The gloves are off.

Let's break it down.

England cricket boss Giles Clarke has dismissed Kevin Pietersen's plea to let centrally contracted players appear in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Pietersen says it is "ridiculous" that England stars are not allowed to compete in the new 20-over competition.

"'Irresistable force', meet 'immovable object'."

But Clarke told BBC Radio 5 Live: "There won't be any centrally contracted players playing in it.

"We aren't changing our season under any circumstances - there's no possibility of us doing it."

Hail, King Canute!  read more »

The in-form man of Indian cricket Sourav Ganguly leads his Kolkata team out against Dravid's Bangalore in the opener of the IPL but who should your money be on?

So the jamboree is upon us. Six weeks of giddy hitting, pumping music and throbbing hype. Any ad breaks will be entirely superfluous as the entire event is one long commercial opportunity, a parade of India's political and sporting wealth and power. Rather like a trip on a new and dangerous roller coaster, many who saw the brochures and thought it would be exciting are now having second thoughts. As we get closer to the thing itself, the sheer scale of the enterprise and the long, long shadow it is starting to cast over cricket is becoming clearer. It could all end in disaster. Then again, it could change cricket forever.  read more »

Saturday's match in Antigua may represent 22 men competing for a "load of cash" but Ed Hawkins expects a sticky wicket to make for a tighter contest than the markets suggest.

If money really is the root of all evil then when the Stanford Superstars meet England in Coolidge, Antigua on Saturday night to decide who walks off with $20m, we should expect things to get very nasty indeed. After all, it is Halloween.  read more »

Pablo Luna - Moonlighting for Betfair. Pablo has plenty of praise for the talent and flair of Chris Gayle but wonders whether he has any of the other necessary qualities to be a good cricket captain

West Indies entertain Sri Lanka in the third and final ODI at the Beausejour Stadium in St Lucia on Tuesday 15 April 2008 where West Indies skipper Chris Gayle will be looking for a rarity - a third successive victory. Betair odds show that West Indies are trading at [1.84] with Sri Lanka at [2.12].

It has been difficult to judge the merits of the ODI series so far, a six off the last ball, (which was a gentle full toss) secured the win in the first ODI followed by the unconvincing D/L method win where they got providential with the rain. The 2-Match Test Series between two mediocre sides ended in a 1-1 draw. The West Indies were on a long losing streak of seven consecutive Test series and Sri Lanka have never had a series win in the region.  read more »

Explosive opening batsman Chris Gayle has been appointed as captain of the West Indies for the home series against Sri Lanka, which starts this month.

Mikesiva previews the upcoming Sri Lankan tour of West Indies

It was really no surprise that the laid-back Jamaican would be appointed for the job of leading the Windies in the series, which comprises two Tests and three one-day internationals. Unlike previous series, there is an air of expectation about this one.

NEW-LOOK WINDIES?

No longer are the West Indies expected to lose every Test series that they play. No longer are they expected to play for a draw against the top Test-playing nations. No longer are they going to try to draw a Test, just so that they can avoid a series whitewash.  read more »

At stumps on Day four of the first test between West Indies and Sri Lanka, the home side continued the promise shown at the end of the previous day, leaving themselves with a fairly reasonable chance of securing a draw.

Resuming this morning in hopes of avoiding the follow on, Jerome Taylor and Daren Powell saw the Windies through to 280 forcing the Sri Lankas to return to the crease. By mid-evening, the tourists declared their second innings at 240/7 leaving West Indies 437 from 113 overs to win.

Given his run of poor form against Chaminda Vaas, captain Chris Gayle opted to send Bravo in his stead to open the innings with Devon Smith. Sri Lanka sniffed a chance to make some serious inroads before stumps as Smith was caught attempting to play a hook shot with the score on 22. Sarwan then joined Bravo to steady the ship until the close as both managed to play without much trouble and at a rate quick enough to keep alive any minute chance of a West Indian victory.  read more »

The Hawkeye View - Ed Hawkins talks us through the eleven England players who are likely to line up against the Stanford All Stars and tells us that with the pay cheque at stake, we as punters can be sure everyone is going to be giving 100%.

Chris Tarrant probably won't be in Coolidge, Antigua on November 1, which is a shame. To have Tarrant stood on the outfield at the Standford Cricket Ground before the $20m All Stars and England contest and announce 'Let's play, who wants to be a millionaire?' would be fitting for a match which is as farcical as it is unedifying.  read more »

St Lucia: West Indies opening batsman, Chris Gayle has withdrawn his letter of resignation as West Indies captain, and appears to be seeking a return to the head of the beleaguered team, West Indies Cricket Board source confirmed yesterday.

Australia vs West Indies 2008

Chris Gayle is out with injury just when the team was responding to his captaincy. Sars is appointed skipper, in an ironical twist of fate. Gayle, remember, was appointed captain following Ronnie's injury in SA. It would be interesting to watch how much WI can extract out of Australia. Most Ozzies have warmed up in the IPL with good performances.  read more »

Author: lewy
Subject: West Indies cricket
Posted: 04 February 2008 at 9:10pm

another tour ends but amid all the doom suffered at the end of it, i must say that i am not @ all dis heartened by what we saw of the Windies in South Africa. But some serious chnages need to be made. I think that this is the end of Rawl Lewis, Runako Morton, if im not mistaken didn't register at least a fifty all tour (south african leg). the fielding needs to be continued to be worked on. It is quite clear that Chris Gayle needs to be fit and playing and in charge of things. In Bravo's defence he'e still very young and came up against a very organised outfit in south africa.  read more »