Tino Best Has Champions Trophy in His Sights

Tino Best playing County Cricket for Yorkshire - Photo by Harrias

Tino Best has told reporters at a West Indies training camp in Barbados that his fitness is 'about 80 percent and loading' heading into the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy next month in England and Wales.

The mercurial fast bowler, who is enjoying one of his longest and best spells in the regional side, said: 'I don't want to go too hard in the camp and when the tournament come I'm a little tired. I'm managing that well, so I wanna hit the tournament at a hundred percent, bowling rapid and doing well for the West Indies.'

Best resumed his test career last year when West Indies took on England at Edgbaston and nearly became the first number 11 batsman in international cricket to score a century, but fell five runs short of the milestone.

His most outstanding bowling performances came later in the year against Bangladesh. Bowling with a hamstring injury and on a relatively slow pitch, the Barbadian took six wickets for 40 runs to help the West Indies to a two-nil victory. In the previous match he had picked up five for 24 in the second innings.

Indifferent performances and injuries have plagued Best at the start of 2013, but the Champions Trophy could be the resuscitation his career needs at this time.

He is also cautiously optimistic about the chances of the West Indies in the competition. He said: 'I think that once we play as a collective unit, as we did in Sri Lanka (West Indies won the ICC Twenty20 competition in Sri Lanka) I think that we will do well.

'Our chances are as good as anybody else.  I think that we have some amazing talent and everyone can see daily on TV with the guys performing in the IPL.'

Best will first have to battle with the fit-again Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach and Jason Holder for his place in the team, but with his pace and exuberance the other bowlers can not be complacent. 

The West Indies play their first match against Pakistan at the KIA Oval on Friday, June 7.

Are West Indian Players the soul of the IPL?

If someone from the Caribbean had referred to West Indian players as the soul of the Indian Premier League, I would have dismissed the comment, somewhat like Chris Gayle bashing a full length delivery out of the M. Chinnaswamy stadium. But since the remark came from former India opening batsman Aakash Chopra, I have to treat it with respect.

Chris Gayle parties with fans in India - Royal Challengers Bangalore photo

'You take West Indians out of the Indian Premier League and you take its soul away' Chopra said recently while working as an analyst on ITV's coverage of an IPL game between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab.

Chopra not only played 10 Test matches for India, he is also a respected cricket writer, especially on domestic cricket. Last year he was asked to present a paper to Indian cricket authorities on how to improve the domestic game.

No reason then to think his brain was resting while his mouth was moving. The truth is the Caribbean crusaders have been doing very well in the sixth edition of the IPL. After 15 rounds of matches Gayle has most runs (680) with the highest individual score of 175. Dwayne Smith and Keiron Pollard have played match-winning innings. Even Darren "Skai Daddy" Sammy has walloped a few.

Where bowling is concerned, Dwayne Bravo, the new West Indies ODI captain, and Sunil Narine have been battling for the top wicket-taker's spot. Bravo is on 22 while his fellow Trinidadian is on 20. Ravi Rampaul and Kevon Cooper have also done very well.

As good as the performances have been, however, the entertainment value that the West Indians have brought to the tournament is priceless. It's one thing uprooting a batsman's stumps; it's even better when you do the Gangnam Style dance afterwards. It was amazing to see Sunrisers Hyderabad fans copying Sammy's signature celebration of sucking on a pacifier - a tribute to his baby daughter.

If there's one thing near-naked dancing girls, a plethora of Bollywood stars, all kinds of pyrotechnics and Danny Morrison say about the IPL, it is that it's all about entertainment. No group of players contribute to this spectacle than the boys from the Caribbean. If this is what Aakash Chopra meant when he made his remark, then I believe him. 

Trying to make the case for Devon Smith

Devon Smith does warm-up excercise

Whenever I think about Devon Smith, an image of a smirking Mohammad Hafeez often pops into my mind. I suspect Smith is tormented by this apparition too, especially in his more contemplative moments. For those who cannot make the connection, Hafeez is the part-time off-spinner from Pakistan who dismissed Smith five out of five times (six if you count the World Cup match in Dhaka weeks earlier) during a Test and One Day International (ODI) series in the Caribbean in 2011. Smith's highest score in the games was 17 and by the time Hafeez knocked back his stumps in the final match at Providence in Guyana, you could not help but feel someone's destiny was hanging by the thinnest of threads.

To his credit Smith has bounced back with the kind of performances in domestic cricket which have left people in the Caribbean tentatively talking about a recall to the West Indies team. In six matches in this season's regional first class competition, the Grenadian has scored 682 runs at an average 85.25, with three centuries and a half century. And, there is still a semi-final and potential final for him to improve these numbers. He has also helped the Windward Islands to the Regional Super50 title with a season-leading 348 runs, including a century and three half centuries. It is no wonder that the Grenada sports minister, Emmalin Pierre, has said that Smith should be allowed to resume his international career.

The problem with selecting him, however, is that you would have to ignore his history, a thing that is hard to do. Since making his debut with a solid half century against  Australia in 2003, he has been left out of the regional team five times due to poor performances. One century and five half centuries in 33 Tests with an average 24.71 makes Carl Hooper look like an over-achiever. And, in his 42 ODIs the story is not much better with an average 26.68. If there is a great master of cricket somewhere waiting to see bountiful returns deserving of the talents that have been bestowed on the little left-hander, he is going to be miserably disappointed. 

West Indies playing England at Lords in 2012

The problem of a Smith return to the West Indies team is further exacerbated by the recruiting of other players, with relative success, to fill the spot which would have otherwise been his.  Kieron Powell has started life with the 'big boys' slowly but is making steady progress, and supporting Chris Gayle well. Not far behind him is Kraigg Brathwaite, who, despite making his Test debut at 19, has shown the type of patience and application that makes you wonder if he is even West Indian. And then there is Johnson Charles, Lendl Simmons and even Adrian Barath.

Of course, none of these guys come close to being the regional run-scoring 'bully' that Smith has been. He has always scored heavily in domestic cricket, starting with the 700-plus runs he amassed in the 2002 regional first class season. Back then he deserved his selection, just as these guys in their 20s deserve their opportunities now.  It is unfortunate that he did not show the appetite for life at the highest level in that first attempt, and then spurned several subsequent opportunities to hold onto his place. Today, at 31, the case for another selection is much harder to make.

At this time the West Indies team need fearless batsmen, especially at the top of the order. They need batsmen, who will stare down their opponents like Vivian Richards used to, and stand up and fight like Shivnarine Chanderpaul has done on so many occasions. Too often in the past Smith, like several of his contemporaries, has surrendered, seemingly even before walking to crease. 

Should he play for the West Indies again? Of course. However, not before proper considerations are given to others to show what they can do. The selectors have rightly included him in the provisional 30-man squad for the ICC Champions Trophy to be held in England and Wales later this year. I do not expect him to make the final 15, but if he does, I hope he has the courage this time to stand up to the smirking little man from Pakistan.

Devon Smith has subsequently been named in the Champions Trophy squad