Dear Editor,
They do it all the time. They talk incessantly about the Ashes as if the only matches worth playing are against Australia. They do it even when they are playing another team who are competing really hard against them. They do not seem to recognize that neither they nor Australia is a really outstanding team. There are about 6 really good cricketers in each country, but they have lots of money so they can provide all their cricketers with the very best. Since there is so little money available to West Indian cricket administrators who find it impossible to treat West Indian senior cricketers properly, England often wins matches against the West Indies which they ought not to win purely on the basis of skill. On the first day of this 5 day match Gabriel bowled too fast and Roach too controlled for the Englishmen. Only poor catching allowed England to score as many as 258. On the second day Brathwaite who has more talent than any English opener except perhaps Cook and Shai Hope whom Bishop and Dujon have often said is a comer, both got hundreds in a score of 329 for 5, with Blackwood taking advantage of all the bad balls he received in his short stay at the wicket. Apart from Anderson, the English bowlers were not very penetrating, notwithstanding Moeen Ali’s regular off-field departures likely for consultation with the great Saqlain. I was personally pleased that Woakes replaced Jones, further evidence that talent is not always spotted as quickly as one might expect. An exciting end awaits us.
Keep the faith.
Yours faithfully,
Romain Pitt