsets. The little teams want to cut down the big teams…”If the West Indies are being thought of as a ‘little team’ in this World Cup, it is because they have only beaten Zimbabwe, Canada and Ireland over the last 12 months. A player-strike over the contracts issue in 2009 and the 2010 decision by Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard to turn down West Indian Board contracts have only added to the grim news around the team. Richardson said that as manager of the World Cup team, “What happened in the past in terms of the contracts is none of my business… I just want to make sure the players are in the right frame of mind and are ready to go and play World Cup.”When asked whether the World Cup would be the critical moment in which Pollard, the attacking right-hander who had made a name for himself in Twenty20, could prove his credentials in top-flight cricket, Richardson responded first with a simple emotive message about what the event means for the squad as a whole – an opportunity to win back some territory in the international game.”I say that to the players, we’ve got to go there and prove to the world that we can play cricket. Let’s surprise a lot of people, because people at the moment are not thinking very highly of us. But we have got to just focus on what we have to do, believe in what we can do and create a few upsets. That’s what we want to do – go and impress. Every single player…”He then turned his attention to Pollard, saying, “Pollard is a hard-hitting batsman in Twenty20 and at the end of the day if you are a batsman, you are a batsman and you should be able to adjust in various situations. He (Pollard) should not be thinking that he’s just a Twenty20 player. When he gets the opportunity he should be looking to go there and bat and do well.”And I’m hoping that what he’s thinking. Quite often the press has opinions; the fans have an opinion… At the end of the day you have to focus on what you have to do and work there and work hard.”Other than Pollard, the West Indies have several quality batsmen in their ranks, both experienced and upcoming, but have a fragile and understocked bowling unit. Richardson said, “Well, you know cricket is not played on paper. We don’t think that we are weak in that area, we don’t think, oh we don’t have bowlers in the top five or whatever. We know what we are capable of doing. If players bowl in the areas they have to bowl, bowl with control and the confidence and the fielders support the bowlers, anything is possible.”My approach has always been a very a positive one and this is what you have to instil it the players. You can’t listen to what people are saying, we have just got to work with what we have and back ourselves and do what we have to do to do well in this tournament.”He said the team would not be affected by the fact that the scheduled five-match ODI series versus Sri Lanka had been reduced to three, in which eventually only two full ODIs were possible. “All the players were actively playing cricket prior to arrival here in Sri Lanka. We have still being practicing every day. The rain has not affected our practice session. We have a couple more matches; we think we’re in good shape. We have a few more days to get ourselves right, so we’ll continue to work hard. We believe that at the start of our World Cup, the first match on the [February] 24 [against South Africa in Delhi], we’ll be ready.”Given that he played in a very different era for West Indian cricket, Richardson said taking over as manager at a time when the region’s cricket was at its lowest was “not easy”, but he said, “there are certain things in life you have to accept. You have good periods, you have bad periods. If you are on top, you are not going to be on top forever… I’m not one to have a go at the players, have a go at certain situations. What we need is accept that things are not as nice or as great as it once was, but it is for us to work hard to bring it back… We know the fans expect great things of us and we want them to support us because we will give our 100 percent.”For all the bad tidings around the West Indies, they do have what other teams in the competition would crave for: fifteen fit men to choose from. The worry around the sight of a limping Bravo after pulling off a stunner of a catch for Victoria in the Australian Big Bash versus Western Australia is now a thing of the past. Bravo, a team spokesman said, has recovered well.