West Indies coach Phil Simmons hopes the relative experience of the Test team, compared to the One Day International (ODI) unit, will make for a more competitive showing against Bangladesh when the series bowls off next week.
The ODI team, which was captained by Jason Mohammed, was the hardest hit, however, with at least eight players making their international team debut. With more proven campaigners like bowlers Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel, and batsmen Kraigg Brathwaite and Jermaine Blackwood, the Test team should be in better shape, in terms of experience in any case.
“It’s a big difference, we may have one, maybe two debutants for this Test series, whereas we had 10 for the ODI series. So, it’s a huge difference,” Simmons said.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) president, Ricky Skerritt, is adamant that the recent refusal by senior players to take part in the ongoing tour of Bangladesh and the subsequent results must be framed within the broader context of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The regional team was on the wrong side of a 3-0 mauling, at the hands of Bangladesh, in a lopsided series that showed a tremendous gulf in quality between the two teams.
“We have to deal with the reality that players are facing a tremendously stressful decision about their careers and whether they participate in cricket under risky situations; even though cricket West Indies and other boards are doing everything possible to minimize the risk,” Skerritt told the Mason and Guest radio show.
ST JOHN’S, Antigua — Cricket West Indies (CWI) has finalized a groundbreaking new five-year deal with ESPN+ for the exclusive media and digital rights in the United States to all West Indies international home matches and regional tournaments.
CWI President Ricky Skerritt said: “This is CWI’s largest-ever media rights agreement in the USA and is the first of several new multi-year agreements which we will confirm in the coming weeks. Broadcast media rights income is crucial to the future financial sustainability of CWI, and this five-year rights agreement is just the start of good things to come.”
CWI’s media partnership with ESPN, North America’s largest sports broadcaster, will bring West Indies cricket to millions of households and viewers across the United States through the ESPN+ sports streaming service.
In-form West Indies middle-order batsman, Jermaine Blackwood, has credited brief advice received from top-class India batsman Virat Kohli as helpful in changing his mindset towards scoring runs.
The 29-year-old scored his first century against England in 2015, a plucky 112 unbeaten in a draw in Antigua. Following that impressive achievement, however, Blackwood seemed unable to cross the double-digit threshold. In fact, before finally breaking the streak with 104 against New Zealand, in December, Blackwood had managed to score 10 half-centuries in-between but always fell short of a triple-digit score.
“I just asked him how come all the time I score so many half-centuries and just one century, and he just replied, ‘What did you do when you scored the century? How many deliveries did you face?’ I said I faced 212, and he said that’s it, once you can bat some balls you will score runs,” Blackwood recalled.
ST JOHN’S, Antigua — Cricket West Indies (CWI) today confirmed a host of top West Indian players who will participate in February’s CG Insurance Super50 Cup, as all six teams finalised their 15-member squads. The six major cricketing rivals will go head-to-head in 19 action-packed 50-over matches starting from Sunday, February 7. The tournament will come to an exciting climax when the new champions are crowned on Saturday, February 27.
Fans can watch the matches live from the Coolidge Cricket Ground on ESPN Caribbean and matches live from the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on CWI’s website and YouTube channel.
West Indies white-ball skipper, Kieran Pollard will be at the helm of the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force, while Test captain Jason Holder will be in charge of theBarbados Pride. The cream of West Indies cricket and a host of exciting young talent will be taking part including players such as Roston Chase (Barbados Pride), Shimron Hetmyer (Guyana Jaguars), Sheldon Cottrell (Jamaica Scorpions), Hayden Walsh Jr (Leeward Islands Hurricanes), Nicholas Pooran (Trinidad and Tobago Red Force) and Andre Fletcher (Windward Islands Volcanoes).
