Tis the season for giving, and Guyanese cricketer Sherfane Rutherford has treated West Indies fans around the world to a sparkling treat with bat in hand in limited-overs cricket for 2024.
Following a breathtaking century in the opening ODI against Bangladesh where he blasted 113 runs from 80 balls, the 26-year-old set a record of amassing the most runs in eight consecutive ODI innings by any West Indian batter.
The left-hander made his ODI debut in 2023, scoring a half -century in his second match against England in Antigua. However, it was his transformation in Sri Lanka earlier this year that truly marked his resurgence.
Known for his hard-hitting ability, Rutherford registered back-to-back half centuries during the three-match series including a match winning unbeaten 50 in the final game, which guided the West Indies to their first victory in Sri Lanka since 2005.
West Indies left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie is among 22 international players who have registered for the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season 10 draft, set to take place on January 11 in the picturesque city of Gwadar, Balochistan.
The Guyanese Motie, who took the ICC Player of the Month award in June of last year, joins an elite band of international players including seasoned New Zealand cricketers Martin Guptill and Tim Southee who are among the latest to join the pool of international talent.
The Pakistan Cricket Board, which earlier opened the registration and trade window for foreign players, has reported an enthusiastic response, heightening anticipation for the league’s landmark 10th edition.
The draft pick order for the coveted platinum category has also been confirmed. Defending champions Lahore Qalandars will have the first pick, followed by Karachi Kings, Quetta Gladiators, Peshawar Zalmi, Multan Sultans, and Islamabad United. This positions the Qalandars to have a significant impact by securing a marquee overseas player at the outset.
In a candid and exclusive interview on local radio station i95.5FM’s Isports programme with host Andre Errol Baptiste on Saturday, Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley, Chairman of the CARICOM subcommittee on cricket, laid bare the challenges and ambitions surrounding West Indies cricket as the region gets ready to welcome a new year and possible new challenges facing the region's beloved sport.
Dr. Rowley revealed that CARICOM, in collaboration with Cricket West Indies (CWI), has been working assiduously to try and implement a working solution to plans that have been tabled in the past that were designed to revive the glory days of West Indies cricket.
However, the initiative has faced significant setbacks, with Barbados and Guyana failing to attend the most recent meeting, leading to a lack of quorum.
Despite frustrations, PM Rowley emphasised that CARICOM does not seek to run West Indies cricket but relies on moral suasion to drive change.
He said, “We want to encourage people in this period of the great risk and possibly good rewards that we get to the table, take the available assistance, and work as one body because nobody is going to respect West Indies cricket because we are fractured at the management level. But if we are one solid body talking to the ICC and talking to ourselves, then we can do what is required to improve the game.”
Hayley Matthews' seventh ODI century has propelled the West Indies opener back into the top 10 of the ICC Women's Batting Rankings.
A score of 106 from 109 balls lifted the opener into a share of seventh in the Tuesday update to close out the calendar year, with a rating of 652 to sit alongside Australia left-hander Beth Mooney.
While making a half-century in the same match, a score of four in the third ODI has meant a one-spot drop to third in the rankings (720 rating points), falling below Chamari Athapaththu (733).
Outside the top 10, performers with the bat in Vadodara saw rankings jumps, with Jemimah Rodrigues closing in on a top 20 position (22nd) with a four spot jump thanks to scores of 29 and 52. Richa Ghosh (13 not out and 23 not out) moved seven spots to 41st (448 rating points), with Chinelle Henry's half-century in the third ODI leading to a 21-spot leap to 65th (349 rating points).
Batsman Nicholas Pooran and all-rounder Andre Russell were both included in the ESPNCricinfo T20 team of the year, the website announced on Monday.
Pooran enjoyed a career best year in the format, finishing with 2331 runs in 74 innings in the format in 2024.
He scored those runs at an average of 40.89 and an excellent strike rate of 157.39, hitting one hundred and 15 fifties.
In fact, the 29-year-old was the only batsman to cross the 2000 run mark in the format this year, with South African Reeza Hendricks finishing a distant second with 1970 runs to his name.
