ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Cricket West Indies (CWI) is undertaking a thorough regional bid process for Caribbean countries wanting to host the ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup, which will be held in the West Indies at the start of next year as the countdown to the event begins.
The tournament will feature 16 teams competing over a one-month period starting in early 2022. This is the first time the West Indies will host the event and it is likely to be staged across three host countries and will include the game’s future stars competing in 64 matches in the 50-over format.
The teams will battle for one of the eight spots in the Super League stage before having the chance to win the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Trophy. The remaining eight teams will fight for the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Plate. West Indies have won the tournament once before, in February 2016 when they beat India in the final in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Half-centuries from Kyle Mayers and Roston Chase were the highlights of the second day of Cricket West Indies’ President’s XI vs Sri Lanka as the fixture ended in a predictable draw.
Left-hander Mayers made a typically stroke-filled 57 off just 66 balls as the President’s XI took a first-innings lead of 122. He used the match as ideal preparations for the first Sandals Test match, which starts on Sunday at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
They started the second day on 103-1 and made 294 in reply to Sri Lanka’s first innings 172. In the second innings, the visitors were 56-0 when the match was called off at 4:50 pm.
Former Windies wicketkeeper, Deryck Murray, believes it is important for the team to cultivate the habit of winning and admits to being encouraged by the displays in recent weeks.
The West Indies followed up a gutsy away win over Bangladesh, with a hard-fought T20 series win over Sri Lanka, before putting on a dominant display in a One Day International (ODI) series against the same opponents.
While some may view the results with an air of skepticism, due to what they believe is inferior opposition, Murray was quick to point out that the team’s approach and attitude in recent encounters was just as important as the results and could augur well for the future.
“We are at a stage where West Indies cricket, let’s face facts, is at the bottom of the rung and we have taken the opportunity to beat teams on an equal footing with us or just above us,” Murray told the Mason and Guest radio show.
The last two years in West Indies cricket has been, simply put, a period of change. The latest of which will see Kraigg Brathwaite, on Sunday morning in Antigua, taking the field asofficial captain of the West Indies Test team for the first time. The transition from former captain Jason Holder to Brathwaite, has, in effect, seen the West Indies swapping an all-rounder who currently walks into any Test XI on the merit of performance—while falling short as a tactical leader—for an opener, who has been averaging 22.6 over the last 25 months—while being deemed as the man to lead WINDIES forward, in red-ball cricket.
However, this argument of tactical awareness, or the lack thereof, should not distract us from the fact that the first Test against Sri Lanka will signal the start of a new era for this West Indies team; therefore, demanding patience from Caribbean fans. Gratefully, as with Holder before him, Brathwaite will have a bowling line-up that practically selects itself—with competent ‘second-string’ options. Likewise, the struggles his predecessor wrestled—including Brathwaite’s lack of form, along with that of the entire top-order—neither of which will instantaneously vanish.
Former West Indies all-rounder, Ian Bradshaw, has warned the Caribbean side their batting has to be more clinical if they are to successfully defend their Twenty20 World Cup title in India later this year.
The 46-year-old said while West Indies defeated Sri Lanka 2-1 in the just-concluded series in Antigua, the home side lacked conviction in their batting and was also guilty of irresponsible stroke-play, which needlessly put the innings under pressure.
Bradshaw also urged West Indies management to be “brutally honest” with the squad in order to lift the level of performance.
“I’m disappointed by the manner of our victories,” said Bradshaw, who featured in five Tests and 62 One-Day Internationals.
