Cricket West Indies (CWI) has announced the 15-member squad for the 50 over leg of the white ball home series against Pakistan, set to take place at the iconic Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, Trinidad. The series will feature three CG United One-Day Internationals (ODIs) on August 8, 10 and 12.
Hunting a fourth consecutive ODI series win at home, the squad has the nucleus of players who were successful during home series wins against England and Bangladesh to end 2024 as well as the tour of the United Kingdom earlier this year.
The highly anticipated tour will be the final one of the “Full Ah Energy” home series and provides an opportunity for CWI to focus on building its ODI team ahead of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027.
If the West Indies are to end their 34-year wait for a One-Day International (ODI) bilateral series win over Pakistan, Captain Shai Hope believes it hinges on their ability to play spin bowling.
Hope made the assertion following his side’s 13-run loss to Pakistan in the third and final Twenty20 International (T20I) at the Broward County Stadium on Sunday, which saw them lose the three-match series 2-1.
During that series, West Indies was undone by the left-arm spin of Mohammed Nawaz, who took seven wickets and was named Player-of-the-Series.
“The first thing is adaptation. Every single place that we played in the Caribbean or here in the US, conditions are so different.
“So the first thing we need to do is assess, see what’s the best plans to formulate for that particular surface, the wind conditions, all these things we have to take into account,” Hope said.
The 12 living West Indies cricket legends from the inaugural 1975 Cricket World Cup are now citizens of St Vincent and the Grenadines. As an act of law, Vincentian citizenship has been conferred upon the winners of the 1975 Prudential World Cup.
This was announced at Sunday’s luncheon at the Prime Minister’s official residence to honour the cricket legends during the inaugural SVG Emancipation Cricket Festival.
Not only will they enjoy citizenship to the ‘Land of the Blessed’, but the legends’ likenesses will also appear on commemorative 50 dollar stamps to recognise the 50th anniversary of their achievement.
Minister of Tourism Carlos James also announced that the double-decker stand at the Arnos Vale Ground will be renamed ‘The Legends Stand’.
“We felt these things were intangible but important hallmarks. Later on tonight, we also will have them with us at the Arnos Vale Cricket Ground, where we will also have a brief ceremonial activity. Our double-decker stand will officially be named the Legends Stand in honour of 1975,” he said.
On a night when he surpassed former West Indies superstar Dwayne Bravo as the regional team’s leading wicket-taker in the Twenty/20 format, the team’s former skipper Jason Holder said his job in West Indies colours is far from finished.
With the ball, the lanky Holder had magical figures of four for 19 to help restrict Pakistan to 133 for nine in the second match of the three-match T20 series at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida, on August 2.
In the process, the 33-year-old Holder got to 81 T20 wickets in 74 matches for the Windies – bypassing Bravo, who claimed 78 wickets in 91 matches.
Holder, whose stint as West Indies captain spanned from 2014-2021, was delighted to play a part in ending the team’s losing run and vowed to do much more for the Men in Maroon.
“I love playing for West Indies, to be honest. One of my things is to leave West Indies cricket better than I came and found it.
“We haven’t done justice to our potential over the last couple of weeks and maybe the last couple of years. We’ve had a fair bit of criticism which at times is warranted, but we know within that we could be a lot better,” he said.
Roston Chase became the first batter to retire out during a men's T20I featuring two Full Member teams when he went off during West Indies' chase of 190 in the deciding game against Pakistan in Lauderhill on Sunday.
West Indies had gotten off to a good start, with Alick Athanaze scoring a 40-ball 60 opening the innings, but they slowed down once he was dismissed to leave the scoreboard reading 110 for 3 at the end of the 13th over. The requirement then was 80 runs from 42 balls.
While Sherfane Rutherford, the No. 4, got going immediately, Chase struggled to go big, hitting just two fours in a 12-ball 15 before he was called back to the dugout - 41 runs were needed off 18 balls after that, and West Indies only managed 27 to concede the series 2-1.
