Head Coach Andre Coley welcomed the West Indies A team tour of South Africa as a significant assignment to not only define, but more importantly, develop the region’s depth of talent in the longer formats of the game.
The Joshua Da Silva-captained team will engage their South African counterparts in three Tests between November 21 and December 8.
“It will give us an opportunity to boost our red-ball opportunities outside of the Caribbean. Earlier this year, we went to Bangladesh, and we did well there, and now we are going to another part of the world – South Africa. It will give us an opportunity to explore the brand of cricket that we want to play,” Coley said in an interview with CWI Media.
“Our next international assignment is in Australia, and six months after that we go to England, so this A team is positioned to offer red-ball playing opportunities on the back of the just-concluded Super50 Cup,” he added.
Coley, who is also Head coach of the senior West Indies Test side, is no stranger to South African conditions, having guided a Kraigg Brathwaite-led squad on last year’s tour.
“The South Africans are a team that want to play a specific way, and they always look to challenge you, but they respect our players. The pitches have offered pace, have offered bounce, so you will have pitches on which you can trust the bounce,” Coley reasoned.
“Players can, therefore, express themselves, whether they are batting or bowling, but it has never really been a place where the spinners have excelled. So, it’s also an opportunity for our spinners to learn to be effective in those conditions, and I am looking forward to being there,” he noted.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Da Silva will have Tevin Imlach as his deputy in a squad that also boast the experience of left-handers Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Kirk McKenzie, as well as fast bowlers Jayden Seales and Shermon Lewis.
Kevlon Anderson, fast bowler Shamar Joseph, and Jamaican spin bowling all-rounder Abhijai Mansingh, are also in the squad.
Coley, a former Jamaica wicketkeeper-batsman, pointed out that while the main objective is to come away from the tour victorious, there are other goals that are equally important for the development of the West Indies squad.
Coley will be assisted by former West Indies captain Jimmy Adams and former Australia fast bowler Shaun Tait.
“You learn to win over time. We want to see our primary batsman scoring loads of runs, as well as the all-rounders and bowlers averaging above 20 or 30 and building lower order partnerships, that will help to expand our batting options,” Coley said.
“Once we are able to tick the boxes that we have agreed upon, 75 per cent or more of what we have aimed for, that will help to define success,” he ended.
Virat Kohli set a new benchmark as he recorded his 50th ODI century to overtake fellow India great Sachin Tendulkar as New Zealand were put to the sword in their World Cup semi-final.
Kohli equalled the record earlier this month and is now out in front as Tendulkar watched his former team-mate compile a superlative 117 off 113 balls to underpin India’s 397 for four in Mumbai.
After moving to three figures, Kohli jumped up and punched the air before sinking to his knees and soaking up the cacophonous applause from the likes of Tendulkar and former footballer David Beckham.
Tendulkar wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “The first time I met you in the Indian dressing room, you were pranked by other teammates into touching my feet.
“I couldn’t stop laughing that day. But soon, you touched my heart with your passion and skill. I am so happy that that young boy has grown into a ‘Virat’ player.
“I couldn’t be happier that an Indian broke my record. And to do it on the biggest stage – in the World Cup Semi-final – and at my home ground is the icing on the cake.”
Shreyas Iyer thumped 105 off just 70 balls while there were contributions from captain Rohit Sharma (47), Shubman Gull (80no) and KL Rahul (39), with New Zealand struggling to contain their opponents.
Australia captain Pat Cummins is sure the five-time World Cup winners can use past experience of the big occasion to their advantage when they take on South Africa in Kolkata.
Cummins’ side are on a roll since losing against tournament hosts India and their opponents on Thursday, winning their remaining seven group-stage matches to storm into yet another semi-final.
South Africa might have prevailed in Lucknow and in an ODI series between the teams in September, but Australia have significantly more experience than the Proteas in the knockouts of a major tournament.
Cummins, David Warner, Steve Smith, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood were part of the 2015 trophy-winning campaign as well as the T20 World Cup triumph two years ago.
The Australia captain said: “What helps us is we’ve got a lot of guys that have been in this situation before that have won one-day World Cup, T20 World Cup, various other tournaments in big moments.
“You can draw on that in the middle of the contest. Obviously you start from scratch every time you play. They’re a team we’ve played quite a lot and know quite well.
“But this week it’s probably going to be quite different to say the South African series that we just played against them a couple of months ago.”
Australia memorably knocked out South Africa at the same stage in 1999 at Edgbaston, where a tied match went the way of Steve Waugh’s side because they finished higher in the group stage on net run-rate.
The finale is one of the most replayed of all-time as Allan Donald was chaotically run out, despite South Africa still having two balls in which to get the solitary run they needed for victory.
Cummins said: “It’s kind of folklore, isn’t it? I’ve seen that replay heaps of times, you hear the stories.”
Australia have steadily grown in confidence in India, emboldened by Maxwell’s rescue act against Afghanistan as his 201 not out secured a dramatic win and was widely hailed as the best ODI knock ever.
Marsh ensured a seventh straight victory with an unbeaten 177 against Bangladesh, so Australia will head into their Eden Gardens showdown with plenty of optimism.
Cummins added: “As a team you grow an extra leg because you feel like you can win a match from anywhere and having someone like Maxi in your team is just a complete luxury. He’s a superstar, he’s a freak.”
Andrew Flintoff has been appointed as head coach of the Northern Superchargers in The Hundred as the former England captain continues his return to the public eye following a serious car crash.
Flintoff gradually returned to the limelight through cricket in the summer after a crash last December while filming a stunt for the BBC show Top Gear left him hospitalised with facial and rib injuries.
He is now set for his first head coach role and replaces ex-England wicketkeeper James Foster, who left the Superchargers last week after two years with the Headingley-based team.
The 45-year-old said in a statement: “I am excited to have been appointed head coach of the Northern Superchargers men’s team.”
Jos Buttler has vowed to learn from his “mistakes” after returning home from England’s calamitous World Cup filled with “sadness and frustration”.
Pre-tournament predictions of the defending champions making a deep run in India went out of the window as England faltered alarmingly, losing six of their first seven matches – often by yawning margins.
Beating the Netherlands and Pakistan to secure a place in the 2025 Champions Trophy could not mask a hugely disappointing campaign and Buttler has accepted responsibility for his own shortcomings.
View this post on Instagram
As well as averaging an underwhelming 15.33 with the bat, passing 30 just once in nine innings, the England captain’s decision-making, especially at the toss, and tactics came under the microscope.
Buttler wrote on Instagram on Tuesday: “Back home now and very much in reflection mode over an incredibly disappointing World Cup campaign.
“The last eight weeks couldn’t have gone less to plan and the overriding emotions of sadness and frustration still very much dominate my feelings.
“Ultimately we performed so far short of our capabilities and me more than anyone.
“I will let this be a great lesson from the mistakes I made and motivation in everything I do going forward.”
England’s 15-strong squad in India contained 11 players aged 30 or older and many of them have been omitted from the ODI portion of next month’s tour to the West Indies amid an expected reset.
Director of cricket Rob Key has thrown his backing behind Buttler and head coach Matthew Mott, the pair who orchestrated England’s T20 World Cup triumph in Australia just 12 months ago.
Buttler has already signalled his intention to oversee the rebuild and will use what has happened in recent weeks as fuel to the fire in future.
He added: “It won’t take me long for the feelings of excitement and determination to return and drive me forward every day.”
Rohit Sharma insisted India are unfazed by past near-misses and will retain the demeanour that carried them to nine wins from nine in the World Cup group stage into their semi-final against New Zealand.
The 1983 and 2011 champions have endured a decade-long trophy drought on the global stage, eliminated in the semi-finals of the last two 50-over World Cups as well as at last year’s T20 equivalent.
Accused of failing to show up when it matters most, India have nevertheless thrilled their home fans in recent weeks by sweeping all before them, by far the dominant side heading into the knockout rounds.
Rohit therefore sees no reason to alter the game-plan ahead of a Mumbai showdown against perpetual underdogs New Zealand, who upset the odds to defeat India at the same stage four years ago.
“In India, if you are an Indian cricketer, then whatever the format, whatever the tournament, there is always pressure,” the 36-year-old batter said. “But we have handled that pressure very well in the last nine games.
“What happens from outside will always continue. We don’t really have to change too much, being that same mindset as we were before the start of the World Cup. We will focus on playing good cricket.
“This current crop of players are very much into what is happening today, what can happen tomorrow. I don’t see them talking about how we won the last World Cup, how we won our first World Cup.
“Half of the guys were not even born when we won our first World Cup. And then when we won our second World Cup in 2011, half of the guys were not even playing the game. The focus is on the present.”
Rohit and several team-mates who will play at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday featured in the 2019 defeat to the Black Caps, who also beat India in the inaugural World Test Championship final in 2021.
“In the back of your mind, you know what has happened in the past,” Rohit added. “But what has happened in the past is the past. It’s not going to determine too much about what will happen.
“I don’t think there’s much debate or much talk about what happened 10 years ago or five years ago or the last World Cup as well.”
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson is upbeat about his team’s chances of taking down “exceptional” India when the teams meet in the World Cup semi-final on Wednesday.
Hosts India have won all nine of their games at the tournament so far and are the favourites to go on and lift the trophy for the first time since 2011.
The Black Caps suffered four group-stage defeats, including a four-wicket loss to India on October 22, but Williamson insists that will have no bearing when the teams meet again in Mumbai for a place in the final.
“India have been exceptional,” he told a press conference. “They are one of the, if not the best team going around and are playing cricket that matches that.
“But we know on our day, when we play our best cricket, it gives us the best chance.
“We know it’s going to be a really tough challenge. They are a side that have been playing extremely well but we all know, come finals time, everything starts again and it’s all about the day.
“Every game in this tournament is a tricky one. As we’ve seen throughout, anybody can beat anybody on the day, whether that be the quality on both sides but also the change in conditions and if that has an impact.
“For us, it’s great to have got to the final stage and then take a fresh approach because it does start again.”
West Indies Senior Men’s white ball Head Coach Daren Sammy promises West Indian fans that great things are coming while encouraging them to come out and support the team as they host England in three ODIs and five T20Is in December.
Fans of the regional side have had a tough time of in in the last month, especially, having to watch the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup which the West Indies failed to qualify for in June.
The West Indies followed up that disappointment with a 1-2 series loss to India from July 27-August 1.
“Being able to address you as the Head Coach of the West Indies Men’s white ball team is something I’ll always cherish,” Sammy wrote in a letter addressed to the public on Monday.
“Having experienced the joys of playing, I saw how we came together as one when I was your captain. I know and believe we can achieve greater things so I welcome you once again to be part of the Home Team as we face England in the upcoming series,” he continued.
From December 3rd -December 21st, the West Indies will take on England in three ODIs and five T20Is in Antigua, Barbados, Grenada and Trinidad & Tobago.
“It always feels great to see the West Indies flags flying, hearing our music and seeing the dancing in the stands as we celebrate what is truly a unique way of watching the game in this part of the world,” Sammy said.
He continued, “Every match; no matter where we play, no matter who we play against; has the ability to create history and a lasting legacy. I know the feeling: we saw it in 2012 in Sri Lanka and we witnessed it again in 2016 in India.”
Sammy concluded that he hopes to see the stands filled with maroon as his side hopes to begin the journey to the 2027 World Cup in South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
“I want to urge you to join your ‘Home’ team and rally round the West Indies when WI come home to face England in December. Let’s fill the stands with our pride and joy; let’s paint the town Maroon and have a blessed Christmas season on and off the field,” he said.
Trinidad & Tobago Red Force captain Darren Bravo can now call himself the winningest man in Regional white-ball cricket after leading his team to the CG United Super50 Cup title over the weekend.
The Red Force secured a dominant seven-wicket victory over the Leeward Islands Hurricanes at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy on Saturday.
It was the 14th Super50 Cup title for the Red Force and the sixth for Bravo, a new record most individual Super50 titles.
Bravo was playing in his 200th List A game and top scored for the champions with a 35-ball 40.
That performance fittingly capped off a remarkable Super50 campaign for the 34-year-old.
Bravo was named as the tournament’s best batsman after finishing with 416 runs in eight games at an average of 83.20 with one hundred and three fifties.
For comparison, Bravo made 240 runs in seven innings at an average of 48 with three fifties in last year’s tournament which saw the Red Force get to the final before losing to the Jamaica Scorpions.
He also showed excellent form in red-ball cricket in the last edition of the West Indies 4-Day Championship where he finished as the second-highest run scorer with 446 runs in 10 innings at an average of 55.75 including two centuries and a fifty.
Bravo’s performances this season may see him being recalled to the West Indies One-Day International squad for the upcoming three-game series against England.
The 34-year-old last played an ODI back in February last year against India in Ahmedabad. In that game Bravo scored 19 off 30 balls batting at three.
Overall, Bravo, who made his ODI debut in 2009, has scored 3109 runs in 117 innings at an average of 30.18 with four centuries and 18 fifties.
The Melbourne Renegades’ horrific run of form in the 2023 Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) continued on Saturday with a narrow four-run loss to the Melbourne Stars at the Junction Oval in Melbourne on Saturday.
The Stars first posted 144-5 off their 20 overs after being put in to bat by the Renegades.
Captain Meg Lanning, who recently retired from international cricket, top scored with 67 from 49 balls and got good support from Annabel Sutherland who hit 24 and Alice Capsey who made 23.
Sarah Coyte took 2-32 from four overs for the Renegades.
The Renegades then fell agonizingly short of their target reaching 140-6 off their 20 overs.
Harmanpreet Kaur led the way with 37 while Tammy Beaumont got 33 and Matthews got her highest score of the season with 32, just her second time going over 30.
Sutherland completed an excellent all-round game with 4-22 from her four overs to be named player of the match.
Nyeem Young will lead a West Indies Men’s Academy squad for the upcoming home series against Ireland Academy. The two teams will play three List A matches (50 overs) and two four-day first-class matches from 17 November to 5 December at the Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG) and the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium (SVRS) in Antigua.
The West Indies squad is mainly comprised of the players in the West Indies Academy programme, who have just played in the CG United Super50 Cup as well as the Headley-Weekes Tri-Series earlier this year.
The CWI Selection Panel has included four new players - teenagers – Jordan Johnson, a left-handed middle-order batter and fast bowler Isai Thorne as well as Junior Sinclair, a right-handed spin bowling all-rounder and Kadeem Alleyne, a batting all-rounder.
Johnson was the stand-out player in the West Indies Rising Stars Men’s Under 19s tour to Sri Lanka in September when he made three centuries. Sinclair was impressive in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and was a member of the Guyana Amazon Warriors which won their first CPL title on home soil in September.
Alleyne, who will play the white ball series, was impressive batting at the top of the order for Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) in the CG United Super50 Cup. Thorne, who will play the red ball fixtures, bowled with pace and penetration on the Rising Stars Under 19 tour to Sri Lanka.
“The Ireland Series has great significance to the CWI High Performance Pathway as it will be the first bilateral Series since the Academy programme was introduced in July 2022,” Graeme West, CWI’s High Performance Manager explained.
“Playing both 50-over and red-ball four-day series will provide the Academy squad with further opportunities to progress their skills following promising showings in the Headley-Weekes Series and more recently in the CG United Super50 Cup.”
West revealed that the players are eagerly anticipating the contest against the Irish team.
“The Academy squad really embraced the challenge that the CG United Super50 Cup provided, and it was encouraging to see the conversion of winning positions as this was a focus area coming out of 2022. We will look to see the learning over the past three weeks come through during the 50 over series against Ireland,” he said.
“The two four-day games will allow the players to gain more experience and reinforce the gameplan that worked so successfully during the Headley-Weekes Tri-Series. With Kirk McKenzie and Kevlon Anderson graduating to their respective franchises, the Series will provide Jordan Johnson with the platform to build on his exceptional performances for the West Indies Rising Stars Under-19 side in Sri Lanka.”
FULL SQUAD: Nyeem Young (captain), Ackeem Auguste, Joshua Bishop, Teddy Bishop, Carlon Bowen-Tuckett, McKenny Clarke, Jordan Johnson, Leonardo Julien, Johann Layne, Matthew Nandu, Ashmead Nedd, Kelvin Pitman, Junior Sinclair, Kevin Wickham, Kadeem Alleyne (white ball matches only), Isai and Thorne (red ball matches only).
MATCH SCHEDULE
17 November: 1st 50-Over match at SVRS
19 November: 2nd 50-Over match at CCG
21 November: 3rd 50-Over match at SVRS
25-28 November: 1st four-day match at CCG
2-5 December: 2nd four-day match at CCG
Trinidadian wicketkeeper/batsman Joshua da Silva is to lead a West Indies “A” Team for the upcoming tour of South Africa where they will play three four-day “Test” matches against South Africa “A” from 21 November to 8 December.
Joshua Da Silva gets his second stint as ‘A’ team captain after leading West Indies “A” to victory in the series in Bangladesh earlier this year. Tevin Imlach, the other wicket-keeper/batsman has been named as the vice-captain.
The 14-member squad includes five players with Test match experience: Da Silva, batsmen Kirk McKenzie, and Tagenarine Chanderpaul; along with fast bowlers Jayden Seales and Shermon Lewis.
The squad also includes three newcomers to the international level: Kevlon Anderson, the right-handed batsman; fast bowler Shamar Joseph, and all-rounder Abhijai Mansingh. All three made their first-class debuts earlier this year.
Andre Coley is the head coach for the tour with his assistant coaches being Jimmy Adams, the former West Indies Test captain and Shaun Tait, the former Australia fast bowler.
Lead Selector Desmond Haynes, stated that the panel believes they have picked a balanced team to give the players more exposure in overseas conditions, similarly to the previous “A” Team tour to Bangladesh earlier this year. The panel also outlined that with the overlap between the England Men’s white-ball tour of the West Indies and this tour, the squad was picked with the development of players’ red-ball skills in mind.
“We had a very good ‘A’ Team tour to Bangladesh earlier this year, when were saw a number of players improve and grow. That tour was great for development in the red ball format – we saw some excellent individual performances which led to the team’s overall success. Now with continued investment by CWI in our players, we want to see the same kind of progress on this trip to South Africa,” Haynes said.
“Da Silva did an outstanding job as captain in the ‘Tests’ in Bangladesh and he is again the captain for this tour. Anderson is a young batsman who has benefitted immensely from his time in the West Indies Academy, and we saw his quality of batsmanship in the Headley-Weekes Tri Series. Mansingh showed quality with bat and ball in the first-class competition and gets this opportunity to showcase his skills and progress. Joseph is a young fast bowler who has impressed everyone with his genuine pace, his tremendous fitness and a huge desire to gain more knowledge about the game. You can see he wants to learn and get better.”
FULL SQUAD: Joshua Da Silva (captain), Tevin Imlach (vice-captain), Kevlon Anderson, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Kavem Hodge, Akeem Jordan, Shamar Joseph, Shermon Lewis, Jair McAllister, Zachary McCaskie, Kirk McKenzie, Abhijai Mansingh, Jayden Seales, Kevin Sinclair.
Team Management: Andre Coley (Head Coach), Dwain Gill (Team Manager), Jimmy Adams (Assistant Coach), Shaun Tait (Assistant Coach), Barrington Gayle (Physiotherapist), Asia Joseph (Strength & Conditioning Coach)
Match Schedule
21 to 24 November: vs South Africa “A” at Willowmoore Park, Benoni
28 November to 1 December: vs South Africa “A” at Buffalo Park, East London
5 to 8 December: vs South Africa “A” at Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein
England have slowed down plans for Jofra Archer’s return after he experienced soreness in his troublesome right elbow.
Archer has suffered several years of injury trouble and has not played competitively since May, when he suffered a recurrence of a stress fracture in his bowling arm while at the Indian Premier League.
His recovery had been going well enough for England selector Luke Wright to identify him as a “travelling reserve” for the World Cup, but he ended up spending less than three days with the squad in Mumbai last month.
On his only day of training, at the Wankhede Stadium, he reported discomfort during a very brief bowling spell and was immediately sent for scans. They showed no new problems but he was immediately ruled out of replacing the injured Reece Topley and also taken out of contention for next month’s white-ball tour of his native West Indies.
That trip had looked ideal as a comeback for the 28-year-old but Rob Key, England’s director of men’s cricket, explained they are adopting a cautious approach with a player who has been more spoken about than seen on the pitch since his breakout year of 2019.
“He had his scans and it was all clear. Then he comes here, bowls, and felt pain in his elbow,” said Key.
“So then the view was this is going to be a risk too far; send him back rather than keep him hanging around. He might well be (in the West Indies) but until he’s ready and fit he won’t be in the squad. Even then he’ll need a period of building up.
“Elbows, from what everyone says, are a tricky part of the body that you don’t want to get wrong.”
Archer signed a new two-year central contract in the latest round of deals, having been offered three, and Key makes no apology for the continued investment in a player with such a troubling fitness record.
“We take a bet with Jofra, because of the upside. That’s what lures you in,” he said.
“Who’s the best with the new ball? Jofra Archer. Who’s the best in the middle? Jofra Archer. Who’s the best at the death? Jofra Archer.
“It’s the Ashes in two years, the T20 World Cup in the summer…you don’t want to risk rushing something and kibosh the rest of his career.”
Director of cricket Rob Key is ready to take his share of the blame for England’s World Cup downfall, insisting head coach Matthew Mott will be given “first opportunity” to put things right.
Having arrived in India among the favourites, the 2019 champions are set to depart on Sunday among the also-rans, having scrambled to a seventh-placed finish.
With six defeats from nine games, this goes down as the country’s worst ever performance at the event, leaving Mott under pressure after 18 months in the job.
Some read Key’s decision to jet out to Kolkata for the end of the tournament as a bad sign for the Australian, but he and captain Jos Buttler instead received the backing of their boss.
Rather than line either up as a blood sacrifice, Key focused on his own prioritisation of England’s Test fortunes, which have sparked to life under Brendon McCullum’s guidance.
“I look at what I’ve not done rather than blaming everyone else. I hold myself accountable for a lot,” he said.
“Since I’ve started this job, it’s very hard for me to be critical of Jos Buttler and Matthew Mott when I’m the one who, every single time a decision has been made around whether or not we focus on 50-over cricket, Test cricket or T20, I’ve always chosen Test cricket.
“When there was a choice in Pakistan over who got the best players, I’ve always said, ‘sorry, Test cricket gets that focus at the moment’. The same thing in South Africa. I’ve always chosen Test cricket. It’s not easy for coaches and captains when you haven’t got the ability to plan and have your best team.
“That’s not their fault. So I feel like it’s harsh if I turn around and blame the captain and coach. Really, I hold myself at the top of that list for what’s gone wrong on this trip.”
Key’s backing for Mott did come with a gentle reminder that the mandate was not open-ended, with next summer’s T20 World Cup an obvious barometer for improvement.
“As far as I’m concerned he gets my full backing. He’s the person to get the first opportunity to put that right,” said Key.
“But it’s certainly not a case of saying ‘carry on, let’s keep doing everything the same and get the same result’. You’re now the person charged with sorting this out – along with myself, along with Jos, along with everyone else who has any kind of decision-making authority in English cricket. It’s for everyone to be accountable for that.
“It’s pretty simple as a coach, your job is to make sure that every single player is improving and getting better and that’s what we haven’t done. He will accept that.
“I feel this actually should be the making of those two (Mott and Buttler) as a partnership. If it isn’t, it isn’t and you move on but we have to make sure some good comes out of what has been a very poor World Cup.”
Key suggested another decision he had got wrong was in not hiring somebody with greater knowledge of Indian conditions to their backroom team. When England won the T20 World Cup in Australia last year they not only had Mott’s expertise, but two other locals in David Saker and Michael Hussey as coaching consultants.
England have been guilty of picking the wrong teams, failing to judge a par score on particular pitches and made some poor calls at the toss. Most obviously, they opted to field first against South Africa in energy-sapping heat and humidity in Mumbai and were promptly run ragged.
“I set up a coaching team that had no local experience really,” he reflected.
“When you get to somewhere like Mumbai – and it all seems so simple now – you’re worried about dew and all of this other stuff. But someone who knows these conditions really well would say ‘it’s hotter than the sun out there; make sure you have a bat’.
“It was only in the last couple of games, have we actually understood the way that we went about things. We should have known this but we didn’t going into the competition.”
There will be more analysis in the coming days and weeks as England try to come to terms with going from all-conquering champions and 50-over trailblazers to a seventh-placed side feeding on the crumbs of Champions Trophy qualification.
But Ben Stokes may have said it best on the eve of England’s penultimate game against the Netherlands when he summed things by saying ‘the problem is we’ve been crap’.
Key, ultimately, could not put it better himself.
“I would agree,” he concluded.
Less than 12 hours after exiting the World Cup, England named new-look squads for next month’s white-ball tour of the West Indies with an emphasis on rest, rotation and renewal.
The limited-overs trip to the Caribbean, coming straight off the back of a gruelling six-week trawl of India, had already been highlighted as a time to look at fresh faces but the ODI party contains only six survivors from the unimpressive title defence.
Captain Jos Buttler remains in charge and is joined by Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone.
Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root and Mark Wood have been rested ahead of January’s Test series in India and Test captain Ben Stokes is heading straight for an operation on his long-term knee injury.
But the omissions of Dawid Malan, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes from the 50-over squad may prove to be more final.
Moeen and Woakes, together with Adil Rashid, are retained for the T20 leg, suggesting they still have a chance of next summer’s short-form World Cup, but Malan has been cut from both formats.
Despite being England’s top run-scorer over the last few weeks, finishing exactly 100 clear of his nearest challenger, at 36 he seems to have run out of road.
Three uncapped players make the cut in ODI side with Test vice-captain Ollie Pope joining seamers John Turner and Josh Tongue. The pace pair also feature in the 20-over squad.
Phil Salt, Will Jacks and Rehan Ahmed will also make the full trip, indicating they are all seen as important parts of England’s white-ball rebuild.
While Ahmed was handed a two-year central contract last month, it is notable that neither Jacks nor Salt were among the 29 names who did receive deals.
Malan, who appears to have played his final international, was signed up for a year.
ODI squad: J Buttler (c), R Ahmed, G Atkinson, H Brook, B Carse, Z Crawley, S Curran, B Duckett, T Hartley, W Jacks, L Livingstone, O Pope, P Salt, J Tongue, J Turner
T20I squad: J Buttler (c), R Ahmed, M Ali, G Atkinson, H Brook, S Curran, B Duckett, W Jacks, L Livingstone, T Mills, A Rashid, P Salt, J Tongue, R Topley, J Turner, C Woakes.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
