Roston Chase has been appointed West Indies Test vice-captain for the tour of New Zealand, according to reports yesterday.
The Daily Nation reported that Chase had replaced compatriot and long-serving opening batsman Kraigg Brathwaite in the position for the Test series against the Black Caps.
“When I got the call from head coach Phil Simmons, he told me that he had a chat with the selectors and the board, and they agreed that I was the player for the vice-captaincy role for the tour,” he told the newspaper.
“At first, I was a bit shocked because I was never in that vice-captaincy capacity. Not even in a Barbados team. I was never a vice-captain, and I thought there were players in the team that has held those positions.
“I captained West Indies ‘A’ in a One-day series previously, so I guess they took it from there to nominate me for the position.”
This morning, Cricket West Indies (CWI) was informed that some members of our New Zealand touring party had contravened the strict COVID-19 protocols within the team’s Managed Isolation Facility in Christchurch.
The New Zealand Ministry of Health has advised us that all members of the West Indies touring party will now be unable to train for the remainder of the quarantine period and will have to complete their quarantine within the Managed Isolation Facility only. CWI is in full support of the New Zealand Ministry of Health’s position.
From the information we have received so far, we have been told that the incidents in question included some players compromising the bubble integrity by mixing between two separate West Indies bubbles into which the touring party had been split, by sharing food and socializing in hallways. There is no evidence, or suggestion, that any members of the touring party left the facility, or that any unauthorized persons accessed it.
Ahead of the tour to New Zealand, the West Indies touring party all returned two negative COVID-19 tests before leaving the Caribbean and underwent two further tests since they have been in New Zealand. All results were negative.
The players underwent their final scheduled tests this morning and, results permitting, are scheduled to leave the Managed Isolation Facility on Friday to travel to Queenstown ahead of two warm-up matches against New Zealand “A”.
CWI has already begun an internal investigation into the reported incidents.
Deandra Dottin always wished to play in the Women’s T20 Challenge. Today, she not only fulfilled that wish but is now a champion as well.
The Barbadian all-rounder today scored 20 of the Trailblazer’s 118 for 8 that was good enough to defeat Supernovas by 16 runs in Sharjah.
Dottin and Smriti Mandhana who top-scored with 68, shared in an opening stand of 17 before the Windies Women star was out in the 12th over, caught going for a big hit over deep midwicket off a Poonam Yadav delivery.
Their 50 partnership came up off just 38 deliveries with Mandhana doing the bulk of the scoring with 39.
Stafanie Taylor’s Player of the Match performance helped Adelaide Strikers pull off a nail-biting six-run win over the Melbourne Renegades in the Women’s Big Bash League in Sydney, Australia on Monday.
Coming in a number-five Taylor scored a 48-ball 60 that included seven fours and a six rescuing Adelaide from a precarious 26 for 4 and hauling them to a respectable 127 for 9 before being last out on the penultimate ball of the innings.
Only Amanda-Jade Wellington, who scored 21 from 22 balls, scored any runs of note to support the Jamaica and West Indies captain. Together they put on 43 for the fifth wicket which helped Adelaide recover somewhat from a disastrous start as Sophie Molineux (3 for 20) and Rosemarie Mair (2 for 14) wreaked havoc on Adelaide’s line up.
Needing 128 for victory, the Renegades got off to an equally bad start and were 12 for 3 after four overs.
West Indies head coach Phil Simmons has expressed optimism that the team has added needed firepower to its batting line-up following the return of talented batsman Darren Bravo, ahead of the New Zealand series.
The 31-year-old Bravo, along with Shimron Hetmyer and Keemo Paul, declined not to take part in the team’s tour of England earlier this year, citing health concerns due to the ongoing pandemic.
Despite winning the first Test with a commendable performance, the West Indies batting line-up went through its typical struggles in the next two, as the series went to England 2-1. The West Indies's batting performance in the England series was among their worst on tour since 2000, with the top-6 averaging just 28.66 and no century in the entire three-game series.
“He’s (Bravo) has always been important, to the Test team especially, and it’s good to have him and Shimron back in the squad,” Simmons told members of the media on Friday.
