A century opening stand between Chris Gayle and Johnson Charles powered West Indies to their first win of the 2012 World Twenty20 with a 16-run victory against England in their opening Super Eights match. Their top-order batsmen setting a daunting total of 179 for 5 and their quartet of slow bowlers suffocated the England batsmen as they started their reply.
A remarkable fourth-wicket stand of 107 in 58 balls between Alex Hales, who scored 68 from 51 balls, and Eoin Morgan, who made a brilliant, unbeaten 71 from 36 balls, gave England an outside chance of victory, but the pair were left too much to do by another lacklustre performance from their top-order colleagues.
St John’s, Antigua – The Board of Directors of the West Indies Cricket Board, at its last meeting in Barbados, approved an annual development grant for the Combined Campuses and Colleges Programme.
The grant, to the tune of US$50,000, is similar to what is received by the six Territorial Boards on an annual basis from the WICB for the purposes of aiding the development of cricket in the various territories.
The CCC programme has become integral to the development of West Indies cricket since it was conceived in 2007. The CCC participates in the WICB senior men’s tournaments – Regional 4 Day, Super50 and Caribbean Twenty20.
“The CCC programme, in a very significant way, aids us in ensuring that some of our best talents do not have to compromise their education for cricket or vice versa,” WICB President, Dr. Julian Hunte said.
“The programme has become one which is at the forefront of global cricket as successfully merging formal higher education with cricket,” Dr. Hunte added.
“We have seen a number of players spend time in the CCC programme and then graduate to international level or return to their regional teams where they continue to compete at a very high level, and after they would have achieved academically as well. Most notably among them is Miles Bascombe,” observed Dr Hunte.
“We have seen too the professionalism and strong competition offered by the CCC in our various tournaments where they are quickly developing into a force to be reckoned with and can no longer be treated lightly by the other regional sides,” Dr. Hunte noted.
“I wish to commend CCC for calling on some of the best talent in the region to assist in refining the skills of the players, most notably their recruitment of the legendary Curtly Ambrose as their Bowling Consultant,” Dr. Hunte said.
“It is because we recognize the value that the CCC programme lends to regional cricket that the Board has agreed to lend financial support and we are certain that West Indies cricket will reap the rewards in years to come,” Dr. Hunte concluded.
ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – Umpires Patrick Gustard and Verdayne Smith said they were both elated to be elevated to the West Indies Cricket Board’s Senior Umpires Panel (SUP).
The directors of the WICB approved the recommendations of its Umpires and Match Referees Committee for six promotions to the senior umpires’ panel, when they held their last meeting in Barbados a fortnight ago.
The umpires elevated were Gustard, Smith, Zahid Bassarath, Leslie Reifer Jr, Danesh Ramdhanie and Nandkumar Shivsankar.
St John’s, Antigua – The West Indies Cricket Board announces that Trinidad and Tobago and St Lucia have won the rights to host the fourth edition of its flagship regional tournament – Caribbean Twenty20.
Trinidad and Tobago will host the first part of the preliminary round at the Queen’s Park Oval while Beausejour Cricket Ground will be the venue for the second part of the preliminary round, the playoffs and the final.
The Trinidad and Tobago bid was specifically for the preliminary round of the premier regional tournament scheduled to be hosted from 6th to 21st January, 2013.
The WICB International Fixtures Committee reviewed and assessed the four bids received and Trinidad and Tobago and St Lucia were given the nod ahead of Barbados and Antigua.
Trinidad and Tobago previously hosted the latter preliminary stage, the semi finals and final of the inaugural Caribbean T20 in 2010. This will be the first time Caribbean T20 will be played in St Lucia.
Barbados, had previously hosted every Caribbean Twenty20 tournament thus far and Antigua hosted the tournament in 2011 and 2012.
Trinidad and Tobago had originally won the bid to host in 2012 but the tournament was moved to Antigua after scheduling conflicts arose.
International Fixtures Committee: Enoch Lewis – Chairman (Chairman of WICB Finance Committee), Joel Garner (Chairman of WICB Cricket Committee), Emmanuel Nanthan (Member of WICB Business Development Committee), Dr. Ernest Hilaire (CEO), Roland Holder (Cricket Operations Manager [ag]), Nelecia Yeates (WICB Commercial Manager).
Criteria for assessing bids:
1. Cost of hosting matches
2. Contributions of the Host to the event
3. Potential revenue opportunities
4. Strength of commitment
5. Record of honouring commitments
6. Quality of event management during WICB Tournaments
7. Venue readiness
8. Rotation of Host Venues
9. Weather conditions at time of hosting
Venues had to have lights to qualify for the bidding process.
West Indies middle-order batsman, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, has been giving local bowlers nightmares, plundering two half-centuries and a hundred in three matches over the past week.
Playing for hosts Gandhi Youth Organisation against Transport Sports Club on Saturday, the left-handed Chanderpaul and his son, Tagenarinel, bludgeoned the opposition attack, as GYO piled up 312-2 from the allotted 40 overs.
Shivnarine led the onslaught with a robust 143 not out with 10 sixes and seven fours, while Tagenarine played the supporting role with an unbeaten 112, inclusive of 13 boundaries (6×6, 7×4). The father/son combination added an unbroken 256 for the third wicket to lay the foundation for a massive 125-run win.
Transport SC responded with 187 all out from 32 overs with medium-pacers, Garfield DeRoche and Wayne Walker, picking up 4-36 and 3-29 respectively for GYO. Motilall made 44 not out and Steven Sampson 36 for Transport SC.
On Sunday, Shivnarine was again in a dominant mood, leading Tiger Sports to a comprehensive 94-run win over Unity at the Unity ground.
Batting first, Tiger Sports posted 183-8 from the allotted 30 overs with Shivnarine hitting an unbeaten 68 with eight sixes and a four. Tagenarine again played second fiddle, scoring a solid 35, as Kishore Singh bagged 4-34.
When Unity batted, they were tormented by left-arm spinner, Dru Bahadur, as they were dismissed for 89. Bahadur, who copped the Man-of-the-Match accolade, finished with 4-19 from six overs. Trophies for the game were sponsored by Tiger Sports of Enmore, East Coast Demerara.
Last week, Shivnarine again showed the opposition why he is so highly ranked by the International Cricket Council, as he steered Unity to a four-wicket win over Strathavon.
The former West Indies captain blasted 90 not out as Unity blazed to victory at 158-6 from 27.4 overs. Ken Alphonso snared 3-34 for Strathavon who had earlier posted 157-8 from 30 overs.
National First-Class batsman, Chanderpaul Hemraj, and his brother Gobinram Hemraj made 45 and 57 respectively for Strathavon. Vishal Arjune picked up 3-12, bowling for Unity.
