BIRMINGHAM, England – Windies captain Jason Holder spoke to members of the media on the eve of the first Test match against England at Edgbaston.
The two teams will meet on Thursday in the first ever day/night Test match in England using the pink ball.
First ball is 2pm (9am Eastern Caribbean Time/8am Jamaica Time). The sessions are: 2pm to 4pm; 4:40pm to 6:40pm; 7pm to 9pm.
“We had really good preparation with some outstanding performances in the warm-up matches, and we are ready for the first Test here,” Holder said ahead of training on Wednesday afternoon. “It’s a big series, as a child growing up I dreamed of playing Test cricket in England and I know everyone in the team is excited, especially starting with the pink ball.”
SQUAD Jason Holder (Captain) Kraigg Brathwaite (Vice Captain) Devendra Bishoo Jermaine Blackwood Roston Chase Miguel Cummins Shane Dowrich Shannon Gabriel Shimron Hetmyer Kyle Hope Shai Hope Alzarri Joseph Kieran Powell Raymon Reifer Kemar Roach
Former West Indies cricket captain, Brian Lara has said that the West Indies team which begins its tour of England today, will struggle against a world class side in difficult conditions.
Speaking on the opening day of his pop-up 400* Memorabilia Museum at the Beetham Community Centre yesterday, Lara said that while he is optimistic about seeing individual performances and talent, cohesive team performances would be difficult to achieve.
“England is a seasoned cricket team now and the West Indies have not beaten England in England since the 80’s. In my first tour which was I think in 1990-91 in England we drew that series 2-2 and we haven’t won since. So being optimistic is one thing, but when you look at the stats you would see that England is a very, very good team in all formats of the game and the West Indies are going to struggle.” said Lara.
It was here at Edgbaston, in 1984, that England were exposed to West Indies at their best.
Here where Andy Lloyd, a local favourite and England's top-scorer in two of the three ODIs that preceded the series, saw his Test career ended less than an hour after it started as he was struck a horrible blow just above the right eye by a Malcolm Marshall delivery.
Here where England, stunned by the ferocity of an attack that also included Michael Holding and Joel Garner, succumbed to defeat by an innings and 180 runs. The decisive first blow in the "blackwash" series that ended 5-0.
Maybe Test cricket has featured better sides, more fearsome bowlers and a stronger top order - Gordon Greenidge, Des Haynes and Viv Richards in the top four pretty much amounted to bullying - but it is not immediately obvious when. The word "awesome" is overused, but it seems apt to describe that West Indies. England felt their full force that summer.
Bajans Kyle and Shai Hope join the club of brothers who have played for the West Indies -- which includes Dwayne and Darren Bravo, Fidel Edwards and Pedro Collins, Robert and Marlon Samuels, and Jeffery and Victor Stollmeyer.
McCarthy overshadows Fletcher as Jamaica complete five wicket win
Wed, Aug 16, '17
Jamaica Tallawahs handed St Lucia Stars their sixth straight defeat in CPL 2017, nudging them to the bottom of the six-team pile with a five-wicket win on Tuesday (August 15). Andre Fletcher and Marlon Samuels hit brisk fifties to help Stars set Tallawahs a challenging 174-run target at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadum, but Andre McCarthy's unbeaten 61 helped the Kumar Sangakkara-led side register their third win on the trot, with two balls to spare. Opting to bat first, Stars found themselves in a spot of bother with Johnson Charles and Shane Watson back in the hut in the space of three deliveries to Mohammad Sami, and just 30 runs on the board at the end of the fifth over. However, that paved way for a 103-run stand between Fletcher (84 not out) and Samuels (54) to repair the early damage. While Fletcher was watchful at start, having lost two partners at the other end in quick succession, Samuels went after the attack to take Stars to 69 after half their overs.
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