The debate has continued to rage around the selection of the squad after the selection panel was unable to even considered some players for the World Cup squad after they had reportedly not made the requisite CWI fitness standard.
Among that crown were batsman Sherfane Rutherford, promising fast bowler Odean Smith and spinner Sunil Narine. With that considered, for some, the selection of players like Chris Gayle and Ravi Rampaul proved problematic, but both players were given exemptions by the CWI’s medical committee.
At current, all players are required to pass the popular Yoyo fitness test, but the results of the tests are graded on a sliding scale. The CWI has repeatedly insisted that its policy, along with the exemptions is a standard international practice. It has, however, continued to stir debate.
“You have to be seen to be fair across the board. Either everybody does it (meet fitness standard) or nobody does it,” Radford told the Mason and Guest radio program.
“You can’t choose who gets tested and who gets an exemption, it doesn’t seem to be a fair system. I think it either all the players are tested and they all need to pass it or they don’t,” he added.
“Otherwise, it makes a mockery of the test. You’re leaving out players who are on form and younger and fitter, generally, saying they haven’t passed the test and you are taking people 10 years older who struggle to run between wickets and the field.”
With Bangladesh resuming from their overnight 242 for 5, with Shakib Al Hasan on 39 and Liton Bas on 34, the West Indies had an early breakthrough when Warrican, 3 for 58 overnight, bowled Das for 38 to have the home side 248 for 6.
However, the visitors were made to toil as Mehidy Hasan Miraz scored his first Test century while featuring in three partnerships that spurred a lower-order rally that gradually pushed his side into the ascendancy.
Mehidy put on 67 with Shakib Al Hasan (68) for the seventh wicket, 44 with Taijul Islam (18) for the eighth and then 57 with Nayeem Hasan (42) for the ninth before finally losing his wicket to Rahkeem Cornwall for 103.
The West Indies were made to pay for dropping him twice, on 24 and then on 85. He was first let off the hook by debutant Shayne Moseley who put him down at silly mid-off despite having two chances to hold on. The second chance was spilt by Cornwall at slip off the bowling of Nkrumah Bonner.
Warrican ended with figures of 4 for 133 while Cornwall had 2 for 114. There was a wicket each for Bonner, Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel.
In reply, the West Indies found batting difficult against the swing and accuracy of fast-medium bowler Mustafizur Rahman who trapped John Campbell (3) and Shayne Moseley (2) lbw as the visitors slumped to 24 for 2.
However, Captain Kraigg Brathwaite survived a few anxious moments to get to the close unbeaten on 49. Bonner is at the other end on 17.
The win, their third of the tournament, saw the Caribbean lads top Group B with the maximum six points. The young West Indians had previously won their matches against Australia and England.
On Thursday, after winning the toss and choosing to bat, the Caribbean side racked up a mammoth 303 for 8 from their 50 overs, their best score in the tournament so far.
The score was built largely on half-centuries from captain Kimani Melius, who scored 65 and allrounder Matthew Patrick, who top-scored with 68. The latter and Joshua James, who scored a 30-ball 43, put together a 90-run seventh-wicket partnership that propelled the West Indies to their mammoth total.
There were two wickets each for Peter Aho (2-53), Abdulrahman Jimoh (2-56) and Sylvester Okpe (2-66).
In the face of the huge total, Nigeria crumbled to 57 all out.
Jayden Seales (4-19) tore the top order taking their first four wickets to fall as the Nigerians stumbled to 23 for four, four balls into the ninth over.
They never recovered as Ashmead Nedd (3 for 15) and Patrick (2 for 16) ripped out any resistance that might have remained within the Nigerian batting that only managed to survive for 21.4 overs.
Jimoh (17) and Okpe (10) were the only batsmen in double figures.
The 66-year-old former West Indies fast bowler was speaking on Mason on Guest from the Cayman Islands on Tuesday when he revealed his plans to retire from what has been a long and illustrious career providing commentary and analysis on Test cricket.
Holding began his Test-commentary career in 1991 in the Caribbean and currently works with Skysports in the United Kingdom and Supersport in South Africa. But, after 29 years in the commentary booth, Holding says the end is drawing near.
“I am not too sure how much farther than 2020 I will be going with commentary,” Holding said. “The last contract I signed with Sky was for one year, 2020 because I told them I could not commit to more than a year at a time. If this year gets totally destroyed (because of the pandemic), I might have to think about 2021 because I can’t just walk away from Sky, a company that has done so much good for me, after a complete dud of a season, but I can’t see myself going too much further down the road with this thing.
“I am 66 years old. I am no longer 36, 46 or 56.”
Nicknamed Whispering Death because of his quiet approach to the wicket and his blistering pace, Holding played 60 Tests for the West Indies between 1975 and 1987. He took 249 wickets at an average of 23.68.
A member of the Sky Sports commentary panel for more than 20 years, Holding was known for his objective, no-nonsense approach to commentary that earned him admirers across the globe.
The 66-year-old Jamaican had hinted at his impending retirement in April 2020, while a guest on the Mason&Guest talk show in Barbados.
“I am not too sure how much further than 2020 I will be going with commentary. I cannot see myself going much further down the road at my age. I am 66 years old now, I am not 36, 46 or 56,” he said then.
“I told [ Sky] that I could not commit to more than a year at a time. If this year gets totally destroyed, I might have to think about 2021 because I can’t just walk away from Sky, a company that has done so much good for me.”
He also rose to greater global prominence in 2020 when during a rain delay in a Test match in England he spoke for more than four minutes about his support of the Black Lives Matter movement. His comments were made in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota at the hands of Derek Chauvin, a police officer who knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes.
He subsequently wrote a book chronicling his own experiences with racism as well as those experienced by some of the world’s best-known sports stars including Usain Bolt and Naomi Osaka.
Holding played 60 Test matches for the West Indies between 1975 and 1987 taking 249 wickets of 23.68. During a career in which he came to known as ‘Whispering Death’ because of his silent run-up to the crease before unleashing deliveries of blistering pace, he famously took his Test-best figures of 14-149 at the Oval in 1976.
In 1980, he bowled what is widely regarded as the best over ever bowled in Test cricket to obdurate England opener Geoffrey Boycott. He bowled the batsman neck and crop with the final ball of the over.
Bascombe, 37, played one T20 International for the West Indies in 2011 and played first-class cricket between 2007 and 2017, for both the Windward Islands and the Combined Campuses and Colleges. He is a graduate of the University of the West Indies with both Bachelor's and Master’s degrees and is a certified coach.
Bascombe, who was a CWI Men’s Selector between 2019 and 2021, has been the Technical Director at the Windward Islands Cricket Board over the last two years. Under his technical leadership, there have been a remarkable turnaround of fortunes for both male and female cricket across different levels, including an unbeaten first-class season in 2023.
Johnny Grave, CWI Chief Executive Officer said: “Following a thorough recruitment process, Miles stood out to the panel with his skills, experience and intimate knowledge of our cricket system, especially at Territorial Board level. His passion and understanding of the game at all levels are outstanding. He is a critical thinker with a strong analytical and strategic mindset, which will be hugely beneficial to us as we embark on formulating our new 4-year strategic plan. I have no doubt he will hit the ground running and will relish the challenge before us to develop higher standards and better structures within our cricket system.”
Miles Bascombe said: “West Indies Cricket is at a critical stage with an urgent need to improve performances. We have made significant progress with establishing a central High-Performance system that now needs to be rolled out across all of our Territories. I am looking forward to working as a member of the CWI senior leadership team and closely with the Territorial Boards to bring about the necessary improvements that I am confident will lead to more success by implementing a robust system based on achieving world-class standards and by driving a winning culture.”
CWI High Performance Manager, Graeme West will act as the interim Director of Cricket until Bascombe takes up his new role on 1 August 2023.
The 26-year-old was called to the West Indies red-ball camp a few weeks ago, as part of the team’s preparations to face South Africa in two weeks time.
The player was, however, forced to isolate, as part of strict COVID-19 protocols, after returning a positive PCR test. The player was put into isolation at the team hotel away from the other players and the coaching staff.
He was cleared to resume training with the rest of the camp on Thursday, after returning a second negative RT-PCR test result.
Mindley even managed a short spell on the final day the intra-squad four-day match, which concluded on Thursday. The bowler, however, missed the majority of the Best vs Best four-day match, which was used to select the squad for the two-match Test series against South Africa beginning June 10. Both Tests will be played at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground.
In the end, the 28-year-old Barbadian, who struck 20 fours and seven sixes, was unbeaten on 210, the second-highest score by a West Indian batsman on his Test debut. Only Lawrence Rowe’s 214 against New Zealand at Sabina Park in February 1972 was higher.
Mayers, the Man-of-the-Match, featured in a record stand of 216 with fellow debutant Nkrumah Bonner, who made a valiant 86 that laid the foundation for the incredible victory. It was the highest-ever fourth-wicket stand in the fourth innings of a Test match and led to the highest successful run chase in Asia.
Resuming from their overnight total of 110 for 3, needed a further 295 for victory, Mayers was on 37 and Bonner 15.
When Mayers got to 70 and Bonner 20, the pair that rode its luck early, put together the first 100-run partnership of the match for the West Indies. It took all of 205 balls. They took the score to 197 for 3 at lunch with Mayers unbeaten on 91 and Bonner on 43.
By tea, the score had swelled to 266 for 3 with Mayers on 117 and Bonner, 75.
At 275 for 3, the record stand was broken by Taijul Islam, who trapped Bonner lbw with a flatter length ball in the line of the stumps that the Jamaican looked to work it towards square leg but missed. His 86 came off 245 balls he faced in more than five and a half hours of resolute batting.
There were signs of a possible collapse when Nayeem Hasan bowled Jermaine Blackwood for 9 to make it 292 for 5. However, Joshua da Silva proved to be a stabilizing force, who with Mayers put on 100 runs for the sixth wicket that took the West Indies within three runs of an improbable victory.
The Trinidadian wicketkeeper/batsman faced 59 balls in his 83-minute stay before Taijul Islam bowled him for 20.
It was fitting that Mayers scored the winning run, a quick single to mid-on to hand the West Indies victory.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who scored a century in Bangladesh’s first innings score of 430, took 4-113, for eight wickets in the match. He would have likely been Man-of-the-Match had it not been for Kyle Mayers’ historic knock.
Scores: Bangladesh 430 and 223 for 8 declared; West Indies 259 and 395 for 7.
The former Pakistan batsman must quarantine for 10 days after he was the only member of the touring party to return a positive PCR test.
Misbah had been due to head home a day after Pakistan salvaged a 1-1 Test series draw with West Indies, winning by 109 runs at Sabina Park.
A Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) statement said: "Pakistan head coach Misbah-ul-Haq has tested positive and, as such, will not depart for Lahore with his side later today (Wednesday).
"Misbah, who is asymptomatic, will now undergo a 10-day quarantine, following which he will depart for Pakistan.
"Misbah was the only Pakistan squad member who failed two pre-departure PCR tests. All other members will leave Jamaica as per schedule later today.
"The PCB is constantly in touch with Cricket West Indies who have confirmed that Misbah will be shifted to another hotel for the 10-day quarantine with a medical specialist assigned to look after his health and wellbeing."
Pakistan's next assignment is a home ODI series against New Zealand next month.
The 76-year-old former wicketkeeper played 88 matches in 10 years for what is generally referred to as the ‘all-conquering’ West Indies squad. The team proved themselves to be the best in the world after capturing back-to-back ICC World Cup titles with wins over Australia and England at the 1975 and 1979 editions.
For the current crop, however, those glory days have long faded. The team has captured two world titles of its own in the freshly minted T20 format, but when it comes to the traditional ODI and Test formats, they have for the most part lost far more often than they have won.
Murray believes a part of the team’s recent failures is down to losing the significance of what it means to be on the pitch for the West Indies and the passion required to succeed.
“I’d love to give them an understanding of what it really means to represent the West Indies. I think that is something that would be difficult to assimilate without the kind of mentorship that I had and I’m sure a number of youngsters coming into the team in my era had,” Murray told Barbados radio show, Mason and Guest, recently.
“I think now people talk about cricket as a job, you have to be professional. You have to do this you have to do that. You have to hit a 100 balls in practice. That’s not what international cricket is about. International cricket is about the desire to play a Test match, to win a Test match, to win a Test series,” he added.
“It has nothing to do with how much you get paid or how much the coach gets paid or whatever. It’s about wanting to do something, and you want to do it and go out and train. Because you train for 35 minutes a day you recognize you really could train 40 minutes and it won’t hurt me. When you do 40 minutes you think I can do an hour and you keep going.”
“…You need to get into the passion for what it is that you are doing and how you are doing it. You need to believe that there is a meritocracy and feel that if you are the best the coaches and selectors will pick you…it’s as much as about the psychological game as much as the actual technique of batting and bowling.”
Moeen took a break from Tests after being dropped during last year's Ashes series but is set to be involved in a three-day practice game from July 1, after which point the squad for the first Test at the Ageas Bowl seven days later will be chosen.
The expanded group will convene at the Southampton venue for training from June 23.
Essex batsman Dan Lawrence, Gloucestershire wicketkeeper-batsman James Bracey, Sussex seamer Ollie Robinson, Somerset paceman Jamie Overton and Surrey off-spinner Amar Virdi are all included having not represented England at senior level in any format.
Somerset all-rounder Lewis Gregory, Lancashire leg-spinner Matt Parkinson and his fast bowling county colleague Saqib Mahmood have limited-overs caps.
All the established members of Joe Root's Test side are present, with seamers James Anderson, Mark Wood and Jofra Archer all recovered from injury complaints, along with opener Rory Burns.
To assist with operating with a larger group in bio-secure conditions, head coach Chris Silverwood will be joined by an expanded backroom team.
Assistant head coach Graham Thorpe is to be joined by Kent head coach Matthew Walker in overseeing the batsmen, with Lancashire boss Glen Chapple to work alongside Silverwood as bowling coach.
Ex-England wicketkeeper Chris Read will take care of the glovesmen, with the ECB's national lead fielding coach Carl Hopkinson completing the coaching staff.
Assistant coach Paul Collingwood will take charge of England's ODI matches against Ireland later in the season, subject to those matches being confirmed.
West Indies Nicholas Pooran won the toss and sent the home team to bat. The visitors had immediate success when Babar Azam was dismissed in the first over bowled by Akeal Hosein, who got the Pakistan captain to nick one into the gloves of Shai Hope behind the stumps.
The West Indies had further success in the fifth over when Fahkar Azam skied a Romario Shepherd delivery and was caught by Shamarh Brooks for 10 to have Pakistan at 35-2.
Despite the loss of those two wickets, Pakistan maintained a healthy strike rate with Rizwan and Ali putting together a stand of 105 in 62 balls before Rizwan was caught in the deep by Odean Smith, who gifted Shepherd with his second wicket of the match.
Rizwan ran well between the wickets and hit 10 fours in his score of 78 from 52 balls.
The West Indies fought back with the wickets of Asif Ali removed by Oshane Thomas for 1 and Iftikhar Ahmed dismissed by Smith for seven as Pakistan slipped from 140-3 to 161-5.
However, Ali and Mohammad Nawaz, kept Pakistan above nine an over, the latter being rather brutal hitting three fours and two sixes in his unbeaten 10-ball 30.
Between them, they scored 30 from 11 balls before Ali was the last man out for 68 in the 20th over bowled by Dominic Drakes.
Drakes ended with figures of 1-43 from his four overs. Smith proved expensive with 1-52 from his four while Shepherd was the best of the bowlers with 2-43. Twenty-one of those runs came off his last over, the 19th of the innings.
At the time of publication, West Indies were 33-2 from four overs. Brandon King (1) and Nicholas Pooran (18) are the batsmen out.
The home side made 208-3 from 18.5 overs to win by seven wickets.
The Pakistan opening pair of Mohammad Rizwan and Captain Babar Azam were comfortable throughout the first powerplay, taking 60 from the six overs with Rizwan on 32 and Babar on 27.
The pair raced to 98-0 after 10 overs with Rizwan bringing up a half century, his second of the series, on the last ball of the 10th over, and Babar on 46.
A boundary off the first ball of the 11th over bowled by Oshane Thomas made Mohammad Rizwan the first batsman ever to score 2000 T20 runs in a calendar year.
Babar achieved his 50 off 40 balls in the 12th over.
Rizwan and Babar brought up their 150-run partnership in the 15th over, which ended with Pakistan 158-0, still needing a further 50 from 30 balls to secure the sweep.
Babar was finally dismissed for 79 on the first ball of the 16th over bowled by Odean Smith.
Rizwan’s brilliant innings of 87 from 45 balls was finally ended in the 18th over when he was caught off the bowling of Dominic Drakes leaving Pakistan on 184-2 needing 24 off 16 balls to win.
Fakhar Zaman was the next Pakistan batsman to go, caught in the 19th over off the bowling Romario Shepherd for 12 to leave them 195-3.
Pakistan got to their target off 18.5 overs thanks to a late cameo of 21 from seven balls from Asif Ali.
Earlier, The West Indies won the toss and elected to bat, posting an excellent 207-3 thanks to 64 from captain Nicholas Pooran.
He was well supported by Shamarh Brooks who got 49 and Brandon King who scored 43.
Shahnawaz Dahani was Pakistan's best bowler on the day with 1-23 from his four overs.
Mohammad Rizwan was named Man of the Match and, after his brilliant 203 runs in three matches, was also named Man of the Series.
A quick glance at the record books will tell you that the hastily selected second-string unit is expected to have a difficult trip to Asia. The West Indies has won just one of the last seven ODIs against Bangladesh. The most recent loss saw Bangladesh stroll to a comfortable 7-wicket win at the 2019 World Cup. With several first-team players, including West Indies captain Jason Holder, in-form batsman Shai Hope, in the 50-over version anyway, and the explosive Shimron Hetmeyer are just a few of the players missing from the squad. Their replacements will be short on experience.
While admitting that results will not be easy to come by for the series, Mohammed hopes to at least lead the team to consistent and calm performances.
“What I can bring to the table is being calm. That’s one of the things that get us in trouble. Speaking for myself, as an experienced player, sometimes when we overthink the situation, we just don’t stay calm in certain situations like bowling in the right areas, shot selections,” Mohammed told the Mason and Guest radio program.
“A lot has been said about the team going but I don’t think there will be a lot of pressure on us as players because at the end of the day we are going to represent the West Indies. We still have a job to do.”
West Indies ODI Squad
Jason Mohammed (captain)
Sunil Ambris (vice-captain)
Nkrumah Bonner
Joshua Da Silva
Jahmar Hamilton
Chemar Holder
Akeal Hosein
Alzarri Joseph
Kyle Mayers
Andre McCarthy
Kjorn Ottley
Rovman Powell
Raymon Reifer
Romario Shepherd
Hayden Walsh jr
Blackwood scored 104, his first century in five years as he an Alzarri Joseph, who produced a career-best 86, put on an outstanding 155-run seventh-wicket partnership that was more than half the West Indies total of 247.
Despite the heavy loss of an innings and 134 runs, the 29-year-old middle order batsman said he was happy to have been able to score a century for his team. In 32 Tests, Blackwood has been dismissed in the 90s on three separate occasions. In October 2015, he was out for 92 against Sri Lanka. Against Pakistan he was dismissed for 95 in October 2016 and this past summer, in July he was out for 95 against England.
On Saturday, he said, he was ready to go all the way.
“This time it was less pressure. I felt less pressure this time around when I was in the 90s. I was more confident in myself that I could get the job done, and to be able to score a hundred for myself and my team, it’s a very good feeling,” Blackwood said after the match, adding that he put the necessary work it to be able to achieve this milestone.
“I worked hard and I trusted my preparation because I think my preparation was good leading into the series.”
He thanked the West Indies coaching staff whom he said helped him prepare for the conditions that confronted him when the West Indies went into bat after New Zealand had made 519 for 7 on a green pitch at Seddon Park in Hamilton.
“(They) kept feeding me a lot of short balls, good length deliveries. You can see out in the middle I am more comfortable to the short stuff as well so it’s a good sign going forward,” he said.
He said he was not intimidated by the nature of the pitch as he was used to similar type of pitches back home in Jamaica.
“I play on a lot of bouncy tracks at Sabina Park, so to come and see this green track it didn’t faze me too much,” he said.
“I just think to stay positive, the right frame of mind, try to play the ball as late as possible, watch the ball and play each ball on its merit.”
The 29-year-old Trinidadian, an instinctively attacking batsman, has been more pragmatic in his approach during the ongoing three-match series against Sri Lanka which has resulted in scores of 65, 103 and 13 at an average of 60.3. However, notwithstanding batting into the 38th over on Friday, Lewis revealed after the West Indies won by five-wickets, that he plans to bat even deeper into each innings.
Against that background, he was asked whether this more mature approach to opening the batting, means he would consider opening for the West Indies in Test cricket, especially in light of the fact that neither of the current openers – John Campbell or newly appointed Captain Kraigg Brathwaite – have been particularly convincing.
“I’ve gotten that question from many people. It’s actually something that I have thought about. The only problem is I haven’t played four-day cricket in a while now and I am not sure four-day cricket is going to be played this year,” he said revealing that even members of his family have been encouraging him to give it a go.
“It’s something that I have given good thought. At the end of the day Test cricket is the ultimate, everyone wants to play Test cricket. Hopefully, when the next four-day season arrives I can play and try and execute and try and get some good scores and hopefully be included. We will see what goes.”
The ‘new’ approach to his batting Lewis said began against Ireland in January 2020 when he had scores of 99 not out, 7 and 102 and planned to continue with this approach in the Sri Lanka series.
“I said this series I am going to give myself a fair chance. At the same time, you want to get off to a good start in the Power Play. I think I played that same way against Ireland last year. It’s something I have been working on in 50-over cricket. I want to try and pace my innings knowing I can otherwise make up in the middle overs and at the end, so it’s a work in progress.”
Lewis has scored 1778 runs in ODI cricket. He has four centuries and nine 50s and averages 37.82
CWI will deliver a series of free events — featuring several former players and administrators — which include an Online Women’s Foundation Coaching Course for over 80 present and past players, an interview series with special guests that explores the past, present and future of West Indies women’s cricket, as well as several Cricket Development Workshops held in Antigua. The aim of these initiatives is to engage, inspire and recruit more female players, coaches and course facilitators.
CWI President, Ricky Skerritt, will address the participants at the start of the virtual training session on Tuesday evening. In response to a question following his speech at the recent UWI Frank Worrell Lecture series, Skerritt promised that West Indies Women’s Cricket would soon see an increased attention and focus which he said should help vitalize Women’s cricket and strengthen the female cricketer’s pathway from grassroots to the international stage. The President highlighted the recent appointment of Courtney Walsh, as one of the key steps already taken.
Chris Brabazon, the CWI’s Coaching Development Manager, will be part of the CWI team who will be delivering these events in collaboration with Territorial Boards, Ministries of Sport and a host of past greats and contributors to West Indies cricket.
“In what is a hugely exciting time for women’s cricket with the inaugural ICC Women’s Under-19s and Cricket World Cups on the horizon, we want to ensure that women and girls from across the Caribbean feel that they can be part of the game in a playing, coaching or administrative capacity at any level as their involvement is crucial to a thriving and sustainable cricket pathway,” Brabazon said.
“The response to this week’s Online Foundation Course has been overwhelming with over 80 women signed up to take part in the event which is a clear reflection of the passion that exists for the game. The course will be held online, via Zoom, over two evenings due to the present COVID-19 restrictions.
“We will also be releasing a series of interviews and presentations that highlight the rich heritage of women’s cricket, the current landscape and the future direction which will bring together some of the ‘best of the best’ to share their views including newly appointed West Indies Women’s Coach, Courtney Walsh, Jimmy Adams, Merissa Aguilleira and Anne Browne-John.”
In fact, Lara who has never been shy about expressing his views, pointed out that the onus is on Cricket West Indies (CWI) to take the necessary steps to resolve the slippage, as the Caribbean side –ranked eighth in the ICC Test rankings –suffered a crushing innings and 114-run defeat to England inside three days in the first of their three-match series, at Lord’s.
“If you put 100 million, 200 million dollars into the West Indies’ bank account, is it going to change the way we play the game? I’m not sure. We are not harnessing the talent that we have,” Lara told BBC World Service’s Stumped podcast.
Though the likes of Nicholas Pooran and Shai Hope possess enough ability to play crucial roles in Test, both have opted to play just white-ball cricket internationally, which enables them to play in franchise leagues across the world.
That along with the fact that other sports, such as athletics, are vying for the sponsorship dollars across the Caribbean, Lara believes has pushed cricket on the outside.
“Obviously, cricket has been diluted by the number of different sports and different opportunities for kids, but I still believe that corporate West Indies have got to get involved,” Lara said.
“The West Indies Cricket Board hasn’t done the right job in attracting these sponsors to ensure that at least grassroots, but also the academy, all the different things, the facilities, are up to standard. I think these things are very, very important,” he added.
On that note, Lara also stressed the need for more to be done to revive public interest in the longer format.
“We don’t have anybody coming through the gate. I walked in Lord’s about 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday and outside there were people waiting. That was something I was accustomed to as a kid, getting to the Queens Park Oval at 5:30 and waiting for the gate to be open.
“That’s not happening. You get there at 11 o’clock and there is an empty stadium. You could pick a seat wherever you want. We have to try to get the crowd back,” Lara shared.
“That will breathe the life back into the people of the Caribbean and let them understand what Test cricket is all about and you can get the world of money. You still need to sort of get the crowd more passionate about it and we haven’t been able to do that,” he noted.
Morris, along with Queensland fast bowler Michael Neser, have been drafted into the 15-man Australia squad with doubts lingering over skipper Pat Cummins' availability due to a quad injury.
Cummins did not bowl in the second innings of Australia's 164-run win over the West Indies, which concluded on Sunday in Perth, but did spend time in the field and indicated he was hopeful of playing in Adelaide.
Victorian fast bowler Scott Boland, who was in Australia's initial 13-man squad, is Cummins' likely replacement should he not prove his fitness, with Morris and Neser coming in as cover.
Morris, 24, is a Test bolter, having enjoyed an excellent 2022-23 Sheffield Shield season for WA, taking a competition-high 27 wickets in five matches.
Neser, who made his Test debut against England in Adelaide last year, has taken 24 wickets in five Shield matches for Queensland.
"Michael has been with the squad on a regular basis in past seasons and was simply outstanding in Adelaide last summer," Australia selection chair George Bailey said. "He has continued to perform incredibly consistently since and will be warmly welcomed back.
"Lance is another of the outstanding young fast bowlers coming through the ranks. He has genuine pace and his ability to create opportunities for wickets is a real drawcard. It will be great experience for him to come into the environment."
Moseley scored a 142-ball 83 as Holder’s XI chasing 313, closed on 149 for 3. His innings included nine fours and a six.
Nkrumah Bonner was unbeaten on 24 at the end.
Bowling for Brathwaite’s XI Raymon Reifer, who had 5 for 60 in the first innings, Oshane Thomas and Keon Harding each had one wicket.
Earlier, Shane Dowrich and Shamarh Brooks scored unbeaten half-centuries as Brathwaite’s XI got to lunch on 231 for 4 on the final morning of the warm-up match against Holder’s XI at Emirates Old Trafford.
The pair posted an unbroken stand of 131 as Brathwaite's XI stretched their overnight lead of 181 to 313 before declaring at lunch.
Resuming on their overnight score 99 for three, Brathwaite’s XI had an early setback when Shannon Gabriel trapped Roston Chase lbw for his overnight score of four. He then sent down a torrent of bouncers to Dowrich as things got tense between the two sides.
Brooks, meanwhile, got off to a slow start but gradually scored at better than a run a ball to go to the break unbeaten on 66 from 99 balls. Dowrich was not out 56 (83 balls) having taken a liking to the spin bowling of Rahkeem Cornwall and Jomel Warrican.
