Andre Russell has insisted he still wants to win “another World Cup – or two more – for West Indies” and that he still has ambitions to play international cricket.
Russell has not played for West Indies since the T20 World Cup in November 2021. Last week, he responded to head coach Phil Simmons’ suggestions that he should not be “begging” players to make themselves available for international cricket, writing “I know this was coming but am gonna stay quiet!!!” with four ‘angry’ emojis in a since-deleted Instagram post.
Russell, who is currently in England playing for Manchester Originals in the Hundred, was asked about his situation by Daren Sammy, the former West Indies captain, during Sky Sports’ build-up to their game against Welsh Fire on Tuesday night.
WITH GROWING calls for the sacking of West Indies head coach Phil Simmons on the back of an extended run of poor results for the regional side, veteran cricket analyst and commentator, Joseph ‘Reds’ Perreira, believes that while players must put their hands up, the failures ultimately lie at the hands of the coaching staff.
“The players don’t seem to be equipped, and when players aren’t technically equipped to play the short ball or spin, it points to the coaching staff. The only bright light in the last few days would be the leadership of [Rovman] Powell, who took over in place of Pooran,” said Perreira.
According to Perreira, much of the blame for the defeats the West Indies have suffered in the white-ball format, have been brought on by Simmons.
West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran has admitted the absence of frontline spinner Gudakesh Motie will be a huge blow for the team ahead of a crucial upcoming One Day International (ODI) series against New Zealand.
The 27-year-old spinner has not played since the first ODI against India where he fractured his thumb while fielding. As a result, the player missed the second and third matches and the entire T20 series against India and New Zealand.
“It’s a blow for us, especially looking at his performances in the Bangladesh series and how well he bowled in that first game against India,” Pooran told members of the media on Tuesday.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – The Cricket West Indies (CWI) Senior Men’s Selection Panel today announced changes to the West Indies squad for the three-match CG United One-Day International (ODI) Series against New Zealand which starts tomorrow on Wednesday 17 August. All three ODIs will be day/night matches played under floodlights at Kensington Oval with the 2nd and 3rd CG United ODIs on 19 and 21 August.
From the original squad, left-handed batter Shimron Hetmyer is unavailable due to personal reasons; allrounder Keemo Paul is ruled out with an injury and left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie has failed to recover from the hand injury sustained during the CG United Series against India last month.
The replacements are middle-order batter Jermaine Blackwood and leg-spinning all-rounder Yannic Cariah. Blackwood is called up for the ODI squad for the first time since 2015. Cariah earns his first squad call-up for the West Indies after being promoted from the West Indies A squad that has been playing against Bangladesh. Cariah captained the West Indies Emerging Players team that won the CG United Super50 Cup (then the Colonial Insurance Super50 Cup) in 2019. Odean Smith, the seam-bowling allrounder, has been added as a reserve.
Trinidad and Tobago spinner Sunil Narine is one of three marquee players signed to the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders (ADKR) for the upcoming United Arab Emirates T20.
On Tuesday, the Knight Riders franchise announced the first 14 players of their squad for competition, which bowls off on Sunday.
Narine is one of the franchise’s key players and also represents for the Trinbago Knight Riders at the Caribbean Premier League and the Kolkota Knight Riders’ at the Indian Premier League.
Joining him are Jamaican big-hitter Andre Russell and English batsman Jonny Bairstow. TT spinner Akeal Hosein and pacer Ravi Rampaul have also been selected.
