Alice Capsey has set her sights on World Cup glory with England this year after a rollercoaster 2023.
The teenage sensation has enjoyed a rapid rise since starring in the inaugural Hundred at the age of 16, being snapped up by franchise leagues around the globe and making her international bow in both white-ball formats during the ensuing two-and-a-half-years.
Capsey played her part in the drawn Women’s Ashes last summer, but was also involved in the England team which lost in the semi-finals of the Twenty20 World Cup at the start of 2023.
The next World Cup will take place in Bangladesh later this year and the explosive batter wants to help Heather Knight’s side go all the way.
“Hopefully we can go one better this year and not have the same disappointment we had,” Red Bull athlete Capsey told the PA news agency.
“What we’ve got in the dressing room at the moment is a really fun and supportive culture. Everyone is loving being a part of it and the freedom we’re given.
“People really came out and watched us in the Ashes, so we want to keep building momentum. We want to keep showing what women’s cricket is about.
“We speak a lot in the dressing room about inspiring and entertaining. I think that shows in how we play and I hope it does, but that’s another thing we’ll look to build on and do even better this year. It is a really exciting year.”
Last year started with Capsey facing a race against time to be fit for the T20 World Cup in February after she broke her collarbone in the West Indies two months earlier.
Capsey recovered but was out for a duck in England’s semi-final loss to South Africa before she was whisked off to India for the inaugural Women’s Premier League, where she helped Delhi Capitals finish runners-up.
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A maiden Ashes series was the next assignment for Capsey, who struck a classy 46 in a memorable five-wicket victory over Australia at a packed Lord’s and followed it up with an important 40 in another nail-bitter at Bristol.
The final act of 2023, after featuring in the Hundred and Big Bash League in Australia, was England’s tour of India where red-ball disappointment followed for the 19-year-old after she had also been overlooked for the one-off Ashes Test in June.
“It has definitely been a rollercoaster,” Capsey admitted.
“Yeah, international cricket and any international sport is hard. It takes a toll on the mind and also physically so those couple of injuries didn’t help me, but I am starting to find my way now of how to manage it all.
“It was a season of highs and lows, but I probably didn’t perform as well as I would have liked. I was a bit inconsistent and that is something I want to work on and is definitely a goal I am looking towards for 2024.
“It was a really enjoyable year. A lot of firsts again which sounds a bit crazy after the last three years but it was brilliant.
“Playing in a World Cup and things like that, they are all high-pressure moments. Hopefully the more moments like that I have, the better I will get at competing in them and the more experiences I will have to look back on.
“I guess it is kind of building a toolbox so you can come back to when the pressure is on.”
Capsey begins 2024 in India with another edition of the WPL before she joins up with the England squad for the final two T20s of a five-match series in New Zealand.
It kickstarts an action-packed year of white-ball cricket, but the all-rounder’s Test ambitions still burn brightly.
“Everyone had a lot of conversations with the management staff and it was definitely a combined decision over what was best for the individual,” Capsey explained regarding her WPL participation.
“We have a World Cup in Bangladesh and looking even more to the future we have a 50-over World Cup next year in India and this is part and parcel of my development.
“I have targeted an area I want to work on, which is spin and it is another stepping stone in my development to spend a bit longer out here and pick the brains of the people who play spin the best.
“If individuals are getting better and learning how to play their best games in those conditions, it will benefit England as well.
“Having that aspiration to continue working really hard and that end goal to make my Test debut is definitely something at the forefront of my mind and something I’m working towards.”
Red Bull athlete Alice Capsey is an England and Delhi Capitals all-rounder. Find out more about her here.
Pant selected for India's T20 World Cup squad after car-crash recovery
Rishabh Pant will hope to lead India to T20 World Cup glory after being selected in their squad, just over a year after undergoing surgery following a concerning car crash.
Wicketkeeper-batter Pant was involved in a near-fatal car collision in northern India in December 2022 but comes back into the international fold just 16 months after the incident.
The 26-year-old's performances in this season's Indian Premier League have secured his place in the 15-man squad, having scored 398 runs in 11 innings at a strike rate of 158.6 for the Delhi Capitals.
Pant is one of two wicketkeepers named in the squad for the tournament starting on June 1 in the United States and West Indies, alongside Sanju Samson.
Despite not previously featuring in a World Cup squad, Samson has impressed in the IPL after accumulating 385 runs in nine innings, striking at a rate of 161.1 for the league-leading Rajasthan Royals.
India captain Rohit Sharma and vice-captain Hardik Pandya will lead the side in the United States and West Indies, though Pant and Samson's inclusion leaves no place for KL Rahul or Jitesh Sharma.
Yuzvendra Chahal did not feature in either T20I squad in the recent series against South Africa and Afghanistan but was another India star included based on their IPL showings this year.
Leg-spinner Chahal, who will be joined by Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel in the spin-bowling department, has 13 wickets at an average of 23.5 for the Royals this term.
Jasprit Bumrah heads the pace-bowling lineup with Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh, while Hardik and Shivam Dube present all-rounder options with the ball.
Dube offers a decisive alternative with the bat, too, having top-scored with 124 runs across three innings in the home series against Afghanistan in January.
At the top of the order, Yashasvi Jaiswal will likely open alongside captain Rohit, with Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav providing some high-class backup lower down.
India face Ireland in New York on June 5 to start their World Cup campaign before meeting rivals Pakistan, USA and Canada.
India's provisional squad:
Rohit Sharma (captain), Hardik Pandya, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
McKenzie hits two fifties to lead Kingston CC to first JCA Senior Cup title since 2001
West Indies batsman Kirk McKenzie was the catalyst as Kingston Cricket Club won their first Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) Senior Cup title since 2001 at Sabina Park over the weekend.
Kingston took first strike after opponents, the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), won the toss and elected to field first on day one on Saturday.
McKenzie led the way with a 127-ball 83 including 10 fours and five sixes as Kingston were bowled out for 251 in their first innings.
He was well supported by Jamaica Scorpions players Brad Barnes and Romaine Morris who made 57 and 44, respectively.
Tevin Gilzene, who represented the Jamaica Scorpions in the 2023 West Indies Championship, led the way for the soldiers with 5-60 from 18.5 overs while Andrae Dennis, who made his first-class debut in the final round of the recently concluded West Indies Championship, took 3-33 off nine overs in support.
Pacers Andre Bailey and Odean Smith then combined for six wickets to help reduce JDF to 185 all out in their first innings.
Bailey took 3-41from 11 overs while Smith took 3-43 from 12.
Andre Fowler led the way for JDF with a patient 108-ball 43 at the top of the order.
Kingston were 219-8 in their second innings on day two when play was called to an end.
McKenzie followed up his first innings exploits with 84 off 114 balls including 10 fours and four sixes while Smith made 45 off 27 balls including seven fours and two sixes.
Scorpions pacer Gordon Bryan took 5-28 for JDF in the second innings.
With the win, Kingston CC took home a prize of $750,00 while JDF pocketed $500,000. Patrick Harty Jr was named tournament MVP and was also the leading wicket-taker while Melbourne Cricket Club’s Javelle Glenn was the tournament’s top run scorer.
Full scores: Kingston CC 251 (Kirk McKenzie 83, Brad Barnes 57, Romaine Morris 44, Tevin Gilzene 5-60, Andrae Dennis 3-33) & 219-8 (Kirk McKenzie 84, Odean Smith 45, Gordon Bryan 5-28)
JDF 185 (Andre Fowler 43, Andre Bailey 3-41, Odean Smith 3-43)
Windies to test T20 World Cup readiness against South Africa, Australia in Jamaica and T&T; final squad to be named this week
With the ICC Men’s Twenty 20 World Cup now just about a month away, Darren Sammy and his West Indies team will up the tempo on preparations, before testing their readiness for the June 1-29 global showpiece, with a final warm-up match against Australia in Trinidad and Tobago.
Sammy’s final squad, which is expected to be named sometime this week, will be one of nine teams to travel to the Trinidad and Tobago in May for eight warm-up matches, four of which will take place at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, while the other four is scheduled for the historic Queen’s Park Oval. The teams will arrive in twin island republic on May 21.
The revelation came from Cricket West Indies’s (CWI) CEO Johnny Grave during the recently-concluded CARICOM conference on West Indies cricket themed ‘Reinvigorating West Indies Cricket’, in Port of Spain.
Grave explained that the final West Indies squad will not convene in full until they travel to Jamaica at the end of May to engage South Africa in three warm-up contests. However, he pointed out that there will be a camp in Antigua prior, which will involve members of the final squad, who are not plying their trade in the Indian Premier League.
From Jamaica, the Rovman Powell-captained squad will then travel to Trinidad and Tobago for the clash against 50-over World Cup winners Australia, ahead of the tournament to be hosted in the Caribbean and United States.
West Indies, the 2012 and 2016 champions, are hunting a third T20 World Cup title.
“We’re going to have a week-long preparation camp in Antigua from May 12, before heading to Jamaica. We’re then going to leave Jamaica and come here to Trinidad and Tobago for a week’s preparation, including playing at the historic Queen’s Park Oval on May 30, in an evening fixture against one of the tournament favourites Australia,” Grave shared.
“That will probably be one of the only games in the warm-up schedule that will be ticketed, and we certainly hope that the fans here in Trinidad, and particularly those in Port of Spain, will come out and rally behind the West Indies in that warm-up match, which is the final game we’ll play before we head to Guyana for the opening game on June 2,” he added.
West Indies, who are drawn in Group C alongside New Zealand, Afghanistan, Uganda and Papua New Guinea, will open against the latter at the Guyana National Stadium on June 2.
Grave urged fans to come out and rally behind the West Indies outfit in their push to start the tournament on a high.
“Making sure we have a huge party in Georgetown, and we get off to a winning start (will be crucial). We all know in these global tournaments, confidence and momentum are important and we can think of nothing better than starting with a victory in Guyana and ending it in Barbados on June 29 with a similar victory,” Grave said.
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