ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Cricket West Indies (CWI) today announced that tickets are now on general sale for the West Indies vs England five-match T20I Series and three-match Test Series in 2022. Fans can register for their new ticket accounts at www.windiescricket.com/tickets and purchase their selected seats in advance for any individual match day or special five-day Test season tickets.
Tickets are available in four price categories providing a range of viewing positions for every budget from US$80 for premium seats with the best views behind the bowlers’ arms to US$20 for mounds and grounds entry in Antigua. Five-Day Test Match “season tickets” provide access to all five days of cricket at a discounted price to buying each match day.
West Indies fans residing in the Caribbean will receive special promotions for the England tour when they register for a ticket account, as well as access to preferred seats in advance of each match. The new CWI Ticket service will offer advance ticketing access for every West Indies home fixture, delivering tickets direct to fans’ mobile devices for presentation on mobile screens for entry into the stadium. Alternatively, fans can print out their tickets at home to bring to the game. Every fan will also have the opportunity to receive special matchday incentives and promotions through their ticket accounts.
Eoin Morgan will lead a 16-strong T20I squad in England's tour of the West Indies.
The five-match series takes place in Barbados from January 22 to 30, with the first match scheduled only four days after the final Ashes Test is due to end.
Therefore, none of England's Ashes squad have been considered for selection, while Paul Collingwood will stand-in for Chris Silverwood as coach.
"We have selected a strong squad with some serious batting power and a balanced attack as we begin preparations ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia," said Collingwood.
Businessman Chris Dehring believes the lack of professionalism among West Indies cricketers is hurting the region’s chances of becoming a force in world cricket once more.
Dehring, who was CEO of the ICC World Cup held in the Caribbean in 2007, visually and performance-wise the current West Indies teams, just don’t look the part.
“There is no West Indies team that when they step out onto the field, they don’t look like the athlete of the day,” Dehring argued while speaking on the popular Mason and Guest sports talk show in Barbados on Tuesday.
“That is from a visual aesthetic perspective. We were the athletes, we were the thing people would pay to come and see. And when you look at the West Indies team now at the Test level or even at the recent T20 World Cup, it’s shocking, a jarring visual to see how athletic the Bangladeshis are, the Indians, the Australians, the Pakistanis; we are rotund, overweight, looking unfit.”
West Indies Women’s all-rounder Hayley Matthews is happy with the work she has done and the results she has produced in 2021.
The all-rounder had a stellar year for West Indies Women as she featured in the top 10 among bowlers and batters in One-Day Internationals (ODIs). She took 18 wickets at an average of 22.44 runs per wicket, with best bowling figures of 4-26 in Karachi as international cricket returned to Pakistan in November. She also made 380 runs, which included one century – 100 not out against Pakistan in Antigua in July.
“I definitely set goals at the beginning of the year. I think, ‘bowling-wise’, I probably exceeded the goals. I know I wanted to perform well with the ball, and the wickets I was able to tally up and the economy rate, these are what I feel very pleased about. I did what the team required.”
One of the critics of the selections made for West Indies’ Twenty20 (T20) Cricket World Cup squad is not only in agreement with the decision to sack most of the selection panel, but believes changes are also needed to the management team.
Former West Indies player and Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board chief executive Suruj Ragoonath told the Sunday Express newspaper that Cricket West Indies’ (CWI) decision not to renew the contracts of lead selector Roger Harper and fellow selector Miles Bascombe, when they expire at year-end, was “the right thing to do, given the team performance and the whole selection debacle”.
The sackings come a month after West Indies’ failed T20 World Cup title defense, when the panel’s selections sparked widespread criticism for the inclusion of an out-of-form Chris Gayle, fast bowler Oshane Thomas and Ravi Rampaul, at the expense of several players who were expected to have been chosen, such as Romario Shepherd and Sherfane Rutherford.
