The West Indies to lose for $200, please

Jamaica Gleaner News -"THE WEST Indies will not get another opportunity to win against Australia in the Caribbean in this series.
While the team attempted to chase the largest total on the final day of a Test match at Sabina Park, it should have been cognisant of one other important fact.
Sabina Park offered something to the bowlers and the West Indies, all credit to them, were able to get 20 Australian wickets. This might not happen again."

Australia vs West Indies day 5 @ Sabina

Australia beats West Indies by 95 runs in first test

International Herald Tribune: "KINGSTON, Jamaica: Australia beat West Indies by 95 runs in the first cricket test at Sabina Park on the final day Monday.
Stuart Clark took five for 32 as West Indies, needing 287 to win, was bowled out for 191 just after lunch."

Chanderpaul recalls fear of being paralysed

Newindpress.com: "MELBOURNE: Veteran West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul said the fear of being completely paralysed passed through his mind after he was struck on his helmet by a deadly Brett Lee delivery in the first cricket Test against Australia in Kingston."

Cricket-Clark and Lee leave West Indies hopes in tatters

Reuters: "KINGSTON, May 26 (Reuters) - Stuart Clark and Brett Lee sliced through the West Indian batting lineup to reduce the hosts to 117 for six at lunch on the final day of the first test at Sabina Park on Monday.
West Indies, chasing 287 to win added just six runs to their overnight 46 for one, before they lost captain Ramnaresh Sarwan to Clark for 12."

Aussies take control in Kingston

The Press Association: "Stuart Clark and Brett Lee were at their explosive best in the opening session of the final day of the first Test against West Indies as Australia closed in on victory.
Clark claimed three wickets and Lee two to reduce West Indies to 117 for six at lunch, still 170 runs short of victory."

I blinked!

I blinked and the West indies have lost 5 wickets. West Indies are now 86-6 and will lose this first test match....

Test evenly poised

The Nation Newspaper "WORLD CHAMPIONS AUSTRALIA are in a real fight in the First Digicel Test match against the West Indies at Sabina Park, after being dismissed for 167 in their second innings.
The Windies will start the final day on 46 for one, needing another 241 runs to claim what would be a hard-fought victory. But Ricky Ponting's tourists still hold the advantage."

WI sets up thrilling finale

The Trinidad Guardian "West Indies will need the best fourth-innings chase at Sabina Park after Andrew Symonds rescued Australia from their worst opening to a Test innings in 72 years to set the home side 287 for a final-day victory. When bad light stopped play West Indies had made a solid start in their challenging task, reaching 46 for 1 with Devon Smith on 19 and Ramnaresh Sarwan on eight."

Aussies confident of defending target

JAMAICAOBSERVER.COM: "Despite the West Indies having the momentum heading into today's final day of the first Test, Australian batsman Brad Hodge says Australia are confident of defending their target after setting the hosts 287 to win.
'I think Australia will go out with the mentality of defending anything, whether it is 100, 150, 200 or 280,' Hodge said at the end of the day's play yesterday."

West Indies with chance of remarkable win

The Australian: "ANDREW SYMONDS played one of his most important Test innings but Australia still faces a fight against the plucky West Indies in the first Test.
Symonds' impressive 79 at Sabina Park rescued Australia from 5-18, their worst start to a Test innings in 72 years, but it still did not pull Australia out of danger against a West Indian side playing their best cricket in a decade."

video--Australia vs West Indies day 4 @ Sabina

Brave Chanderpaul sparks fiery Windies

The Trinidad Guardian - "THERE are moments that can turn a Test match on its head and the exact time when it occurred in this Sabina Park game was when Shivnarine Chanderpaul was struck on his head. Chanderpaul copped a sickening blow to the back of his helmet from a Brett Lee bouncer but despite apparently being knocked out by the hit, he got up, scored a century, and sparked a remarkable fightback from West Indies."

Fightback

The Nation Newspaper "KINGSTON, Jamaica – Shivnarine Chanderpaul struck a century yesterday and new ball pair Fidel Edwards and Daren Powell sliced through the Australia top order as the West Indies clawed their way back into the first Test on the third day at Sabina Park."

Grandstand: Aussies still have the upper hand: Lee

Grandstand: Aussies still have the upper hand: Lee: "Brett Lee told Grandstand he still feels Australia is well-placed at stumps on day three of the first Test in Kingston despite the West Indies ripping through the tourists' top order.
Australia ended the day at 4 for 17 in its second innings, giving it a 136-run lead after the West Indies had earlier made 312 in its first knock."

Cricket-West Indies pace battery brings back old memories

Reuters: "KINGSTON, May 24 (Reuters) - For an hour on Saturday at Sabina Park, West Indies cricket took a step back in time.
Fidel Edwards and Daren Powell bowled with real hostility to take two wickets each as Australia slumped to 17 for four on the third day of the first test."

The Prince's hat-trick for the ages

Jamaica Gleaner News "EVER SINCE W. G. Grace, the big English man, the famous doctor with the long, white beard, strolled on to a cricket field with a bat in his hand in the middle of the 19th century, there have been some great batsmen."

West Indies in super fightback

Jamaica Gleaner News "WITH TWO days to go, the first Test between the West Indies and Australia at Sabina Park is heading for a close and probably exciting finish."

First Test: Ponting hits 158 to put the wind up West Indies

The Independent: "Ricky Ponting was at his glorious best yesterday as he hit 158 to put Australia in control of the first Test against the West Indies at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica. At stumps the visitors were 301 for 4."

Tall order for underachievers

Trinidad Express: "THESE are early days in a new era for both teams in the Test series that starts at Sabina Park this morning.
By the end of the third Test at Kensington Oval in just over a month's time, Australia should know whether their reign over international cricket that has lasted since they came to the Caribbean in 1995 to end the West Indies' equally long supremacy is under any threat."

Ready to rumble

JAMAICAOBSERVER.COM: "IF the West Indies, ranked eighth on the ICC's Test match table, were to beat No 1-ranked Australia in the three-match Test series which begins at Sabina Park today, it would be considered one of the great upsets of modern sport."

Odds stacked against the West Indies

Jamaica Gleaner News "THE WEST Indies and the world's number one side, Australia, launch their three-match Test series today at Sabina Park, with the hosts trying to regain the Sir Frank Worrell Trophy.
This will be quite a task because, as the Aussies' ranking suggests, they are the best. Added to the handicap is that the home team is starting the relatively short series without its strongest team due to the unavailability of captain Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels, two of the team's leading batsmen."

Sarwan: Confidence high in WI camp

Jamaica Gleaner News "West Indies captain Ramnaresh Sarwan has called on his players to lift their performance for the upcoming Digicel three-Test series against world number one, Australia."

As we face Australia

JAMAICAOBSERVER.COM: "The first Test between the West Indies and Australia starting on Thursday this week at Sabina Park will, in many ways, give us an indication of whether the local lads received any benefit from the rich tonic provided by their six-wicket triumph over Sri Lanka in the second Test last month, as well as the One-Day series victory over the same opponents."

Enthralling series or mismatch?

Stabroek News: "After securing a creditable 1-1 series draw with Sri Lanka in the 2008 Digicel Home series and then winning the One-Dayers 2-0, cricket fans in the region are awaiting with bated breath the arrival of the `Awesome Aussies’ and the subsequent three-test series."

Chance for Samuels to rebuild innings

Trinidad Express "Will Marlon Samuels be able to save Marlon Samuels? We ask this in the fullness of the knowledge that troubled youth, in general, and troubled sportsmen, in particular, are among us all the time, with some of them able to rescue themselves with help and others crashing in the public spotlight regardless of the assistance they have been given.

Cautious Aussies leave for Windies campaign

Antigua Sun: "SYDNEY, Australia (CMC) – World champions Australia left Saturday for their tour of the Caribbean with captain Ricky Ponting promising to be wary of an improving West Indies team.
The Aussies tackle West Indies in three Tests and five One-Day Internationals, beginning with the opening Test at Sabina Park in Jamaica starting 22 May.
“I think of late they have probably played a little bit better and I think they are starting to turn things around there a little bit better at the moment,” Ponting said.
“Their bowling attack probably in particular is definitely a lot stronger than the last time we played them in Test cricket. As always, they will pose a bit of a threat in their home conditions.”"

ON THE BOUNDARY - A real waste of money

Jamaica Gleaner News "From way back in 1976, I, like many others, started calling for a selector to travel with the West Indies team.
From back in the 1980s, I, like many others, started calling for the regional selectors to attend regional matches, and a few years ago when Clive Lloyd was being touted as the chairman of the selection committee, I, like many others, said no way."

RUN OUT!

The Nation Newspaper "That's the verdict handed down on Jamaica and West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels, over his reported involvement with an Indian bookmaker during the West Indies' January 2007 tour to India."

West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels banned for two years for breaking betting rules

International Herald Tribune: "DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels was banned from cricket for two years on Tuesday for breaking rules intended to prevent players from betting on matches.
The International Cricket Council confirmed the automatic ban after receiving the judgment by the West Indies Cricket Board's disciplinary committee."

Lamming: Worrell snub a crying shame

The Nation Newspaper "RENOWNED Caribbean novelist George Lamming believes the delayed appointment of Sir Frank Worrell as West Indies captain was one of the most shameful acts in Caribbean cricket history."......."That was one of the most humiliating things I can recall in West Indies cricket," Lamming said.

Ready for Aussies!

JAMAICAOBSERVER.COM: "ST JOHN'S, Antigua (CMC) - West Indies head coach, John Dyson, is looking forward to his team doing 'really well' in the upcoming Digicel Home Series 2008 against Australia.
The West Indies selectors on Tuesday named 17 players for a camp in Antigua from May 12 to 17 ahead of the Digicel Home Series, which bowls off in Jamaica on May 22."

Injured Gayle in doubt for Aussie series

JAMAICAOBSERVER.COM: "BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) - West Indies captain Chris Gayle may find himself battling for fitness ahead of the crucial upcoming Australia series in the Caribbean, starting later this month.
The 28-year-old opener has been advised to undergo surgery for a groin problem that surfaced during the One-Day International phase of the Sri Lankan series and which has kept him out of the lucrative Twenty20 Indian Premier League."

Hinds to play for Derbyshire

The Nation Newspaper "DERBYSHIRE, England – Jamaica and West Indies batsman Wavell Hinds will play for the English county Derbyshire this season after all.
Hinds, 31, has signed up as their overseas player for their Twenty20 campaign, the club announced yesterday."