Bilderecke » said Canada could easily have hosted a weaker team for their

Last 2 innings over 60 vs Australia down under but not good to play anymore. That was how Denesh Ramdin reacted on Twitter when told that he was not in the frame for selection for the forthcoming Test series against India. The scores he was referring to were in the second innings of the Boxing Day Test against Australia in Melbourne last year, when he scored 59, and the first innings of the next Test in Sydney, when he made 62. While those were meaty contributions, Ramdin might have found the reason for his sacking had he gone back a little further than just his last two Test innings.In his previous 15 Test innings before that 59 at the MCG, Ramdin had made 201 runs at an average of 13.40. His highest during that period was 31, against England in St Georges, in the first of those 15 innings. He didnt touch 30 in his last 14 innings, and was dismissed for a duck in the first innings of that Melbourne Test. His 59 in the second innings came with little at stake, as West Indies were already hurtling towards certain defeat.There arent too many complaints about Ramdins glovework, but his batting stats have consistently failed to match up to his potential over a Test career that is now more than a decade long. His career average, after 74 Tests, is 25.87, which seems way below par given how he had shaped up in his first two series. In tough conditions in Sri Lanka and Australia, Ramdin showed fine defensive technique, put a price on his wicket, and averaged 65 balls per dismissal. Add to that his top-class glovework, and Ramdin, barely 20 then, seemed set for a long and distinguished international career.A decade later, its clear that his career has been a long one, but its also hard to suppress the impression that he hasnt achieved all that he could have. The glovework has generally been pretty good, but in the last couple of years his batting has clearly fallen away. Since the beginning of 2014, the average has dropped to 22.10, with only four half-centuries - and a highest of 62 - in 31 innings. This slump has been particularly disappointing because the two years preceding 2014 had been his best as a Test batsman: in 14 Tests in 2012 and 2013 he averaged 44.29, with three hundreds - all overseas - in 22 innings. Ramdins batting average of 22.10 is tenth among 11 wicketkeeper-batsmen who have played at least 12 innings in Tests since the start of 2014. The only player with a poorer average is Brad Haddin, who had a wretched 18 months in Tests before retiring last year.On the other hand, the wicketkeepers from the two teams currently doing battle in England have been exceptional with the bat recently. Englands Jonny Bairstow has been on a tear, scoring three centuries - all 140-plus - in his last nine innings, and averaging more than 67 since the start of 2014, while Pakistans Sarfraz Ahmed has 10 fifty-plus scores from 29 innings, and an exceptional average of 60.35. Apart from getting lots of runs, both Bairstow and Sarfraz have also been perfect in batting with the lower order: Bairstow has a strike rate of 65, and Sarfraz 76, and their ability to score quickly has allowed their teams to add vital runs down the order.New Zealands BJ Watling, on the other hand, has shown the ability to knuckle down and bat long periods, averaging 37 at a strike rate of 40, which means he bats 91 deliveries per dismissal, allowing other strokeplayers to flourish around him. Ramdin, however, has done neither, and his tendency to play loose shots fairly early in his innings has helped neither his teams cause nor his own. Ramdins supporters have raised the question regarding his replacement: is there a better wicketkeeper-batsman in West Indies first-class set-up who has performed consistently and can replace Ramdin? Going by numbers from the last two domestic seasons in the West Indies, the one player who stands out is Shane Dowrich, who has named in the Test squad to keep wicket. In 16 matches in the regional four-day tournament over the last two seasons, Dowrich has scored 843 runs at an average of 49.58, with two hundreds and four fifties. In the 2014-15 season, he averaged 51.25 from ten games, and in 2015-16 he played six matches as wicketkeeper, at an average of 45.60. (In one match he didnt keep wicket; his overall average for the season was 38.83.)Given his recent form with the bat, there is reason to back him. He is only 24, which means if he grabs his chance he could be a long-term prospect for West Indies. On Test debut against Australia last year, Dowrich batted at No. 4 and scored 70 against an attack that included the two Mitchells - Johnson and Starc - plus Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon, in a match in which only one other West Indian batsman topped 40 across both innings.Moreover, Dowrich has been around for a while now, having made his first-class debut in 2010, and has played 52 first-class games at an average of 36.80. In 48 of those 52 matches he has kept wicket, and has averaged a healthy 38.46 in those games. Given that Ramdin is only 31, though, there is yet time for him to work on his batting to force his way back in the team through runs in domestic cricket. His ODI form in these last two-and-a-half years has been pretty good: 966 runs from 31 innings at 35.77, and a strike rate of 88.78. In 2014, he made 516 runs from 11 ODI innings including two hundreds, while in Tests that year he managed only 222 runs in ten innings. The ability is still there, but clearly West Indies need more from him as a batsman, especially given the fact that their top six isnt the strongest going around. There is plenty of incentive for Ramdin to try and regain his spot: his Test tally of 2898 is 102 runs short of the 3000-mark, and 248 short of Jeff Dujons tally of 3146, which is the highest by any West Indian wicketkeeper. The career average may never get as high as Dujons 31.46, but if he goes past Dujons aggregate and pushes that average close to 30 by the time he retires, Ramdin would have done fairly well in his last stint.To start with, though, he needs to go back to domestic cricket, score plenty of runs, and prove that he deserves another chance. Custom Football Jerseys Store .ca NFL Power Rankings, overtaking the Denver Broncos and remaining ahead of NFC competition San Francisco, Carolina and New Orleans. Custom Tampa Bay Buccaneers Jerseys . 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Hargreaves began his career in 2008 with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and has played with the Edmonton Eskimos and last season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.TORONTO -- Teenage defender Kadeisha Buchanan was a revelation in Canadas 3-0 loss to the United States last Sunday, one of the bright spots on an otherwise dreary afternoon for this countrys womens soccer team. With exactly two years to go until Canada hosts the FIFA womens World Cup, coach John Herdman is hoping to unearth more talented youngsters like Buchanan. "Were looking everywhere at the minute," Herdman said. "We are genuinely looking anywhere." The coach who led the Canadian women to Olympic bronze last summer in London addressed the media on a conference call Thursday, two years to the day Canada will kick off the womens World Cup in Edmonton, the site for Canadas group play. On the top of his to-do list: bring in good young players to bolster a lineup lacking in depth. Buchanan, a 17-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., has been a solid addition to Canadas back line since Herdman recently brought her into camp. But shes only one player. "I was speaking to Tommy Sermanni, the U.S. coach, and he said he could put two first 11s out there that could potentially go out and win a World Cup. Hes got such (an) amount of depth in that squad," Herdman said. "You think, he brings (Sydney) Leroux in off the bench (who scored the third goal for the U.S. last Sunday). (Megan) Rapinoe wasnt there to bring in off the bench. You can bring Christen Press, whos got an unbelievable goalscoring record for them. "And you look at that and go Wow. And you look at our bench, and you go You know, hopefully one of these players or two of these players will rise up over the next two years if we support them in the right way." On the heels of its bronze medal in London, Herdman has pleaded patience with Canadian soccer fans as he rebuilds his roster ahead of the 2015 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. The average age of his team, if it remained status quo, would be 31 years old in Rio, whereas the average age of a World Cup or Olympic champion is 27 or 28. Herdman didnt have time to look through Canadas talent pool last season, as he was hired barely a year before the Olympics. "We were literally operating with the group we had and couldnt put any attention to talent identification," he said. He and his staff have since looked at some 60 young women, and then narrowed that down to a small group that he hopes will graduate to the womens senior side. He has yet to find another player as good as Buchanan, who helped keep the score respectable last week in Canadas friendly against the U.S. at Torontos BMO Field. "In terms of finding another (Christine) Sinclair, we found Kadeisha Buchanan, whos pretty much moving down that track," Herdman said. "Its an absolute rarity seeing a 17-year-old playing at this level. Weve got to see if theres any more. Thats all Ive got to say, weve got to keep looking across the bench and see wwhat else is out there, and give some kids an opportunity over the next two years.dddddddddddd "Over the last nine games that weve played weve given a lot of opportunity, but outside of Kadeisha theres no one whos really said, Im here, heres my shirt. The others have still got work to do, but the work isnt insurmountable in a two-and-a-half hear period." Herdman said the biggest gaps are in Canadas attacking side. Canada has few offensive threats who can break down tight defensive units outside Sinclair, Melissa Tancredi, Diana Matheson and Sophie Schmidt. "While were giving several players opportunities to break through, weve got to hope those players keep breaking through quickly," he said. "Anyone out there in Canada, that play up front, theres definitely a few shirts available at this point." Despite the lopsided score against the world No. 1-ranked United States last week, Herdman said there was reason for optimism. "For 65 minutes we limited them to seven shots and five crosses, which is unheard of in our history of playing the U.S.," he said. "Theres something there about finishing stronger." At the London Olympics, the Americans produced over 38 attacking acts -- crosses and shots -- he said, in their semifinal versus the Canadians. Canada managed to cut that number down to 22 on Sunday, "so there was a major shift there." Still, Herdman said player-for-player, Canada has a tough time matching up with the best teams in the world such as the U.S. and Germany, and has to figure out how to beat them tactically. "We wouldnt have too many Canadians who could get into starting lineups (in the U.S. or Germany), so tactically we have to be very clear and with our clarity hopefully we get that energy and commitment that can produce results like we did in London," he said. The coach was pleased that his players didnt wilt in front of the capacity crowd of 22,453 fans -- a record crowd for a soccer game at BMO Field -- last Sunday. Herdman said Canada could easily have hosted a weaker team for their first game back home since the London Games, and sent the fans home happy with a victory. But he wants the women to get used to playing tough matches in front of packed crowds before the World Cup. "And we want the home crowd to see how tough its going to be and that we need their support," he said. "From that we learned a lot. I was absolutely impressed by my players, I thought they handled the week fantastically. And on game day, there wasnt one of them that choked in front of that massive massive crowd. You can say a slight underperformance from one or two players, but nobody choked. And thats a great sign." The seventh-ranked Canadians will play No. 2 Germany in Paderborn, Germany, on June 19. Canada will host South Korea in a friendly in Edmonton on Oct. 30. ' ' '