CWI CEO Johnny Grave.
In June next year, the West Indies, along with the USA, will host their third senior men’s ICC tournament when the cricket world descends upon our region for the ninth edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
The West Indies previously hosted the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2007 as well as the second edition of the T20 World Cup two years later.
Last week, Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, Guyana, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad & Tobago were announced as the seven Caribbean countries that will host matches along with New York, Texas and Florida in the USA.
CEO of Cricket West Indies, Johnny Grave, described the confirmation of the region as hosts as a “big landmark” in a CWI interview last week and is looking forward to inviting the rest of the world to the Caribbean.
“It’s a big landmark for us at Cricket West Indies (CWI) and the ICC because, having this confirmation now that seven of our host countries have made successful bids to host matches means that a lot of the work and detailed planning that we need to do in order to make the most of this huge opportunity to host out third men’s ICC tournament in the West Indies, and this time in partnership with our friends at USA cricket, can start,” he said.
He also went into what are the next steps in preparing for next year’s festivities.
“The next big step is to get the match schedule agreed with the ICC. We’ve got the ten hist venues. The next stage is to work through the detailed match schedule. This is the first World Cup ever to have 20 teams so it’s a big tournament to organize and there’s a small window from early June to the 30th of June when the final will take place to get all the matches in. We’ve got group stages after the warm-up games. We’ve then got the super eights stage then semi-finals and final so, once that schedule is agreed, then it’s all systems go in terms of tickets being on sale around December to coincide with us welcoming England to the region,” Grave said.
“It’s really important that we get the match schedules announced so that we can invite the world to come to the Caribbean next year,” he added.
Grave also expressed gratitude to the various Governments who put forward successful bids to host matches.
“We’re enormously grateful for the continued support we get from the Governments of the West Indies,” he said.
“All of them that put forward bids have been successful in securing matches which is great news. We’re really looking forward to some of the improvements that those Governments have put forward in their proposals to us and the ICC in terms of ensuring that they are ready for what is the pinnacle of the men’s game currently. It’s a huge opportunity for the region to use the platform of hundreds of millions of fans watching our beautiful countries and our iconic venues and we want everyone in the world to come to the Caribbean and experience what we have to offer,” he added.
While encouraging people from all over the world to make the trip, Grave also urged local fans to come out and support the regional side in their bid for a third World T20 title.
“Absolutely. We’ve seen that unique kind of atmosphere when we hosted the 2018 Women’s World T20 with big crowds in St. Lucia and Antigua when the West Indies played and I’m sure when the West Indies play next June there’ll be big crowds at all the venues,” he said.
“We want every host country to show what a welcoming and exciting place this is to watch and play cricket and it’s really important that the fans come out in their masses. The school children will be invited as part of our community engagement program so that we can show what kind of an atmosphere it is to the world,” Grave added.
Bradley Jacks is a budding journalist and an avid sports fan. His love of research and sports has led him to SportsMax.tv, a place where those passions work hand in hand to allow him to produce content.
Babar's captain's innings leads Pakistan to victory as series drawn with New Zealand
Babar Azam top scored as he led his Pakistan team to a nine-run victory over New Zealand in Lahore that saw the five-game T20I series end in a draw.
Babar hit 69 runs off 44 balls before being bowled by Ben Sears, smashing six fours and two sixes to take his team to 123/3 at the time of his dismissal.
Fakhar Zaman (43 from 33) and Usman Khan (31 off 24) also chipped in with important innings as Pakistan ended on 178/5.
With a target of 179 to secure a 3-1 series victory, New Zealand's run chase faltered almost immediately as opener Tom Blundell was removed within the first over with his team having managed just five runs on the board.
Blundell's fellow opener Tim Seifert steadied the ship with a vital 52-run innings off 33 deliveries before being bowled by Usama Mir, but Shaheen Shah Afridi led the way for Pakistan, finishing with figures of 4-30 to stem the New Zealand run chase
Josh Clarkson's 38 off 26 set up a nervy conclusion, but Pakistan held on to avoid defeat in the T20 series as the teams share the spoils at two wins apiece after the first game was abandoned.
IPL: Fraser-McGurk leads the way as Capitals hold off Mumbai
Delhi Capitals withstood Mumbai Indian’s late surge and held on for a 10-run victory at Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Jake Fraser-McGurk top-scored with 84 – hitting 50 off just 15 balls – while Tristan Stubbs (48) and Shai Hope (41) also chipped in with important contributions as the Capitals set a target of 258.
Mukesh Kumar (3/59) and Rasikh Salam (3/34) did their best to halt Mumbai’s revival, but they turned up the pressure to require 25 runs from the final over.
However, despite Luke Wood and Piyush Chawla’s best efforts, Delhi held out for a second successive win.
Data debrief
Wood almost made amends after conceding 68 runs during the opening innings – the joint-most in the IPL this season, matching Reece Topley’s tally against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Tilak Varma led Mumbai’s attempted revival with 63 for his sixth half-century in the IPL, though they have all come in defeats
Chase outdone by opposite number Paudel as West Indies A suffer four-wicket loss to Nepal
West Indies A’s tour of Nepal got off to an unfortunate start, after they suffered a four-wicket loss to their host in a high scoring opening fixture of their five-match Twenty20 series at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, on Saturday.
Set a formidable 204 by West Indies A, Nepal’s thrilling victory, which was set up by a captain’s knock from Rohit Paudel, etched their names in the history books, as they successfully got to their target at 206-6 with two balls to spare.
Paudel smashed a 54-ball 112, including 10 fours and two sixes to see his team to a 1-0 lead in the series, which West Indies Head coach Darren Sammy said offers his team a chance to define roles and personnel more clearly for their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup squad.
However, the Caribbean side’s all-round effort was found wanting, as only captain Roston Chase (74), Alick Athanaze (47) and Keacy Carty (38) offered any resistance with the bat, while only Obed McCoy (2-34) and Matthew Forde (2-49) had some semblance of success with the ball.
Scores: West Indies A 204-5 (20 overs); Nepal 206-6 (19.4 overs)
Asked to take first strike, after losing the toss, West Indies A suffered an early blow, as they lost Johnson Charles (zero) off the last ball of the opening over, with 16 runs on the board. Andre Fletcher (13) stuck two sixes off five balls, before he too departed via the run-out route, leaving West Indies A at 43-2 in the fourth over.
However, Athanaze went about business, striking three sixes and five fours in a 25-ball knock, as he put on 43 for the third wicket with Chase, prior to his demise. From there, Chase and Carty added another 60 runs in a fourth-wicket stand that defined the innings.
Carty’s 38 off 26 balls, included two fours and three sixes, while Chase, who anchored the innings with a captain’s knock, struck nine fours and two sixes in his 46-ball 74. Kadeem Alleyne, on 14, and Keemo Paul, one, were left not out.
No Nepal bowler took more than one wicket.
With runs on the board, West Indies A would have felt confident of wrapping up a win, even more so, after Forde and McCoy combined to remove openers Anil Sah (five) and Kushal Bhurtel (16) to have Nepal at 38-2 in the fifth over.
West Indies remained in the ascendancy when Fletcher and Charles combined to run out Kushal Malla (16), leaving their host on the ropes at 82-3 at the halfway mark.
However, Paudel showed class, in not only reviving his team’s innings, but pushed them all the way with some aggressive stroke play, assisted by wayward bowling from West Indies A attack at times. Dipendra Singh Airee (24) offered support to his captain in getting Nepal across the line for a famous victory.
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