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.
In a game which wasn't as close as the final scorecard would suggest, Pakistan's spinners were the difference between the two sides as they derailed the West Indies chase of 179 in the middle overs to ease to a 14-run victory in the first T20I in Lauderhill.
That target was put up thanks to a brisk half-century from Saim Ayub up top and contributions through the order. West Indies' bowling had the discipline to never truly let the batters cut loose on a surface that rewarded pace off the ball, but the flow of runs remained steady, if not explosive. Pakistan backloading some of their power hitters would come in handy when Jason Holder trapped Ayub in front for 57; cameos from Hasan Nawaz and Faheem Ashraf, as well as a six off the only ball Mohammad Haris faced helped Pakistan fetch 58 off their last 31 balls.
West Indies knew it was chaseable and batted like it up front. But there was an uneasy fragility to that line-up in the face of a multitude of Pakistan spinners, as well as a standout bowling performance from Shaheen Shah Afridi, the standout Pakistan seamer on the day. It left the hosts with too few overs to target as the asking rate climbed, and too few wickets to play with as Mohammad Nawaz, Sufiyan Muqeem and Ayub wreaked havoc.
With Cricket West Indies (CWI) searching for solutions after the team’s Test series against Australia, former national batsman Mark Neita says the return of former Head Coach Andre Coley could be one of the ways for the team to improve its fortunes.
The Windies were swept 3-0 by the visiting Aussies earlier this month, including an infamous 176-run defeat at Sabina Park where they were bowled out for 27, the lowest Test total in 70 years and the second lowest in the history of the near 150-year format.
Neita says Sammy should not be fired, but says Coley would take much of the burden off Sammy’s shoulders.
“Somebody like Andre Coley has to get back into it,” he tells the Jamaica Observer. “He was an outstanding coach, did very well with this team. You want to bring people with a history of success, particularly working with the team.”
