England—Roston Chase made an enterprising start to his maiden tour of England, leading a trio of half-century makers as West Indies prospered on the first day of their opening tour match against Essex in Chelmsford yesterday.
Sent in at the Essex County Ground, the Caribbean side reached 309 for eight courtesy of Chase’s top-score of 81, opener Kraigg Brathwaite’s 61 and Jermaine Blackwood’s aggressive 59.
Wicket-keeper Shane Dowrich ended the day unbeaten on 28 while brothers Shai and Kyle Hope both got 22 but failed to carry on. Rookie 20-year-old seamer Callum Taylor (2-33) and left-arm pacer Paul Walter (2-50) ended with two wickets apiece. Up against an under-strength side with Essex choosing to rest five key players in view of Sunday’s County Championship clash against Yorkshire, the Windies made the most of the opportunity with key batsmen getting among the runs.
They suffered the early loss of Kieran Powell for 15 when the left-hander was bowled by 19-year seamer Sam Cook on his Essex first class debut but Brathwaite then anchored the innings to see the tourists to lunch on 102 for two.
BASSETERRE, St Kitts, CMC – Reigning champions Trinidad and Tobago along with Guyana stormed to convincing victories but Jamaica snatched a narrow win in tense circumstances, on the final day of the opening round of the Regional Under-19 three-day championship here Wednesday.
At Conaree, T&T cruised to a 121-run victory over Windward Islands while Guyana beat Leeward Islands by 63 runs at Verchilds.
Jamaica made things exciting at St Paul’s as they chased down 147 to beat Barbados and get among the points.
Looking to make a strong start to their title defence, the Trinidadians proved clinical as they controlled the final day to keep the Windwards out of the contest.
Resuming on 117 for two in their second innings, T&T were dismissed for 207 with Saiba Batoosingh hitting 23 and Jayden Seales, 20 not out. Navin Bidaisee failed to add to his overnight 39 while Sachin Seecharan made 44 on Tuesday’s second day.
Dillon Douglas (2-28), Lee Louisy (2-38) and Daneal Dupigny (2-42) all finished with three wickets each.
Set 288 for victory, the Windwards started well but lost their way to be bowled out for 167, with Tahj Tavenier top-scoring with 57, Wayne Edwards getting 26 and fellow opener Kimani Melius scoring 22.
Even as the Indian Premier League (IPL) media rights auction pits cricket's two giant broadcasters - Star India and Sony Pictures Network - against each other in a fierce number-crunching battle, it is not these two potentially high-profile bidders sweating at the prospect or the eventual outcome.
Instead, as the run-up to August 28 - day of bid submissions - gains momentum, it is cricket boards across the world sweating in anticipation of a mow down.
The India rights for the eagerly awaited India's tour of England in the next English summer of 2018, followed by India's tour of Australia that may include the Boxing Day Test among privileges to be factored in, haven't yet been picked by any broadcaster yet.
These two cricket properties - considered major simply because India happens to be touring - are only the tip of the global cricket rights iceberg that stand to take a severe beating going forward if the bid for the IPL media rights crashes beyond the US$ 3bn (approx Rs 20,000 CR) next month.
"If this is the kind of money being projected for IPL, what will happen to the other boards' rights on the international calendar? Those rights fees will crash by anywhere between 30 to 50%," say those tracking the broadcast rights industry.
EX-TRINIDAD and Tobago and West Indies opening batsman Bryan Davis has queried the selection of the 15-member Windies team for their forthcoming three-Test series, away to England.
Among the players chosen by the selection panel, headed by Courtney Browne, were Barbadian-born Kyle Hope (who is an opening batsman for the TT Red Force) and Raymon Reifer (a left-handed all-rounder for the Guyana Jaguars).
Both Hope and Reifer are the only members of the 15-man team who are yet to play Test cricket, while Reifer has never featured at the international level.
In a recent interview, Davis commented, “These fellahs are very fortunate because they’re Bajans. There are nine Barbadians on the team. The last time you had nine Barbadians on a touring team like that was to England in 1966.
I remember it well.
“Now that seems to be starting again (under the new selection panel). I’m seeing more and more Barbadians, of very average ability, being forced into the team, and given second looks all the time. I’m seeing a lot of personal insularity in this thing.
After years of infighting that led to quarrels, strikes, stand-offs, and eventually, the gradual erosion of the once mighty West Indies team, Cricket West Indies and the West Indies Players Association have finally come to an agreement, an amnesty, to save West Indies cricket, or so it appears.
It has been agreed, in principle, that players no longer need to participate in domestic regional tournaments in order to represent the West Indies, especially in the shorter versions of the game, and that means players like Christopher Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine, and Kieron Pollard can now represent the West Indies again.
The move also means that players like Marlon Samuels, Darren Sammy, who once ‘dissed’ the administration with his harsh comments, Lendl Simmons, and André Russell, and Nicholas Pooran are available for selection.
The ‘prodigal sons’ also include Darren Bravo, whose return came rather surprisingly and easily.
