GALE AND CREW: MY VIEW

The fact that both Gale and Pollard “failed” in the Nokia Champions League T20 Finals did not surprise me.  Almost a similar trend happened in the IPL earlier this year.

In the IPL semi-finals against the Mumbai Indians in May, Gale made a scintillating 89 in 47 balls; but went on to score a duck in the finals against the Chennai Super Kings. Pollard scored only 3 in 9 balls in that semi-final.

Gale was not consistently prolific in the Nokia Champions League T20 tournament, but whenever he scored, he blasted his team to impressive victories (as were the case in two matches: a qualifier and the semi-finals. In those matches, he scored a scintillating 86 in only 46 balls against Somerset in the qualifying rounds and as if that wasn’t good enough, he powered another unbelievably dazzling 92 in 41 balls against New South Wales in the semi-finals - eclipsing Warner’s 123 not out in 68 balls. But in the end, he characteristically failed the simple final test miserably, when he scored a measly 5 runs in 27 balls, chasing what seemed to be an easy total of 139 in the grand finals.

Everybody expected Gale to deliver a knockout in the Finals. He was the centre of gravity but his failure did not surprise me - anymore than the West Indies disgraceful defeat at the hands of Bangladesh did to me.

We - as a cricketing Caribbean nation - are fast beginning to understand that when the going gets tough for Gale, the tough in him never seem to get going at the right time. We have grown to understand that superlative performances from our great West Indian players are simply, exceptions to the rule. And in that regard, both Gale and Pollard are symbolic of that malaise which characterizes our West Indies Team – an occasional brilliant, superlative exceptional explosion and then a return to their normal dismal record of failure.

MARLON SAMUELS

At this moment, Marlon Samuels is going through that phase, having scored a century and a ½ century against the Bangladeshis; Sammy did it before with his 7 for 66 and a couple of brilliant 50s; the Bravos, Simmons and Barath . . . same “ting” – a brilliant performance is always the exception, a rare bonus for us Windies fans!

RAVI RAMPAUL

At the moment, it is encouraging that Ravi Rampaul is showing signs of consistency. I would be happy if he would get out this “vicious circle” plaguing us forever; but only time will tell.

Whatever it is, I look forward to the young Windies team putting the heads down and play real professional cricket – whether it is limited over or test! In the meantime, keep on keeping Gale, Bravo or Pollard out; they have not proven their worth!