MALCOLM ON ENGLAND ODI SERIES IN CARIBBEAN
If England’s one-day team are to succeed in the West Indies and bounce back from November’s whitewash at the hands of India, they will have to target No1 one-day batsman Chris Gayle, believes former Test star Devon Malcolm.
The five-match series, which begins on March 20 in Guyana, will see a return to the shorter form of the game for new England captain Andrew Strauss, who has not featured since England’s miserable World Cup campaign two years ago.
Middlesex batsman Strauss’s main job will be to pick up his players who were defeated 5-0 by India before Christmas, knowing that good results will breed confidence ahead of the 20Twenty World Cup on home soil in June and also for Australia’s Ashes visit a month later.
But Windies captain Gayle, who, in January, jumped five places in the International Cricket Council’s one-day rankings to first, will have to be halted if England are to prevail. The 31-year-old, who has a One-Day-International average above 40, was central to his team’s 2-1 series victory in England two years ago.
“Chris Gayle is a fantastic cricketer,” says Jamaican-born Malcolm, a veteran of 40 Tests for England. “He is so laid back that no situation seems to faze him. He just turns up and does his thing.
“He is the number one batsmen in one-day cricket at the moment, so England will have to focus right and aim to get him out very early. There could be trouble if not, because he will really start to punish the bowlers if he gets going.”
Malcolm, 45, reckons Durham quick Steve Harmison, who terrorised Gayle while on tour in the Caribbean five years ago, will have to be firing on all cylinders again, if the powerful batsman is to be stopped.
If the 30-year-old can rekindle the form witnessed in 2004, when he claimed a career-best seven for 12 in the Sabina Park Test, then England will be difficult to beat. Gayle averaged 26 against England in that Test series and Harmison, in particular, was impressive against the Jamaican, dismissing him four times in seven innings.
Harmison retired from ODIs after the World Cup only to be recalled for the autumn series against South Africa, and showed his worth as a re-ignited England stormed to a 4-0 win under the captaincy of Kevin Pietersen.
“A firing Steve Harmison will be a vital part of the England side in the ODIs against the West Indies, and will be important if they are to win the Ashes again in the summer,” continues Malcolm. “To get him firing, Steve needs to prove that he has completed his rehabilitation. I feel going back to the Caribbean, with the memories he has of the place, will have a good and positive effect on him.
“Hopefully he can feed from that energy that he felt in the Caribbean five years ago, and really get his bounce and pace back. He needs to build up some momentum bowling in the West Indies, and take that into the Ashes series.
“When he is at the top of his game, with that bounce and pace, and with the players that Australia have lost – Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Mathew Hayden, Glen McGrath – England should win that series.
“You could say that the West Indies are the ideal team to play at the moment – ahead of the Ashes and after what has gone of following the India tour. But they will want to really lift their game against England – everyone wants to do well against the old colonial master.”
The former Derbyshire bowler believes that, with the Ashes a mere six months away, it was better that the public falling out of captain Kevin Pietersen and coach Peter Moores happened when it did rather than at a later date.
“It was good to sort out those problems when they did,” Malcolm adds. “It is very important that England have a good tour of the West Indies and get back to winning ways.
“If there has ever been a time when Australia have been ripe for a beating, then now is the time – even though England have been having problems with the coach and the captaincy. But I think KP will turn up and play even better than before.
“Now Kevin can concentrate on what he knows best, especially in the one-day series. He is a showman and that is his oxygen – he needs to perform. When he really performs, England win. I am not worried one bit about his performance.
“It should be a great series, and I am hopeful that England, with Harmison firing, can beat the West Indies. That will set them up for the 20Twenty World Cup and give them the momentum to go on and beat Australia and regain the Ashes.”
If England’s one-day team are to succeed in the West Indies and bounce back from November’s whitewash at the hands of India, they will have to target No1 one-day batsman Chris Gayle, believes former Test star Devon Malcolm.
The five-match series, which begins on March 20 in Guyana, will see a return to the shorter form of the game for new England captain Andrew Strauss, who has not featured since England’s miserable World Cup campaign two years ago.
Middlesex batsman Strauss’s main job will be to pick up his players who were defeated 5-0 by India before Christmas, knowing that good results will breed confidence ahead of the 20Twenty World Cup on home soil in June and also for Australia’s Ashes visit a month later.
But Windies captain Gayle, who, in January, jumped five places in the International Cricket Council’s one-day rankings to first, will have to be halted if England are to prevail. The 31-year-old, who has a One-Day-International average above 40, was central to his team’s 2-1 series victory in England two years ago.
“Chris Gayle is a fantastic cricketer,” says Jamaican-born Malcolm, a veteran of 40 Tests for England. “He is so laid back that no situation seems to faze him. He just turns up and does his thing.
“He is the number one batsmen in one-day cricket at the moment, so England will have to focus right and aim to get him out very early. There could be trouble if not, because he will really start to punish the bowlers if he gets going.”
Malcolm, 45, reckons Durham quick Steve Harmison, who terrorised Gayle while on tour in the Caribbean five years ago, will have to be firing on all cylinders again, if the powerful batsman is to be stopped.
If the 30-year-old can rekindle the form witnessed in 2004, when he claimed a career-best seven for 12 in the Sabina Park Test, then England will be difficult to beat. Gayle averaged 26 against England in that Test series and Harmison, in particular, was impressive against the Jamaican, dismissing him four times in seven innings.
Harmison retired from ODIs after the World Cup only to be recalled for the autumn series against South Africa, and showed his worth as a re-ignited England stormed to a 4-0 win under the captaincy of Kevin Pietersen.
“A firing Steve Harmison will be a vital part of the England side in the ODIs against the West Indies, and will be important if they are to win the Ashes again in the summer,” continues Malcolm. “To get him firing, Steve needs to prove that he has completed his rehabilitation. I feel going back to the Caribbean, with the memories he has of the place, will have a good and positive effect on him.
“Hopefully he can feed from that energy that he felt in the Caribbean five years ago, and really get his bounce and pace back. He needs to build up some momentum bowling in the West Indies, and take that into the Ashes series.
“When he is at the top of his game, with that bounce and pace, and with the players that Australia have lost – Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Mathew Hayden, Glen McGrath – England should win that series.
“You could say that the West Indies are the ideal team to play at the moment – ahead of the Ashes and after what has gone of following the India tour. But they will want to really lift their game against England – everyone wants to do well against the old colonial master.”
The former Derbyshire bowler believes that, with the Ashes a mere six months away, it was better that the public falling out of captain Kevin Pietersen and coach Peter Moores happened when it did rather than at a later date.
“It was good to sort out those problems when they did,” Malcolm adds. “It is very important that England have a good tour of the West Indies and get back to winning ways.
“If there has ever been a time when Australia have been ripe for a beating, then now is the time – even though England have been having problems with the coach and the captaincy. But I think KP will turn up and play even better than before.
“Now Kevin can concentrate on what he knows best, especially in the one-day series. He is a showman and that is his oxygen – he needs to perform. When he really performs, England win. I am not worried one bit about his performance.
“It should be a great series, and I am hopeful that England, with Harmison firing, can beat the West Indies. That will set them up for the 20Twenty World Cup and give them the momentum to go on and beat Australia and regain the Ashes.”
Labels: Andrew Strauss, Chris Gayle, cricket, Devon Malcolm, England, Steve Harmison, West Indies
