Five members of the West Indies Academy have earned places in franchise teams for the first and second rounds of the upcoming West Indies Championship four-day first-class tournament, starting on 31 January.
The West Indies Academy players that have been selected are Kirk McKenzie, left-handed batter for Jamaica Scorpions; Kevin Wickham, right-handed batter for Barbados Pride; Ashmead Nedd, left-arm spinner for Guyana Harpy Eagles; and Teddy Bishop, right-handed batter for Windward Islands Volcanoes. Kelvin Pitman the right-arm fast bowler has been listed in the 13-member provisional squad named by the Leeward Islands Hurricanes.
Graeme West, CWI’s High-Performance Manager who has overseen the West Indies Academy programme since its inception in 2022, anticipates good performances from the players when the tournament bowls off next week in Grenada and Antigua.
West said: “It is really good to see players being selected to participate in the West Indies Championship. It shows the investment made by CWI in the development of these young players is bearing fruit. The West Indies Academy played in the CG United Super50 last November, some players also got picked in the CPL earlier in the year, and this was great exposure in the white ball formats. Now, with the first two rounds of the West Indies Championship in front of us, we have players being selected for the red ball format and we hope to see more graduate later in the tournament as well.”
West added: “In addition to playing in the four-day tournament, we also have the chance to play in the Headley Weekes Tri-Series in April and May, another major investment in player development by CWI. This is an amazing opportunity for these young players to match skills against some of the region’s best and we view this as the right kind of platform at this stage in their development. They equipped themselves very well in the 50-over format last year in the CG United Super50 Cup and we anticipate more growth and eye-catching performances when they match up in the red ball format as well.”
The tournament will open with Windward Islands Volcanoes hosting Trinidad & Tobago Red Force at the Grenada National Stadium (GNS). This match will start on 31 January and will continue on 1 to 3 February.
In Antigua, defending champions Barbados Pride will start their bid for at hattrick of titles when they face Guyana Harpy Eagles in the feature match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium (SVRS) on 1 to 4 February. The third contest will see Leeward Islands Hurricanes hosting Jamaica Scorpions at the Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG) from 1 to 4 February.
The second round will be played from 8 to 11 February when Barbados Pride will meet the Jamaica Scorpions at CCG; Trinidad & Tobago Red Force travel to face Leeward Islands Red Force at SVRS, and Guyana take on Windward Islands Volcanoes at GNS.
Following the West Indies Championship, the new Headley Weekes Series will follow the West Indies Championship and will feature three matches and three teams. Team Headley and Team Weekes will select from the best performers in the 2023 West Indies Championship and players outside the starting West Indies Test XI. The new West Indies Academy will provide the third team in the new Series.
Team Headley and Team Weekes are named in honour of West Indies pioneers and legendary batting greats George Headley and Sir Everton Weekes, whose names are also honoured on the Trophy for the winners of the West Indies Championship. All three matches will be played from 18 April to 6 May at CCG in Antigua.
Every West Indies Championship match will be streamed live on the Windies Cricket YouTube channel. Fans can follow each and every game from their mobile devices, computers or connected TVs, including access to live ball-by-ball scoring on the windiescricket.com live match centre.
2023 WEST INDIES CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH SCHEDULE
All matches start at 10am Eastern Caribbean time (9am Jamaica time)
GNS – Grenada National Stadium, Grenada
SVRS – Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua
CCG – Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua
ROUND 1:
31 January to 3 February - Grenada
Windward Islands Volcanoes v Trinidad & Tobago Red Force at GNS
1 to 4 February - Antigua
Barbados Pride v Guyana Harpy Eagles at SVRS
Leeward Islands Hurricanes v Jamaica Scorpions at CCG
ROUND 2:
8 to 11 February – Grenada and Antigua
Windward Islands Volcanoes v Guyana Harpy Eagles at GNS
Leeward Islands Hurricanes v Trinidad and Tobago Red Force at SVRS
Jamaica Scorpions v Barbados Pride at CCG
ROUND 3:
15 to 18 March in Trinidad – Venues to be confirmed
Trinidad and Tobago Red Force v Guyana Harpy Eagles
Jamaica Scorpions v Windward Islands Volcanoes
Leeward Islands Hurricanes v Barbados Pride
ROUND 4:
22 to 25 March in Trinidad - Venues to be confirmed
Trinidad & Tobago Red Force v Barbados Pride
Guyana Harpy Eagles v Jamaica Scorpions
Leeward Islands Hurricanes v Windward Islands Volcanoes
ROUND 5:
29 March to 1 April in Trinidad - Venues to be confirmed
Trinidad & Tobago Red Force v Jamaica Scorpions
Guyana Harpy Eagles v Leeward Islands Hurricanes
Barbados Pride v Windward Islands Volcanoes
Headley Weekes Tri-Series
All matches to be played at CCG, Antigua
Match 1: 19 to 22 April: Team Headley v West Indies Academy
Match 2: 26 to 29 April: Team Weekes v West Indies Academy
Match 3: 3 to 6 May: Team Weekes v Team Headley
SQUADS (Rounds 1 and 2)
Barbados Pride: Shane Dowrich (Captain) Camarie Boyce, Shamarh Brooks, Jonathan Drakes, Keon Harding, Chaim Holder, Akeem Jordan, Nicholas Kirton, Jair McAllister, Shayne Moseley, Zachary McCaskie, Shamar Springer, Kevin Wickham; Vasbert Drakes (Head Coach)
Guyana Harpy Eagles: Leon Johnson (Captain), Veerasammy Permaul (Vice Captain), Chandrapaul Hemraj, Matthew Nandu, Kemol Savory, Tevin Imlach, Anthony Bramble, Kevin Sinclair, Nial Smith, Ronsford Beaton, Akshaya Persaud, Ashmead Nedd, Shamar Joseph; Ryan Hercules (Head Coach)
Jamaica Scorpions: Paul Palmer jr (Captain), Jamie Merchant, Alwyn Williams, Aldaine Thomas, Leroy Lugg, Kirk McKenzie, Romaine Morris, Abhijau Mansingh, Patrick Harty, Akim Fraser, Marquino Mindley, Gordon Bryan, Ojay Shields; Andrew Richardson (Head Coach)
Trinidad & Tobago Red Force: Darren Bravo (Captain), Amir Jangoo, Imran Khan, Jason Mohammed, Terrance Hinds, Jyd Goolie, Jeremy Solozano, Yannic Cariah, Bryan Charles, Vikash Mohan, Uthman Muhammad, Tion Webster, Khary Pierre; David Furlonge (Head Coach)
Windward Islands Volcanoes: Alick Athanaze (Captain), Jerlani Robinson, Kavem Hodge, Keron Cottoy, Sunil Ambris, Justin Greaves, Tevyn Walcott, Kenneth Dember, Preston McSween, Teddy Bishop, Daurius Martin, Kimani Melius, Ryan John; Shirley Clarke (Head Coach)
Leeward Islands Hurricanes (provisional squad): Jahmar Hamilton (Captain), Mikyle Louis, Kieran Powell, Colin Archibald, Terance Warde, Jeremiah Louis, Keacy Carty, Ross Powell, Kofi James, Damion Williams, Kelvin Pitman, Hayden Walsh jr., Rahkeem Cornwall; Stuart Williams (Head Coach)
IPL: Royals downed by big-hitting Capitals
Rajasthan Royals failed to chase down the Delhi Capitals, who claimed a 20-run victory in the Indian Premier League on Tuesday.
Sanju Samson struck 86 off 46 balls for the second-placed Royals, but the Capitals successfully defended their haul of 221.
Jake Fraser-McGurk's 20-ball 50 set the tone for the Capitals, who are well in the play-off hunt with two matches remaining.
Fellow opener Abishek Porel plundered 65, with Tristan Stubbs adding a useful 41 towards the end of the innings, with Ravichandran Ashwin (3-24) the only Royals bowler to do significant damage.
Kuldeep Yadav (2-25) and Mukesh Kumar (2-30) led the way with the ball for Delhi, with the latter taking the vital wicket of Samson in the 16th over, leaving the Royals with too much to do from 162-4.
Delhi have won three of their last four matches and are making a late run for the play-offs, as one of four teams tied on 12 points.
Data Debrief: Samson soars
It took Samson just 31 minutes to amass 86 runs before he was eventually dismissed, with the loss of his wicket all but ending the Royals' hopes.
In the process, he moved into third place in the IPL run-scorers chart, up from 11th, with 471 runs to his name this season. He trails only Ruturaj Gaikwad (541) and Virat Kohli (542).
Seales takes 5-29 in second innings to help Sussex complete innings and 124-run rout of Derbyshire
Jayden Seales is now the leading wicket-taker after five rounds of the County Championship Division Two after another stellar performance to help Sussex rout Derbyshire by an innings and 124 runs at the County Ground in Derby from May 3-5.
Seales took 1-54 from 14 overs in the first innings as Derbyshire were bowled out for 246 in 63.3 overs after Sussex won the toss.
Luis Reece (50), Blair Tickner (47) and Aneurin Donald (44) were the top run-scorers against 2-6 from James Coles and 2-65, each, from Ollie Robinson and Fynn Hudson-Prentice.
Cheteshwar Pujara then starred with the bat with 113 off 186 balls as Sussex piled up 479 off 109.4 overs in their first innings.
James Coles (72), Tom Alsop (64) and Tom Haines (58) provided good support for Pujara against three-wicket hauls from Daryn Dupavillon and Jack Morley.
Seales then produced an excellent spell of bowling to help restrict Derbyshire to just 109 all out in 26 overs.
He took 5-29 from his eight overs, taking his tally this season to 18 in four games. Danny Lamb also bowled well with 2-10 from four overs.
Full Scores: Derbyshire 246 off 63.3 overs (Luis Reece 50, Blair Tickner 47, Aneurin Donald 44, James Coles 2-6, Ollie Robinson 2-65, Fynn Hudson-Prentice 2-65) & 109 off 26 overs (Jayden Seales 5-29, Danny Lamb 2-10)
Sussex 479 off 109.4 overs (Cheteshwar Pujara 113, James Coles 72, Tom Alsop 64, Tom Haines 58, Daryn Dupavillon 3-89, Jack Morley 3-117, Luis Reece 2-32)
IPL: Yadav century ends Mumbai's losing streak in style
Suryakumar Yadav scored an unbeaten century to lead Mumbai Indians to a seven-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League on Monday.
Yadav hit a sensational 102 not out off 51 balls with six maximums as Mumbai successfully chased a target of 174 with 16 balls to spare, lifting them off the foot of the table.
Despite a slow start to the Indians' innings in which SRH took three wickets in the first five overs, Yadav’s introduction turned things around as he put on a partnership of 143 with Tilak Varma (37 not-out).
Sunrisers had started well, with Travis Head reeling off a quick 48, but Piyush Chawla (3-33) and Hardik Pandya (3-31) limited Hyderabad to 173-8, with Anshul Kamboj claiming his maiden IPL wicket by bowling out Mayank Agarwal.
Pat Cummins finished with a flurry, knocking 35 runs from 17 balls, and the Australia captain helped SRH put the Indians on the ropes when he dismissed Rohit Sharma in the fourth over.
Yet Mumbai would lose only one more wicket as Yadav inspired them to victory that snapped a four-match losing run.
Data Debrief: Yadav star of the show
This was Yadav's first IPL hundred of the season, with his knock including 18 boundaries (12 fours, six sixes), taking him up to 334 runs so far this campaign.
He is 16th in the overall rankings, and some 108 runs behind leader Virat Kohli.
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