The 42-year-old batsman has faced heavy scrutiny in recent weeks and has managed just a total of 25 runs in two heavy losses for the Windies at the tournament so far. The storm of criticism surrounding the batsman, however, extends beyond that.
Heading into the tournament, Gayle had struggled to look like anything close to the player who has scored over 14,000 runs in T20 cricket. In the last 16 matches, the batsman has averaged 15.93 and scored 239 runs with a strike rate of 13.80, well below his career average of 138.46.
Despite that, however, Lara, considered one of the game’s greatest ever batsmen, believes the player could still have a role to play in the team and should remain a part of the line-up at this point in time.
"Chris Gayle is already in the World Cup and his experience and the fact that he can pass on something to the younger players is key,” Lara said recently on Star Sports.
"I personally believe that Chris Gayle has to be given a proper send-off. This, I think, is his last tournament. Dismissing Chris Gayle at this stage of the tournament, I am not sure it's the right thing. I would like to see some sort of nice approach for the rest of the tournament. I think he can still make an impression on the younger players even if he doesn't score," he added.
The shortest format of the game, which began to gain prominence in the mid-2000s, initially had a bumpy introduction to the region as leagues clashed with the schedule of international cricket.
The scheduling clash, combined with the rules of the then administration, saw several of the team’s top players unable to take part in the longer formats of ODI and Test cricket. The discrepancy saw an experienced West Indies team claim two T20 World Championships but continue to struggle in the other formats.
Bishop believes the availability of the likes of Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine, and Kieron Pollard, during the period, could have added much-needed experience and firepower to the Windies line-up.
“In the West Indies initially, there was a bad effect on the game since the administrators did not know the value of T20 cricket and the ability of a player as a sole contractor where they had to choose when they wanted to play. We did not handle that well. We lost a few significant players from West Indies cricket for a period of time I wish did not happen,” Bishop told the Hindustan Times.
“And it’s only now when we see England allowing their players to go and play in the IPL. The West Indies have taken a different view now under their leadership that they need to allow their players to earn their living but when they were available, we will have a compromise. But we have missed so many important players. I think it’s set back West Indies cricket a little bit.”
The series, which consists of three Test matches, was scheduled to begin in London on June 4, followed by matches at Edgbaston and Lord's starting on 12 and 25 June respectively. As the world battles to contain the pandemic, playing the series in the heavily hit England looked increasingly unlikely.
Initially, it had been suggested that the West Indies would be willing to step in and host the series, but Cricket West Indies CEO Johnny Grave was quick to paint the suggestion as a highly unlikely scenario.
With all professional halted until May 28, the ECB has had to reckon with the prospect of starting the season later than expected.
The West Indies could have the option of playing the series in two potential windows, either side of their home Test series against South Africa at the end of July. The series could be squeezed in at the start of that month or in September, which would allow England to play their three-Test series against Pakistan as planned in August.
The former Manchester United youth standout was invited to train with the club earlier this month after leaving Eredivisie minnows ADO Den Haag in January. The Owls were weighing up the decision to give the midfielder a contract until the end of the season but decided against doing so.
The club would have needed to register the 28-year-old last week, in order to add him to the first-team squad for the rest of the season. The team currently finds itself mired in the relegation zone, in 23rd position, with only a handful of games to save themselves.
For his part, Morrison will be looking for his 12th club in what has been a nomadic career to date. Some of the player’s former clubs have included West Ham United, Lazio, Queens Park Rangers, and Middlesbrough.
Interestingly Wednesday is coached by another Jamaica international Darren Moore. Moore's men entered the international break in good heart following a positive win over Barnsley.
Wednesday return to action on Friday when they travel to automatic promotion contenders Watford.
The regional team would have been encouraged by its batting, despite the failures of the middle order, with most of the top four coming good before the lower order showed a lot of grit in laying the finishing touches to an innings that had lost significant steam. Their bowlers couldn’t quite haul them to victory, but they pushed Sri Lanka to the limit, making the home team earn their win.
Sri Lanka will also have been encouraged, most notably the number of contributions they received from all around the batting order. Now, the key for them would be to retain that level of consistency and seal the series, something they haven’t been quite adept at doing in the recent past. But with the familiarity of home, and a hard-earned win to boot, they sure do have the belief that it can be done.
The 25-year-old has seen his stock rise after a big-hitting display in the Indian Premier League (IPL) last year, a trend that he has continued in the Abu Dhabi T10 league. In a league with the likes of his West Indian compatriot Chris Gayle and Chris Lynn, it is Pooran who leads the way with 33 sixes and 21 fours in 9 matches.
In fact, Nicholas Pooran has scored more runs from fours and sixes than Gayle - his 89 off 24 balls for Northern Warriors against Bangla Tigers last month included 84 runs from boundaries, while Gayle chalked up 78 in his savage 84 off just 22 balls on Wednesday.
"He's different level that guy," Banton said in an interview with ESPNcricinfo
"Anyone that bowls to him, he'll get hold of. I reckon he's the best in the world at the minute at [hitting sixes],” he added.
"We're actually playing them in a few days' time so I'm going to try and talk to him and actually see what he does. He probably doesn't do anything different to anyone else, he's just a lot better than everyone else."
Pooran’s Northern Warriors are currently second in the Super League standings but are at the top of group A.
Showers all day forced a late start at the Incaro County Ground on Wednesday and the visitors scored a challenging 41 for 3 off their 30 balls faced. Deandra Dottin made 11 off seven balls including a historic six, which was the 100th of her T20I career, she is the first woman to achieve this milestone.
Fast bowler Shamilia Connell demonstrated superb control in her two overs. She took three wickets – one from a stupendous diving catch by captain Stafanie Taylor at extra cover. The strongly-built fast bowler ended with career-best figures of 3-14 to take home the Player-of-the-Match award. England reached 42-7 off 4.3 overs – to record their fifth win of the series.
The decision has been taken with the team’s upcoming tour of the West Indies in mind, and with consideration to rising coronavirus cases. With the series scheduled to get underway in Barbados on January 22, all the players are expected to be back in England on January 7.
In a statement, released on Sunday, the ECB confirmed that the players were expected to be released by their clubs. The list includes George Garton, Reece Topley, Sam Billings, James Vince, and Tymal Mills. Chris Jordan had already left the country.
"The six English players currently playing in the KFC BBL who have been selected for England’s T20 International series against the West Indies will be returning to the UK by January 7,” the release read.
Pace bowlers Jofra Archer, James Anderson, and Mark Wood are missing from the England team for the second Test, which could be seen to leave the hosts short on firepower. While Anderson and Wood have been rested with a long summer of Test cricket ahead, Archer has been omitted after breaking the protocol by leaving the series’ bio-secure environment.
Even without the trio, however, Brathwaite believes England has plenty of bowling options to remain dangerous.
“I wouldn’t say we have an advantage, they still have plenty of world-class players. There is still Broad, Curran, and Woakes, these guys do well, so it will still be challenging,” Brathwaite told members of the media via a Zoom press conference on Thursday.
“I think it will be very challenging because they are all still world-class players,” he added.
In addition to the above-mentioned bowlers, England will also still have the service of all-rounder Ben Stokes with the ball. Stokes claimed 6 wickets for England in the first Test, which ended in a four-wicket win for the West Indies. Broad was omitted from the line-up for the first Test.
The teams will be the first to return to international cricket amidst the COVID-19 pandemic when the series bowls off at 5:00 am (6:00 am ECT) on Wednesday morning. This time around the battle for the Wisden Trophy will take place in unusual circumstances, as it will be played in a bio-secure environment completely free of fans and fast bowlers will not be allowed to put saliva on the ball to encourage reverse swing.
The unique conditions under which the series will take place aside, Holder believes one thing will remain the same, the England team has a formidable record on home soil. They have not lost a Test in England since being shocked by Sri Lanka in 2014. The West Indies will have to look much further back than that for success having not won in England since 1988.
“England are probably favourites, in their home conditions they are very, very strong. They are a very strong side in their home conditions, and it is proven,” Holder told members of the media during a Zoom conference call on Tuesday.
“They have a really good track record at home. So, we got our work cut out for us if we want to beat them. England are not going to roll over and die they are going to come at us very, very hard,” he added.
“Those guys want to win just as badly as we do, so I’m expecting a keen contest and it’s a matter for us to dethrone England in their backyard, which is not going to be an easy task.”
The West Indies are the current holders of the Wisden Trophy after defeating the England team 2-1 in the Caribbean last year. It was the Englishmen who won 2-1 when the teams last met, in England, in 2017.
For the third time in four tosses, England won and elected to bat first against the West Indies. Shamilia Connell set up the opening over of the first match, with Aaliyah Alleyne making the breakthrough in the second over when she had Danni Wyatt caught behind for a duck.
Connell bowled the third over, once again setting up the tense situation for Alleyne to capitalize. Alleyne did not waste it as she once again teamed up with wicketkeeper Shemaine Cambelle to have England’s top scorer from the last match Nat Sciver caught behind for 6.
Karishma Ramharack playing in her first match of the series had opener Tammy Beaumont trapped LBW, while attempting a reverse sweep. For the first time in the series, England had less than 70 runs on the board after ten overs.
However, a bit of sloppy fielding and bad line and length allowed England to claw their way back to a demanding total. Amy Jones top-scored for the hosts with 55 after being dropped on 2 by Lee Ann Kirby, followed by her captain Heather Knight with 42 as England finished their innings on 166 for 6. Aaliyah Alleyne was the best West Indies bowler, taking 2 for 25 from her four overs.
For the first time in this series, Deandra Dottin was dismissed for single digits in the first over of the match, when she was bowled by Katherine Brunt for 4. Shemaine Campbelle joined Lee Ann Kirby and the pair started a cautious rebuild of the innings despite a required run-rate of 8.36 per over.
Kirby was bowled by Sciver for 4 with the score on 26 in the third over. Aaliyah Alleyne and Chedean Nation held a sixth-wicket record partnership of 38 runs for the West Indies against England Women, surpassing the previous record of 30 between Shanel Daly and Britney Cooper, which stood since 2010.
However, this partnership was not enough to sustain the innings. It was soon over when the West Indies finished their innings on 122 for 9. Nation was the highest runs-scorer with 30, followed by Alleyne with 15. Bowling for England, Sarah Glenn finished with 2 for 15 from three overs, while Katherine Brunt had 2 for 21 from her allotted four overs.
England scored 166 for 6 from their 20 overs and the West Indies Women made 122 for 9 from their 20 overs.
The symbolic gesture has been used by sports teams around the world to take a stand against racism and discrimination. However, some teams, for various reasons, have chosen not to adopt the action.
The England teams took part in the anti-racism gesture ahead of each of the three Tests that were played in England last summer and for a limited-overs series against Ireland soon after. The team was, however, later criticised for not continuing the gesture in subsequent series. The team’s captain Eion Morgan has confirmed that England would join the West Indies ahead of the opener and would continue further discussion with the ICC.
“We have heard from the West Indies that they will be taking a knee and we will be joining them for the first game,” Morgan said on Tuesday.
“Games going on from there, we’ve been speaking to the ICC about the potential moment of unity before the game that we’ve been doing as part of our own piece at home,” Morgan added.
“It hasn’t been cleared up whether that’s a possibility yet.”
The 40-year-old left-handed ball beater was expected to be the tournament’s biggest star, but things were put on hold due to the effects of the global coronavirus pandemic. The organisers of the competition are yet to determine the best date for a possible restart but insist the securing the services of Gayle and other overseas players remain very much on the cards.
“Of course the availability dates for Chris Gayle and other foreign players shall be considered, and shall be put on priority,” said Aamir Akhtar, the league’s managing director.
“We would love to have him in EPL if everything works out. He has a huge fan following in Nepal.”
In January Gayle announced he had signed for Pokhara Rhinos for the fourth season of the Twenty20 competition in Kathmandu. The West Indian was heading an impressive list of overseas players bound for the competition, with the likes of Mohammed Shahzad, Paul Stirling , Kevin O’Brien, Upul Tharanga and Corey Anderson all due to feature.
The tournament was postponed shortly before its scheduled March 14 start date because of the situation surrounding Covid-19.
The tournament, which was slated to be held from March 14-28 at TU Cricket Ground, in Nepal, became just the latest in a number of sporting events to disrupted by the global pandemic. The decision comes on the heels of the National Sports Council (NSC)’s decision to halt all the sports-related activities in view of the fast-spreading coronavirus.
The NSC’s decision came on the heels of the government instituting a ban on holding mass meetings and gatherings.
The 40-year-old Gayle was set to be among a host of other stars booked for the tournament. The list also included retired West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Smith. Gayle was slated to represent the Pokhara Rhinos with Smith drafted by the Bhairahawa Gladiators.
Heading into the final day, the Windies are 52 for 6 and chasing a massive total of 296. Bonner (18) and Joshua Da Silva (15) are the batsmen currently at the crease and will both be hoping to be the start of an unlikely recovery.
Earlier, in pursuit of Sri Lanka’s second innings total of 191 for 4 declared, the West Indies experienced a shocking top-order capitulation that left them struggling at 18 for 6 after just 13 overs.
Spin bowling continued to be the major issue for the batsmen with Shai Hope, Roston Chase, Kyle Mayer, and Jason Holder all failing to pick the straighter deliveries. Similar to the first innings, it was the loopy offspin of Mendis that the team continued to struggle to negotiate, as he claimed four in the second innings to take his tally to seven.
“I think everyone is disappointed but it’s the nature of the sport. People will get out in cricket, that will happen. It’s just up to me and Josh and the rest of the batters to get the job done,” Bonner said.
The West Indies had also found themselves in trouble in the first innings before a 62 runs late innings partnership between Jason Holder and Kyle Mayers brought some stability to the innings.
“We have about 640 balls to bat tomorrow. If me and Josh can face the majority of the balls. Obviously, we want to play each ball on its merit, respect the bowler.”
Cricket has not been played at the Olympic Games since 1900, where Britain and France were the only two teams that participated. There have, however, been numerous discussions geared towards reviving the sport at the Games in recent years, with T20 cricket identified as the best format. Narine, however, believes that T10 could also be a consideration.
“The T10 format is more exciting than the T20 format. In T20s, the batters take a few overs before starting their attacking skills, however, in T10 the batters probably look for only one or two balls,” Narine told the Daily Times.
“There’s always a possibility to attract new fans through a shorter format of cricket and more exciting cricket. It will be an exciting thing if cricket is included in the Olympics as well and hopefully, maybe T10 could be a part of the Olympics,” he added.
The 10 over-format of the sport was introduced in the United Arab Emirates in 2017, it is, however, yet to be widely adopted.
Narine will be among a number of West Indies players taking part in this season’s edition. The spinner will represent the Deccan Gladiators, alongside West Indies T20 captain Kieron Pollard.
The 36-year-old was recently recalled for the team’s upcoming series against Ireland after being out of international action for four years. During the time, however, the all-rounder has enhanced his reputation as one of the sport’s premier death bowlers.
Chairman of selectors Roger Harper admitted that a primary reason for Bravo’s inclusion is geared towards bolstering the team’s death bowling.
"Death bowling is an art," Bravo said in a recent espncricinfo interview.
"Not many people around the world have really nailed death bowling to the T. If you ask anyone in world cricket to name five death bowlers in the last decade, definitely my name will come along with Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah, Mitchell Starc,” he added.
"It is not an easy time of the game, that's why it is called death. A special skill is required to bowl in those situations. Most times, if you have the ball in the death overs, and you don't win the game, everyone turns to you, and says, "okay, it is because of the last over.”
With the team’s struggles containing batsmen during the middle and death overs, often on full display, as it was at the ICC World Cup, Bravo hopes to serve as a mentor to a new generation of West Indies bowlers.
“My motivation also to try and work with current bowlers. There's [Sheldon] Cottrell, there's Keemo Paul, there's Alzarri Joseph, there's Oshane Thomas, there's Kesrick Williams. Collectively all of us have to get better, myself included. But with the experience that I have, I can get them to understand the importance of certain deliveries and when to bowl certain deliveries and work on a better finishing game plan."
The regional team arrived in Bangladesh on January 10 and was required to quarantine for 7 days based on the country’s COVID-19 protocols. Since clearing that hurdle, however, the Test team has been free to train and will not start the series until February 1.
The Asian team is known for being particularly difficult to beat on their home turf and easily dispatched the West Indies 2-0 on their last visit in 2018. One of those advantages is said to be the team’s pitches.
“It has helped (extra time) you have to adapt to these conditions. These conditions are difficult to play in, so the more time we get to understand the conditions is the better it is for us,” Cornwall said.
“It spins a bit more here. It is always going to be drier than the Caribbean. So, we just have to adapt to it and play to the best of our ability,” he added.
The inexperienced West Indies team will be hoping for a better showing than in the recently concluded One Day International (ODI) series where the team was summarily swept aside 3-0. The ODI batting line-up found the top class Bangladesh spinners on the surfaces a difficult task to cope with.
The 29-year-old scored his first century against England in 2015, a plucky 112 unbeaten in a draw in Antigua. Following that impressive achievement, however, Blackwood seemed unable to cross the double-digit threshold. In fact, before finally breaking the streak with 104 against New Zealand, in December, Blackwood had managed to score 10 half-centuries in-between but always fell short of a triple-digit score.
Included in that number were some figures frustratingly well clear of the 50 mark, but falling just short of the 100 mark, when for all intents and purposed the batsman seemed well set to do so. The tally includes three scores in the 90s. He scored 92 against Sri Lanka, in Galle, in 2015; 95 against Pakistan, in Abu Dhabi, in 2016, and 95 against England, in Southampton, in July of last year. Prior to that, Blackwood also registered 85 against England, in Bridgetown, in May 2015. During India’s tour of the West Indies, Blackwood took the opportunity to seek the advice of run-machine Kohli when the two briefly interacted off the pitch.
“I just asked him how come all the time I score so many half-centuries and just one century, and he just replied, ‘What did you do when you scored the century? How many deliveries did you face?’ I said I faced 212, and he said that’s it, once you can bat some balls you will score runs,” Blackwood recalled.
“I took a lot from that and I’ve always told myself, after that conversation, once I can bat over 200 balls or 300, I’m going to score runs. Once I’m there, the way I bat, I’m going to score runs regardless of who I’m playing against or where I’m playing.”
The four-year partnership is expected to see fans of West Indies cricket in India given access to close to 150 international and 250 domestic cricket matches from the Caribbean. The list will include 16 International West Indies Men’s Series, CG Insurance Super50 Cup matches, West Indies Women’s Home Series, and Under-19 International Cricket matches.
In addition to a list of upcoming international tour matches, the agreement will see the platform gain exclusive rights for the next India tour of West Indies in July 2022 (three ODIs and three T20 Internationals) and any subsequent India tours within the period.
President of CWI, Ricky Skerritt, hailed the deal as having the potential to bring West Indies cricket to millions of fans in India.
“We are delighted to announce this new partnership with FanCode,” Skerritt said.
“India is one of our close allies in the cricket world and a key player in the global sporting landscape so this new agreement will enhance our presence there and also bring millions of fans closer to our team and to the magnificence of West Indies cricket,” he added.
Commenting on the association, Yannick Colaco, co-founder of FanCode, admitted the company was excited to be associated with West Indies cricket.
“The Caribbean is home to some of the most entertaining cricket played in the world. We are excited to partner with Cricket West Indies and bring close to 400 matches from the Caribbean featuring some of world cricket's biggest and brightest stars, to Indian cricket fans. This partnership will give millions of cricket fans in India the opportunity to experience FanCode and the many digital innovations we are bringing to improve the sports fan consumption experience.”
