by Arthur Crabtree » Wed Jan 03, 2018 1:16 pm
December.
In New Zealand at the end of the year, the West Indies' brief, just perceptible froth of recovery expired with a pair of heavy defeats in Wellington and Hamilton. The fragile reeds upon which their tenuous hopes of recovery rested, folded. There were no hundreds, and Roston Chase and Shai Hope barely made starts. Again, without runs to defend, the bowlers were just negotiating the scale of the calamity.
The Kiwis mostly buffed up their stats, other than the faltering Kane Williamson. Wicket keeper Tom Blundell made a hundred on his debut at the Basin Reserve, adding 148 for the seventh wicket with Colin de Grandhomme. The magnificent bouncer specialist Neil Wagner took 7-39 to wreck West Indies in their first innings and New Zealand won by an innings. Seddon Park was a little tighter, but West Indies were aways lagging and lost by 240 runs.
The year seemed stacked high with short series which barely got started, and mismatches sometimes exaggerated by home advantage. The ebb of Test cricket reached perhaps its ultimate retreat (so far), in Port Elizabeth on Boxing Day. South Africa met Zimbabwe for a single Test series, which would be contested over four days. It lasted two. It was arguably the least significant contest in the long, varied, colourful history of the ultimate game.
I always say that everybody's right.