ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – The best women’s cricketers in the West Indies have assembled today in St. Kitts for the CG United Super50 Cup and T20 Blaze tournaments to be played from 8 to 27 May. The six regional teams have announced their squads to compete in five rounds of 50-over matches in the CG United Super50 Cup and then five rounds of T20 cricket in the T20 Blaze.
Barbados are defending champions in the CG United Super50 Cup and Jamaica the defending champions of the T20 Blaze.
Barbados and West Indies Women’s captain Hayley Matthews will miss the T20 Blaze tournament as she has been granted a recovery period after the CG United Super50 Cup as part of CWI’s player workload management. NaiJanni Cumberbatch, the 15-year-old right-handed batter, comes into the squad for the T20 Blaze. Jamaican all-rounder Chinelle Henry will miss both tournaments as she is on a return to play rehabilitation programme following her injury in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in February.
The CG United Super50 Cup matches will be played at three venues – Warner Park, the Conaree Cricket Centre, and St. Paul’s Sports Complex. In each of the five rounds, all three matches will take place concurrently. First ball is 10am local time. Barbados start their title defence against Trinidad & Tobago Red Force Divas at Warner Park on Monday, 8 May.
ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – The Cricket West Indies (CWI) Senior Men’s Selection Panel today named the fifteen-man squad for the West Indies “A” Team tour of Bangladesh. Joshua Da Silva, the West Indies Test wicket-keeper/batter, will captain the team in the three four-day “Test” matches against Bangladesh “A” starting on 16 May.
Along with Da Silva, the 15-member squad includes other players with West Indies Test match experience: left-handed opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul, left-handed allrounder Raymon Reifer, fast bowler Anderson Phillip and left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie.
The squad also includes three newcomers to the international level: openers Kirk McKenzie and Zachary McCaskie as well as fast bowler Jair McAllister. All three made their first-class debuts during the West Indies Championship four-day first-class tournament earlier this year.
Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Hon. Olivia “Babsy” Grange, says Jamaica intends to throw their hat in the ring in hopes of being able to host matches at next year’s ICC T20 World Cup set to be held in the West Indies and the USA in June.
“In relation to the World Cup, we are interested. We are looking at the numbers and I’m in discussion with Billy Heaven, President of the Jamaica Cricket Association,” Grange told SportsMax.TV.
“A letter was written to the Prime Minister about it by Cricket West Indies and he has referred the matter to me. We’re looking at the numbers and having discussions. The bid is coming up shortly so we have to make a decision very soon but it is something we’d like to do,” the minister added.
For context, Jamaica has not hosted a Caribbean Premier League (CPL) match since 2019 and will, once again, not host any in the upcoming season. The country last hosted an international game in January 2022 when the West Indies hosted Ireland for three ODIs and three T20Is.
As it relates to 2023, “things didn’t quite come together for matches” according to CPL Head of PR and Communications Peter Miller.
“Talks are ongoing for 2024 and we are hopeful that we will have matches in Jamaica in the future.”
Cricket West Indies has moved to settle their legal dispute with former selectors Courtney Browne and Eldine Baptiste, cricket commentator and broadcaster Andrew Mason is reporting.
The two former West Indies players received letters of termination on April 10, 2019, shortly after Ricky Skerritt and Dr Kishore Shallow won the Cricket West Indies presidential elections in March that year. The termination letters made reference to a task force that was being established to review the selection system. The task force that was chaired by CWI Vice President Dr Kishore Shallow was expected to make recommendations.
Notwithstanding that the task force had not yet met, CWI fired the selectors ahead any recommendations that would have come from the task force.
Explosive West Indies batsman Johnson Charles has been called up by Kolkata Knight Riders for the remaining matches of the 2023 IPL season.
In what will be his first stint in the IPL, the 34-year-old Charles joins KKR as a replacement for Litton Das, who departs to represent Bangladesh in a three-match ODI series against Ireland from May 9-14. He was contracted by KKR at a cost of USD$60,000.
Charles returned to the West Indies set up in October 2022 after a six-year absence from the team. In March 2023, he exploded scoring a 39-ball ton against South Africa and is expected to provide some stability to the KKR line-up that has struggled this season. KKR with only three wins from their nine matches so far this season are currently eighth in the 10-team league.
He will team up with former West Indies players Andre Russell and Sunil Narine in the KKR line-up.
