West Indies batsman Shamarh Brooks has credited the team’s determination to put in the hard yards early on as crucial to earning a 5-wicket win over New Zealand in the opening One Day International (ODI) on Wednesday.

Brooks was deservedly named man-of-the-match, in large part due to compiling a steady 79 from 91, which underpinned much of the West Indies' success in responding to the New Zealand total.

The player's efforts were all the more impressive after the Kiwis struggled to come to grips with a difficult surface, where Kane Williamson had the highest score with 34.

Brooks, however, had plenty of support, particularly from Windies skipper Nicholas Pooran who was uncharacteristically restrained in a knock of 28 from 47.

“It was just getting the start, that was ideal.  As I said before the wicket wasn’t the easiest to bat on but the longer we spent out there is the easier it got,” Brooks said in assessing the situation.

“I told him (Pooran) that we had never had a partnership in this form of cricket and that I was looking forward to it.  So, we just put our heads together, as I said it was tough going at the start but Nicky put down his head.  It was a bit out of character because he is normally very fluid and plays a lot of shots but it was very good in the end.”

 

Stuart Broad reached 100 wickets in Lord's Tests, but it was emphatically South Africa's day at Lord's as England suffered a dose of their own medicine.

On day two of the first Test, South Africa clipped the English tail to turn an overnight 116-6 into 165 all out, before going on to reach 289-7 themselves by stumps.

South Africa's lead of 124 runs came about largely thanks to Sarel Erwee's 73 and a seventh-wicket flurry that came with a hint of 'Bazball' about it.

That is, of course, the nickname that has been afforded to England's vivacious batting approach since Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum became the captain and coach partnership, and the ball repeatedly raced away to the boundary as South Africa showed off their own attacking flair.

On Friday, the hosts must step up, or they will soon slide 1-0 behind in this three-match series.

After Wednesday's play was curtailed by rain, South Africa should have seen the back of England anchorman Ollie Pope in the first over of Thursday's action, but Erwee made a laughably bad attempt to cling to an edge off Kagiso Rabada at first slip, juggling before the ball hit the deck.

Rabada had a stroke of luck in removing Pope soon afterwards, with an inside edge into his stumps accounting for the batsman, whose 73 provided the only substantial home resistance.

Broad also fell to Rabada, fooled by a slower ball, and after Jansen bowled Jack Leach, Rabada completed figures of 5-52 by pinning James Anderson lbw.

Captain Dean Elgar looked sharp with the bat at the outset of South Africa's reply and had reached 47 when Anderson struck in bizarre fashion, the ball trickling onto the stumps after hitting the Proteas skipper on the pad and arm.

Keegan Petersen and Aiden Markram fell for modest scores, the latter prised out by Leach after a snick to Ben Foakes from the first ball after tea.

Stokes then dismissed Erwee with a snorting delivery that might have hurt the batsman's chin had he not put the bat there in self-defence, the ball looping up for Foakes to take safely.

The home skipper had Rassie van der Dussen pegged lbw moments later, and Broad reached his Lord's wickets century when Foakes held on to remove Kyle Verreynne.

Stokes broke up the entertaining 72-run seventh-wicket alliance between Marco Jansen (41 not out) and Keshav Maharaj (41) as the light began to fade, but it was resoundingly South Africa's day.


Broad's 100 puts him in familiar company

Broad is the second member to enter the Lord's 100-wicket club, joining Anderson (117 wickets) in getting to three figures.

It was the sixth instance overall of a bowler taking 100 Test scalps at a single venue, with Sri Lanka great Muttiah Muralitharan responsible for three of those ton-up feats, with centuries of wickets in Kandy, Galle and Colombo.

Muralitharan's compatriot Rangana Herath also managed 100 Test wickets at Galle.

The West Indies will commence the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Men’s Future Tours Programme (FTP) for the period 2023-27 with a full home series against India in July and August 2023 followed by a white ball tour by England in December 2023. These form part of over 150 international matches that West Indies will play home and away within the new FTP.

Fans can now start to look forward to planning for home fixtures and away tours over the next five years, starting with India’s all-format tour in 2023 which will feature two Test matches as West Indies’ first home fixture in the new 2025 World Test Championship (WTC). India will also play three One-Day Internationals (ODIS) and five T20 Internationals (T20Is).

England will return to the West Indies in late 2023 for an eight-match white-ball series with three ODIs and five T20Is with a second white-ball tour of the Caribbean in 2024.

The new FTP features an ICC World tournament every year including the ICC T20 World Cup for the West Indies and USA in 2024 and two World Test Championships. West Indies will be playing India, South Africa and Bangladesh at home, and Australia, England and Pakistan away as part of the 2023-2025 World Test Championship. The full West Indies FTP can be found here https://bit.ly/3QSaIXi

The ICC FTP is a result of a collective effort of Full Members with ICC’s coordination and support. The FTP ensures a level of certainty of bilateral cricket fixtures across the three cricket formats. The exact dates and venues for each Series will be announced in due course by Cricket West Indies (CWI) following consultation with each ICC Member nation.

The West Indies have home fixtures against India, England (twice), South Africa, Bangladesh, Australia, Pakistan before the end of 2025 with an enticing schedule away fixtures around the world including defending the Richards-Botham Trophy in England in the summer of 2024.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) President, Ricky Skerritt, and CEO Johnny Grave welcomed the announcement of the new FTP.

“Cricket West Indies (CWI) is pleased that the new Men’s (2023-2027) and Women’s (2023-2025) FTP have been finally agreed. They provide some operational and financial certainty of our medium-term bilateral tours and matches across all formats, against all other Full Member nations. I want to thank our CEO Johnny Grave, and those several other Executives and Chairmen representing the various other Boards, who put many valuable hours into these negotiations,” Skerritt said.

“The major highlight during the period will be our joint hosting of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in June 2024, where we will partner with the USA to deliver an event of the highest quality on and off the field. The hosting of the Men’s T20 World Cup should help to inspire the next generation of young West Indians and re-ignite the cricketing passion of our fans in the Caribbean and around the world. Hopefully it will also provide a legacy and catalyst for growth of the sport within the USA. We are also pleased that we have once again been able to secure full windows for the Indian Premier League and Caribbean Premier League for our players as we try to find a balance between our international commitments and the significant earning opportunities for our players from Domestic Leagues,” Grave said.

 

India eased to victory in the first ODI against Zimbabwe, winning by 10 wickets in Harare on Thursday.

The hosts began poorly as they found themselves 31-4 after the first ball of the 11th over, with none of the top four batsmen scoring double figures.

They continued to struggle up to 110-8 after less than 30 overs, before a partnership of 70 from Brad Evans (33 not out) and Richard Ngarava (34) put some respect on the eventual total of 189 all out, captain Regis Chakabva top scoring with 35.

It did not seem like 190 would be enough to repel India, and sure enough the tourists made light work of it as openers Shikhar Dhawan (81 not out) and Shubman Gill (86 not out) chased it down themselves off just 30.4 overs.

Zimbabwe have lost their last 13 men's ODIs against India, which was already their longest losing streak against them in the format, having last beaten them in June 2010.

India have now won their last five away men's ODI matches. The last time they won as many consecutive matches on the road was a stretch of five in June 2019.

The second of the three-match series takes place in Harare on Saturday.

West Indies spinner, Yannic Cariah, revelled in a successful debut after doing his part in an impressive team bowling performance that helped secure a crucial One Day International (ODI) win over New Zealand on Wednesday.

After receiving his debut cap at the Kensington Oval, ahead of the first ODI in the series, Cariah finished with figures of 1 for 49 in 9 overs.  The spinner accounted for the wicket of Michael Bracewell who was dismissed lbw.

The 30-year-old player, a regular in the region’s A-Team, was added to the squad after Gudakesh Motie failed to fully recover from a fractured thumb, which he sustained during the ODI series against India last month.

“It was a great feeling, I worked very hard to reach here.  It took longer than I expected but I’m grateful to finally have the opportunity and I’ve enjoyed it so far,” Cariah said of his debut.

Another debutant Kevin Sinclair also reaped success after taking 1 for 37 in the bowling unit's overall strong performance.  The charge was led by Akeal Hosein’s 3 for 28 and Alzarri Joseph’s 3 for 36.  All-rounder Jason Holder also chipped in with 2 for 39.

“I think we utilized the wicket well.  I think Akeal bowled, Sinclair bowled well and all the bowlers, in particular, bowled well.  We set up a good chase.”

A classy half-century from West Indies batsman Sharmarh Brooks anchored the team to a five-wicket win over New Zealand and a 1-0 series lead at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on Wednesday.

Chasing 190 to win, Brooks put together a responsible 79  from 91 deliveries and formed part of a crucial partnership with Windies captain Nicholas Pooran.  The pair put on 75 for the fourth wicket, with Pooran getting 28 from 47.  

In pursuit of the total, New Zealand struck an early blow after removing Kyle Mayers for 6.  Shai Hope blasted an aggressive looking 26 off 24 but was eventually caught by Tom Latham off the bowling of Tim Southee.  Kacey Carty then struggled to 11 from 22 before being mopped up lbw by Mitchell Santner.

Pooran then combined with Brooks to push the score to 149 for 4.  After several rain interruptions, Brooks was dismissed shortly after the third time the teams re-took the pitch.  The batsman was finally out after edging to Latham off the bowling of Trent Boult.  Pooran perished a few overs later but with the damage done Jermaine Blackwood (12) then combined with Jason Holder (13) to see the Windies easy over the line at 193 for 5, with 66 balls remaining.

Boult and Southee took two wickets each for New Zealand.

Earlier after winning the toss and choosing to field Akeal Hosein led a stifling spell by the Windies bowlers, who took wickets at crucial points to ensure New Zealand never got momentum.  Hosein picked up figures of 3 for 28, with Windies pace bowler Alzarri Josephs also claiming 3 for 36.

West Indies batsman Jermaine Blackwood admits he is over the moon to be back in the One Day International (ODI) set-up for the first time in almost 8 years.

The stylish 30-year-old batsman has evolved as a red ball specialist over the last few years but was called into the team after recently returning Shimron Hetmyer pulled out of the squad due to personal reasons and allrounder Keemo Paul was ruled out with an injury.

The aggressive batsman has only ever played two ODIs and has a high score of 11 but has long been proposed as an option for the format because of his aggressive scoring instincts.  In Test cricket, he averages 31.29 and has three half centuries.

Blackwood is ever to prove that he has improved much as a batsman since his previous two appearances.

“I was over the moon.  I’ve always been telling myself that I wanted to come back into the team and make a difference, so right now I have the opportunity to do just that,” Blackwood said.

“My game has developed a lot.  I haven’t played regional 50 over cricket in three years because of West Indies duties but in-between that I’ve played a bit and I’ve scored some 100s batting at the top of the order and at number three.  So, I have the experience batting the new ball and the old ball.”

West Indies Women return to action on home soil when they host New Zealand Women in an eight-match white-ball tour from September 16 to October 6 in Antigua.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) confirmed that the three CG United One-Day Internationals (ODI) and five T20 Internationals (T20I) will be played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

The CG United ODI Series is scheduled for September 16, 19 and 22 and matches will start at 9.30 am local time, and 8.30 am Jamaica time. The T20Is are scheduled for September 26 to October 6.

All of the T20Is will start at 1.00 pm local time, midday Jamaica time, other than the 4th T20I on Tuesday, October 4 which will start at 10.00 am local time, 9.00 am Jamaica time.

For the CG United ODI Series, West Indies will be looking to build on the progress after reaching the semi-finals of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand earlier this year.

The team will then look to the five T20I matches as part of their preparations for the 2023 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa in January.

Courtney Walsh, West Indies Women’s Head Coach, welcomed the tour and said they will have a keen eye on the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.

“I am very happy that we will be hosting New Zealand in the West Indies. They are a very competitive team, and this will make for a great series for our team. As it comes just after we’ve had the Women’s regional tournaments and the Women’s CPL, it will be a great fillip for our players,” Walsh said.

“We are currently holding another specialist camp including some new players, and after the Women’s CPL we will have a second camp in Antigua.

“In addition, the lead selector was with the West Indies U19 Women’s team for their series in Florida and has identified some exciting prospects to consider. So, we should have enough cricket before the New Zealand Series starts. Every series that we play we want to win, and we will be playing a positive brand of cricket. We will also have an eye on the T20 World Cup around the corner. So, this will give the squad a chance to showcase all their skills, and also give us, the coaching staff, a chance to look at what depth we have.”

All eight matches will be streamed live on the Windies Cricket YouTube channel. Live ball-by-ball scoring will also be available on the ​ www.windiescricket.com Match Centre.

 

FULL MATCH SCHEDULE

CG United ODI Series

Friday 16 September: 1st CG United ODI, 9:30 am Eastern Caribbean/8:30 am Jamaica Time

Monday 19 September: 2nd CG United ODI, 9:30 am Eastern Caribbean/8:30 am Jamaica Time

Thursday, 22 September: 3rd United ODI, 9:30 am Eastern Caribbean/8:30 am Jamaica Time

T20I Series

Monday 26 September: 1st T20I, 1:30 pm Eastern Caribbean/12:30 pm Jamaica time

Wednesday 28 September: 2nd T20I, 1:30 pm Eastern Caribbean/12:30 pm Jamaica time

Saturday 1 October: 3rd T20I, 1:30 pm Eastern Caribbean/12:00 pm Jamaica time

Tuesday 4 October: 4th T20I, 10:00 am Eastern Caribbean/9:00 am Jamaica Time

Thursday 6 October: 5th T20I, 1:30 pm Eastern Caribbean/12:00 pm Jamaica time

 

 

Deandra Dottin produced a match-winning all-round performance in the Women’s 100 competition in England to lead Manchester Originals Women to an 11-run victory over Welsh Fire Women on Tuesday.

Dottin’s unbeaten 37-ball 67 propelled Manchester Originals’ to 156-2 from their 100 balls.

Dottin, who recently retired from international cricket and Sophie Ecclestone, who made an unbeaten 36, were mainly responsible for MO’s winning total after they lost opener, Emma Lamb, for 35 and Lizelle Lee for just three.

Alex Hartley had the best figures for Welsh Fire with 1-17 from 20 balls while Annabel Sutherland took 1-33 from her 20-ball allotment.

Needing 157, Welsh Fire made a fist of it, scoring 145-3, thanks mainly to the efforts of openers Tammy Beaumont who scored 45 from 42 balls with five fours and Hayley Matthews, who smashed 69 from 41 balls, blazing 12 fours along the way.

Dottin dismissed Racheal Haynes for 11 and Sutherland for 0 as the Welsh Fire chase fizzled, to return figures of 2-21 from 15 balls.

Ecclestone who took the prized wicket of Matthews had figures of 1-27 from her 20 balls.

 

KL Rahul is determined to add to the "great memories" of facing Zimbabwe when he returns as captain in a three-match ODI series.

Rahul has not played for almost three months after undergoing a hernia operation and suffering with COVID-19.

The batter has been passed fit to lead India at Harare Sports Club, where the opening match of the series will be staged on Thursday, with VVS Laxman stepping in as India head coach while Rahul Dravid takes a break.

Rahul scored an unbeaten century on his ODI debut at the same venue six years ago and is eager to make up for lost time.

He told reporters on Wednesday: "My ODI and T20I debut was in Harare. I got a 100 in my first game, so I have great memories here.

"Hopefully I can add on to those memories. Coming back here after so many years and getting the opportunity to lead your country, obviously when you look back, it's very pleasing.

"As a person you can see how much you've grown and how far you've come as a player. It gives me great joy. Hopefully I can add to those good memories and play some good cricket over the next week."

India suffered a 3-0 series defeat to South Africa in Rahul's only previous series as skipper, but the tourists will be expected to dish out a whitewash of their own in Harare.

Shikhar Dhawan captained India to a 3-0 clean sweep of West Indies in the 50-over format last month and the opener will be vice-captain as they look for a fourth consecutive series triumph.

Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant are among the players who have been rested ahead of the Asia Cup. Shahbaz Ahmed will be hoping to make his debut after the all-rounder replaced the injured Washington Sundar.

Zimbabwe ended a three-year wait for an ODI series win by beating Bangladesh 2-1, but this will be a much bigger challenge. 

Regis Chakabva will skipper the hosts in the absence of Craig Ervine, who is out with a torn hamstring.

 

Chahar must make his mark

Deepak Chahar will make his long-awaited return after a six-month absence due to quad and back injuries.

With so much competition for places, the seamer will know he must take his chance. The 30-year-old was not included in India's Asia Cup squad, but he is on standby.

Raza key to Zimbabwe's hopes

Sikandar Raza was named player of the series in Zimbabwe's triumph over the Tigers this month.

The all-rounder scored two centuries, as well as taking five wickets, and Zimbabwe will look to him to contribute again with both bat and ball.

South Africa took control on a rain-affected opening day of the first Test against England as their pace attack fired at Lord's.

Just 32 overs were possible on Wednesday, yet there was enough time for the Proteas to reduce Ben Stokes' side to 116-6.

Anrich Nortje claimed 3-43 and the fit-again Kagiso Rabada took 2-36 in a ruthless display from the fast bowlers before the heavens opened in London.

Under-pressure opener Zak Crawley fell for only nine, with Alex Lees the first man to depart for five as Rabada struck twice early on his return from injury.

Joe Root was unable to provide any respite as he departed leg before to Marco Jansen (1-18) before Jonny Bairstow was clean bowled for a duck by Nortje.

Stokes (20) and Ollie Pope (61 not out) added 45 runs for the fifth wicket, but the captain was squared up by Nortje's final ball of the morning session and caught at third slip by Keegan Petersen.

Having lost five wickets prior to lunch, Ben Foakes became Nortje's third victim when he was cleaned up by a ripper and rain forced the end of play two deliveries later.

To cover the loss of overs on day one of the first Test in the three-match series, the remaining four days will now see 98 overs per day, with dry weather forecast.

 

England blown away by Proteas pace attack

The wicket of Foakes was Nortje's 50th in Test cricket in his 13th match, his raw pace proving far too hot for England's batters to handle.

Rabada was also hugely impressive a dominant display from the tourists and he is now five wickets away from 250 for South Africa.

Pope provides some hope

England have won their past four Tests, making this their best-such run since a five-match streak in 2018, but they already have their work cut out after a poor start at Lord's.

Pope provided the only positive with that his eighth Test half-century, though even then he had the fortune of being dropped by Peterson on 45.

West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran has admitted the absence of frontline spinner Gudakesh Motie will be a huge blow for the team ahead of a crucial upcoming One Day International (ODI) series against New Zealand.

The 27-year-old spinner has not played since the first ODI against India where he fractured his thumb while fielding.  As a result, the player missed the second and third matches and the entire T20 series against India and New Zealand.   

With the three matches against New Zealand being the West Indies’ last remaining three fixtures in the ICC ODI Super League, and with the prospect to secure automatic qualification for the 2023 ICC World Cup in India on the line, Pooran would love to have all his best players available.  He has, however, expressed confidence that the team can make do with the available players.

“It’s a blow for us, especially looking at his performances in the Bangladesh series and how well he bowled in that first game against India,” Pooran told members of the media on Tuesday.

“I thought we were starting to get that chemistry between both him and Akeal (Hosein) they are two of the better spinners in the Caribbean but it is what it is,” he added.

“We hope he will recover and soon be available to us but having said that Kevin Sinclair is here, Yannic Cariah has gotten picked and we are backing them to deliver 100 percent.”

 

The Cricket West Indies (CWI) Senior Men’s Selection Panel on Tuesday announced changes to the West Indies squad for the three-match CG United One-Day International (ODI) Series against New Zealand which starts tomorrow on Wednesday 17 August. All three ODIs will be day/night matches played under floodlights at Kensington Oval with the 2nd and 3rd CG United ODIs on 19 and 21 August.

From the original squad, left-handed batter Shimron Hetmyer is unavailable due to personal reasons; allrounder Keemo Paul is ruled out with an injury and left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie has failed to recover from the hand injury sustained during the CG United Series against India last month.

The replacements are middle-order batter Jermaine Blackwood and leg-spinning allrounder Yannic Cariah. Blackwood is called up for the ODI squad for the first time since 2015. Cariah earns his first squad call-up for the West Indies after being promoted from the West Indies A squad that has been playing against Bangladesh. Cariah captained the West Indies Emerging Players team that won the CG United Super50 Cup (then the Colonial Insurance Super50 Cup) in 2019. Odean Smith, the seam-bowling allrounder, has been added as a reserve.

CWI’s Lead Selector, The Most Hon Dr. Desmond Haynes, said: “Hetmyer has to attend to a family matter in Guyana. Unfortunately, Motie is not yet able to rejoin the squad and Keemo is struggling with an injury. However, it provides an opportunity for Yannic Cariah to get a chance. He is someone that has been performing well on the regional circuit and we feel now is the right time to integrate him into the senior team set-up. Odean Smith has been added on the back of some notable performances in the T20I Series. He has displayed the all-round ability to change games and we look forward to his continued development.”

The three matches are West Indies’ last remaining three fixtures in the ICC ODI Super League as West Indies aim to automatically qualify for the 2023 ICC World Cup in India. West Indies will be seeking to win the CG United ODI Series to secure one of the automatic qualification places reserved for the top 7 teams in the ODI Super League table, excluding hosts India.

Fans can purchase their tickets at tickets.windiestickets.com or via www.windiescricket.com/tickets avoiding the need to queue or travel and to choose their preferred seat. The Windies Tickets service, presented by Mastercard, provides advance tickets for every West Indies home fixture, delivering tickets securely and directly to fans’ ticket accounts to store on their mobile devices or to print out for entry into to the stadium. The stadium venue box office, located along Fontabelle Road close to the Kensington Oval gates, is also open daily from 9am to 5pm for patrons to make in-person ticket purchase.

For all matches, adults can purchase half price tickets for children under the age of 16 and seniors can also benefit from half price tickets as well. Fans in the West Indies can watch the CG United ODI Series exclusively live on ESPN Caribbean or listen to live radio commentary on the West Indies YouTube channel. Fans in New Zealand can watch exclusively live on Sky Sport.

 

FULL SQUAD

Nicholas Pooran (Captain

Shai Hope (Vice Captain)

Jermaine Blackwood

Shamarh Brooks

Yannic Cariah

Keacy Carty

Jason Holder

Akeal Hosein

Alzarri Joseph

Brandon King

Kyle Mayers

Jayden Seales

Kevin Sinclair

Traveling Reserve

Odean Smith

 

 

The squads for the Massy Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) and the Women’s SKYEXCH 6IXTY have been confirmed with the best players from across the region joining up with overseas stars. Both tournaments will take place at Warner Park, St Kitts with SKYEXCH 6IXTY from 24 to 28 August and the Massy WCPL running from 31 August to 4 September. 

The three teams will be captained by Hayley Matthews (Barbados Royals), Stafanie Taylor (Guyana Amazon Warriors) and Deandra Dottin (Trinbago Knight Riders). Each squad will have three overseas spots with players from South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and the USA. 

The Royals will feature Pakistani bowling all-rounder, Fatima Sana, who has played 40 times for her country. Sana was part of the Pakistan squad that look part in the recently concluded Commonwealth Games tournament in Birmingham. 

Joining Sana at the Royals is South African all-rounder Chloe Tyron who brings a huge amount of experience to the Barbados franchise having played 174 times for her country. 

The final overseas player for the Royals is USA under-19 player Snigdha Paul. An all-rounder, Paul has impressed in the recently concluded series against the West Indies U19 side, claiming four wickets with an economy rate of 2.92.  

The Guyana Amazon Warriors will be joined by Sri Lankan captain Chamari Athapaththu who has played in almost 200 internationals. An opening batter, Athapaththu has made six international hundreds with an ODI high score of 178*. 

Also with the Amazon Warriors is South African seam bowler, Ayabonga Khaka. With a T20 International bowling average of just 24.02 and an economy rate of 6.43, Khaka will bring wickets and control to the Warriors team. 

The final Amazon Warriors overseas player is 16-year-old Isani Vaghela who has already represented the USA national team. 

The Trinbago Knight Riders will feature New Zealand seam bowler Hayley Jensen who has 75 international caps and who has played for both Melbourne Renegades and Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash in Australia. 

Joining Jensen at the Knight Riders will be South African captain Sune Luus who has made major contributions at the highest level as a spin bowling all-rounder. With 17 fifties and four five wicket hauls at the international level she brings real balance to this Knight Riders squad. 

The last overseas spot for the Knight Riders goes to USA international medium pacer Geetika Kodali who was impressive at the recent Fairbreak T20 tournament in the UAE.  

Pete Russell, Hero CPL’s CEO, said: “We are really pleased with the quality of international signings for the inaugural Massy WCPL and SKYEXCH 6IXTY tournaments and we look forward to welcoming these players in St Kitts for these two exciting competitions.” 

 Full Squads:

Barbados Royals

Hayley Matthews (Captain), Shakera Selman (Vice Captain), Fatima Sana (Pakistan), Chloe Tryon (South Africa), Snighda Paul (USA), Reneice Boyce, Mandy Rangru, Brittney Cooper, Aaliyah Alleyne, Shanika Bruce, Afy Fletcher, Qiana Joseph, Japhina Joseph, Chinelle Henry.

Guyana Amazon Warriors

Stafanie Taylor (Captain), Shermaine Campbelle (Vice Captain), Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka), Ayabonga Khaka (South Africa), Isani Vaghela (USA), Rashada Williams, Rachel Vincent, Kaysia Schultz, Chedean Nation, Cherry-Ann Fraser, Shamilia Connell, Karishma Ramharack, Shabika Gajnabi, Zaida James.

 Trinbago Knight Riders

Deandra Dottin (Captain), Anisa Mohammed (Vice Captain), Hayley Jensen (New Zealand), Sune Luus (South Africa), Geetika Kodali (USA), Lee Ann Kirby, Kyshona Knight, Kycia Knight, Natasha McLean, Sheneta Grimmond, Caniesha Isaac, Jannillea Glasgow, Steffie Soogrim, Shawnisha Hector.

 

Dean Elgar is determined to "throw a bit more respect into the badge" when South Africa face "beatable" England in a three-match Test series.

The Proteas have won three and drawn one of their past four series in the longest format, including a 2-1 victory over India.

South Africa are also sitting pretty at the top of the World Test Championship table and are third in the rankings ahead of an opening match against Ben Stokes' side that starts at Lord's on Wednesday.

England have enjoyed a dream start to a new era with Stokes as captain and Brendon McCullum head coach, whitewashing New Zealand 3-0 and beating India in a rearranged Test to draw the series 2-2.

Yet visiting captain Elgar is backing the tourists to maintain the momentum and bring England back down to earth.

The opening batter said: "I don't play to lose. I absolutely despise losing. And if we play an average brand [of cricket], or we're not putting our best foot forward, and we don't have results going our way, then that affects me quite a bit.

"This is a massive series for all of us. I think we've got 17 players and it's massive for all 17 of us to go out there, play a brand of cricket that appeals to South Africans and ultimately gives us the best chance of winning in England. We've seen it happen in the past before, so we know it can be done."

Elgar says South Africa will not cross the line with the verbals, but expects words to be exchanged in the middle.

"In the heat of battle, there's always something that comes out," he said. "Let's put it that way. I just want to play three really, really hard Test matches and go out there and put the badge on the line and throw a bit more respect into the badge."

He added: "We played against the best in the world last year [India, who were top of the rankings at the time], and I think we did things that we didn't quite expect to do at that time.

"So the standard that we've set and the bar that we've raised since last year has happened pretty naturally just out of us doing good things on the field again.

"It's gonna be a tough series, no doubt. They are a proud cricketing nation and I respect that. But I know they are definitely beatable. I didn't come here to play second fiddle. I came here to win a series."

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