The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has rejected a request from the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (T&TCB), owners of the Red Force, to allow embattled off-spinner Sunil Narine to take part in the upcoming Nagico Super50 series that will be played in T&T and St Kitts from January 7. Narine has been banned from bowling by the International Cricket Council (ICC), who deemed his bowling action to be illegal. Narine, who bowled this country to the Nagico title this season with figures of six wickets for nine runs, recently failed a test on his bowling action at the Loughborough University testing centre in England.
West Indies pair Jermaine Blackwood and Jerome Taylor have been included in Jamaica Scorpions' squad for next month's Regional Super50 set for Trinidad and Tobago and St Kitts and Nevis but their counterpart Marlon Samuels is a notable absence.
The 14-man squad, which will be captained by 22-year-old left-handed opener John Campbell, also includes the uncapped Jermaine Harrison and Guyanese import Trevon Griffith.
Harrison, a 30-year-old batsman, forced his way into the side with heavy scoring in the recent trial matches, collecting a century and two half-centuries.
The 24-year-old Griffith has also shown good form, striking a century in the third trial match.
Eighteen years on, West Indies' thrashing by Australia in the first Test in Hobart last weekend bears uncanny similarities to their predecessors' routs in all three Tests in Pakistan in November and December 1997. It is a case of the more things change, the more they remain the same in West Indies cricket.
Even several of the West Indies' main characters from the Pakistan whitewash are still involved. Clive Lloyd, then manager, is now chief selector. Courtney Walsh, the captain at the time, is selector on tour in Australia. Curtly Ambrose, Walsh's fearsome partner in pace, is the team's bowling consultant. Head coach Phil Simmons batted in the middle order in Pakistan, Stuart Williams opened. They were in Hobart as head coach and his assistant.
Grenada prime minister Keith Mitchell remains in the thick of things. After Pakistan, he was concerned enough to press CARICOM (Caribbean Community) governments to discuss the state of West Indies cricket. He now heads the CARICOM sub-committee on cricket and is the prime mover behind the recent damning Barriteau report on the governance of the West Indies Cricket Board.
After their heavy loss in the first Test in Hobart, West Indies needed to go back to basics in their two-day match against a second-string Victoria XI this weekend. So a rookie fielding error from Jerome Taylor will not have pleased the captain and coach as the game cruised to a predictable draw, with local opening batsman Jake Hancock finishing unbeaten on 80 when rain arrived.
Hancock was on 22, in the 14th over of the Victoria innings, when he hooked captain Jason Holder towards Taylor at fine leg. However, Taylor had his back to play and was looking into the grandstands while the ball flew his way. Only after his team-mates called out to him did Taylor turn around, but by then it was too late to get into position for the catch, or even stop the boundary.
MELBOURNE—Australia Australian selector Mark Waugh has launched a scathing attack on the West Indies cricket team ahead of the second Test match scheduled to start on Boxing Day in Melbourne.
Waugh has also lashed out at senior members of Jason Holder’s outfit following their ignominious defeat against Australia inside three days in the opening Test. The former Australian cricketer has singled out top order batsman Marlon Samuels and wicketkeeper batsman Dinesh Ramdin, questioning their roles in the struggling side.
Waugh is predicting that if the West Indies do not lift their game, the remaining two Tests would be over in three days as well. “He is a problem,” said Waugh, referring to Samuels.
“There is definitely an issue with the senior players in that group. Without knowing exactly what is going on in the dressing room, you can see there is no team camaraderie there or willingness for the senior players to drive any intensity.”
