The Jamaica Scorpions have endured a tough start to their 2022 West Indies Championship campaign, losing their first two games to the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force and the Barbados Pride, respectively.
The Jamaican outfit lost a low-scoring affair to the Red Force in Trinidad before falling short in a run-fest against the Pride at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.
In the latter, the Scorpions found themselves 299-3 batting first at the end of day one, only to be bowled out early on day 2 for 328. After toiling hard in the field, thanks to a brilliant 276 from Barbados captain Kraigg Brathwaite, the Scorpions were staring at a first-innings deficit of 193 runs after Barbados declared their first innings on 521-8.
At one point in their second innings, Jamaica was 131-2 on day four and the game was seemingly heading towards a draw before, you guessed it, another collapse ensued.
They lost their final eight wickets for 102 runs, leaving the Pride with only 40 runs to get for an outright win, which they did by 10 wickets.
The question has to be asked: What is causing these batting collapses?
“Soft dismissals after a significant partnership or after individual players would have had starts,” was the response offered by Jamaica Scorpions head coach Andre Coley told Sportsmax.tv.
“The thinking has to be that we are never in as a batting unit, which means we need to be ready for the period-by-period battles while being sensitive to and aware of key periods in the game in which there could be a momentum shift. Bottom line is we need hunger for centuries and big runs, while having the patience to execute our plans,” he added.
Under normal circumstances, the regional four-day competition would see each team playing 10 matches but in this Covid-19 shortened season, each team will only play five matches, with that in mind, how many chances will players get?
“Usually, you would want to give players an opportunity or a run. A shorter tournament can mean less room for error or comeback. There can be no excuses in all areas if we are to move up the table. Performances that help the team either win or draw are important,” Coley said.
When asked about challenges faced in the first two rounds of the championship, Coley had this to say.
“Our most significant challenge at the end of round 2 would’ve been around our inability to bat a specific number of sessions based on the team plans. We have identified the areas of focus for the next six weeks. Our inability to take 20 wickets in either of the matches was also an area of concern, injury played a role here, and despite consistent early strikes, we were unable to get past resolute middle order defenses. Our ground fielding was excellent, and our catching was above average compared to the previous season,” he said.
Bradley Jacks is a budding journalist and an avid sports fan. His love of research and sports has led him to SportsMax.tv, a place where those passions work hand in hand to allow him to produce content.
Record-breaking Root edges England closer to Sri Lanka victory
Joe Root hit a record-breaking century as England edged closer to sealing their series victory over Sri Lanka at Lord's.
Root, who equalled Alastair Cook's record during the first innings of the second Test, made 103 from 111 balls for his 34th Test ton.
England resumed on 25-1 at the start of day three, with Root leading the way for the hosts and the crowd rose as one when a sweeping four completed his landmark century.
He helped his nation set their opponents a target of 483 after they were 251 all out.
As the light faded over Lord's, so too did Sri Lanka's momentum in their record-attempting chase, with Gus Atkinson and Olly Stone claiming Nishan Madushka and Pathum Nissanka respectively.
Play was eventually halted due to bad light, and called off to be resumed on Sunday with the tourists at 53-2 with Dimuth Karunaratne (23) and Prabath Jayasuriya (three) at the crease.
Data Debrief: Root revels on record-breaking day
Day three of the second Test belonged to Root, whose century was also his quickest in Test cricket.
Adding to his 143 in England's first innings, he registered two tons in a match for the first time, while becoming only the fourth player to achieve that feat in a Test at Lord's.
Root also joins Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar in scoring 5,000 Test runs in two different decades, while closing the gap on Cook's all-time England tally (12,472) to just 95.
If that was not enough for him, he also took the catches for both of Sri Lanka's wickets, making him the first England player to reach 200 in Test cricket.
Last Hurrah: Dwayne Bravo to call time on CPL career after this year's edition
Former West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo says this year’s edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will be his last hurrah as he announced his retirement from the tournament on Saturday.
Bravo, who represents the Trinbago Knight Riders, made the revelation on his Instagram account hours ahead of the franchise’s opening contest against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in Basseterre, scheduled for 7:00pm.
“It's been a great journey, and I'm looking forward to playing my final professional tournament in front of my Caribbean people," Bravo said in his post.
“TKR is the place where everything started for me and will end with my team,” he added.
The 40-year-old’s post all but indicates the end of a decorated professional career, as he retired from international cricket in 2021 after the T20 World Cup and also announced his retirement from the Indian Premier League (IPL) a year later after being part of four title-winning Chennai Super Kings campaigns.
Bravo, known for his flair and skillful batting and bowling, is currently the CPL’s highest wicket-taker with 128 scalps in 103 games at an average of 22.40 and economy rate of 8.69.
In fact, Bravo is the leading wicket-taker in all T20s, with 630 scalps in 578 matches. He has also scored 6,970 runs with the bat.
No doubt the electrifying Trinidad and Tobago stalwart will go down as one of T20's early legends, having played seven World Cups in the format, winning two titles, as well as over 15 franchise league titles. He is the first bowler to get to 500 T20 wickets.
CWI targets domestic T20 competition in 2025 to identify Caribbean representative(s) for 2028 Olympic Games
Cricket West Indies (CWI) president Dr. Kishore Shallow says plans are already afoot to host a domestic T20 competition next year to determine the Caribbean representative(s) for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Shallow, once again welcoming cricket’s return to the Olympic Games, pointed out that his administration is already in dialogue with the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) hierarchy to stage the domestic competition in 2025.
Cricket, which last featured at an Olympic Games in 1900, was always set for a long-awaited return to the global multi-sport showpiece, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last year confirmed it and four other sports—baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse, and squash—for the LA Games.
“To add cricket to the agenda in the next Olympics is certainly going to be something tremendous, as we did in the Commonwealth Games a couple years ago when we had one of our teams representing the females. We at the time chose our original women’s tournament, and the winner at the time was Barbados, so they represented the region,” Shallow said.
“We anticipate something similar will be done unless they tell us all the teams can come and participate, which would be ideal, but it is unlikely for that to happen,” he added.
Shallow also explained that the CPL champions cannot represent the region at the Olympic Games given that the tournament is franchise-based and involves players from other parts of the world.
As such, he revealed that he has engaged CARICOM leaders regarding plans for a domestic T20 competition from which the winner or top finishers would secure the coveted Olympic Games spot(s).
“We have been in discussion with CPL for them to fund a domestic T20 tournament starting next year. I think Miles Bascombe and his team have already scheduled a window for that next year in 2025. Once we are able to have that tournament, then we can use that to determine which team or teams will participate in the Olympics on behalf of CWI,” Shallow shared.
“We can’t use the CPL as it is now because it’s franchises. But in the domestic tournament that we’re having, which will still have a commercial model to it but not to the extent of CPL, but that will more than likely be territories instead of franchises, so we will be able to identify teams,” he noted.
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