How the West Indies cricket schedule could help Everton win the FA Cup this year

The Times find an eerie coincidence that favours the Toffees

An interesting extract in today’s Times highlights an intriguing pattern that could bode well for Everton’s FA Cup prospects:

“Moyes would have hoped to avoid Sir Alex Ferguson’s team, who are on course for an unprecedented quadruple, but he may be comforted by the knowledge that on the five previous occasions Everton have won the FA Cup - in 1906, 1933, 1966, 1984 and 1995 - the West Indies cricket team have toured England. West Indies are due to play two Test matches in May.”

Posted: March 9th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Why England are unlikely to fight back against the Windies

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Posted: February 13th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Why Andrew Strauss’ England may struggle in the Caribbean

The first test against the West Indies starts tomorrow in Jamaica

Despite a turbulent few weeks, England travel to the Caribbean as 4/7 favourites to win the four-test series. Here are a few reasons why Andrew Strauss’ side will struggle:

» England have only won away to the West Indies once in the last 41 years.

» The visitors overall record from fourteen trips to the Caribbean reads: Played 14, Won 3, Tied 3 and Lost 3, giving them a win percentage of 21%.

» The West Indies have lost successive home test series on just one occasion in the last 38 years, which is a good omen for them as they lost their last one to Australia last year.

Posted: February 4th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Why the Stanford Superstars will claim the money

Kevin Pietersen and co will miss out on a big payday

The England players are all singing from the same hymn sheet, promising their adoring public that they would much rather win the Ashes than beat the Stanford Superstars and claim a million dollars each. But that selfless approach could prove costly when they collide with the West Indies’ Twenty20 stars in Antigua next month. Here’s why England will miss out on the jackpot:

» After winning just one of their first five games, against England at the Oval incidentally, the West Indies have won two of their three Twenty20 games over the last year.

» Last December they were victorious in South Africa against a side that had won six of its previous seven contests and in June they triumphed by seven wickets over an Australia team that had won five of its last eight.

» The West Indies win percentage in Twenty20 action (when counting ties as halves) stands at 43.75 per cent, marginally better than England’s 42.85 per cent success rate.

» Their last two wins came against countries with superior Twenty20 win records while England’s last three came against a New Zealand side who are weaker. Prior to those games, England had a woeful 27.27% win percentage.

» In his two previous appearances against the West Indies in Twenty20 action, England captain Kevin Pietersen averaged just 17.5 runs compared to his overall Twenty20 average of 25.93.

» Pietersen has been one of England’s two top run scorers in four of their last five Twenty20 internationals so if he fails to deliver against the West Indies again, the visitors are in trouble.

» West Indies captain Chris Gayle has produced excellent batting performances in his most recent contests against England in test (52 runs), one day (82 runs) and Twenty20 cricket (61 runs).

» Dwayne Bravo has been ruled out for the Superstars with an ankle injury. This is good news though because he took just one run from two clashes with England last summer.

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Posted: October 30th, 2008 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment