West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite believes his new opening partner Tagenarine Chanderpaul is well on the way to becoming a world class player, following an impressive debut last month.

The 26-year-old Chanderpaul, the son of legendary West Indies player Shivnarine Chanderpaul, earned plenty of plaudits after beginning his senior career against top Test team Australia last month. 

On debut against the Aussies, Chanderpaul scored 160 runs, which was the second most behind the in-form Brathwaite, and had a top score of 51.  In addition to his scoring, however, the player's relative comfort against top-class bowling on a good pitch was also of note.

“I think he’s world class, when you even look at a thing like the ‘leave alone’ that he has,” Brathwaite told member of the media, ahead of the team's tour of Southern Africa.

“...I think he will be a world class Test batsman, obviously he has the patience and you can see he has still the shots also. On some good Australian pitches his strike rate was higher than normal, so I really think he has a bright future,” he added.

“He is a very focussed player and very determined, so for sure he will make many West Indian’s proud.”

Brathwaite and Chanderpaul will look to lead from the front, as the team looks to bounce back from a poor showing in Australia last month.

Steve Smith will prepare for the Ashes and Australia's likely participation in the World Test Championship final by playing three County Championship games for Sussex.

The prolific batter will face Worcestershire and Leicestershire before coming up against Australia team-mate Marnus Labuschagne in a Division Two match against Glamorgan in May.

Smith, ranked as the second-best Test batter in the world behind Labuschagne, is then expected to feature in the World Test Championship final at The Oval in June – with Australia having all-but qualified.

The former Australia captain will hope a short spell with Sussex ensures he is in great touch by the time the first Ashes Test starts against England at Edgbaston on June 16.

Smith told Sussex's official website: "I am excited about joining Sussex for a few games in May and hopefully making a contribution to a successful season.

"I am particularly looking forward to working with the younger players in the squad and hoping I can provide some guidance to them."

The 33-year-old has previous experience of playing county cricket for Worcestershire.

Smith made a staggering 30th Test century in his last appearance for his country against South Africa at the SCG this month.

West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite expects major improvements from the team’s batsmen ahead of upcoming series against Zimbabwe and South Africa.

With the exception of productive cameos from Brathwaite and his opening partner Tagenarine Chanderpaul, the team’s last series against Australia proved to be a chastening experience, especially at the crease.

Over the course of two matches and four innings only Brathwaite, Chanderpaul and Roston Chase managed a half century.  In addition, the Australians won the first Test by a massive 419 runs, where the Windies were embarrassingly bowled out for 77 in the second innings.

“We didn’t get the big scores, we didn’t get the big first innings scores that I would have liked.  Going into Zimbabwe, especially at home, we know it won’t be a rollover,” Brathwaite told members of the media on Thursday.

“I really look forward to the batters spending time to get runs on the board.  I think that will be crucial for us setting up the game to win it,” he added.

“We have to show our worth, I think the batters need to come and show more fight because Zimbabwe will not be easy at home.  It’s not like we are going to show up and just get runs against Zimbabwe.”

Despite expecting a difficult task, the team can head into the encounter with some confidence having never lost to Zimbabwe in 10 encounters to date. 

 The West Indies Rising Stars defeated Indonesia U-19 Women by 77 runs at the North-West University Oval, to remain unbeaten at the ICC Women’s U19 World Cup.

The result saw the Caribbean team move into second spot behind leader New Zealand in Group C, with 4 points and a Net run Rate of +2.100. The team will next be in action when they play New Zealand on Thursday at the JB Marks Oval, Potchefstroom – 7:45am Eastern Caribbean/6:45am Jamaica. The top three teams from each group will move on to the Super12s.

In assessing the team’s performance head coach Steve Liburd was pleased to see the team’s hard work and planning bearing fruition.

"It's very pleasing to see us continuing to build on what we've learnt on the previous tours to the USA and India. The girls stuck to the processes and it's pleasing to see them reaping the rewards. Zaida (James) is reaping the rewards of the hardworking she's done at camps and over the holidays, it's good to seeing her put her hand up and taking charge of leading the innings."

James scored another half-century 55 from 37 balls and an unbeaten knock of 35 (14 balls) from Bajan batter Trishan Holder led the West Indies U-19s to 176 for 3 after 20 overs.

James also added a wicket in scores of 1 for 21, but it was TT’s Djenaba Joseph who was the standout performer with the ball. Joseph took 3 for 14 in four overs and effected one of three run-outs as Indonesia closed out their 20 overs on 99 for 9, still 77 runs short of the target.

"Each player understands their roles, that's why we've been having the contributions from the likes of Naijanni, Tristan, Shunelle and Zaida with the bat, Kudos to them. We have Jannillea Glasgow with her experience on the West Indies Women's Senior team, is taking the lead with the fast-bowling attack, so the bowlers are holding their own. Our captain is very inquisitive and intelligent, she commands the respects of her teammates and we have really good leadership discussions, which for is very comforting for us as coaches."

Shubman Gill's memorable double century inspired India to a thrilling 12-run win over New Zealand in their ODI series opener on Wednesday.

Gill's massive knock of 208 proved crucial despite Michael Bracewell (140) leading a superb New Zealand fightback attempt at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

Bracewell's heroics were not enough, however, with India finally ending his resistance in the last over.

Generally, it proved a tricky track for batting, with Rohit Sharma the hosts' second-highest scorer on just 34.

But this was all about Gill, whose aggression ensured India's momentum rarely waned even as wickets tumbled around him, the team reaching 349-8.

He got lucky just before reaching 50 as an outside edge off Bracewell was dropped by Tom Latham, but he powered on and tallied his century off just 86 balls.

It was Gill's ruthless approach in the final three overs that was ultimately decisive. Two sixes in the 48th and then a hat-trick of maximums in the 49th saw him surpass 200, before eventually falling to a brilliant Glenn Phillips catch in the last.

It took a while for New Zealand to look capable of threatening India's total, finding themselves in deep trouble at 131-6 in the 29th over.

With the Black Caps floundering, Bracewell had nothing to lose and made a mockery of the India attack.

His 140 off just 78, hitting an astonishing 10 sixes and 12 fours, ensured New Zealand were still in contention in the final over, requiring 13 runs off five balls.

But Shardul Thakur's yorker snared Bracewell lbw, just clipping his heel for the final wicket, leaving India rather relieved with New Zealand 337 all out.
 

Gill goes into the record books

With his exquisite knock, Gill became the only Indian batter to score a double century against New Zealand in the 50-over format.

He is the fifth batter from India to hit 200 or more in an ODI, while he is the joint-second fastest player to reach 1,000 ODI runs, alongside Pakistan's Iman-ul-Haq (19 innings).

Gill had nine sixes and a further 19 fours in his memorable 149-ball knock.

Siraj sharp with the ball

Mohammed Siraj was the only bowler to take more than two wickets on the day, ending with figures of 4-46.

He could not remove Bracewell, with Shardul eventually claiming that honour, but Siraj undoubtedly played a key role here, with the dangerous Mitchell Santner (57) and captain Latham (24) among his scalps.

West Indies batting legend Gordon Greenidge has revealed that he no longer feels the pain of watching the regional team struggle.  His secret, turn off the television.

As one half one of a devastating batting duo, the other being Desmond Haynes, for a Windies team that rarely found itself on the losing end, it is completely understandable how the Caribbean team’s recent failures would be a cause of discomfort.  

The Windies' struggles now date back decades but recently things have seemed particularly grim. At the last two World Cups, the team failed to progress from the preliminary rounds, while in the Test arena, a recent demolition at the hands of Australia will hardly have inspired feelings of all-conquering nostalgia.

“It used to hurt me but it doesn’t hurt me anymore because I don’t watch cricket anymore. Only if it is Test cricket and only if it is about a young player, who I have heard about, I will try my best to go and watch that kid play and make my own judgment about what I feel about that player," Greenidge told SportStar.

The former batsman’s recent grievances, however, run deeper than just the poor performance of the West Indies team.  Greenidge has also expressed concern for the longest format of the sport, where he scored 7558 runs, and its continued relevance and longevity in the face of the blossoming of several T20 leagues around the globe 

“On a personal note, I would not like to see 50-over withdrawn and just T20 being played. I believe T20 is a spectator’s sport, and it is no anymore a cricketer’s sport. Yes, cricketers play, but T20, for me, is like fast food. Test cricket is real cricket. From Test cricket, we came to 50-over, then T20, and now we are going to 10-over, where will we go from here maybe one-over or two-over per side? Keep the cricket alive but don’t banish Test cricket, that is the real cricket we all are here for, we all grew up with.”

The Cricket West Indies’ (CWI) Men’s Selection Panel on Tuesday announced the 15-member squad for the upcoming two-match Test Series in Zimbabwe, starting on 4 February. The Selection Panel recalled experienced fast bowler Shannon Gabriel, as well as left-arm spinners Gudakesh Motie and Jomel Warrican.

Gabriel has taken 161 wickets in 56 Tests, placing him joint 12th in the West Indies all-time wicket-takers list and more recently was the joint-leading wicket taker in the CG United Super50 Cup for the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force in November last year.

Gabriel’s last Test Match was against Sri Lanka in November 2021.  Warrican’s last international appearance was also in Sri Lanka in December 2021 when he played in both matches in the Test Series. Motie made his Test debut for West Indies in Antigua in June 2022 in the first Test of the two-match Series victory against Bangladesh.

Jayden Seales is unavailable for selection following a knee injury and subsequent surgery; while Anderson Phillip is also unavailable due to injury.

Lead Selector, The Most Hon Dr Desmond Haynes said: “This is the start of the international calendar for 2023 and we will hope to start with a win. We appreciate it won’t be as easy assignment as Zimbabwe, like most other teams in world cricket, play very well on their home soil on pitches that will support their style of play.”

Haynes added: “We looked at the conditions we anticipate playing in, and have included two left-arm spinners who didn’t go to Australia in Motie and Warrican. With our fast bowlers, Seales has done extremely well for us since he started back in 2021, but with him unavailable we have decided that Gabriel would be best able to fill that role. He (Gabriel) is an experienced bowler who has been at the international level for over 10 years and has knowledge of the conditions in Zimbabwe when we won there in 2017.”

West Indies will play both Test matches at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo, with the first Test running from 4 to 8 February, and the second match from 12 to 16 February. Ahead of the two-Test Series, West Indies will have a three-day warm-up match against a local side set for 28 to 30 January at Bulawayo Athletic Club. All matches start at 10am local time (4am Eastern Caribbean/3am Jamaica).

The last Test Series between Zimbabwe and the West Indies was also played at Queens Sports Club in October 2017. West Indies won the two-match Series 1-0, winning the first contest by 117 runs with the second Test ending in a draw.

FULL SQUAD

Kraigg Brathwaite (captain)

Jermaine Blackwood (vice-captain)

Nkrumah Bonner

Tagnarine Chanderpaul

Roston Chase

Joshua Da Silva

Shannon Gabriel

Jason Holder

Alzarri Joseph

Kyle Mayers

Gudakesh Motie

Raymon Reifer

Kemar Roach

Devon Thomas

Jomel Warrican

MATCH SCHEDULE

28-30 January: three-day warm-up match at Bulawayo Athletic Club

4-8 February: 1st Test at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo

12-16 February: 2nd Test at Queens Sports Club

Rohit Sharma has urged India to focus on themselves rather than top-ranked New Zealand ahead of another ODI series against the Black Caps.

The first of three matches takes place on Wednesday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, with India coming off a 3-0 series victory over Sri Lanka, and New Zealand having just earned a 2-1 success against Pakistan.

India contested a weather-spoiled series in New Zealand in November, with only one of three matches producing a result and the home side taking a 1-0 win.

Now they will hope for three full contests, with New Zealand having to cope without the rested Kane Williamson and Tim Southee, while Trent Boult is unavailable due to T20 commitments in the United Arab Emirates.

India suffered a blow on the eve of the opening match as batter Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of the series with a back injury. Rajat Patidar was named as his replacement in the squad, while Rohit announced Ishan Kishan would come into the middle order.

KL Rahul is another notable absentee, with his wedding to Bollywood star Athiya Shetty widely reported as being scheduled for the coming days.

Captain Rohit said: "New Zealand are a very good team. They're coming off a good series against Pakistan and obviously they're playing good cricket, so it will be challenging for us to come out and execute what we want to execute.

"We just want to continue from where we left off against Sri Lanka.

"We are not going to concentrate too much on the opposition. We will focus on what we want to achieve and what we want to do as a team. The last series was the perfect example of that. We just went out there, played some fearless cricket and take on the opposition."

India's series sweep against Sri Lanka was completed with a record 317-run victory on Sunday in the third game, after posting 390 and bowling out their tourists for 73.

Now they take on the team who sit at the top of the ICC rankings for the 50-over format, with the Hyderabad match followed by games in Raipur and Indore, prior to a three-game T20I series.

Good omens for the hosts

India have won their last two men's ODIs against New Zealand at home, as many as they had won across their five previous such fixtures (W2, L3).

They have also triumphed in their last three men's ODIs at the Hyderabad venue.

Landmark in sight for Gill

Shubman Gill is 106 away from reaching 1,000 runs for India in ODIs. Should he achieve the milestone with a century in this match, his 19th ODI, it would make him the joint-second fastest man to reach the mark, alongside Pakistan's Imam-ul-Haq.

Gill made 116 last time out, in the third ODI romp against Sri Lanka.

 The West Indies Rising Stars opened their ICC Women’s U19 World Cup campaign with a 7-run win over Ireland Women’s U19 at the North-West University Oval.

Zaida James told CWI Media, “It’s certainly a great feeling to have an all-round performance like this and even better that we had a team victory. Our focus is one game at a time and to finish the group stage strong, then we will look at the remaining stages of the tournament.”

The victory sees the West Indies move to the top of the table in Group C, with 2 points and a Net Run Rate of +0.350. They play Indonesia on Tuesday January 17 at North-West University Oval, Potchefstroom – 7:45am Eastern Caribbean/6:45am Jamaica.

West Indies Rising Stars

125/3 (20 overs)

Zaida James 52 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

​ ​ Freya Sargent 4-0-9-2

Naijanni Cumberbatch 21

Ireland Women's U19

118/7 (20 overs)

Annabel Squires 42 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

​ Zaida James 4-0-20-4

Amy Hunter 21

West Indies All-rounder Rovman Powell starred to help the Dubai Capitals to a 73-run win over the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in Friday’s opening match of the DP World ILT20 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Capitals skipper Powell top scored with 48 while Indian Robin Uthappa got 43 to lead the team to a competitive 187-6 from their 20 overs.

Powell’s knock came off just 29 balls and included three fours and as many sixes while Uthappa’s innings lasted 33 deliveries with three fours and one less six.

Joe Root and Sikandar Raza also both chipped in with 26, respectively, against two wickets apiece from Ravi Rampaul (2-36 from four overs) and Ali khan (2-45 from three overs). Captain Sunil Narine and Andre Russell were the other wicket-takers.

Powell also produced the goods with the ball with 2-15 from two overs as the Knight Riders were reduced to just 114-9 off their 20 overs

Mujeeb Ur Rahman was also excellent with the ball conceding just 16 runs in four overs to go along with his two wickets.

Paul Stirling was the only Knight Riders batsman to produce any resistance with a 38-ball 54 including five fours and two sixes.

Interim West Indies coach Andre Coley insists he is eager to embrace the challenge of coaching the regional cricket team, despite the numerous challenges associated with it.

Former all-rounder Phil Simmons became the latest casualty in a long line of coaches tasked with pushing the Caribbean team back among global cricket’s elites and failing to achieve that elusive target.

Coley, who has had stints with the region’s High-Performance Centre, women’s team and also served as an assistant coach for the men’s team, was appointed to fill the role, while Cricket West Indies (CWI) contemplates its next moves.

CWI announced that Coley would oversee the two-Test tour of Zimbabwe from the 28th January to 16th February, as well as the multi-format tour of South Africa, which includes two Tests, three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and three T20 Internationals (T20Is) from the 21rd February to 28th March.

Despite finding himself placed under the microscope, in light of some of the team’s recent poor performances, he remains motivated and enthused to take up the role.

“Every coaching opportunity bring a different challenge and I have never been one to back away from a challenge,” Coley told the SportsMax Zone.

“If offered generally I look to take them on.  It’s just about assessing working with staff working with the players and coming up with the right strategy,” he added.

The 48-year-old has had a few stints with the senior, first joining the coaching ranks under Otis Gibson and serving spells under Stuart Law and briefly Simmons.  In his estimation, communication will be a crucial part of his plans for success.

“In this case communication is going to be very crucial, so working out what that communication strategy is going to be.”

Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav took three wickets apiece for India before KL Rahul's unbeaten half-century sealed a four-wicket win over Sri Lanka to seal the ODI series.

The tourists collapsed from 102-1 to 215 all out in the 40th over after Dasun Shanaka won the toss and elected to bat first at Eden Gardens on Thursday.

That was not enough to avoid going 2-0 down, KL Rahul top scoring with an unbeaten 64 to get India home with 40 balls to spare.

Nuwanidu Fernando made 50 on his debut, putting on 73 with Kusal Mendis (34) before Sri Lanka's batting frailties were exposed.

Dhananjaya de Silva was bowled first ball by Axar Patel after Kuldeep (3-51) trapped Kusal leg before and Dunith Wellalage (32) got a start but fell to Siraj.

Umran Malik (2-48) also made an impact with the ball and Siraj (3-39) finished off the innings by cleaning up Lahiru Kumara.

Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gil made only 17 and 21 respectively before Virat Kohli played on to a delivery from Kumara for just four after making a century in the first ODI.

India were 86-4 in the 15th over when Shreyas Iyer departed, but Rahul and Hardik Pandya (36) steadied the ship. 

Sri Lanka were in still in with a chance of levelling the series after Chamika Karunaratne (2-51) saw the back of Pandya and Axar fell for 21, but Rahul and Kuldeep saw India home.

Promising start for Nuwanidu 

It was an impressive start to his international career for 23-year-old opening batter Nuwanidu.

He struck six boundaries in an assured 63-ball knock at the top of the order against an excellent attack.

Nuwanidu will be kicking himself over the manner of his soft dismissal, Charith Asalanka sending him back after he set off for a run that was never there.

Rahul holds India run chase together

It was the experienced Rahul who provided the glue to keep India's run chase together in the middle of the order.

After coming in at number five, he spent over two and half hours at the crease in a responsible innings, waiting for any loose deliveries as he found the rope just six times and rotated the strike well.

That is 12 ODI wins in 13 matches at home to Sri Lanka for India and 10 multi-game bilateral series victories out of 11 over the Asia Cup champions on home soil.

West Indies fast bowler Kemar Roach will be returning to Surrey for the first six games of the LV=Insurance County Championship season.

Roach, 34, is returning to the club for a third season after successful spells in 2021 and in the title-winning 2022 season.

In his time at Surrey so far, he has taken 47 wickets at 23.57, including best figures of 8 for 40 against Hampshire in 2021.

Twenty-five of Roach's wickets came in seven matches in last year's Championship triumph, including a second-innings five-for against Warwickshire at the Kia Oval in July, to set up a six-wicket victory.

Roach - who last year became the sixth West Indian to reach 250 Test wickets - will join up with the squad ahead of Surrey's first fixture, away at Emirates Old Trafford against Lancashire, and his first game back at The Oval will be against Hampshire (13-16 April).

Roach will then be available for the trips to Edgbaston and Chelmsford before finishing his spell with two home derbies against Middlesex (11-14 May) and Kent (18-21 May).

"I really enjoy playing for Surrey and winning the title last year was incredible to be a part of," Roach said.

"It's such a talented and exciting group of players and I can't wait to get back out on the pitch representing the club."

Gareth Batty, Head Coach at Surrey, added: "We're looking forward to welcoming Kemar back to Surrey. He brings great ability and work ethic, and his experience plays an important role in the dressing room.

"Kemar has already shown what he can do in his time at the club so far and we're excited to have him joining us again this year."

Former West Indies batting coach, Toby Radford, is confident world-class former batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul would make a ‘solid’ pick for the role of Windies head coach.

The addition of the name of the former legendary batsman to the speculative list of potential replacement for Phil Simmons has garnered mixed reactions.  In opposition, some have pointed to Chanderpaul’s relative lack of experience, while others believe he would be more suited to a role in administration.

For Radford, who is well acquainted with the former player, there is no doubting the quality he would be able to bring to the role.  

“I’m a big fan, I’ve often talked about Shiv and what he brought to the game as a player.  He was a very hard worker and meticulous in preparation, a lot of the things I think he would instil as coach for the younger players,” Radford told the Mason and Guest show.

“He has been there and done it.  He was number one in the world for a period of time, a top Test player in the world.  He has played all round the world.  I think he would bring a huge amount to it,” he added.

“He is new to coaching and still finding his feet but he is having relative success and I think he would bring a lot to it,” he added.

Radford, however, believes the former batsman would have to be supported by a very capable team, which is always the case for head coaches as opposed to specialist coaches.  Chanderpaul, who retired from the sport six years ago, has already experienced some success as a coach, having led the Jamaica Tallawahs to the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) title last year.

Australia announced an 18-player squad for their upcoming tour of India, with Mitchell Starc to miss the first Test of the series due to a finger injury.

Starc suffered tendon damage and a fracture to the middle finger on his bowling hand during the Boxing Day Test against South Africa at the MCG, although he was able to tough it out and return to the field.

The 32-year-old was ruled out of the final Test of the series in Sydney and selectors confirmed on Wednesday that Starc's recovery will mean he will not fly over to India with the rest of Australia's squad.

In more positive news, Cameron Green is expected to make a full recovery in time for the series opener on February 9, having undergone surgery on a finger injury of his own.

"Greeny, we're hopeful that he should be right for the first Test," chair of selectors George Bailey said.

"But if not that, that's okay. We feel like we've got the squad that can cover that. 

"Starcy's not expected to be available for the first Test, in fact he's going to come across to India a touch later."

If there is one area of the squad where Australia could afford an injury, it is in the fast-bowling department.

With Starc out, captain Pat Cummins will likely be joined by Josh Hazlewood and Scott Boland in the pace attack, while the rapid Lance Morris has been named in the squad and might feel overdue for a look-in.

Australia also named four spinners, with veteran campaigner Nathan Lyon joined by Ashton Agar, Mitchell Swepson and uncapped off-spinner Todd Murphy.

Bailey addressed the condition of back-up wicketkeeper Peter Handscomb, who was forced to retire hurt immediately after hitting a six while playing for St Kilda in a T20 on Tuesday, having been nailed in the hip the previous over.

"Pete's got a scan tomorrow morning to check on that," Bailey said. "He's confident it's nothing too serious.

"A bit of a mishap. He just copped a ball on the back hip, and then three balls later he dispatched one and just felt something give a little bit in there.

"There's still quite a bit of time between now and when we depart and even when the first test is, so we'll work through that as we get more information."

Bailey confirmed Handscomb is still third in the pecking order, but selectors have opted to give Josh Inglis the tour off to allow him to play some first-class cricket.

"Josh is absolutely still our backup or number two wicketkeeper," he said. "But we're also conscious that he has been on a number of tours and hasn't actually been able to play a great deal of cricket."

The first Test of of the four-match series starts in Nagpur on February 9.