Last night saw the deciding ODI of the series between West Indies and England. That and an all time XI of players where the main focus is having a given name beginning with O form the bulk of today’s post.

WEST INDIES V ENGLAND DECIDER

As you will see it is more than usually appropriate that the heading of this section of the blog is in maroon, the colour of the West Indies.

Rain delayed the start significantly, and the by the time of the toss the match was reduced to 43 overs per side instead of 50. West Indies won the toss and put England into bat. Matthew Forde made an international debut in place of Oshane Thomas for West Indies and Matt Potts replaced Brydon Carse for England.

Ford bowled outstandingly with the new ball and was rewarded with three very quick wickets. Alzarri Joseph then struck twice, though he only got officially credited for one – a brilliant piece of fielding off his own bowling that in conjunction with a hesitation between the batters led to a run out was the one for which he got no credit, a terrible shot that led to a first ball duck for skipper Buttler was the one that he did get credit for. At that point England were reeling at 49-5. Liam Livingstone and Ben Duckett then shared a big partnership, and it looked like England’s early collapse might not be terminal.

England’s spinners bowled well, and the West Indies looked like failing in the chase on several occasions. Then, at the crucial moment, with the run rate definitely looking challenging for WI, and on a pitch on which extra pace had been at best a dubious asset (Forde, so successful for WI, is a medium pacer, and WI’s next best bowlers were their own spinners Motie and Cariah) Buttler entrusted Atkinson with an over. Atkinson immediately started trying for yorkers, and served up two delicious full tosses which both went for sixes. In total this over yielded 24 runs, and the result was no longer in doubt. WI duly won by four wickets and took the series.

There have been signs of promise from England this series, with Jacks and Salt looking like a decent opening pair, Jacks bowling well yesterday, Livingstone faring decently as an all rounder and Duckett’s innings yesterday, but there are also obvious problems, the biggest of them being Buttler’s inadequacy as skipper. West Indies bowl better than they bat (which as anyone familiar with my blog knows is the way round I would prefer things if I had to have a side that was stronger in one department than the other), with Forde a hugely promising new comer, Alzarri Joseph and Oshane Thomas both good pacers and Cariah and Motie good spinners. The batting is a trifle too dependent on Shai Hope for comfort, but they did the job yesterday without him making a huge score.

ORCHESTRATING AN ALL TIME XI

Today pick an all time XI with the theme being players whose given names begin with the letter O. I have had to resort to a couple of cheat picks to complete the XI, but nine of my players do indeed have given names beginning with O.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

1. Octavius Radcliffe (England, right handed opening batter, occasional off spinner). A west country based amateur of the late 19th century (born and died in Wiltshire, turned out for both Gloucestershire and Somerset, the former of which helped get him a place on the 1891-2 Ashes tour, skippered by WG Grace), and his record compares reasonably with those of a similar vintage.
2. Felix Organ (Hampshire, right handed opening batter, off spinner). One of my ‘cheat picks’, and picked more on potential than actual achievement. He does have a name beginning with O, but not his given name.
3. Ollie Pope (England, right handed batter, occasional wicket keeper). An excellent FC record and a respectable test record which he is well capable of improving. Number three has been his best position for England.
4. Owais Shah (England, right handed batter, occasional off spinner). In common with many an English player of vintage he has a good domestic record while having done little of note at international level.
5. O’Neill Gordon ‘Collie’ Smith (West Indies, right handed batter, occasional off spinner). He was killed in a car crash while in the process of establishing himself. He had done enough to earn his place in this XI.
6. Azmatullah Omarzai (Afghanistan, right handed batter, right arm medium fast bowler). My second ‘cheat pick’, he has shown himself to be a fine player, and I expect him to improve further.
7. +Oliver George Robinson (Kent, Durham, Wicket keeper, right handed batter). For me he should second choice for England men’s test wicket keeper right now behind Ben Stokes. He has recently moved from Kent to Durham, and the move north has not adversely affected his batting average, proof positive that he is genuinely skilled in that department, not merely a beneficiary of southern climes and pitches.
8. Omar Henry (South Africa, left arm orthodox spinner, left handed batter). The first non-white cricketer ever picked for an official South Africa XI, though that came too late in his career to for him to really benefit, 443 Fc wickets at 25.17 and 4,566 FC runs at 27.34 with five centuries and an HS of 125 show him to have been a fine cricketer when in his prime.
9. Oliver Edward Robinson (England, right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter). When fully fit he is a formidable bowler. It is the necessity of that caveat that is problematic.
10. Odean Brown (West Indies, leg spinner, right handed batter). Yet to play international cricket, but 255 FC wickets at 23.00 is a respectable record.
11. Olly Stone (England, right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). Has been plagued by injuries, but when fit he is a devastating bowler.

I cannot pretend that this is a great XI, but it has a functional opening pair, a respectable 3,4,5, a hugely promising all rounder at six, a class keeper/ batter and four decent front line bowlers, though two of those would be injury worries.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Most of these are players who would merit consideration for a limited overs XI but not for a long form one. There are three exceptions: Ossie Wheatley and Oliver Hannon-Dalby established fine records bowling right arm fast medium at county level, and if worried about having both OE Robinson and Stone in the XI one of these two could replace OE Robinson, though it must be noted of Wheatley that he was a genuine liability except when actually bowling. Aussie Women’s leg spinner of the 1990s Olivia Magno was also a genuine candidate for the slot I gave to Odean Brown. Oliver Rayner, an off spin bowling all rounder, had to be overlooked due to the number of front line batters in this XI who could bowl off spin if needed. Four West Indians would in the mix if not on the team sheet if I were selecting with limited overs in mind: Obed McCoy (left arm seamer), Odean Smith (right arm seam bowling all rounder), Omari Banks (off spinner who could bat) and Oshane Thomas (right arm fast bowler, excellent in limited overs, but has an awful record in long form matches).

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…