Bascombe insists emerging talent got exposure in Nepal despite series defeat
Thu, Oct 2, '25
Cricket West Indies (CWI) director of cricket Miles Bascombe, said the regional side’s 2-1 T20 series defeat to Nepal was disappointing, but noted that there were some positive takeaways, particularly the exposure given to emerging players.
West Indies lost the three-match series after dropping the first two games, handing Nepal a historic and first-time triumph over a full ICC member.
Speaking at a CWI media briefing on October 1, which also featured maroon president Kishore Shallow and CEO Chris Dehring, Bascombe said the tight turnaround ahead of the series played a role in the team’s slow start.
“We always knew that that turnaround time would have been a challenge. They pretty much had one day to acclimatise (to the conditions in Nepal) and one practice session going into that series,” he said.
“And in a very short tournament of three matches, if you're not off the ground running from match one you can very well find yourself behind the eight ball as we did.”
Read more at TT Newsday
CWI trims regional teams and tournaments amidst money woes
Thu, Oct 2, '25
In a move which is expected to help save the organisation money in the long-run, Cricket West Indies (CWI) said it will be reducing the number of tournaments and consequently the number of teams participating in regional competitions for the 2025/26 season.
At CWI's quarterly press conference in Antigua on October 1, CWI president Dr Kishore Shallow described the cricket body's financial standing as a chronic one, and he, CWI CEO Chris Dehring and director of cricket Miles Bascombe said the board is doing its best to work alongside regional and international partners to ensure a boost in revenue while maintaining the vision of CWI's strategic plan for 2024-2027.
The CWI officials confirmed that the boys' regional Under-17 tournament for the 2026 season will be scrapped, while the women's regional T20 and 50-over tournaments will be merged into one competition and is expected to be hosted ahead of the West Indies' women's series against Sri Lanka in February. Also, on the men's side, Bascombe disclosed that the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) and the West Indies Academy cricket teams will most likely be pulled from the regional tournaments in the upcoming season.
Dr Rowley: Time to hit reset on Windies cricket
Wed, Oct 1, '25
Former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley, who also served as the chairman of Caricom’s Prime Ministerial Sub-committee on cricket from 2023-2025, has called for an overhaul in the regional game and for the West Indies to hit the reset button in the wake of their T20 series loss to Nepal in the United Arab Emirates.
On September 27, a largely experimental West Indies team, which was led by first-time captain Akeal Hosein, lost to the Nepalese by 19 runs in the first of three T20s. The result was historic for Nepal as it was the International Cricket Council (ICC) associate nation’s first T20 win over an ICC full member. Two days later, Nepal were in dreamland when they bundled out the West Indies for just 83 in the second T20 to win by a whopping 90 runs and clinch the series. In the third and final T20, the Windies, who gave debuts to as many as six players on this tour because of the unavailability of several first-team players, salvaged a consolation victory when they got an emphatic ten-wicket win on September 30 on the back of a four-wicket haul from Ramon Simmonds and an unbeaten fifty from Amir Jangoo.
Before that consolation victory, though, the former TT prime minister launched a scathing attack on the Windies team and the cricketing eco-system in the region via a passionate Facebook post on September 30.
“This is (sic) me in July when we managed 27 against Australia. Now, this 83-run capitulation to Nepal has me fearful, angry and sad,” Rowley said. “My fear is that someone in Cricket West Indies (CWI) will try to rationalise this and find “positives!”
Read more at TT Newsday
CWI Announces Retainer Contracts
Wed, Oct 1, '25
Cricket West Indies announced that the Board of Directors has approved the recommendations for International Retainer Contracts for the 2025/26 season, which commences on October 1.
Contracts have been offered to both West Indies Men’s and Women’s players following the 2024/25 evaluation period, with selections based on performance and projected involvement in upcoming fixtures. This contract cycle also includes the continuation and expansion of multi-year agreements, designed to reward consistent performers, provide greater security, and strengthen CWI’s ability to retain top talent.
West Indies lighten embarrassment with 10-wicket win over Nepal
Wed, Oct 1, '25
A REVITALISED West Indies outfit delivered a crushing 10-wicket victory over Nepal in the final T20I, preventing a historic whitewash and showcasing the potent talent within their ranks.
Despite the emphatic nature of the win, the result does little to overshadow Nepal’s landmark achievement in securing their first-ever series win against a full-member nation after claiming the series 2-1.
Choosing to bowl first on a sluggish Sharjah pitch offering consistent sideways movement, the regional side were vindicated by a disciplined bowling performance.
The tone was set early, with Nepal’s openers finding boundaries hard to come by against accurate bowling led by skipper Akeal Hosein.
Player of the Series Kushal Bhurtel managed to hit a few lusty blows in his top score of 39 as the visitors put a stranglehold on the home side’s top order, stifling them in a powerplay that included 20 dot balls.
Read more at Jamaica Gleaner
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