He is known to be one of the best Twenty20 bowlers in the world, having taken his talents from the senior West Indies team, to as far as the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.
Krishmar Santokie, who to this day possesses some of the best bowling numbers in the Caribbean Premier League, is livid and believes that his homeland franchise, the Jamaica Tallawahs, have shifted their focus from pure cricket to friendship, intertwined with favoritism and business.
They will also be without fast bowler Oshane Thomas, who has joined the Barbados Tridents, while Nepalese spinner Sandeep Lamichhane, who took 12 wickets last season, has been selected by the defending champions, the Trinbago Knight Riders.
“I don’t think it is really about cricket anymore, it is more like a business. People pick some players and they have benefits behind it too,” said Santokie.
“We have players like Andre McCarthy that has done well for the franchise, yet he is not picked, and sometimes when the home-grown talent don’t perform in a couple of games, they crucify them, but when the overseas players have numerous bad games, they are still selected and played,” added Santokie. With that said, the Tallawahs will be banking on their old soldiers Andre Russell along with Rovman Powell and Chadwick Walton to do the bulk of the scoring this season.
Legendary West Indies fast bowler, Andy Roberts, is hopeful developing young pacer Alzarri Joseph has learned a thing or two from his recent stint in English County Cricket.
In his six matches there, Joseph did make some impression, claiming 15 wickets, the second-most in the team and adding 148 runs, with a high score of 61. In addition, he claimed an innings best of 2 for 22 and match best of 4 for 106.
“He spent some time in England which everyone feels like that is the bedrock for development because of the amount of cricket that you play, but gone are the days when you use to play seven days or sometimes, 12 to 14 days in a row, and if you can’t develop from that system then you can’t develop,” Roberts, who represented Hampshire and Leicestershire, told the Antigua Observer.
Former West Indies wicketkeeper, Jackie Hendricks, believes Cricket West Indies (CWI) selectors should consider looking at hard-hitting left-hander Evin Lewis as a Test team opener.
The batsman, who also has 1229 runs in 22 First-Class cricket matches, and a century scored while representing the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force in the regional four-day competition, has not played the format since 2017.
“I’ve always thought the selectors were a little short-sighted for not given him a go in the Test matches,” Hendricks told the Mason and Guest Radio program.
GROS ISLET, Saint Lucia – The Cricket West Indies (CWI) Selection Panel has named a provisional 17-man squad as preparations continue for the upcoming Betway Test Series against South Africa. The squad is expected to be further cut down to an official 13 members on Monday, June 7.
The two-match Betway Test Series will be played at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground for the Sir Vivian Richards Trophy on June 10-14 and June 18-22. These are the final matches in the current cycle of the ICC World Test Championship with both teams trying to finish higher in the final Championship table.
nternational players who miss the resumption of the India Premier League (IPL) could face salary reductions and pro-rata payments from their various franchises.
The IPL was suspended in early May after four players in the biosecure bubble tested positive for Covid-19. The competition is now expected to take place in the September-October window later this year in the UAE.
With the ICC T20 World Cup scheduled for October, the timing of the IPL could interfere with the teams' preparation for the World Cup. This season, nine West Indian players were taking part in the competition before it was postponed.
Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran (Punjab Kings) Andre Russell (Kolkata Knight Riders) Dwayne Bravo (Chennai Super Kings) Sunil Narine (Kolkata Knight Riders), Shimron Hetmyer - Delhi Capitals, and Fabian Allen - Punjab Kings. There is no indication as of yet, whether IPL resumption will clash with plans of Cricket West Indies (CWI). The West Indies are expected to tackle Pakistan in August.
