JAMAICA SCORPIONS head coach Andre Coley has made it clear that his players need to take more responsibility for their performances if the team is to claw its way from the foot of the West Indies Championship table.
Following back-to-back losses away to Trinidad & Tobago Red Force and the Barbados Pride, the Scorpions find themselves at the bottom of the standings with 8.8 points.
Once again, the perennial problem of the team’s batting has surfaced and continued to plague the Jamaican side, who have seen good early signs wiped away by clusters of wickets which have cost the team dearly.
“A high percentage of our dismissals were very soft, to say the least, and we haven’t played consistently good cricket. In each department, you can identify in patches periods of play where we were dominant, but to say that we have been able to put a game together to win, we have not done that in two matches,” said Coley.
Off-spinner Bryan Charles claimed a three-for to lead the resistance for West Indies President’s XI, amidst a trio of England half-centuries on day one of the four-day warm-up match at Coolidge.
Opener Alex Lees top-scored with a solid 65 off 214, and partner Zak Crawley made 62, with an additional half-century from England captain Joe Root, who added 54 from 105, as England closed the opening day on 251 for 4.
After winning the toss and choosing to bat Lees and Crawley had England off to a comfortable start, until the partnership of 88 without loss was broken by Charles who had the batsman bowled.
THE new lead selector of the West Indies cricket team, the Most Honourable Desmond Haynes, along with Ramnaresh Sarwan, chose their squad to play against England in the first Test, of a three-Test series, which starts on March 8 in Antigua. Phil Simmons, the team’s coach, retains his place as the third selector.
Some commentators disagreed with the choice of the Jamaican John Campbell to open the batting with the captain Kraigg Brathwaite.
They believe that he hadn’t done enough as a Test player to earn a recall. However, there hasn’t been any opening batsman recently who has played a decent Test innings, except Brathwaite.
Jeremy Solozano was the replacement when Campbell failed, but was quite unfortunate to be dealt a sickening blow to the helmet while fielding at short leg on his Test debut in the first of a two-Test series in Sri Lanka, in late November 2021. The resulting concussion ruled him out of the series. That opportunity having been lost, the young Trinidadian has to address the selectors once more. International sport is tough and opportunities lost have to be regained with effort.
ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Captain Shane Dowrich expects no shortage of motivation or intensity from the CWI President’s XI when they clash with England in a four-day fixture bowling off on Tuesday at Coolidge Cricket Ground.
The out-of-favor Test gloveman leads a side that includes left-arm fast bowling all-rounder Raymon Reifer, seamer Sherman Lewis and openers Shane Moseley and Jeremy Solozano all of whom have already featured for West Indies in Tests.
Fast bowler Preston McSween and batsman Devon Thomas have also played white-ball cricket for West Indies.
“I think all the guys are up for it. It’s a great opportunity, especially for some of the younger guys to get seen by selectors,” Dowrich said today.
Tickets are now available for the upcoming four-day match between the Cricket West Indies (CWI) President’s XI and England. The match starts on Tuesday at the Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG). This will be the official warm-up match ahead of the Apex Test Series. Fans can make their purchases at the new CWI Ticketing platform at https://www.windiescricket.com/tickets/ or at the ticket office located at the main entrance to the venue. Prices range from US$10/EC$25 for the grass mound to US$20/EC$55 for the grandstand.
All fans should be aware that only fully vaccinated spectators against COVID-19 will be allowed into the venue and will be required to bring their vaccination documentation with them to be assured of entry. Fans will need to make sure they are fully vaccinated at least two weeks ahead of the day they plan to attend. CWI will be streaming the match with LIVE ball-by-ball coverage via the Windies YouTube channel.
