Jason Roy and David Warner were overlooked in The Hundred draft as Andrew Flintoff kick-started a West Indies rush by snapping up Nicholas Pooran with his first pick.
Roy was released by Oval Invincibles after a modest past couple of seasons and a £100,000 base price plus his expected participation in Major League Cricket, which has a minor schedule clash with The Hundred this year, seems to have put off potential bidders.
England’s 2019 World Cup-winning opening batter was not the only big name snub as Australia left-hander Warner, New Zealand’s Kane Williamson and Pakistan’s Babar Azam were also unsold.
Instead, there was a distinct Caribbean flavour at the outset of the men’s draft as five of the seven buys in the top-tier £125,000 bracket went on big-hitting Windies stars.
Former England captain Flintoff, having been appointed Northern Superchargers men’s head coach in November in his first official role since returning to cricket, plumped for Pooran, who was bought for 2million US dollars (around £1.56million) in this year’s Indian Premier League auction.
After finishing bottom of the pile last year, the Superchargers had the first chance to fill up their squads at an event hosted at the Shard on Wednesday and Flintoff also added Daniel Sams for £100,000, Tom Lawes for £50,000 and Graham Clark for £40,000 to his roster.
London Spirit offered £125,000 deals to Andre Russell and Shimron Hetmyer while Rovman Powell and Kieron Pollard are set to receive the same remuneration from Trent Rockets and Southern Brave respectively.
As there is no schedule clash between The Hundred and the Caribbean Premier League this year, many teams have stocked up on proven Windies talents.
Welsh Fire paid £125,000 for Tom Kohler-Cadmore as did Birmingham Phoenix for Pakistan quick Naseem Shah, while England duo Ollie Pope and Dawid Malan were purchased for £50,000 by Oval Invincibles and London Spirit respectively.
Mark Wood was also conspicuously overlooked at a reserve price of £100,000 for a tournament scheduled to start on July 23 and run to August 18, although England stringently manage his workload and it seems likely the express quick will be involved in a Test against the West Indies starting on July 26.
Those who were disregarded in the draft could still feature this year, swapping in for anyone who drops out at their base price limit or higher. For example, Shaheen Shah Afridi went to Welsh Fire for £100,000 but if he was unavailable, the Cardiff-based team could select Roy or Wood as a replacement.
A total of 75 spots were filled, including 26 for the overseas contingent, across both drafts. In the women’s draft, Birmingham Phoenix retained England wicketkeeper-batter Amy Jones as their first pick.
With vaunted Australia stars Meg Lanning, Ashleigh Gardner and Beth Mooney all in the reckoning, it was a curious selection from the Phoenix, who added another two wicketkeepers to their ranks in Richa Ghosh and Seren Smale.
Mooney, the world’s number one T20 batter, was chosen by Manchester Originals while former Australia captain Lanning, who announced her international retirement late last year, was also in the top women’s pay bracket of £50,000 and is set to join England skipper Heather Knight at London Spirit.
Gardner and Annabel Sutherland also got top whack with Trent Rockets and Northern Superchargers respectively, as did Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu at Oval Invincibles and India’s Smriti Mandhana at Southern Brave.
Jemimah Rodrigues, Deandra Dottin and Suzie Bates were among the high-profile players not to get deals.
“We have the manpower within the dressing room”- Sammy confident Windies can overcome 0-2 deficit against England
West Indies white ball head coach Daren Sammy says there’s still optimism in his camp that they can overcome the 0-2 deficit they currently face in their five-game T20I series against England.
The hosts lost the first two game of the series at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday and Sunday, with the rest of the series now shifting to the Daren Sammy Stadium in St. Lucia beginning with the third T20I on Thursday.
“Most definitely, especially here in St. Lucia,” Sammy said in a pre-match interview on Tuesday regarding his team’s optimism ahead of Thursday’s must-win game and the rest of the series.
“Yes, England have played better cricket than us in these first two games but I’ve rallied St. Lucia to come out and be the 12th man that we need here. We just haven’t played the brand of cricket that has allowed us to win and it’s something that we’re going to address but we have the manpower within that dressing room to win on Thursday and take it one game at a time,” he added.
The West Indies will be without two key players for the rest of the series in Andre Russell and Shamar Joseph.
Russell suffered an ankle injury in the first T20I on Saturday and has been ruled out for the rest of the series while Joseph has left the squad to prepare for the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh starting on November 22 in Antigua.
Replacing the pair are all-rounder Shamar Springer and spearhead Alzarri Joseph, returning to the squad after serving a two-game suspension.
“It’s always a blow to replace somebody like Andre Russell. We have young Shamar Springer who made his debut in Sri Lanka to replace him. He’s a really exciting prospect,” Sammy said.
“Shamar will go in and get ready for the Test series and Alzarri is back from his suspension. We’re looking forward to welcoming him and the experience he brings to the squad. Yes, we lose two key guys but we get two guys who are capable of doing the job for the team as well,” he added.
Springer replaces injured Russell in Windies squad for final leg of England T20Is in Saint Lucia; returning Alzarri Joseph replaces Shamar Joseph
All-rounder Shamar Springer and pacer Alzarri Joseph have been drafted into the West Indies T20I squad ahead of the crucial St. Lucia leg of their “Rivalry” series against England, CWI announced on Tuesday.
Springer replaces Andre Russell who has been ruled out due to a left ankle sprain sustained during the opening T20I at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday.
The 26-year-old Bajan recently made his international debut during the West Indies tour of Sri Lanka in October.
The other change sees Alzarri Joseph, having completed his two-match suspension, rejoin the squad in Saint Lucia, replacing Shamar Joseph.
The West Indies currently trail the five-match series 0-2.
The squad for the final three games is as follows:
Remaining Schedule of West Indies vs England T20I Series:
3rd T20 International: 14 November 2024- Daren Sammy Stadium, Saint Lucia
4th T20 International: 16 November 2024- Daren Sammy Stadium, Saint Lucia
5th T20 International: 17 November 2024- Daren Sammy Stadium, Saint Lucia
Pride get back on track with tense eight-run DLS method win over Volcanoes
The Barbados Pride rebounded from their defeat at the hands of the CCC in their last game with an eight-run DLS method win over the Windward Islands Volcanoes at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain on Monday.
In the rain-reduced 46 overs-per-side affair, the Pride, after winning the toss and choosing to bat, posted 239-9 from their 46 overs.
In form batsmen Kevin Wickham and Leniko Boucher led the way for the Pride with 47 and 43, respectively while Kemar Smith (34*) and captain Kyle Mayers (33) also made valuable contributions.
Kenneth Dember was excellent in his 10 overs of off-spin, finishing with figured of 3-33.
Set a revised target of 245 from 46 overs, the Volcanoes fell agonizingly short of a win, being bowled out for 237 in the end.
Jeremy Solozano tried his best with an 88-ball 85 while West Indies batsman Kavem Hodge made 37.
Mayers led from the front with the ball with 3-50 from seven overs of medium pace while Dominic Drakes and Javed Leacock each took a pair of wickets.
Full Scores:
Barbados Pride 239-9 off 46 overs (Kevin Wickham 47, Leniko Boucher 43, Kemar Smith 34*, Kyle Mayers 33, Kenneth Dember 3-33)
Windward Islands Volcanoes 237 off 46 overs (Jeremy Solozano 85, Kavem Hodge 37, Kyle Mayers 3-50, Javed Leacock 2-37, Dominic Drakes 2-42).
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