Marlon's a marvel

In the second cricket test at Trent Bridge in Nottingham the West Indies were on the rack at 136/6 with Shivnarine Chanderpaul,  in my opinion the best batsman in the world, already out. Then for the next 42 overs Marlon Samuels from Jamaica and Darren Sammy from St Lucia made the highest score ever for the seventh wicket at the ground and they're still there. For ages cricket-lovers around the world have prayed that West Indian cricket would rise again. I'm a big fan of the idea that the wheel goes around and the pendulum swings back but the long slide of Windies cricket has put the theory to a very stern test! There have been signs recently that mean reversion may be starting and yesterday's fightback was a marvel to behold. Chanderpaul, born in Guyana, consistently makes runs batting for a team where no one else has. It's one thing playing in a side where a number of players can step up to the plate when needed but Shivnarine has had to do it on more or less on his own. South Africans are watching this series with interest as we are next, with a tour to England starting in July. This will be a battle for No. 1 in the test cricket arena. I'm in two minds about the West Indies tour: on the one hand I'd love to see the Windies return to their best, on the other I'd like England to win easily so they get a bit overconfident. The QSL is for a utility test loop transmission from Jamintel, Kingston, Jamaica using a 1kW transmitter and heard on shortwave, upper side band.