It has emerged that some squad members of Vijay Mallya-owned Barbados Tridents are still awaiting full payment of their wages following the 2017 Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
It is an embarrassing state of affairs for the CPL organisers who are trying to position the tournament as one of the foremost T20 leagues in the world. Strong broadcasting figures were released last week showing a 25% upturn in broadcast and digital viewership and the competition has increasingly attracted some of the best limited-overs players in the world including New Zealand's Kane Williamson and England's Eoin Morgan who played for the Tridents last year.
ICC Pres Release: Wicketkeeper-batsman Wandile Makwetu missed a well-deserved century by one run as South Africa recovered from 112 for five to 282 for eight.
Makwetu clubbed 12 fours and a six in a 99-ball 99 not out. Makwetu added 58 runs for the sixth wicket with Kenan Smith (22), and 67 runs for the eighth wicket with Gerald Coetzee (29) after South Africa were provided a solid 56-run start by openers Jiveshan Pillay (47) and Matthew Breetzke (18).
In their run-chase, the Windies slipped from 177 for four in the 38th over to be bowled out for 206 in 45.3 overs. Alick Athanage (76, 100b, 6x4, 1x6) and Kirstan Kallicharan (44) were the star Windies batsmen as they put on 90 runs for the fifth wicket.
Hermann Rolfes was the standout South Africa bowler when he recorded figures of 10-3-33-4, while Gerald Coetzee and Jade de Klerk picked up two wickets apiece. Makwetu had an overall good day when he also accounted for three batsmen behind the wickets.
South Africa captain Raynard van Tonder was happy to have won.
“The match was closer than what the scorecard suggests. I think we put up a good team effort and it was good to get some runs down the order because that will help us during the tournament.”
Windies captain Emmanuel Stewart said his players would look forward to their remaining matches:
“We can’t change what has happened but we need to regroup as a team and do our best in the remaining matches. We are disappointed at not having made the Super League but there is still a lot to play for and we are looking forward to our other matches.”
related article: West Indies spark spirit-of-cricket debate with controversial dismissal
CPL Media release: The Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) has announced the tournament’s economic impact across the region. The 2017 event, which took place between 4 August and 9 September last year, created a total economic impact of US$ 95,122,465 across six nations in the Caribbean and in the USA.
This figure has been arrived at by using organiser spend, visitor spend and media value and was calculated for Hero CPL by world-renowned researchers, SMG Insight.
In addition to that economic impact figure the Hero CPL directly involved 2710 local personnel in the seven countries where the tournament took place and filled 33,503 hotel rooms during the 2017 event. The amount of money that was spent by visitors who came to watch Hero CPL matches has increased 161% since 2014.
The value for the seven tournament locations in terms of media exposure was US$ 22,890,940. The global audience for the tournament has increased 12% compared to those that watched the event in 2016.
ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – Following are the Official Points Standings after the ninth round of matches which ended on Sunday in the 2017-18 Digicel 4-Day Championship.
Abbreviations: PTS-total points, M-matches, W-won, L-lost, I-incomplete match, T-tied, A-abandoned match, DP-Abandoned match due to dangerous pitch, MR-match referee awarding match, BAT-batting points, BOWL-bowling points, PB-pace bowling points
ICC Press Release: Two-time world champions the Windies will be the star attraction when 10 sides converge on Zimbabwe next month for the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018, to battle it out for the two remaining places in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. The announcement marks 500 days to the ICC’s pinnacle 50-over tournament, which will be staged in the United Kingdom from 30 May to 15 July.
Queen’s Sports Club and Bulawayo Athletic Club in Bulawayo, Harare Sports Club and Old Hararians Sports Club in Harare and Kwekwe Sports Club, Kwekwe, will share 34 matches between them from 4 to 25 March, with Harare Sports Club staging the final.
The Windies, along with Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe, had missed out on automatic qualification for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 by finishing outside the top eight on the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings at the 30 September 2017 cut-off date. These four sides have been joined by Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Scotland and Papua New Guinea, who finished in the top four of the ICC World Cricket League Championship.
