September 21, 2011 issue

Cricket

In the thirty-five years since his 1976 retirement from Tests, Gibbs' stature as the West Indies most successful spin bowler has remained unchallenged. That however could now be under serious threat with the recent emergence of fellow Guyanese Devendra Bishoo, on the world cricket stage.
Aged twenty-five and only in his very first year of international cricket, Bishoo has already taken 21 wickets from just the five Tests he's played to date. His exploits and the manner in which he has gone about his duties have been sufficient to win him the prestigious International Cricket Council's (ICC) Emerging Player Of The Year Award. The very first West Indian to ever do so.
As a right hand leg-spinner, the comparative standard Bishoo may be wishing to emulate may be much less than that of his compatriot Gibbs. His Test career objective should now be to match or even surpass that of the sport's greatest ever exploit of leg spin, the Australian Shane Warne.
In his illustrious Test career, which lasted 15 years (1992-2007) and included 145 Tests, Warne took a mind-boggling 708 wickets at the measly average of 25.41 runs per wicket. His wickets per Tests average was 4.88.
In comparison Bishoo's 21 wickets to date have been much more expensive at an average of 35.42. His wickets to Tests average comparison is much more favorable however, at 4.2
It is of course extremely premature to be now making comparisons between Bishoo and Walsh at such an early stage of the West Indian's career. All the indications received to date however suggest that in Bishoo, the West Indies may have finally found a player capable of being the next great. To what extent this turns out to be true will be influenced by a number of factors.
The first of these will be Bishoo's own commitment to the development of his craft and the maximization of his God given talents. In this respect he will be challenged to avoid the many distractions and social attractions that are now associated with the life of a modern day cricketer. If he needs any reminders of the career damaging consequences likely to follow from his failure to do so, he need only look to neighboring Trinidad for living examples.
Trinidad's Dwayne Bravo and Dinesh Ramdin are two immensely talented contemporary West Indian players who, like Bishoo, emerged from the junior ranks of Caribbean cricket all the way to the world stage. Once touted as potential future West Indies captains, they have both found themselves excluded from Tests during the past year as a result of mediocre performances and a continuing loss of form.
Reliable reports from credible observers within Caribbean Cricket circles have suggested that the largest contributing factor to their marginalization has been an abandonment of training in favor of a preoccupation with the enjoyment of a Playboy lifestyle. Bravo in particular has seemingly spent more time making music videos and living the jet set life than trying to get his now derailed Test career back on track.
For Ramdin, there now appears to be some hope for a restoration of his once very bright Test career as a wicket-keeper/batsman. He has reportedly been included in the West Indies Squad to tour Bangladesh next month. Hopefully he will make the most of the reprieve he has been granted by performing to the best of his talented abilities.
All indications received to date suggest that Bishoo is fully capable of making the necessary commitment to his cause. His response to winning the ICC Emerging Player of the Year Award was revealing:
"I could not believe it when I was nominated for the ICC Emerging Player of the Year but to win it feels great," Bishoo said. "I would like to dedicate the award to my father. He played a great role in my life and encouraged me to play cricket. After he died I made a promise to always give my best and reach for the top...I have learned a lot in a short space of time and want to continue learning."
Providing Bishoo can indeed remain committed to the practice and fitness requirements of contemporary Test cricket, his next biggest challenge will be to continue to develop and expand his arsenal of wicket-taking deliveries. To date Bishoo's wickets have come largely as a result of subtle variations of spin and flight.
The best and easiest way for him to emulate Warne's success would be to try to mirror the Aussie's continuous development of his own arsenal. By the end of his career, in addition to flight and spin, Warne's wicket-taking deliveries also included a well disguised googly, as well as more than one type of flipper.
Warne's arsenal was so varied that in any given over he was fully capable of bowling six different wicket-taking deliveries. As part of his learning, Bishoo would do well to study tapes of Warne's performances and even have conversations with the great man himself.
A final factor that can have a major influence on Bishoo's eventual success will be the level of support he receives from his West Indies teammates. An examination of Warne's success will reveal that it was in no small part due to the support he received at the other end.
Warne was lucky to have played at the same time with Glenn McGrath whose career (1993-2007) mirrored his and whose 563 Test wickets were the most ever by an Australian fast bowler. Warne also enjoyed the luxury through most of career to have bowled against Australia's batsmen who posted substantial totals. As such he was far more often in an attacking mode than having to bowl defensively to protect meager scores.
Finally, for most of Warne's career Australia's fielding was superlative. Far more often than not, chances he created were taken, contributing immensely to his outstanding success.
With all that needs to go right for him, the road ahead for Bishoo will be no easy one. Fans of West Indies cricket, wherever they may be, will be wishing him all the success his obvious talents deserve.

England batsman Jonathan Trott was named International Cricket Council (ICC) cricketer of the year on September 12, 2011 for his achievements during 2011 when he compiled 1,042 runs at an average of 65.12 in 12 tests.
Trott, 30, struck four centuries and three half-centuries. In addition, he played 24 one-day internationals, hitting 1,064 runs at an average of 48.36 with two centuries and nine 50s.
In that period, England retained the Ashes in Australia and won test series against Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan.
"It's fantastic to be part of a successful team and I never envisaged winning this award and it's a brilliant feeling to be recognised," Trott told an awards ceremony in London.
Trott's team mate Alastair Cook was named test cricketer of the year after compiling 1,302 test runs in the review period at an average of 51.74, including six centuries and four-half centuries.
The left-handed opening batsman's highest score of 235 not out in the first test in Brisbane helped his team towards their first away Ashes series since the 1986-7 season.
"It was truly a great year," Cook said. "The award is about the rest of the team, not just me."
Netherlands all-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate won the Associate and Affiliate player of the year award for the second time in a row after scoring centuries against England and Ireland at this year's World Cup.
West Indies leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo was named emerging player of the year after capturing 21 test wickets at an average of 35.42. He also took 19 one-day wickets at an average of 21.57.
New Zealand fast bowler Tim Southee won the Twenty20 international performance of the year for taking five for 18 against Pakistan.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was awarded the ICC Spirit of Cricket award after agreeing to allow England batsman Ian Bell to continue batting after he had been run out in the second test at Trent Bridge this year.
Bell left his crease and headed for the pavilion after mistakenly thinking he had hit the ball over the boundary off the last ball before tea. Instead it was still in play, the bails were removed and Bell was correctly given out.

Veteran Indian batsman Rahul Dravid was last Friday given a befitting farewell from one-day cricket, with the crowd saluting him with standing ovation after he walked into ODI sunset after scoring a solid 69 in the fifth and final match against England.
A near capacity crowd at the Sophia Gardens rose on their feet as soon as Dravid made his way to the middle and once again as he walked back after he was out in the 42nd over of Indian innings to mark the end of his ODI career after playing in 344 matches.
All the England players sacked hands with Dravid in fine gesture when he made his way to the pavillion and veteran batsman raised his bat in acknowledgment of the appreciation from the crowd.
Dravid's wife Vijeta and their two children were also seen among the crowd and he straightaway went up to them.
Dravid quit one-day after an illustrious career spanning 15 years from 1996 and scored 10,889 runs from 344 matches. He is the seventh most prolific ODI run-getter in history.
He had announced his ODI retirement before the start of the limited overs series against England after he was surprisingly named in the Indian squad after a hiatus of nearly four years.