Brian Lara believes the upcoming IPL will play a "huge" role in deciding if Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo should play the T20 World Cup later this year or not. Given their age and the injury issues Gayle, 40, and Bravo, 36, have been facing over the last few years, Lara said a gruelling tournament like the IPL will be a good indicator for the West Indies selectors to identify the players for the team's preparations in the subsequent months.
"I think the IPL is going to be a huge point or signal for who is actually going to carry on," Lara told ESPNcricinfo in an interview, when asked about Dwayne Bravo and Gayle. "It's still going to be five months after the IPL for the World Cup. Fitness levels are very important, but a gruesome tournament like the IPL is going to tell the West Indies selectors who are the players that they really need going into the last four months of preparation for the World Cup."
While Dwayne Bravo returned to the West Indies T20I side after over three years, to play against Ireland at home in January and then the Sri Lanka T20Is earlier this month, Gayle has been away from T20Is since March 2019 although he has been playing in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and the Mzansi Super League (MSL) in the last few months. Since the IPL last year, he has played 10 matches in the Caribbean Premier League, six in the MSL and four in the BPL, while also participating in the ODI World Cup and three home ODIs at home against India in August.
Barbados Pride will have West Indies Test captain Jason Holder in their squad when they face Guyana Jaguars in a crucial showdown on Thursday.
Premier fast bowler Kemar Roach will also be suiting up for Pride in their top of the table clash with the five-time defending champions at the National Stadium in Providence. The inclusion of all-rounder Holder, who has played 40 Tests to date, is a boost for Pride.
Barbados failed in their pursuit of a sixth successive win in the six-team championship, losing to Trinidad and Tobago Red Force by 147 runs on Sunday. They were bowled out about 25 minutes before tea on the final day of the seventh round matches, as they chased 330 for victory.
President of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has claimed his predecessors paid teams, including the West Indies, exorbitant sums to play matches on the country’s home soil.
In wake of a vicious attack on the team bus of a touring Sri Lanka team, in Lahore, in 2009, the country had been blacklisted as a destination for international cricket. As a result of opponents refusing to visit Pakistan, the country was forced to use the UAE as a home venue for a decade.
Former Pakistan cricketer Tanvir Ahmed has opened a new Pandora's box with his latest controversial claim related to recent management changes in the Peshawar Zalmi franchise.
While speaking in a Youtube video, former pacer reflected on Zalmi’s decision to appoint veteran all-rounder Darren Sammy as the team’s head coach in the middle of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) season five.
“When these things happen in the middle of the tournament, then doubts creep in people’s mind that there is something wrong between the owner and Darren Sammy,” Tanvir said. “Even some former cricketers said that there is some rift between them which is why Sammy came up with a cryptic tweet. I think in order to settle the issue and not create any further controversy, Zalmi management decided to give Sammy the role of the head coach.”
Windies Women’s coach Gus Logie is a disappointed man after his side was unceremoniously ousted from the recently concluded ICC Women’s T20 World Cup but it isn’t because of the losses, it’s because he believes they can do better.
According to Logie, the West Indies Women are a much better batting team than they have proved so far.
“It's T20 cricket, you need to show courage, you need to show composure. If you are timid you are not going produce the kind of scores you want to produce and we've seen that with our batting, it's been pretty timid the whole series starting with the first game against Thailand when you have a score of 70-odd to get and it took 16 overs to get it,” said Logie, who watched as his side started with a seven-wicket win over Thailand before being blitzed by Pakistan and then England. Their final game against South Africa was abandoned on account of persistent showers.
