Sat, May 4, '19 by KRISSANIA YOUNG
Ireland will play hosts to the West Indies and Bangladesh in a seven-match Tri-Series, set to start on Sunday May 5th, where each team will play the other twice before the finale which takes place twelve days later on the 17th. This series was touted as ‘World Cup preparation’, but unavoidably, seven members of the West Indies World Cup squad are on franchise duty in the Indian Premier League. Therefore, the West Indies must aim to control what remains in their hands, with regards to the eight available members of this 14-man squad. The first being Shai Hope.
Shai
Almost guaranteed as West Indies’ number three, later this month, the aim must be to keep him there, even as he tries to regain some form. And with the very real possibility of a Campbell/Ambris opening partnership, there is no reason for Hope to be shuffled up the order and then down, again, come tournament time. The same can be said for the Bajan and his duties behind the stumps; even with the inclusion of Shane Dowrich – who one might argue is a more naturally gifted wicket-keeper. If the West Indies are thinking ‘World Cup strategies’ while in Ireland, it will be important to ask players – where possible – to fill roles they will be undertaking at the World Cup.
Jason
For the leader he has become and all the potential he has fulfilled with both bat and ball in Tests and for all the ranks he’s continuing to climb with ball in hand in ODIs; the magic just seems to escape Holder with bat in hand when he’s in maroon, doesn’t it? Well if there was ever a time, it is now. We all know he can bat and bat long, but when he refuses to move up the order and rather bat in a finisher’s position, should we not ask of him finishing? Well, off the back of the business he just did for his team in County Cricket, in English conditions, “finishing” we should expect.
Bowling Attack (maybe an attack on Ashley)
With most of West Indies’ named World Cup bowling attack present, fans will have the opportunity to see how the men in maroon plan on utilizing the bowlers at their disposal. Consequently, the fate of the ‘Ploy of Two Spinners’ will be revealed. Will the captain and coaches be brave enough to leave Nurse out, if necessary? After all, the surmised reasons, by fans, as to why HE IS ALWAYS IN THE TEAM, UNLESS INJURED, is that he bowls in powerplay 1, as well as at the death, while being a valuable contributor with the bat at the tail-end of the innings – which are all true. BUT, there is no more Devendra Bishoo for Nurse to hide behind; where his continued inclusion after failed performances will be justified as him being the lesser of two evils… Because, well, well, well… Fabian Allen is a specialist T20 bowler – all his overs are usually under pressure. Fabian Allen is a batsman – he hits the ball well. And oh, Fabian Allen is a genuine all-rounder–
We will also have an opportunity to assess a 2019-ODI-playing Shannon Gabriel and the no-ball issues he brings with him. Finally, deciphering, for ourselves, the prudence of his inclusion, in the first place.
Full squad: Jason Holder (c) Shai Hope (wk), John Campbell, Darren Bravo, Sunil Ambris, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich, Sheldon Cottrell, Ashley Nurse, Fabian Allen, Shannon Gabriel, Jonathan Carter, Raymon Reifer and Kemar Roach.
Fri, May 3, '19
Stafanie Taylor, Hayley Matthews and Shakera Selman of the West Indies Women’s team will join their international counterparts to participate in the four-match tri-series being hosted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from May 6-11 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur.
Stafanie and Shakera will play for the Trailblazers, captained by Smriti Mandhana, while Hayley will play for Velocity, captained by Mithali Raj.
India holds special memories for the West Indies Women’s team as they won their first ICC Women’s World T20 title there in 2016. Captain of that winning 2016 team Stafanie Taylor is excited about returning to play in India, “I’ve always enjoyed playing in India but this will be a new experience for me. I’m looking forward to soaking up the atmosphere that I’ve seen in the IPL on TV and I’m hoping that this season will be a catalyst to have an actual women’s IPL.”
Fri, May 3, '19
The Brisbane Times has a look back to this day in 1978, when play was stopped in the fifth Test between the West Indies and Australia after the crowd at Sabina Park rioted in response to umpiring decisions.
A controversial and unique cricket series died a sad and painful death at Sabina Park here yesterday when the fifth Test between Australia and the West Indies was sabotaged by rioting Jamaicans and a pedantic umpire.
Despite agreements by both captains Bob Simpson and Alvin Kallicharran, and the West Indies Cricket Board of Control that the game should be completed, not one ball of the 6.2 overs to be bowled was delivered,
As a result Australia were stranded an inch from victory, and the West Indies won back the Frank Worrell Trophy by an unprecedented margin of three Tests to one.
Read the full article at The Brisbane Times.
Thu, May 2, '19
Vijay Mallya, the Indian businessman, will lose ownership of Caribbean Premier League side Barbados Tridents ahead of the upcoming 2019 season. Damien O'Donohoe, the league CEO, has confirmed that talks are on with a number of prospective buyers, and new owners would be announced ahead of the player draft on May 22 in London.
Mallya, who earlier owned IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore, is currently fighting to avoid extradition from the United Kingdom to India, where he is alleged to have committed bank fraud, with authorities trying to recover millions in unpaid loans.
His mounting legal and financial troubles have also impacted the Tridents, which he took ownership of in 2016, with players yet to be paid in full for the 2018 season that finished in September.
Read more at ESPNCricinfo
Thu, May 2, '19
West Indies arrived in Ireland on Wednesday evening as they prepare for the upcoming Tri-Nation Series featuring the host nation and Bangladesh.
On arrival, assistant coach Roddy Estwick spoke to CWI Media and outlined the team’s plans ahead of the first match against Ireland.
The match will be played on Sunday at the Clontarf Cricket Ground in Dublin. First ball is 10:30 am (5:30 am Eastern Caribbean Time/4:30 am Jamaica Time).
Estwick said the Caribbean side will use the upcoming tournament as part of their preparations for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 England & Wales from May 30 to July 14.
“You obviously want to win, you don’t go into any series not looking to win, but what you want is for us to play good cricket, execute our plans well, enjoy each other’s company,” said Estwick.
“It should be a great experience for a lot of the younger players. It’s an opportunity for them to showcase their talents at this level. A lot of them haven’t played for the West Indies at this level before so it’s a great opportunity for them.”
“Even though they’re not going to the World Cup, it’s still important they go out and play good cricket and the ones that are going to the World Cup, this is the chance to get in some meaningful practice, so this tournament is going to be very important for a lot of different reasons.”
At the end of the Tri-Nations Series, West Indies will travel to England for a pre-World Cup camp. They will then have official World Cup warm-up matches against South Africa and New Zealand at the County Ground in Bristol on May 26 and 28, respectively.
West Indies open the World Cup against Pakistan on May 31 at Trent Bridge.
West Indies have won the World Cup on two occasions – in 1975 and 1979 – both in England under the leadership of Clive Lloyd.
The squad is:
- Jason Holder (Captain)
- Fabian Allen
- Sunil Ambris
- Darren Bravo
- John Campbell
- Jonathan Carter
- Roston Chase
- Sheldon Cottrell
- Shane Dowrich
- Shannon Gabriel
- Shai Hope
- Ashley Nurse
- Raymon Reifer
- Kemar Roach
Schedule:
Sunday, May 5: Ireland vs West Indies – Clontarf
Tuesday, May 7: West Indies vs Bangladesh – Clontarf
Thursday, May 9: Ireland vs Bangladesh – Malahide
Saturday, May 11: Ireland vs West Indies – Malahide