Sat, May 31, '14
NEWS that Mr Sunil Narine has opted to represent the Kolkata Knight Riders in Sunday's final of the twenty20 Indian Premier League rather than seek to represent West Indies in the upcoming Test series against visiting New Zealand underlines the crisis facing Caribbean cricket.
It's not that Mr Narine doesn't want to play Test cricket or represent the West Indies. The problem is that he is a professional contracted to the Knight Riders for a pay packet that, until just a few years ago, was unheard of in cricket.
Aware of the difficulties facing several West Indians in the IPL, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) set a deadline of Sunday (June 1) — just a week before the start of the first Test -- for them to get into the pre-series camp now ongoing in Barbados.
Sat, May 31, '14
Falmouth, Jamaica, CMC - The New Zealand cricket team opened their tour of the West Indies with a draw against a Jamaica Select X1 on the second day of their two day warm-up match at the Trelawny Multiplex here on Friday.
Two late innings partnership helped the Jamaicans to recover from a batting collapse, allowing them to surpass the visitor’s first innings total of 112 for six declared at tea on the first day.
Fri, May 30, '14
ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Off spinner Sunil Narine has advised the West Indies Cricket Board that he has opted to remain in India to participate in the final of the Indian Premier League and consequently will not join the West Indies Training Camp in preparation for the Test Series against New Zealand by June 1st as is required by the WICB.
Narine had been in discussion with the WICB and was required to advise the Board by May 24 whether he will join the squad currently in training in Barbados on June 1.
Fri, May 30, '14
Sunil Narine has suddenly found himself between a rock and a hard place.
If the spinner remains in India to play for Kolkata Knight Riders in Sunday's IPL 2014 final, as he wants to, he will miss the West Indies Cricket Board's [WICB] June 1 deadline for joining the preparatory camp for the imminent home series against New Zealand, disqualifying him from selection.
"It is his decision," WICB's chief executive officer Michael Muirhead said on Friday. "The cut-off date for joining the camp was moved forward from May 22 to June 1 specifically to allow those players involved in the IPL the opportunity for more matches. Anyone who is in breach won't be considered for selection."
Thu, May 29, '14
New Zealand will begin their summer tour of the Caribbean with a warm-up match against a Jamaica XI at the expansive Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium beginning at 10 a.m. today, and head coach Mike Hesson is expecting a thorough workout ahead of the first Test at Sabina Park.
"We are not yet at full strength because a number of our players are still with their clubs in the Indian Premier League," Hesson said, "but we are taking this match seriously, as we want to be match-ready when the Tests comes around."
The Black Caps are missing skipper Brendan McCallum, Corey Anderson, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor when they take on the Jamaicans over two days of action.
He said acclimatisation has been going well since arriving and that all the players were ready for the challenge of playing the Jamaicans, and has identified the fast-bowling department as his team's strength.