St. John’s, Antigua - Cricket West Indies (CWI) confirmed the international retainer contracts for the West Indies Men’s Team for the 2021-2022 season. A total of 18 players have offered contracts for the upcoming 2021-22 season which runs from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022.
For the first time Nkrumah Bonner, Joshua Da Silva, Akeal Hosein and Kyle Mayers have been awarded International retainer contracts, whilst newly appointed Test captain Kraigg Brathwaite and Darren Bravo receive International contracts for red ball and white ball cricket respectively.
West Indies Men’s Team Lead Selector, Roger Harper said, “Contracts offered for the 2021-22 period sees 18 players being retained, a decrease of 4 from last year. Jason Holder is the only player to retain his all-format contract due to his strong Test and T20I performances during the evaluation period.”
A plethora of West Indies players are set to return home after Indian Premier League (IPL) organisers suspended the cash-rich Twenty20 league yesterday, as the fallout continued from the wave of COVID-19 infections, which hit the tournament Monday.
Following an emergency meeting between the Indian Premier League Governing Council and the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI), organisers said they had “unanimously” decided to pull the plug “with immediate effect” in the best interest of the health and safety of all stakeholders.
Yesterday, Sunrisers Hyderabad – which features former West Indies Test captain Jason Holder – joined Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in confirming a positive COVID-19 case when Wriddhiman Saha tested positive for the virus.
KKR, for whom Andre Russell and Sunil Narine ply their trade, announced Monday that two players, Varun Chakaravarthy and Sandeep Warrier, had tested positive, and hours later Dwayne Bravo’s CSK said three of their back-room staff had also tested positive.
In the absence of an empirical method, becoming the Best T20 Batsman is about building an argument, a blend of statistical excellence and intangibles. As such, the accolade is constantly up for grabs in an informal tussle. It’s a tussle that has as much to do with recency as it does ability, one or two innings more than capable of throwing a player to the top of our collective imaginations, and rankings. You need the numbers, but it’s not just about them – it needs to feel right. Right now, Nicholas Pooran has as compelling a case as anybody else in the world.
The simple data tells us plenty of the story. In the last two years of domestic cricket, Pooran has flown. His scoring rate, 9.3rpo, has been matched by a batting average of 35, tying explosive hitting to consistent run-scoring, a combination which draws the eye of traditionalists and fanatics alike. Pooran’s effectiveness in T20 domestic leagues is almost unparalleled in the last year or so; since the start of 2020, his Average Batting Impact has risen to +4.9, the second-best of any player in the major leagues.
The breadth of your domestic record is clearly an indicator of your ability, but in T20, the IPL is still the pinnacle. If you strip away the bulk of the T20 calendar and look only at performances in the most major league, Pooran has still been mixing it with the absolute elite. Over the past two seasons the only men outperforming him are established Hall of Fame T20 batsmen: David Warner, Andre Russell, and Jos Buttler.
LONDON, England (CMC) — West Indies seamer Kemar Roach believes his career-best eight-wicket haul against Hampshire was just reward for his persistence after managing only three wickets from 71 overs in his two opening matches of the County Championship for Surrey.
The 32-year-old picked up eight for 40 to end with match figures of 10 for 80 as the hosts crushed Hampshire by an innings and 289 runs inside three days at the Oval on Saturday.
“I'm extremely happy. I put a lot of work in for the two games I've played before,” Roach said after bowling Surrey to victory.
“[It was] tough work. It was a lot of overs that I bowled and I didn't get much of a reward but to come here, obviously, and put the ball in the right areas and get eight — 10 wickets in the game — it's a fantastic feeling.
“And to do it with a bunch of great guys, it's even better.”
LONDON, England (CMC) — West Indies have slumped to 10th spot in the latest International Cricket Council's Twenty20 rankings, just six months before they defend their title at the T20 World Cup in India.
Following the annual update yesterday which saw results from 2017-18 eliminated, West Indies found themselves on 222 rating points but still within striking distance of the three teams immediately ahead of them.
Bangladesh is ninth on 225 points, Sri Lanka lies eighth on 227 points, while Afghanistan is seventh on 236 points.
England, meanwhile, remains the top side in the rankings with 277 and has extended their lead over second-place India to five points.
