The West Indies, last week, became the final team to release their 15-man squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup, taking place in England & Wales, next month. With a change at the top of Cricket West Indies came the expectation that the ‘big names’ of the region’s game would waltz into the team, to contest the 12th edition of the tournament. On the contrary and to the genuine surprise of some, the core of the Jason Holder-led side was retained to follow the Bajan into his second tournament at the helm.
During England’s recent limited-overs series in the West Indies, we identified the weaknesses in this team as being;
The inability to finish an innings,
ineffective death-bowling and a lack of death-bowlers themselves,
futile spinners – translating to a lack of wicket-taking options in the middle overs.
As well as, imbalance, stemming from the absence of a top-order batsman which offers the captain the additional option of five or six decent overs on a consistent basis.
While, finally stressing the need for this West Indian team and coaching staff to appreciate specialist batsmen and bowlers in their respective roles.
The Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and Cricket West Indies (CWI) have agreed to move the tournament window for the 2019 tournament to avoid a clash with the West Indies’ Test, ODI and T20 International series against India. These international matches have been moved back at the request of the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) which meant that the West Indies international players would otherwise no longer be available for the tournament.
Hero CPL will now take place from 4 September to 12 October. The full schedule of matches will be released in due course with matches already confirmed for Barbados, Jamaica, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago.
Moving the tournament gives the best possible chance for all players to take part in the Caribbean Premier League and the series against India. Both Cricket West Indies and Hero CPL are firmly committed to making sure that players can take full part in both the CPL and international cricket and have been working very closely together to find this solution.
Speaking about the window for the tournament, Pete Russell, COO of Hero CPL, said: “The Caribbean Premier League pride itself on being in the very top echelon of T20 tournaments around the world, and for that to happen we need the best players available. We want our fans to be able to watch the best local talent taking part and that is why we are more than happy to be flexible with our dates to make that happen. The Biggest Party in Sport may have been delayed by two weeks, but it is going to be even better as a result.”
Johnny Grave, CEO of CWI, said: “The Hero CPL has developed into one of the best and most exciting T20 competitions in the world and we look forward to hosting another successful tournament later this year. We are pleased that we have been able to collaborate with CPL to find a spot in our International calendar to ensure that all the best Caribbean cricketers can take part, as the tournament plays a crucial role in our preparations and planning for the T20 World Cup in 2020.”
ABOUT THE HERO CARIBBEAN PREMIER LEAGUE:
First started in 2013, the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) is a franchise-based T20 format cricket tournament that combines two of the most compelling aspects of Caribbean life – dramatic cricket and a vibrant Carnival atmosphere. Combining broadcast and digital viewership over 200 million fans watched the 2018 season to make it one of the fastest growing leagues in world cricket. Trinbago Knight Riders are the current Hero CPL champions and the other competing teams are Barbados Tridents, Guyana Amazon Warriors, St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots, St. Lucia Stars and Jamaica Tallawahs. For further information visit www.cplt20.com.
The financial situation of Cricket West Indies (CWI) is much worse than previously thought, says newly elected president Ricky Skerritt.
Skerritt, who took over the post after defeating Dave Cameron in elections on March 24, has revealed that due to a lack of resources CWI has not been able to honour all of its financial obligations.
He said however, that the organisation was moving swiftly to address the problem.
Andre Russell has represented West Indies in only a single one-day international since 2015 but his World Cup call-up was not surprising and the hard-hitting all-rounder is hungry to represent the Caribbean side again.
Contractual disputes between the players and Cricket West Indies have weakened the team for several years now with the frosty relations famously culminating in the 2014 tour of India being called off midway through the series.
There have been signs of a thaw recently, however, with a new leadership team in place at the board and the twice 50-over World Cup champions have included former captain Chris Gayle and Russell in their 15-man squad.
The 30-year-old Russell has been in blistering form for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the ongoing Indian Premier League and possesses the highest strike rate of over 209 in the Twenty20 tournament while scoring 406 runs in 11 games.
Just half-dozen players from outside of their home territory were picked up by franchises during the 2019-20 Player Draft for the West Indies domestic professional season today.
Kjorn Ottley, a member of the Combined Campuses & Colleges Marooners side that last November won the West Indies Super50 Cup, now sponsored by Colonial Medical Insurance, headlines the list of six players chosen during the Player Draft staged at the corporate headquarters of Cricket West Indies here.
The Trinidad & Tobago-born batsman, whose solid batting at the top of the order helped to earn the composite Marooners side their first ever regional title, was attained from the Player Pool by the Barbados Pride as one of its five draft picks.
His compatriot Tion Webster was also retained by the Pride and his Marooners teammate, wicketkeeper/batsman Amir Jangoo, also from T&T, was picked up by the Leeward Islands Hurricanes, becoming the third recognised wicketkeeper/batsman on their contracted list.
Former West Indies Under-19 captain, offspinner Ramaal Lewis of Jamaica returns to the Guyana Jaguars, for whom he played last season; Guyanese Bhaskar Yadram, another former Windies Under-19 graduate, was picked up by Windward Islands Volcanoes, who lost out to the Jamaica Scorpions on the choice of wicketkeeper/batsman Denis Smith, after he was surprisingly left off their “protected player” list following a notable performance during the last Championship season.
A handful of players have returned to the franchise in their home territory’s after playing outside in past seasons.
Kyle Mayers returned from the Volcanoes and found a place on the Barbados Pride contracted list, along with fellow all-rounder Roshon Primus, who previously played for the Trinidad & Tobago Red Force.
After playing in previous seasons for the Hurricanes, Nkrumah Bonner made onto the contracted list of the Jamaica Scorpions, which also includes fast-medium bowler Marquino Mindley, who played six games for the Pride last season.
