Richardsbotham Trophy

The England Men’s Series in the Caribbean forms a focal point for one of the West Indies Men’s busiest ever years of International Home Series cricket.

England will arrive in the Caribbean to play the first-ever five-match T20I Series between the two teams. All five matches in Barbados will be played across a nine-day period from January 22 to 30, 2022, including two consecutive weekends of back-to-back T20I cricket.

Following West Indies’ white-ball tour of India in February 2022, the West Indies will welcome England back to the Caribbean for a three-match Test Series to compete for the newly created Richards-Botham Trophy.  This new trophy honours two legends of cricket, Sir Vivian Richards and Lord Ian Botham, whose friendship and on-field heroics became synonymous with some of their respective teams greatest Test match moments.

The Test Series will start appropriately at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium (SVRS) in Antigua on March 8, 2022, before moving to the Kensington Oval in Barbados for the 2nd Test starting on March 16.

The third Test match will bowl off on March 24 on the “Spice Isle” of Grenada at the National Cricket Stadium. The Test Series is a key fixture in both teams’ International Cricket Council (ICC) World Test Championship schedule which will determine the best Test match cricket team in the world by 2023.

Initially, Official West Indies Tour Operator and Licensed Ticket Partner packages will go on sale, with details to come in the next seven days. Online ticket sales will commence in mid-November through CWI’s new ticket platform. Fans can sign up to receive the first news of tickets going sale at https://www.windiescricket.com/updates.

“We are delighted to be able to confirm the venues for this extended West Indies vs England T20I and Test Series. The history and rivalry between the two teams create great anticipation for fans here in the Caribbean and around the world. These fixtures are part of a bumper year of international home cricket running from January to August in the Caribbean,” said CWI CEO Johnny Grave.

“A West Indies vs England home Test Series is the biggest sporting and sports tourism event in the Caribbean. Dating back to 1930, when the first England team visited, these fixtures are steeped in history and a new chapter in this great rivalry will be written, this time with the prize of the new Richards Botham Trophy.

“Celebrating these two heroes of cricket and lifelong friends with the new trophy, staging world-class cricket and hosting thousands of England fans will be a welcome boost for cricket and for the whole region.  We are all really looking forward to welcoming fully vaccinated England fans who can not only enjoy some winter sun and Caribbean hospitality but also some world-class cricket with both these England Tours, as well as the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup that will also take place in the West Indies in January next year.”

 The West Indies vs England T20I and Test Series will be broadcast exclusively live on BT Sport in the UK, as well as with CWI’s exclusive broadcast partners in key territories around the world.

The tour schedule is below:

West Indies v England T20I Series, all played at the Kensington Oval, Barbados

Saturday, January 22 – 1st T20I West Indies v England

Sunday, January 23 – 2nd T20I West Indies v England

Wednesday, January 26 – 3rd T20I West Indies v England

Saturday, January 29 – 4th T20I West Indies v England

Sunday, January 30 – 5th T20I West Indies v England

West Indies v England Test Series

March 1-4 – Four-day warm-up match at Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua

March 8-12 – 1st Test Match West Indies v England at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua

March 16-20 – 2nd Test Match West Indies v England at Kensington Oval, Barbados

March 24-28 – 3rd Test Match West Indies v England at National Cricket Stadium, Grenada

The trophy pays tribute to two all-time greats – whose rivalry and friendship embodies the close relationship and mutual respect between the two sides. The unveiling ceremony was held on Sunday at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua ahead of the first Apex Test match which starts on Tuesday, March 8.

The sparkling new trophy symbolizes “Courage. Friendship. Respect” – values that represent the Test cricketing rivalry between West Indies and England, and of two legends who best define them – Sir Vivian Richards and Lord Ian Botham.

It has an ultra-modern design and consists of an upside-down cup, based on a Georgian rummer, with the joining sphere a cricket ball. One end is a rummer for drinking rum and the other a wine/ale goblet. The rummer has palm fronds and the ale cup has willow leaves. The ceremonial idea is that the winning team holding the trophy would have the rummer that represents their team face upward while they held it and it would be ceremoniously turned over when the other team wins.

Test matches between these two rivals date back to 1928 when West Indies made their first trip to England. The teams, under the captaincy of Kraigg Brathwaite and Joe Root, will renew the rivalry with the Apex Test Series.

“It’s a truly special feeling to have the fantastic trophy named in honour of my great friend Ian and myself. We played a lot together and built a great friendship on and off the cricket field,” said Sir Vivian. “As I said earlier, I am truly delighted to know that the game that I have shown my love for all my life is naming such a prestigious award in recognition of what I managed to achieve. It’s a beautiful trophy and I want to again thank everyone who came up with this idea and contributed to its creation."

Botham said he was honoured to have a trophy in his name.

“It’s a great idea and a truly lovely trophy. It really stands out and I’m honoured to have my name on the trophy alongside my friend Sir Viv,” he said.

“The captain who picks up the trophy at the end of the upcoming series will be a happy man.”

Meanwhile, West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite said he was eager to get going on Tuesday in what he expects to be a closely contested series.

“We’re really excited and ready for the upcoming Apex Test Series against England. This is going to be an amazing three weeks of cricket,” Brathwaite said.

“It’s extra special too that we’re playing for the new Richards-Botham trophy, a fitting tribute to these two great men. We want to be the first team to get our hands on it and celebrate with our fans.”

England’s captain Joe Root believes the trophy named in honour of the two greats is a fitting tribute to the rivalry between the two teams.

“Test series between England and West Indies are iconic, and to have a trophy named after arguably the two most outstanding England and West Indies cricketers of all-time in Lord Ian Botham and Sir Vivian Richards is a fitting tribute for this great rivalry. We are enthused about the next month of competition, and we hope to make the England fans proud by lifting the Richards-Botham trophy,” he said.

The Apex Test Series will feature three Test matches. The first at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, the second Apex Test will be played at Kensington Oval, Barbados from March 16-20, with the climax in the third Apex Test at the Grenada National Stadium, Grenada on March 24-28

The third Test of the #RaiseTheBat Series, which starts at Emirates Old Trafford on Friday will be the last time the two sides compete for the Wisden Trophy, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket West Indies (CWI) have announced.

In its place, the new Richards-Botham Trophy will now be designed ready for when the teams next meet in a Test series.

The title honours Sir Vivian Richards, one of cricket’s greatest batsmen, who scored more than 8,500 runs in a 121-Test career, and Sir Ian Botham, the legendary all-rounder who scored more than 5,000 runs and took 383 wickets in 102 Tests.

Fierce competitors on the pitch, the pair developed a great friendship off it, which still endures, and the new trophy is a fitting way to celebrate the warm relationship between the nations and to honour the gladiatorial spirit of contests past and present.

The Wisden Trophy, first introduced in 1963 to commemorate the hundredth edition of the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, will now be retired and will be displayed at the MCC Museum at Lord’s where it has traditionally been kept.

“This is a huge honour for my good friend Ian and myself. I am delighted to know that the game that I have shown my love for since a little boy is naming such a prestigious award in my recognition of what I managed to achieve as a cricketer. When I had the opportunity to go to England and represent Somerset, one of the first persons I met was Ian Botham, who would later become of one my best friends. We are friends for life,” Sir Vivian said.

“To have this trophy – West Indies vs England – named in honour of our work on the cricket field is great. What I think is also remarkable is that it says a lot about our relationship off the field as well. We were competitors on the field, but we showed we were brothers off the field. I’m proud to have my name on one side of the trophy with him on the other side.”

Sir Ian Botham was in agreement with the Master Blaster’s sentiments.

“Viv was the finest batsman I ever played against. He’s a great friend but we’ve always been competitive, not least when we were on the cricket field, and there was no one else’s wicket I would treasure more,” Botham said.

“Playing the West Indies was always one of the toughest tests in cricket, and it’s an honour for this trophy to bear our names. I hope future series will be just as exciting as the one we’ve all been enjoying this summer.”

Sir Vivian averaged 62.36 against England across his career with eight hundreds. He dominated the 1976 series between the two sides, scoring 829 runs at an average of 118.42 in the series, which West Indies won 3-0. This included 232 in the first Test and 291 in the fifth. He also made what at the time was the fastest Test hundred in the game against England in 1986, taking just 56 balls to reach his century. It is still the equal second fastest of all time.

Facing the best team in the world at the time, Sir Ian took 61 wickets at an average of 35 against the West Indies, with three five-wicket hauls and a best of 8-103 at Lord’s. He also scored four 50s, with a best of 81 in the same game at Lord’s in 1984.

“England and the West Indies have produced many magic cricketing moments over the years, and this series has been no different even though it’s been played in very different circumstances. We remain very grateful for West Indies travelling here to play this series, and it’s fitting that we’ve got such an exciting final test in store as the teams compete for the Wisden Trophy for the final time,” said ECB Chairman Colin Graves.

“The Wisden Trophy was introduced nearly 60 years ago to mark the 100th edition of the Almanack, and we’ve been extremely proud to contest it since then. Both we and Cricket West Indies felt that the time was right to honour two of our greatest modern players. Sir Vivian and Sir Ian were fierce competitors on the pitch but great friends off it, exemplifying the spirit of the contests between our two cricketing nations and providing perfect inspiration for those who compete for the Richards-Botham Trophy in years to come.”

CWI President Ricky Skerritt said both men were deserving of the honour.

“Sir Viv’s phenomenal West Indies track record against England, both as a player and captain, and his longstanding friendship with his former Somerset teammate and England rival, Sir Ian Botham, presented an excellent opportunity to honour two uniquely suited living legends,” Skerritt said.

“Both honorees put their heart into the game, and always gave their all for their teams and countries. There are other West Indian cricket legends whose names could also have been chosen for this honour, but none more deserving than Sir Viv.”

In 2019, when the teams last met in the Caribbean, the hosts secured a 2-1 series win and West Indies head coach Phil Simmons wants his team to keep the trend alive.

“We’re looking to play the cricket that we know will put us in a position to win the series. We’re trying to make sure we’re ready for everything England can throw at us,” the Trinidadian head coach said during a pre-match press conference on Monday while indicating that it will critical for the hosts to build strong opening partnerships when they bat.

In that series, Captain Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell shared opening stands of 53, 52, 70, 17 not out, 57 and five and they will once again be entrusted with the responsibility.

“The last time we beat England here, the opening pair was Kraigg and John Campbell. Let’s hope that’s a good omen for us because they gave the team some good starts. We’ve been talking about getting a good start and making sure that the top four put things together and not leave it for the middle and lower order,” Simmons said.

“That’s been the focus of our camp leading up to this series. We need batsmen to bat long so the bowlers can have something to work with and I think the camp went well so I expect good things from them.”

The absence of James Anderson and Stuart Broad from the England team has been a big talking point ever since their squad was announced, but Simmons says he is more interested in who they do have.

“We keep harping on no Broad and Anderson but when you don’t have the experience, you have young players who are hungry to make their name and that is something that you have to guard against too. They have quality bowlers who we still have to bat well against,” he said.

Simmons also spoke about the importance of having one specialist spinner in their squad, Veerasammy Permaul.

“Your spinner, at least in the first couple of days, will always play that holding role. Permaul has been bowling really well so, hopefully, by the time we get to the fourth day he will come into play and possibly be a match-winner for us,” Simmons said.

Simmons also mentioned the conditions he expects at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

“It looks like it’s going to be a good wicket. We’re going to have to work hard for our runs but also work hard for our wickets,” he said.

At the conclusion of the Test match, the teams move on to the Kensington Oval in Barbados for the second Test set to start on March 16. The final Test is scheduled to be played at the National Cricket Stadium in Grenada beginning on March 24.