Marquino Mindley

Scores in the game so far, the Leeward Islands Hurricanes, 260 and 134-6, against the Jamaica Scorpions, 561-9 declared.

After a first-innings performance with the ball that restricted the Hurricanes to 260, thanks to Marquino Mindley’s 5-65 and Derval Green’s 4-84.

The Scorpions responded brilliantly courtesy of 248 from discarded West Indies batsman Jermaine Blackwood, who slammed 248, and by opener John Campbell, who scored his fifth first-class century, this time scoring 112.

Nkrumah Bonner, 48, and Jamie Merchant, 50 not out, played good supporting roles in helping the Scorpions rack up 561.

On Saturday, despite Montcin Hodge’s unbeaten 60, Green’s 2-49, Mindley’s 1-39, and 3-12 from Jamie Merchant, left the Hurricanes struggling at 134, still some 167 runs away from making the Scorpions bat again.

There may be some light at the end of the tunnel for the Hurricanes with Alzarri Joseph and Jeremiah Louis yet to bat. Joseph scored 89 in the first innings, while Louis also notched a half century, getting to 75 before he was last man out.

Hayden Walsh Jr is also still at the crease with Hodge on 18.

The Scorpions started the day 118-4 with Paul Palmer Jr joining night watchman Marquino Mindley at the crease.

The pair put on just 13 before Mindley was dismissed by Preston McSween to leave the Scorpions 131-5, just six runs behind the Windwards first innings total of 137.

However, Brandon King joined Palmer Jr in the middle and the two put on an additional 30 runs before Palmer edged to second slip off the bowling of Josh Thomas for 15.

Derval Green came and went for a three-ball duck to leave the Scorpions 161-7 before wicketkeeper/batsman Aldane Thomas joined King in the middle.

The pair added some stability with a partnership of 58 before Thomas went caught at slip off the bowling of Sherman Lewis for 20 to leave the score 219-8 just after the lunch break.

Jamie Merchant and King then mounted a stand of 109 for the ninth wicket, taking the score to 328 when Merchant was dismissed for 58, his maiden first-class half-century.

King also scored his third first-class hundred during the stand and was 119 not out off 154 balls in the end.

The Scorpions eventually got to 346 all out, a commanding first innings lead of 209 runs.

Preston McSween was the pick of the Volcanoes bowlers with 4-96 off 25 overs while Josh Thomas supported well with 3-56 off 21 overs.

Kimani Melius and Devon Smith then began the task of overhauling the Scorpions' total with an opening partnership of 31 before Melius fell to Derval Green for 17.

Captain Kavem Hodge then joined Smith and the pair put on 36 before Smith was next to go, becoming Green’s second victim for a top score of 31.

Alick Athanaze was next to the crease and he and his captain looked comfortable, putting on 34 until the final over of the day which saw Jamie Merchant dismiss Athanaze for 17 to leave the Volcanoes 101-3 off 33.1 overs at stumps, still trailing by 108 runs.

Kavem Hodge is currently 30 not out while Derval Green has taken 2-35 off 10 overs for the Scorpions.

At the close of play, the Scorpions were 118 for 4 and trailed the Windwards by 18 runs after bowling out the Volcanoes for 137.  Keron Cottoy was the only Windwards batsman to show any resistance, after making a trying 50 from 108 balls.

After losing the typically reliable Devon Smith, with just 6 runs on the board, the Volcanoes lost wickets at regular intervals as Mindley ripped through the middle order, removing Kavem Hodge (23), Alick Athanaze (6), and Ackeem Auguste (3) to leave the team struggling at 54 for 5.

Cottoy’s brave resistance briefly staved off the inevitable, but he rapidly ran out of partners before being dismissed, caught, and bowled by Nicholson Gordon.  Mindley ended with overall figures of 5 for 20, while Gordon claimed 4 for 43.

In response, John Campbell and Leroy Lugg put 71 on the board before that partnership was broken with Campbell being dismissed by Josh Thomas, just two runs short of a half-century.  Lugg (36) was next to go after he was caught by Kimani Melius, off the bowling of Sherman Lewis, and the team suffered a mini-collapse after losing Nkrumah Bonner and Jermaine Blackwood in the space of a few balls.  Marquino Mindley (1) and Brandon King are the not-out batsmen at the crease.

All-rounder Raymon Reifer has been ruled out of the tour with a groin injury and Kyle Mayers can no longer bowl in the series after suffering a strain to his right teres major. Nkrumah Bonner has been ruled out of further participation in the current first Test Match due to concussion protocols after being struck on the helmet when batting in West Indies first innings. Shamarh Brooks replaced him as the concussion substitute. 

Mindley, 27, has so far played 42 first-class matches with 103 wickets at an average of 24.25 runs per wickets. His last first-class assignment was in August for the West Indies “A” Team against Bangladesh “A” in Saint Lucia where he had impressive figures of 5-59 in the first four-day match.

The first Test is being played at the Perth Stadium and enters the fifth and final day on Sunday, 4 December. The second Test will be a day/night contest featuring the pink cricket ball at the Adelaide Oval, from Thursday 8 December to Monday 12 December. The two teams are competing for the Frank Worrell trophy, named in honor of the former West Indies captain and icon.

FULL SQUAD

Kraigg Brathwaite (Captain)

Jermaine Blackwood (Vice Captain)

Nkrumah Bonner

Shamarh Brooks

Tagenarine Chanderpaul

Roston Chase

Joshua Da Silva

Jason Holder

Alzarri Joseph

Kyle Mayers

Marquino. Mindley

Anderson Phillip

Kemar Roach

Jayden Seales

Devon Thomas

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.

Chasing 275 set by Brathwaite’s XI on Tuesday, Holder’s XI looked set to produce a strong reply with Sunil Ambris leading the way with 52. However, his dismissal with the score on 90 for 2, opened the door for Reifer to strike.

The fast-medium pacer ripped the heart from the Holder’s XI batting taking five wickets in just 11 balls to have his rivals tottering on 111 for 7. During that destructive spell, Reifer dismissed Nrkrumah Bonner for 5, (95-3), Joshua Da Silva for 0, (104 for 4), Jason Holder for 0, (104 for 5), Shayne Moseley for 40, (109 for 6) and Rahkeem Cornwall for 2, (111 for 7).

“I was trying to hit the top of off stump and create problems for the batsman. I’ve played here in England before on the last tour (2017). I didn’t play a Test match but I played a few warm-up matches so I learned a few things and used them to my advantage today,” said Reifer afterwards.

"The conditions here are helpful to the bowlers … someone with my pace who can get the ball to move around. It’s about working hard and putting yourself in the best position to perform for the team. It’s about putting in the performance and waiting for your opportunity.”

However, unlike Brathwaite’s XI that lost their last four wickets at 275 on Tuesday, there was a bit more fight from Holder’s side. Kyle Mayers (45) with help from Alzarri Joseph 10, and Kemar Roach 18, added some respectability to the score. Marquino Mindley took two of the last three wickets to return figures of 3 for 37, providing solid support to Reifer whose 5 for 60 did most of the damage.

With a lead of 82, Brathwaite’s XI started well in their second turn at strike. Brathwaite who got 84 in the first innings and John Campbell had an opening stand of 88 before Campbell was trapped lbw by Joseph for 49. Seven balls later and with no addition to the score, Brathwaite fell to Jomel Warrican for 35.

Holder’s XI struck a big blow six runs later when Joseph trapped Shai Hope leg before for 2 to leave Brathwaite’s XI in some bother at 94 for 3.

Sharmarh Brooks and Roston Chase were each on 4 at the close with their side boasting a 181-run lead heading into Thursday’s final day.

Joseph has figures of 2 for 17 while Warrican has 1 for 4.

In accordance with the medical protocols established with the St Lucian Ministry of Health, Mindley, who is currently asymptomatic, will now self-isolate in his hotel room under the supervision of the Cricket West Indies (CWI) Medical Team until he returns two back-to-back negative results.

All other members of the training squad and coaching team were re-tested and isolated in their rooms, with training cancelled for the weekend. All of these training squad and coaching team members have now tested negative following their repeat tests and the squad will train in small groups starting on Monday 24 May, at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground.

The West Indies red-ball training camp is being held in a bio-secure environment ahead of the ICC World Test Championship two-match Series against South Africa, scheduled to start on June 10.

CWI continues to work with all the regional governments and CARPHA to encourage and assist all squad members to get vaccinated.  To date, 43 members of West Indies Men’s playing and coaching staff have received vaccination doses.

The Volcanoes started day two 157-2 off 41 overs trailing the Scorpions by just two runs and looking to build a substantial first innings lead on Thursday.

The pair at the crease for the Windwards, Johann Jeremiah and Sunil Ambris, carried the score up to 180 in the 52^nd over before Ambris was dismissed by Peat Salmon for a 75-ball 45.

The Scorpions then built some much-needed momentum going into the lunch break with the wickets of Jeremiah, Shadrack Descarte and Tevyn Walcott leaving the Volcanoes 219-6 at lunch, leading by 60 runs.

Jeremiah, who entered day two unbeaten on 66, eventually made 80 off 115 balls including 11 fours and a six while Descarte and Walcott made one and 20, respectively.

The post-lunch session, however, was anything but fruitful for the Scorpions as Shamar Springer and Ryan John, the pair who did most of the damage with the ball in the Scorpions first innings, repeated their exploits with the bat.

The pair batted excellently on their way to a 118-run seventh-wicket partnership that killed all the momentum the Scorpions may have built before lunch.

The partnership was finally ended when John went caught off the bowling of Gordon Bryan for 57 to leave the Windwards 328-7 off 97 overs at tea.

His knock lasted 85 balls and included five fours and three sixes.

Shortly after the resumption, Springer was next to fall for a well-compiled 131-ball 71 including seven fours.

Shermon Lewis and Darius Martin fell soon after as the Volcanoes were bowled out for 341 off 105.2 overs, a lead of 182 runs on first innings.

Pacer Gordon Bryan led the way with the ball for the hosts with 4-64 from 23 overs while Peat Salmon took 3-78 from 31 overs with his off-spin. Marquino Mindley also chipped in with 2-60 from 22.2 overs.

The Scorpions reply then got off to a less than ideal start as, for the second time in the contest, their top three failed to significantly contribute.

Carlos Brown and Kirk McKenzie both fell to Darius Martin in the second over of the innings without troubling the scorers before, seven overs later, the Scorpions were three down with just 34 runs on the board after Chadwick Walton was bowled by Martin for 20.

Nkrumah Bonner and Captain Jermaine Blackwood then tried to lead the Scorpions recovery with a 36-run fourth-wicket partnership before Blackwood went for 16 with just 15 minutes left in the day’s play.

In the end, the Scorpions were 76-4 at stumps, trailing by 106 runs with Nkrumah Bonner on 36 and Gordon Bryan on one.

Darius Martin has taken 3-29 off seven overs for the Volcanoes.

Full Scores: Jamaica Scorpions 159 all out off 41 overs (Romaine Morris 35, Peat Salmon 26, Ryan John 5-43, Shamar Springer 3-53) & 76-4 off 18 overs (Nkrumah Bonner 36*, Chadwick Walton 20, Darius Martin 3-29)

Windward Islands Volcanoes 341 all out off 105.2 overs (Johann Jeremiah 80, Shamar Springer 71, Ryan John 57, Sunil Ambris 45, Gordon Bryan 4-64, Peat Salmon 3-78, Marquino Mindley 2-60)