LEAD SELECTOR Desmond Haynes said the talent pool in the Caribbean was small, and no player could be ruled out of selection for the West Indies men’s international team.
This was the common theme that ran through responses from Haynes during a virtual news conference on Monday that dealt with the glaring non-selection and the absence of a handful of high-profile players, including Shimron Hetmyer, Evin Lewis, and Fabian Allen.
None of the three featured in the men’s team for a series of three One-day Internationals in the United Arab Emirates and the subsequent qualification tournament in Zimbabwe for the 2023 ICC One-Day International Cricket World Cup in India.
“I must say, though, that I just want the public to know that nobody has been ruled out of selection for West Indies,” he said. “We do not have the depth of players to rule out anybody for selection. We really cannot afford to side-line anyone.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE officer Johnny Grave said Cricket West Indies (CWI) has written extensive reports to the International Cricket Council (ICC), the sport’s world body, on the issue of its revenue distribution model, and the lure of players away from the international stage to franchise Twenty20 tournaments around the globe.
The issue of the ICC revenue distribution model became topical when it was revealed that under a proposed new deal, the Indian board was projected to collect nearly 40 per cent of net surplus, about US$230 million per year of annual earnings of US$600 million, from the world body’s next four-year commercial cycle.
“There have been no discussions at the ICC chief executives’ committee meetings on the core distributions from 2024 onwards,” Grave said during a virtual news conference following last Thursday’s CWI board meeting.
“Clearly, on the back of improved media rights deals that the ICC have announced a few months ago, we would certainly be expecting more revenue for CWI from ICC, but we are working to assiduously improve all our revenue streams and explore other diverse revenue opportunities, including the investment we have made here in Antigua at the Coolidge Cricket Ground.”
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, fans of regional cricket were used to a first-class season consisting of each team playing ten games in a home and away format.
Since the return of the West Indies Championship in 2021, the format has been changed drastically.
Now, teams play each other only once, significantly reducing the amount of first-class cricket players around the region are getting to play.
CWI director of cricket, Jimmy Adams, is aware of the concerns raised about the amount of first-class cricket being played in the West indies in comparison to the rest of the world
“The format and structure of the First-Class regional tournament is something that is going to be reviewed coming out of this year,” said the former West Indies batsman.
BASSETERRE, St Kitts – Barbados Women’s won all five of their matches to be crowned champions in the CG United Women’s Super50 Cup for 2023. Playing in the final round against Leeward Islands on Wednesday, the Bajans bowled out the hosts for 74 and then reached the target of 75-3 to record an easy seven-wicket victory at Warner Park.
Barbados captain Hayley Matthews was one of the tournament’s leading performers and said it was a joy to win their fourth consecutive 50-overs regional title. She showered praise on her team-mates.
“We had high expectations so it was really good that we could have a good start to the tournament and finish it with a really good win. Throughout the tournament, we had performances and contributions from everyone which was very pleasing. The juniors were given an opportunity to come through and find their game and they did exactly that. I’m very happy with the way the seniors and junior came together to win the title,” she said.
SYLHET, Bangladesh (CMC) — Half-centuries from openers Kirk McKenzie and Tagenarine Chanderpaul enabled West Indies "A" to make a strong start to their Test series against hosts Bangladesh "A" on Tuesday before adverse weather halted their progress.
McKenzie led the way with 86 and Chanderpaul was not out on 70 — and the Caribbean side reached 220 for two in their first innings before rain stopped play about an hour early on the first day of the four-day, first-class match at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.
The left-handed pair endured little trouble during their time together and shared 130 for the first wicket to set the foundation for the innings after the visitors won the toss and chose to bat on a typically easy-paced pitch.
Alick Athanaze was not out on 35 and had put on 60 — unbroken — with Chanderpaul for the third wicket before the weather intervened, and their fellow left-hander and incumbent Test No 3 Raymon Reifer made 26 in a solid start from the West Indies A top order.
