Darren Bravo

The players were among the 292 announced who have been shortlisted based on interest shown by the IPL franchises and represent about 30 per cent of the actual numbers of Caribbean players who had enrolled for the draft.

In addition to the three aforementioned players, Oshane Thomas, Chemar Holder and Obed McCoy were also shortlisted along with Akeal Hosein, Romario Shepherd and Kyle Mayers.

Sheldon Cottrell, Fabian Allen and Keemo Paul also made the cut as well as Carlos Brathwaite, Sherfane Rutherford, and Shannon Gabriel.

Jayden Seales, Fidel Edwards, Alzarri Joseph, Jon Ross Jaggesar complete the list of West Indies who will be hoping for lucrative contracts in the coming draft.

A total of 1097 players had registered for the 2021 IPL Draft.

Jordan took 3-48, Springer 3-11 and Boyce 3-26 as Barbados routed Jamaica for 141 in just 54.5 overs.

At stumps, in reply Barbados were 89-2 with Sheyne Moseley unbeaten on 41. With him is Shamarh Brooks on 16.

Jamie Merchant was the top scorer for Jamaica with 35. Tevin Gilzene scored 31 while Abhijai Mansingh contributed 27 to the paltry total.

Meanwhile, over at North Sound, Trinidad and Tobago Red Force playing against the Leeward Islands Hurricanes, were 151-3 at stumps thanks to an unbeaten 74 from Darren Bravo.

Bravo came to the rescue after his team had lost two early wickets with only eight runs on the board. He and Jason Mohammed put on 74 for the third wicket to put the Red Force back on track.

By stumps, he and Yannic Cariah added a further 69 to the total.

Jeremiah Louis did the early damage for the Leewards taking 2-19.

Since the killing of George Floyd, a black man by a white policeman in Minneapolis in the United States on May 25, protests have exploded across the globe by hundreds of thousands of people calling for an end to systemic racism.

There have been protests in all 50 US states and in more than 20 countries across the globe. Then, in the past few days, former West Indies captain Darren Sammy has lashed out for being given a racist nickname while playing in the Indian Premier League, actions supported by T20 legend Chris Gayle.

Bravo, during an Instagram Live session with Zimbabwean cricket commentator Pommie Mbangwa, said he has been saddened by what has been happening across the globe.

“As a black man, we know the history of what black people have been through. We never ask for revenge, we ask for equality and respect. That’s it,” Bravo said.

“We give respect to others. Why is it that we are facing this over and over? I just want our brothers and sisters to know that we are powerful and beautiful.

“And at the end of the day, you look at some of the greats of the world, whether it is Nelson Mandela, Mohammad Ali, Michael Jordan we have had leaders who paved the way for us. Now enough is enough. We just want equality. Don’t want revenge, war. We just want respect.”

But despite Narine’s heroics, fine catching and canny bowling from last year’s beaten finalists meant the Bravo brothers had to hold their nerve right to the end to see the Knight Riders home.

Pollard’s decisions to bowl first in a match shortened by rain to 17 overs each, and to entrust Ali Khan with the first over, were each vindicated almost immediately when last year’s Hero CPL top scorer, Brandon King, sliced to point for a duck.

 Chandrapaul Hemraj chipped a return catch to Narine, and the Knight Riders spinners were bowling so well that at one point Pollard even brought himself in at short leg. It wasn’t until Ross Taylor brought out his signature slog-sweep at the end of the seventh over that we saw the tournament’s first Hero Maximum.

The Kiwi veteran showed his strength off his legs, picking up West Indies U-19 star Jayden Seales for another six, but an edge past slip off the young fast bowler and one that Pollard couldn’t hold at slip off Fawad Ahmed studded a stand of 50 for the third wicket.

Narine skidded one past Taylor to end the partnership with Hetmyer, but Nicholas Pooran started in purposeful fashion with a reverse sweep for four. The two West Indies internationals were content to see off Narine, and with the Amazon Warriors entering the last 5 overs well-placed at 89 for 3, a huge straight six from Pooran saw them take 16 off DJ Bravo’s second over.

Hetmyer wasn’t fazed by the loss of Pooran, launching Seales for a Hero Maximum into the stands to bring up his fourth career Hero CPL fifty off just 38 balls.  Rutherford holed out trying to repeat the dose off Bravo, but Hetmyer and his fellow Guyanese, Keemo Paul, scrambled 7 off a good penultimate over by Ali and then smashed Bravo for 15 off the last to set the Knight Riders a tricky 145.

The Amazon Warriors started magnificently with the ball, with Afghan pace sensation Naveen-ul-Haq, new captain Chris Green and Romario Shepherd combining to keep Knight Riders’ openers Narine and Lendl Simmons to just 9 off the first 3 overs. Simmons swung and missed at four Shepherd slower balls in a row, and while he broke the shackles a little with back-to-back fours off Green it was no surprise when he became Naveen’s first-ever Hero CPL wicket, spooning a slower ball to the infield and departing for a sluggish 17.

The Knight Riders began to find their feet after the Guardian Life Powerplay, with Narine hitting Green over midwicket and Munro hitting the same bowler clean out of the ground. But Shepherd came back and dismissed the prolific Kiwi for 17, with the aid of a superb diving catch by King. It was a fine comeback after Munro had carved a four and scooped a six off his previous two balls.

Paul kept the ball out of Narine’s reach, sometimes literally, with his first over going for just six, but the pinch-hitter extraordinaire broke free, with even Imran Tahir going for back to back boundaries to take the Knight Riders into the Angostura LLB drinks break at 81 for 2 needing 64 off the last 48 balls.

Narine continued his assault, launching consecutive Hero Maximums to bring the required run rate down to just seven an over, but finally holed out off Tahir just after simultaneously being dropped and bringing up his 50 off a remarkable 27 balls. The veteran South African eschewed his trademark celebration in favour of taking the knee and raising a fist in honour of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Narine’s aggression meant Darren Bravo could play himself in, and when Pollard signalled his intentions by launching Tahir back over his head it looked a simple chase for the hometowners. But late drama saw the skipper and Tim Seifert both caught by King, the second a diving Republic Bank Classic to go with the Munro grab, and the younger Bravo brother’s penultimate over Hero Maximum was vital in keeping the equation on the Knight Riders’ side.

He couldn’t quite see his team home, falling to the impressive Naveen who was entrusted to close the innings as he’d opened it, but older brother Dwayne held his nerve, and the hometown boys are on the board early.

The Barbadian opener, who was on 183 at stumps shared an opening stand of 111 with John Campbell, who made a relatively brisk 45 from just 62 balls before he was bowled by Blair Tickner. The Jamaican struck eight boundaries during his 106-minute stay at the crease.

Bravo joined Brathwaite and together they mounted a 189-run stand that put New Zealand 'A' on the defensive. Brathwaite’s 100 came up in 139 balls during which he hit eight fours and a six. Bravo, picking up from where he left off in the first match, hit six fours while bringing up his 50 in 90 balls.

The pair took a 171 balls to mount the 100-run partnership with Bravo doing the bulk of the scoring with 52 of the runs. The Trinidadian looked set to get his second ton in a week when Rachin Ravindra had him caught by Tickner for a well-played 93 scored off 167 balls in another long stay at the crease, 221 minutes.

After a brief partnership of 22 with Brathwaite, Shamarh Brooks fell cheaply for 5 with just six overs remaining in the day’s play. However, Jermaine Blackwood was on 19 at the close with Brathwaite at the other end looking forward to the possibility of a double century when play resumes on Friday (5pm Jamaica, 6pm ECT).

So far, his 183 has come from 262 balls and includes 14 fours and a six.

Ravindra has so far taken 1 for 45 from 14 overs while Tickner was more expensive giving up 90 runs from the 20 overs he bowled in the day. Michael Rae, who took the wicket of Brooks, has 1 for 74 from his 20 overs.

The Red Force started the day 106-3 and lost their fourth wicket quickly as Jyd Goolie was run out for 18 in the 48^th over with the score on 119.

Tion Webster then joined Bravo at the crease and the pair put on 25 before Webster was bowled by Veerasammy Permaul for 16 in the 55^th over.

Bravo was next to go, falling agonizingly short of his third hundred of the season when he was dismissed by Permaul for a well-made 170-ball 95 in the 61^st over.

The very next ball saw Permaul remove Imran Khan for a golden duck to leave the red Force reeling at 165-7.

Bryan Charles was next to go, falling for one with the score on 174.

Red Force were 175-8 at lunch needing a further 247 runs to win with Amir Jangoo (10) and Uthman Muhammad (0) at the crease.

Jangoo and Muhammad continued to fight after lunch until Muhammad was dismissed by Ronsford Beaton for 25 with the score on 211 in the 83^rd over.

The last pair of Jangoo and debutant Justin Manick put on a valiant 57 for the last wicket before Manick went for 22 off the bowling of Kevin Sinclair.

Jangoo ended up 50 not out as the Red Force were bowled out for 268 in 97.5 overs.

Scores: Guyana Harpy Eagles 324 off 86.3 overs (Kevin Sinclair 69, Leon Johnson 62, Anthony Bramble 56, Keemo Paul 46, Imran Khan 4-80, Bryan Charles 3-85) and 247-6 declared off 83 overs (Kemol Savory 101*, Leon Johnson 74, Darren Bravo 2-23, Bryan Charles 2-60)

Trinidad and Tobago Red Force 160 off 52 overs (Jason Mohammed 50, Jyd Goolie 22, Ronsford Beaton 4-31, Veerasammy Permaul 3-36, Keemo Paul 3-37) and 268 off 97.5 overs (Darren Bravo 95, Amir Jangoo 50*, Veerasammy Permaul 3-58, Ronsford Beaton 2-53, Keemo Paul 2-73).

The Red Force players will get the first of just two opportunities to play competitively before the start of the West Indies Four-Day Championship when they play a three-day practice match in Preysal. Bravo is expected to be part of the action.

This was confirmed by Red Force coach and selection chairman David Furlonge on January 2.

He also told the Trinidad Express that Bravo would also play in next week’s North/South Classic, as well as the Four-Day Championship.

The confirmation comes after Bravo announced in November that he planned to “step away just for a bit” following being overlooked by the West Indies selectors for last month’s One-Day International series against England.

In an emotional post on social media platform Instagram, he said he had “taken some time to ponder and wonder” about his future in West Indies cricket, and while he was not “giving up”, believed a break would be the best move for his career.

He gave no clear indication of the length of the break, but said it was proving difficult to continue finding motivation amid the ongoing selection disappointments.

“At this point in my career it’s not easy or should I say it takes a lot to continue to find the energy, the passion, commitment and discipline to be able to perform to the best of my ability and put myself in a position to make my return to international cricket.”

Bravo, who last played for the West Indies in January 2022 in a T20 International against England, led the Red Force to victory in last November’s Super50 Cup, in which he was the leading run-scorer. Earlier in the year, Bravo also had the second-highest aggregate in the four-day competition.

Subsequent to his snub for the England ODI series, Bravo was contacted by director of cricket for Cricket West Indies (CWI) Miles Bascombe about going on the Test tour of Australia, but according to CWI, he declined the offer.

Speaking on the Mason and Guest cricket radio show in Barbados last Tuesday, Furlonge admitted he was “surprised” that Bravo had turned down the chance to tour, but added that, “I know he’s disappointed at not being selected in the 50 overs against England but we have to move on. Hopefully he gets back himself. He has made himself available for Trinidad. We’ll see how that goes from there.”

Furlonge also said: “I respect his decision, I know what he is going through...I believe he will have to start over and have another good year before he’s considered for (West Indies) selection again.”

The Zouks started aggressively - Andre Fletcher lofted Ali Khan for a Hero Maximum but fell next ball, Pierre taking a fine catch at third man. The fit-again Rakheem Cornwall was unfazed and hit the ball after Fletcher’s dismissal for six, and the Zouks flew to 32/1 after three overs.

But then Cornwall drove aerially, Munro took a good catch, and on his home ground, Bravo became the founding member of T20 cricket’s 500 Club. He soon made it 501 - a portentous number on a ground with a pavilion named for Brian Lara - by yorking Roston Chase, and after a strong start, the Zouks had stuttered to 43/3 off the Powerplay.

Pollard went with Fawad Ahmed and himself after the Powerplay to keep the pressure on. They did so with aplomb, conceding only 15 runs in four overs and not giving up a single boundary. At halfway, the Zouks were 58/3 and hadn’t found the fence for 32 balls.

48-year-old Pravin Tambe, the first Indian to play the Hero CPL, only got one over, but it was an eventful one. Najibullah Zadran hit a Hero Maximum and a four, but Tambe had the last laugh. Najibullah misread the googly and gave Pollard a simple catch at cover, and Tambe had his own little moment of history.

Mohammad Nabi was busy, cutting Pollard for four, but with Mark Deyal scratchy, Fawad’s over went for just four and Pollard finished his spell tightly, leaving the Zouks searching for rhythm at 93/4 off 14 overs.

Nabi tried to provide it, sweeping Fawad for four and launching him for a Hero Maximum, but Fawad finished strong by ending Deyal’s struggles. Zouks captain Daren Sammy decided the situation called for himself, but Pierre returned with another good over and the Zouks entered the last four overs at 109/5.

Sammy had a few lusty swings but missed them all, and was eventually trapped LBW by Pierre. That was the last action before the rain came, and one wonders how many runs Nabi being starved of the strike took off the Knight Riders’ adjusted target.

Nabi sparked hope with the ball, trapping Lendl Simmons LBW for a second-ball duck. Munro though was positive, sweeping for four then a Hero Maximum to get the Knight Riders up and running. Scott Kuggeleijn didn’t help matters for the Zouks, firing down five wides in an over that went for 11.

Kesrick Williams was on the money, as both Munro and emergency opener Tion Webster found long-on to leave the Knight Riders three down and with Pollard and Darren Bravo yet to face a ball.

Pollard though didn’t last long - he got off the mark with a classy flick for four off Chemar Holder, but the young Bajan responded with one that jagged back off the seam to take an inside edge that was very well caught by Fletcher. After four overs, the Knight Riders needed 35 off 30 balls but were four down.

Nabi returned, but Bravo and Tim Seifert managed five singles off him to keep the Knight Riders ahead of the DLS par. Seifert had only faced three balls in the whole tournament before today but was busy and inventive. A flick over his shoulder off Kuggeleijn raced for four, and the Knight Riders needed 22 off the last three overs.

Darren Bravo brought up a milestone of his own off Williams, his 100th Hero CPL six, to reduce the equation to a run a ball. Holder was excellent at the death in the Zouks’ own DLS victory against the Guyana Amazon Warriors and was trusted with the penultimate over here, but Bravo hammered Hero Maximum no.101 to make victory a formality. Seifert drove for four to finish it with an over to spare and send the Knight Riders clear at the top of the table.

Summary: (Trinbago Knight Riders 75/4 (DM Bravo 23*, Seifert 18*, Munro 17; Williams 2/17, Nabi 1/15, C Holder 1/24) beat St Lucia Zouks 111/6 (Nabi 30*, Najibullah 21, Cornwall 18; DJ Bravo 2/7, Tambe 1/15, Pierre 1/19, Fawad 1/21) by 6 wickets (DLS target 72 off 9 overs)

 Upcoming Fixture: Wednesday 26 August - Match 14: Barbados Tridents v Jamaica Tallawahs (5:30 pm), Queen’s Park Oval

The Leewards started the fourth and final day 243-7 after 87 overs, trailing the Red Force 175 runs in their first innings with Rakheem Cornwall (33) and Hayden Walsh (18) at the crease.

Cornwall and Walsh had put on 43 for the eighth wicket before the end of play on day three and they continued their solid batting to start day four, stretching their partnership to 83 in the 95^th over before Cornwall fell at the hands of Bryan Charles for 67 off 95 balls.

Eleven runs and three overs later, Colin Archibald became the ninth wicket to fall, going off the bowling of Khary Pierre for 10.

Walsh was the last man to go for 31 as the Hurricanes were bowled out for 302 in 100.1 overs, allowing the Red Force to bat again with a lead of 116.

Bryan Charles led the way with the ball for the Trinidadians with 4-84 in 29.1 overs while Khary Pierre provided good support with 3-63 in 30 overs.

In a change, Darren Bravo joined regular opener Keagan Simmons at the top of the innings to begin the Red Force’s quest to set a good total.

Their quest did not get off to the best of starts as Simmons was bowled by Sheeno Berridge for one off seven balls.

Regular opener Jeremy Solozano batted three this time around and put on 85 with Bravo for the second wicket before Berridge added to his tally, getting him caught behind for 26 in the 21^st over.

During that partnership. Bravo brought up his fifty off 66 balls in the 19^th over with the score on 73.

Upon the fall of Solozano’s wicket, the vastly experienced Jason Mohammed then joined his captain and the pair put of 28 before Mohammed fell to Kofi James for 12 in the 29^th over.

Tion Webster then joined Bravo but fell quickly for just three in the 31^st over.

Terrance Hinds was next up and he made a spritely 12-ball 16 before he became James’ third wicket, going in the 35^th over.

That was the last wicket to fall as Bravo and Amir Jangoo put on a 37-run partnership before the red Force declared their second innings on 183-5 in 43.4 overs, leaving the Hurricanes needing 300 to win.

The declaration came as Bravo brought up his second century of the match off 153 balls. His knock included 10 fours.

The Leewards reached 72-1 off 23 overs when the game was declared a draw with Montcin Hodge on 34 and Kacey Carty 11. Kieran Powell earlier made 21.

Scores: Trinidad & Tobago Red Force 418-9 declared off 126.5 overs (Darren Bravo 100, Imran Khan 92, Yannic Cariah 52, Terrance Hinds 51, Jeremiah Louis 3-78, Colin Archibald 3-111) and 183-5 declared off 43.4 overs (Darren Bravo 100*, Jeremy Solozano 26, Kofi James 3-39, Sheeno Berridge 2-32)

Leeward Islands Hurricanes 302 off 100.1 overs (Keacy Carty 95, Rakheem Cornwall 67, Bryan Charles 4-84, Khary Pierre 3-63, Yannic Cariah 2-24) and 72-1 off 23 overs (Montcin Hodge 34*, Kieran Powell 21)

The 31-year-old left-hand batter scored 135 for the West Indies who made 366 in response to New Zealand ‘A’s 308 for 3 declared. In all Bravo batted for four hours and 39 minutes, faced 214 balls and hit 13 fours and five sixes, excellent preparation for the upcoming two Tests against New Zealand in early December.

Bravo said the process was all about challenging himself to bat for as long as possible.

“Most importantly for me was spending time out in the middle,” he said while speaking virtually with media from Queenstown on Sunday.

“I know fully well that if I batted for, let’s say two and a half hours, I was definitely going to get a good score. It wasn’t about the runs. The runs are not going to do justice per se but I think spending time out in the middle and understanding the conditions and stuff like that will work in my favour as a batter, so that was basically my main goal.”

This, he says, has been his approach as he looks to get back playing Test cricket on a regular basis and it seems to be paying off.

“Even in the nets, I try my best not to get out, even if I just get to bat for 20 minutes in the fast-bowlers’ nets. It’s just a matter of spending as much time in the middle as possible and challenge myself as much as possible and if I get through that period, because sometimes you tend to get lazy as a batter, I challenge myself throughout.

“My coach asks for us to bat as long as possible and I tried my best to do that and it worked out in this particular innings.”

Man of the Match Bravo scored 102 and shared in two crucial partnerships - a 109-run third-wicket partnership with Hope, who made 64, and a fourth-wicket partnership with Pollard that set up the West Indies for a third consecutive victory. The captain remained unbeaten on 53 at the end.

Chasing 275, after Sri Lanka made 274 for 6, their best score of the series, the West Indies had their worse start of the series. After stands of 143 and 192, respectively, in the first two matches, Evin Lewis and Hope managed only 24 runs on this occasion.

Lewis, who has been in ominous form with scores of 65 and 103 in the two previous matches, was bowled by Suranga Lakmal for 13 at the end of the fifth over. The West Indies crawled to 39 for 1 in the 10^th over when Jason Mohammed was bowled by Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva, who was getting his first wicket of the ODI series.

His dismissal brought Hope and Bravo together for the first of the two instrumental partnerships of the West Indies innings. However, after keeping the scoreboard ticking over at close to five runs an over, the pair got bogged down by the tight bowling. By the start of the 32^nd over the pair had taken the score to 148 when Hope got out trying to slog Thisara Perera first ball only be caught by Suranga Lakmal running in from long-on.

Hope had made 64, his third consecutive score of 50 or more in the series and on the sixth consecutive occasion overall. Nicholas Pooran came intending to push the score along hitting two sixes in what was to be a brief stay at the crease. Three overs later he was back in the pavilion out lbw to Danuska Gunathilaka for 15 to leave the West Indies in a spot of bother at 169 for 3, still needing 106 from 78 balls.

Pollard arrived at the crease intent on pushing the scoring rate without unnecessary risk. He knocked balls into the gaps, running singles and twos, sprinkling four fours in between. Bravo soon followed suit and together they put on 80 runs while bringing the run rate down from near eight an over to near six and which took the West Indies within sight of their target.

By the time Bravo got out trying to hit Lakmal over extra cover, the West Indies needed 25 from 23 balls. Bravo hit five fours and four sixes.

Holder joined Pollard and together began a steady run toward the required runs.

Pollard hit one six in his 42-ball innings and it was perhaps the most important one of the innings.

It came from the last ball of the 48^th over bowled by Asitha Fernando that yielded 14 runs, resulting in the West Indies needing nine from 12 balls.

After missing with an almighty swipe from the first ball of the 49^th over bowled by Lakmal, Jason Holder finished the job hitting a four and a six off the next two balls to finish the job unbeaten on 14.

Lakmal, who gave up the winning runs, finished with 2-56 from 9.3 overs.

Earlier, Sri Lanka, who had been put in to bat, only managed their competitive score of 274 for 6, due to an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 123 from 111 balls between Hasaranga and Ashen Bandara.

Hasaranga who should have been run out for 42, hit seven fours and three sixes on his way to his best ODI score of 80 that came off just 60 balls while Bandara was unbeaten on 55 that included three fours and six.

They had taken the score from 151 for 6 sliding from 68 without loss.

Gunathilaka made 36 before he lost his wicket to Alzarri Joseph. Seven balls later and two balls later Dimuth Karunaratne was bowled by Mohammed for 31. It was the start of a trend wherein the Sri Lankan batsmen would all get starts and then got out.

Akeal Hossein took 3-33 taking the wickets of Pathum Nissanka for 24, Dinesh Chandimal for 16 and Dashun Sanaka for 24. The latter two getting out in a similar fashion playing across the line to faster straight deliveries and getting bowled.

By that time, Sri Lanka was struggling at 143 for 5 in the 31^st over.

When Perera was run out by a direct hit from Nicholas Pooran seven balls later, Sri Lanka was slipping fast at 151 for 6 before Hasaranga and Bandara pulled out their rescue act.

For his scores of 102, 84 and 64, Shai Hope was named Player of the Series.

Both teams will now turn their attention to the Test series that begins on March 21.

Chasing 294 for victory, Barbados were bowled out for 215 in 47.2 overs.

Bravo’s 139 not out that included nine fours and seven majestic sixes, was the foundation on which Trinidad and Tobago built their score of 293 for 6 from their 50 overs. Opener Kjorn Ottley and Tion Webster made invaluable contributions with scores of 36 and 28, respectively, but the bulk of the runs came from Bravo’s bat as no other batter got past 20 runs against the Barbados bowling attack.

Roston Chase was the best of the Barbados bowlers taking 3-50 from his 10 overs while Kemar Smith took 2-46.

Needing 294 for victory, Barbados never really got going. Their batters were beguiled at first by Hosein who dismissed Kyle Mayers for 12 and Zachary McCaskie for 19.  He also dismissed the dangerous Shai Hope for just 18 to finish with figures of 3-31.

Shannon Gabriel had Shamarh Brooks out caught for 33 before Narine took over snaring the wickets of Chase for 48, Roshon Primus for one, Kemar Smith without scoring and Dominic Drakes for nine to return the impressive figures of 4-13 from his 10 overs.

Akeem Jordan in partnership with Jomel Warrican played an entertaining cameo bludgeoning Trinidad’s bowlers for four fours and three sixes before he was bowled by Khary Pierre for a well-played 40 from 47 balls.

Yanic Cariah put the cap on the proceedings when he dismissed Jair McAllister for one, leaving Warrican not out on 19 in the end.

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 14^th Super50 Cup title for the Red Force and the sixth for Bravo, a new record most individual Super50 titles.

Bravo was playing in his 200^th 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.

Bravo captained the Red Force in the recent CG United Super50 Cup staged in Trinidad and emerged as the leading batter as the hosts clinched the title with an unbeaten run.

However, after being overlooked for the WI One-Day International squad for the recent home series against England, which the West Indies won 2-1, the 34-year-old announced that he was stepping away from the game “just for a bit”.

Furlonge confirmed Bravo’s decision to take a break, explaining that the stylish left-hander, who is contracted by the franchise, has taken his vacation entitlement and wasn’t due back until next year.

However, with plans already being drawn up for the next four-day tournament, Furlonge said he will have to speak with Bravo before the new year to see where the player is at.

After Bravo’s initial announcement on social media in late November, the Red Force coach, who is also chairman of the senior selection panel, was optimistic that the middle order batter would be available for the red-ball regional tournament.

However, it was reported that Bravo was contacted by Cricket West Indies director of cricket Miles Bascombe about going on next month’s Test tour of Australia but he declined the offer.

Meanwhile, Furlonge said: “He (Bravo) is not due back until next year but I will have a conversation before that.”

“We will need to know where we are at because we will have to name a captain who will be involved in selection and preparations for the four-day tournament coming up,” the Red Force coach continued.

“I will have to meet with him soon to get an update. He is still basically on vacation. He has not said anything about the four-day as yet. From a team point of view, we will want to know if he is available or not because he is the captain,” Furlonge added.

Bravo captained the Red Force in the previous West Indies Championship season and finished the season with 446 runs from five matches which included two centuries and one half-century.

The only other batter to score more runs than Bravo in the four-day competition was Alick Athanaze with 647 runs.

The Red Force finished fourth on the six-team standings with the Guyana Harpy Eagles clinching the first-class title, the Windward Islands Volcanoes coming in second and the Barbados Pride placing third.

The Leeward Islands Hurricanes finished fifth and Jamaica Scorpions were last.

Meanwhile, left-handed batsmen Evin Lewis and Shimron Hetmyer have been omitted from the squad which played the recent Colonial Medical Insurance ODI series against Ireland after failing to attain the new minimum standard fitness requirements in recent assessments.

The squad will depart the Caribbean on Saturday and will have a pre-series camp in Colombo before they face the hosts in three ODIs.

“Darren Bravo and Rovman Powell owe their recall to their outstanding performance in the Colonial Medical Super50 tournament.  Bravo brings good form, a renewed appetite for runs and lots of experience, which will benefit the team tremendously. Powell who is back from injury, will add batting firepower to the line-up, increase the team’s bowling options and strengthen the fielding unit,” said Lead Selector Roger Harper while explaining the reasons for the recall of the previously omitted players.

“Evin Lewis and Shimron Hetmyer missed out due to the fact that they came up short in the fitness test.  They will be missed.

“Lewis was the team’s best batsman in the recent Colonial Medical Insurance ODI Series against Ireland where he batted with great composure and proved the bedrock for the team’s Series win. Hetmyer appeared to be getting his act together and was an integral part of the team’s batting group.”

The matches will be played at Sinhalese Sports Club; the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium in Hambantota and the Pallakele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy.

Two T20 internationals will follow the ODIs and the squad for that series will be named at a later date.

FULL SQUAD: Kieron Pollard (captain), Shai Hope (vice-captain), Fabian Allen, Sunil Ambris, Darren Bravo, Roston Chase, Sheldon Cottrell, Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Keemo Paul, Nicholas Pooran, Rovman Powell, Romario Shepherd, and Hayden Walsh.

 The match schedule is outlined below:

 February 17 – warm-up at P Sara Oval;

February 20 – warm-up vs SLC President’s XI – CMCG, Katunayake;

February 22 – 1st ODI at Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo;

February 26 – 2nd ODI at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium, Hambantota;

March 1 – 3rd ODI at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy;

March 4 – 1st T20I at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy;

Match 6 – 2nd T20I at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy

The 31-year-old left-hand batsman stamped his authority on the Harpy Eagles bowlers with a solid unbeaten 48-ball 71, which included seven fours and two sixes. And almost like rubbing salt in the opponent’s wounds, Cariah returned to grab five wickets for a mere 34 runs in five overs to restrict Harpy Eagles to 176 in reply to Red Force’s 290.

Captain Darren Bravo continued his good form with another half-century knock of 51 off 60 balls, while Kjorn Ottley, stroked 52 of 57 deliveries in the Red Force’s daunting total.

Scores: Trinidad and Tobago Red Force 290-8 (50 overs); Guyana Harpy Eagles 176 all out (34 overs)

Sent in to bat, Red Force relished the conditions. Though they lost Evin Lewis (16) in the fifth over with the score at 27-1, wicketkeeper/batsman Joshua Da Silva (27) and Ottley, who had six boundaries and one six in his knock, added 64 for the second wicket.

Ottley was the first to go, caught by Gudakesh Motie off Veerasammy Permaul and Da Silva followed soon after, leaving Bravo and Jason Mohammed (26) to post another 58 runs for the fourth wicket.

Bravo, who had six fours in his innings went caught off Sherfane Rutherford and Mohammed stuck with Cariah in a 45-run fifth-wicket stand before the former was undone by Motie.

Still, Cariah remained aggressive and with small contributions from those in the lower order, saw Red Force to their match-winning total.

Romario Shepherd (2-43) and Sherfane Rutherford (2-55), were the pick of the Harpy Eagles bowling.

Guyana’s response started positively, but was never allowed to bear fruit, as Jayden Seales, Akeal Hosein, Sunil Narine and Terrance Hinds combined to remove Tagenarine Chanderpaul (19), Chandrapaul Hemraj (21), Tevin Imlach (26) and Shimron Hetmyer (24), with an even 100 runs on the board in the 17th over.

From there, it was left for Cariah, bowling his leg spin, to mop up the remaining batsmen of which only Rutherford (30) and Kevin Sinclair (20), offered any real resistance to the onslaught. Narine had the next best Red Force figures of 2-18.

Action in the tournament continues on Sunday with Windward Islands Volcanoes crossing swords with Combined Campuses and Colleges at the Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Ground.

Shahid Afridi and Trinbago Knight Rider’s Colin Munro are also in the pool for the player auction set for October 1.

Under the rules governing the Sri Lankan T20 league, each franchise can buy up to six international players.

However, according to reports, there are still some loose ends to be tied up before the auction can take place. Among them government approval for a shorter quarantine period for players, officials and broadcast staff.

SLC officials are asking that the quarantine period for those arriving for the tournament be reduced from 14 to seven days.

Bravo and Hetmyer declined invitations to the West Indies squad for the #Raisethebatseries in England in July citing concerns over safety. The West Indies relied on Shamarh Brooks, Shai Hope and Jermaine Blackwood during the series when they won the first Test at Southampton only to capitulate in the remaining two Tests as the home side came from behind to win the series 2-1.

For the tour of New Zealand that begins on November 27 with the first of three T20 Internationals and then two Tests, the West Indies have the services of the two middle order batsman. However, Hope was not selected due to a protracted poor run of form.

Notwithstanding, the Cricket West Indies CEO believes the Caribbean side will deliver a much better showing in what is expected to be a tough series.

“I think touring New Zealand for any team, whatever form you’re in, is challenging, particularly in the Test matches. They haven’t lost a Test match series in New Zealand for years and years against every opposition that they have faced, so we are fully aware of the challenges of playing New Zealand in their home conditions,” Grave said.

“But, I think the Test team has made progress over the last few years and in moments, they’ve obviously won Test matches. What we’re really looking for is winning series, particularly away from home.

“We started the series against England brilliantly, beating them comprehensively in the first Test and we were in a good position in the second Test to seeing out a draw to retain the Wisden trophy but that didn’t happen so I think is hungry to get some championship points in the World Test Championships and also start to prove to themselves that they’re capable of winning series and delivering on that potential.”

This belief, he said, is based on the improvement in the batting driven by competition for places when compared to the team on the England tour.

“Certainly, I am sure the batting line-up will be strengthened and be more competitive with the return of Darren Bravo and Shimron Hetmyer etc,” Grave said.

“It’s going to be more competition for places in that middle order and batting line-up and it’s the batting where we need to show the most improvement because everyone is confident is capable of taking 20 wickets, what we need to do is get enough runs on the board to put whatever team we are playing against under pressure.”

A total of 18 players have been offered contracts for the upcoming 2021-22 season which runs from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022.

Meanwhile, Roston Chase, Shamarh Brooks and Shane Dowrich are among several who have lost their retainer contracts. Also losing their contracts were Sunil Ambris, Sheldon Cottrell, Shimron Hetmyer, Brandon King, Keemo Paul, Rovman Powell, Romario Shepherd and Oshane Thomas.

“Contracts offered for the 2021-22 period sees 18 players being retained, a decrease of four from last year. Jason Holder is the only player to retain his all-format contract due to his strong Test and T20I performances during the evaluation period,” CWI Lead Selector Roger Harper confirmed.

“There are several new players offered red-ball contracts earned by their strong performances during the last period. A number of players were not retained because they did not meet the minimum requirements.”

CWI Director of Cricket, Jimmy Adams was pleased for the players who were retained.

“I am happy for all the players who have been offered retainer contracts for the upcoming period. Especially pleasing was the number of players who were awarded first-time contracts in recognition of their performances during the period under review,” he said.

“I know that the 11 players who have lost their international retainers will be striving and fighting hard to get back into the teams and earn their central contracts back next year.  These players, along with our T20 specialists, will ensure that we have genuine competition for places that will push everyone to attain higher standards of performance.”

The evaluation period for the 2021-22 contracts covered performances and statistics from April 1, 2020, to April 1, 2021 (this was also supported by statistics from the previous 2019-2020 evaluation period). This allows for all players to be appraised immediately after the evaluation period and provides a notice period before new contracts on July 1, 2021.

Below are the players who have been awarded retainer contracts.

All-Format Contracts: Jason Holder.

Red Ball Contracts: Kraigg Brathwaite, Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner*, Rahkeem Cornwall, Joshua Da Silva*, Shannon Gabriel, Kyle Mayers* and Kemar Roach.

White Ball Contracts: Kieron Pollard, Fabien Allen, Darren Bravo, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein*, Evin Lewis, Alzarri Joseph, Nicholas Pooran and Hayden Walsh Jr.

*Players offered contracts for the first time in 2021-2022

Players who are no longer receiving international retainer contracts are:

All Format Contracts: Roston Chase.

Red Ball Contracts: Shamarh Brooks and Shane Dowrich.

White Ball Contracts: Sunil Ambris, Sheldon Cottrell, Shimron Hetmyer, Brandon King, Keemo Paul, Rovman Powell, Romario Shepherd and Oshane Thomas.

 All players who are no longer on International retainer contracts are offered an A* grade Regional Franchise Contract for the following year.

Starting July 8, the West Indies will play three Tests in defence of the Wisden Trophy they won by defeating England 2-1 in the Caribbean in early 2019. However, for reasons that were not made public, all three players declined invitations from CWI to join the squad.

However, according to CWI, they fully respect their decision to choose to do so.  “CWI will not hold this decision against these players when considering future selection,” the board said on Tuesday.

The West Indies -14 squad members and 11 reserves - are expected to arrive in England on June 9 and spend the next four weeks preparing for the series in a bio-secure location intended to protect the visiting players and support staff.

Fast bowler Chemar Holder and middle-order batsman Nkrumah Bonner received their maiden invites to the regional team that also sees Jermaine Blackwood recalled to the squad. 

Meanwhile, fast bowlers Shannon Gabriel and Oshane Thomas have been included in the reserve squad who will also make trip to England. The squad is expected to arrive in England on June 9.

WEST INDIES TEST SQUAD: Jason Holder (Captain), Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Kraigg Brathwaite, Shamarh Brooks, John Campbell, Roston Chase, Rahkeem Cornwall, Shane Dowrich, Chemar Holder, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Raymon Reifer, and Kemar Roach.

RESERVE PLAYERS: Sunil Ambris, Joshua Da Silva, Shannon Gabriel, Keon Harding, Kyle Mayers, Preston McSween, Marquino Mindley, Shane Moseley, Anderson Phillip, Oshane Thomas, and Jomel Warrican.