Wishful thinking by gang of four

THE EDITOR: The West Indies has won the inaugural ICC Champion of Champions competition with a batting line up that had six left-handers. Fittingly, it was the pure left-handed all-rounder in Ian Bradshaw who hit the winning runs with a flourishing boundary even in the literal dark. The interesting word to describe the mood of the West Indies captain on the field (of play) is “animated” and that is usually associated with the television cartoons.

The British commentator, mind you, meant no harm when that word was used. In light of the aftermath of Ivan the Terrible, especially on Grenada and Jamaica, that victory over England is quite fitting for the people of the Caribbean region to cheer about. The return of Barbadian captain and former West Indies wicket keeper to the fold, though questioned by some former Test players, has paid off as he partnered Ian Bradshaw for the ninth wicket that yielded 71 runs, something that the Michael Vaughan-led team did not cater for. When Shivnarine Chanderpaul lost his wicket, commentator Henry Blofield felt that England would have gone on to win. When the pendulum swung back in West Indies’ favour, that BBC commentator was hoping for a tie, something that is wishful thinking even for the Gang of Four Uncle Toms in Michael Holding, Colin Croft, Vivian Richards and, most curiously, Ian Bishop.

JEFFREY M JOSEPH
Fyzabad