Left-handed batsman Alick Athanaze, 24, has been named captain of the Windward Islands Volcanoes to participate in the 2023 West Indies Championship. His deputy will be left-arm pacer Preston McSween.
This would be Windward Islands’ first full Four-Day Championship in over two decades without the prolific runs scorer Devon Smith, who retired last season.
Right-arm leg-spinning all-rounder Abhijai Mansingh and fast bowler Ojay Shields are the only new faces named in a 13-man Jamaica Scorpions squad for the first two rounds of the upcoming Regional Four-Day Championship.
The Jamaica Scorpions are scheduled to play the Leeward Hurricanes in the first round and then the Barbados Pride in the second round with both matches to be played in Antigua.
Off-spinner Akim Fraser also makes a return to the squad after missing the last regional championship due to injury while seamer Marquino Mindley has also returned from injury and is expected to spearhead the pace attack which includes Gordon Bryan.
The other spinners named are Patrick Harty and Jamie Merchant with Aldane Thomas once again selected to don the gloves behind the stumps.
EAST LONDON, South Africa- India Women defeated West Indies women by 56 runs in the third match of the Women’s T20 International Tri-Series between hosts South Africa, India and the West Indies at Buffalo Park in East London.
Assistant Coach Robert Samuels assessed the West Indies performance as poor fielding which allowed India to post that total. Samuels said, “India got away with scoring, our fielding was a big miss. Hayley couldn’t open as she was dealing with an injury, so she had to bat lower down, and in order for us to win she has to bat as early as possible.”
Samuels added “We have to put bigger scores on the board not just batting out the 20 overs. Our focus is to get the batting consistent and to do the basic stuff better, which will bring more confidence. Hayley is getting into some for, Shemaine has had scores in the warm-up and now this match, so little by little we are trying to get things going by the time we get to the World Cup.”
The West Indies Women will take on South Africa Women at the same venue on Wednesday, January 25. The first ball is at 3:00 pm local time (9:00 am Eastern Caribbean/8:00 am Jamaica time).
CRICKET West Indies (CWI) president Ricky Skerritt remains hopeful that the region’s territorial boards will approve some of the recommendations presented in the Wehby Report on Governance Reform at the upcoming AGM in March.
He said the implementation of the suggestions presented in the July 2020 report by a six-member group, comprising professionals in business, academics, law, politics, and professional cricket, can only come to fruition if the territorial boards vote in agreement to have them approved.
Speaking during Thursday’s virtual press conference alongside Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court judge Justice Patrick Thompson Jr, Skerritt said CWI governance reform lies within the hands of the Caribbean’s respective cricket administrations.
Skerritt said much work was done, during his tenure, “merge” and “adjust” some of the recommendations to initiate much-needed reform at CWI. However, the support from each territorial board remains critical for implementing such recommendations.
West Indies Women’s captain Hayley Matthews is adamant that the team must find a way to put more runs on the board after another disappointing showing at the crease, this time against South Africa in the tri-series on Saturday.
The loss marked the 9th match in a row for the regional team, who last tasted victory in a win over New Zealand in September. Against South Africa, the team’s now familiar struggles at the crease came to the fore.
“It’s clear we don’t score enough runs. Not being able to put it together with big enough partnerships and get enough big scores, which is something we definitely need to win the big games that are crucial,” Matthews, who top-scored for the team with 23 from 35 balls, said.
