Cricket West Indies (CWI) is creating a development roadmap with major investment for women’s cricket in the region. This effort comes after the launch of its inaugural Women's Cricket Academy, a key initiative aimed at nurturing and developing our region’s female cricketing talent.

 Under the leadership of Miles Bascombe, Director of Cricket at CWI, the Academy commenced its operations earlier this month at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua, marking a significant milestone for women's cricket in the region.

The director of cricket expressed his enthusiasm by stating, “This move aligns with Cricket West Indies' commitment to fostering the growth of women's cricket and investing in the development of players at all levels”.

As CWI embarks on its four-year budget cycle and the formation of its four-year strategic plan, Bascombe emphasizes the organization's commitment to investing in various initiatives that will contribute to the overall development of women's cricket.

“We have ambitious plans and programs lined up to ensure sustained growth in women's cricket,” he said. “Our investment in talent development and coaching will create a robust foundation for the future success of our women cricketers. Our approach is to incrementally seek to level the playing field, and we have started this process in earnest in other key areas.”

Earlier this year, CWI announced that with immediate effect the members of the West Indies Women’s squad will travel business class for all long-haul international flights and be accommodated in single rooms for all international assignments, bringing it in line with the policy for West Indies Senior Men’s tours. This resulted in an increase in the women’s budget of over US$500,000.

Meanwhile, Bascombe who assumed office in August of this year said, “We have had a fruitful engagement with our women players during our recently held West Indies Cricket Players’ Summit in Barbados, and have taken into consideration their views. Such discussions have informed the priority areas for women’s cricket at this point, particularly the development pathway.”

The West Indies Women’s A team just arrived in Pakistan yesterday for the first-ever away tour. The average age of the playing squad is 20. The majority of the players were in the ICC Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup earlier this year.

Bascombe concluded by stating, “The trajectory of women’s cricket is one that is very pleasing, and that is why we are presently supporting the Women’s ‘A’ Team tour to Pakistan. Giving our players international opportunities helps to strengthen our second line and further enhances our competitive chances.”

CWI and the West Indies Players Association are in the process of finalizing a new Memorandum of Understanding. Both parties are working feverishly to achieve significant increases for women cricketers. These are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

Ahead of the start of the CG United Super50 Cup, Cricket West Indies (CWI) has announced a major increase in prize money and bonuses for teams participating in the tournament as well as other regional competitions – totaling over US$2.5 million over a four-year period.

With the region’s marquee List A tournament set to bowl off on Tuesday, there is the incentive for the champions to take home a top prize of US$100,000 as well as the Sir Clive Lloyd trophy when they win the grand final on Saturday 11 November under lights at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.

The losing finalists will receive US$50,000 while the team that tops the points table in the league phase will also get US$50,000. This is the biggest prize money in the history of the tournament.

Dr Kishore Shallow, President of CWI said: “The aim is to incentivize our cricketers, which will ultimately result in more intense and competitive cricket. We expect this along with other developmental programs will help to close the gap between international cricket and our regional tournaments. These new prize monies represent a significant increase in the reward purse for teams in regional cricket. We firmly believe this will act as a fillip to players’ performances and their pursuit of excellence. This is part of our investment in the game and those who fly the flag on the field.”

The increase also extends to all senior men’s and women’s tournaments. There is a big boost in the West Indies Championship that will be played in the first half of 2024. The champions of this traditional “red ball” four-day, first-class competition will win US$250,000. The second-placed team will receive US$100,000.

There is an increase in winnings for the Women’s CG United Super50 Cup and the T20 Blaze. The winners of the 50-overs will receive US$20,000 next year with a minimum increase of US$10,000 annually over the next 4-year cycle. The runners-up will receive half these amounts.

The T20 Blaze winners will also be rewarded with an increase – US$10,000 for the winners next year - with further increases annually for the upcoming four years. The runners-up will receive half these amounts.

CWI is finalizing a new 4-year MOU with the West Indies Players Association, which will see further increases for individual players, including a major boost to women’s remuneration.

President of Cricket West Indies, Dr Kishore Shallow, believes the early success of the West Indies Academy in Antigua has led Caribbean cricket’s governing body to investigate the possibility of opening similar academies around the region.

“That is something that needs to be discussed as well by the cricket development and performance committee. We’ve seen how productive and fruitful the investment in the current emerging program is to date,” Shallow said during a virtual press conference held by CWI on Friday.

The Academy was formed in 2022 and is based at the home of West Indies cricket, the Coolidge Cricket Ground.

The team, comprising young cricketers from around the region, first participated in the 2022 CWI Super50 Cup where they won one match out of six and finished last in Zone B.

Most recently, the youngsters produced an excellent showing to win the inaugural Headley Weekes Tri-Series held between April 19 and May 5 at Coolidge.

“Recently, we saw them playing and dominating against our region professional cricketers in the Headley Weekes Series and there is absolutely no reservation that investment in academies across the region could produce similar results so it is really something high on the agenda,” said Shallow before reminding people that affordability and sustainability will ultimately determine whether or not these plans move forward.

It is obviously a question of affordability and whatever we do, we have to ensure that these programs and systems are sustainable. One for the committee to discuss and send their recommendations to the board. We will also have to get the input from our finance management strategy committee as well,” he added.

Dr Kishore Shallow was elected unopposed as the new president of Cricket West Indies at the organisation’s Annual General Meeting in Antigua on Saturday. He will have Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board President Asim Bassarath as his vice president.

Dr. Shallow succeeds Ricky Skerritt, who decided not to seek a third term. Skerritt became president in 2019 after defeating three-term president Dave Cameron in Kingston.

The new president, who also leads the Windward Islands Cricket Board, has promised significant changes to the way the CWI operates going forward. Those changes will manifest atop four key pillars that include cricket development; human capital, commercial and marketing as well as governance.

In a recent interview, Dr Shallow said he intends to invest in the development of young cricketers from the grassroots to the senior level while establishing a culture of pride and passion for West Indies cricket.

The new president also plans to incorporate modern-day best practices that align with Caribbean culture as well as implementing a viable and lucrative commercial model to enhance revenue streams for Cricket West Indies.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Wednesday announced the match schedule for the West Indies Men’s “A” Team series against Bangladesh Men’s “A” Team in August.

The series will be played at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground in Saint Lucia and will feature two four-day first-class matches and three 50-over matches from 4 to 20 August.

This will be the first West Indies Men’s “A” Team series since 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic restricted opportunities and the resumption of West Indies Men’s “A” team matches sees the return of a key development opportunity for players pushing for selection to the West Indies senior team and for emerging players to build their First-Class International experience.

Roland Holder, CWI’s Senior Operations Manager said the series will provide exposure for a number of players and noted it was part of CWI’s commitment to continually developing talent for the international level.

“We are pleased to have confirmed the itinerary for the Men’s ‘A’ Team series with the BCB and we are excited to host Bangladesh in the region again,” Holder said.

“This is a vital part of the development of our players in the pathway toward full international selection, and no doubt this upcoming series of matches in Saint Lucia will provide a platform for further exposure and progress.”

He added that CWI and BCB are also in the planning stages for a reciprocal tour by West Indies “A” to Bangladesh in 2023.

 BCB CEO Nizam Uddin Chowdhury said the “A” Series provides an excellent opportunity for players of both teams to prepare for international commitments.

 “The international schedule is getting busier by the season and therefore it is very important for the cricketers to keep themselves ready through good competitive cricket. We thank CWI for accommodating the A tour. The four-day ‘Tests’ and the One-Day matches will be an invaluable experience for the players,” he noted.

“The BCB and CWI share a warm longstanding relationship and have worked tirelessly to make this tour happen. I hope we will see more reciprocal programmes between the two boards in the future.”

Match schedule:

Daren Sammy Cricket Ground

4-7: August: 1st Four-day “Test” – local start time 10 am (9 am Jamaica)

10-13 August: 2nd Four-Day “Test” – local start time 10 am (9 am Jamaica)

16 August: 1st 50-over match – local start time 9:30 am (8:30 am Jamaica)

18 August: 2nd 50-over match – local start time 9:30 am (8:30 am Jamaica)

20 August: 3rd 50-over match – local start time 9:30 am (8:30 am)

Cricket West Indies (CWI) on Friday announced the initial intake of 15 selectees for the CWI Emerging Players Academy. The group will start work at the Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG), Antigua from 1 July for high-performance training and development sessions.

Several recent members of the West Indies Rising Stars U19 programme are included. Two notable selectees are Teddy Bishop and Kevin Wickham, who both made centuries for the West Indies Rising Stars U19s during the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup played in the West Indies earlier this year.

Others who have graduated from the West Indies Rising Stars U19s team to the regional franchise teams include Keagen Simmons, Kirk McKenzie and former captain, Ackeem Auguste; along with left-arm spinners Ashmead Nedd and Joshua Bishop; and left-arm fast bowler Ramon Simmonds. Also selected to the Academy squad is allrounder Nyeem Young, who was in the West Indies Men’s white-ball training camp in April.

“We want to offer a special welcome to the young men who have been selected to form the first cohort for the CWI Emerging Players Programme. They are a talented group of players, who we are sure will enjoy the benefits of their hard work,” said CWI’s Director of Cricket Jimmy Adams.

“CWI has been looking at ways of bridging that critical gap between our junior and professional levels and this Academy initiative provides us with a great start towards achieving this. This will also play an important role in building regional capacity within High-Performance player support – technical, physical, mental, and personal development.”

The plan for a CWI Emerging Players Academy was first announced in March. It will function as a nexus between regional junior and senior teams while supporting the development of talented players between the ages of 19 and 25. The Academy will have five primary objectives:

Building capacity of players, support staff and high-performance resources.

Management of Talent.

Personal Development – develop the person first and then the player.

Demonstrate Best Practices, including recruitment, selection and preparation.

Accelerating Player Development and increasing readiness of players for international cricket.

The Selection Panel met and recommended the 15 players based on a formula which included consultations with each of the six Territorial Boards. Six reserves have also been selected as cover for players who may be selected for their franchises for regional competitions.

The first Emerging Players camp has several objectives and the main focus during the initial period will be to ensure the management of talent; players’ personal development – especially creating a breeding ground for leaders in the game; accelerating development – reinforcing the importance of knowledge on the physical components; as well as increasing the readiness of the players for the international stage – with a focus on specific skill sets identified by the Head Coach of the Senior Team.

 “This is a massive opportunity for myself and all the other players involved. I can't wait to get to Antigua to get started and get involved. Being a player who has come through the West Indies Rising Stars U19 system and being at the senior white ball camp a few months back, this is a chance to further my skills. This will benefit all of us as we look to the future and I believe the camp will also help to build camaraderie,” said an eager Nyeem Young.

FULL SQUAD: Kevlon Anderson, Keagan Simmons, Kirk McKenzie, Kevin Wickham, Ackeem Auguste, Ramon Simmonds, McKenny Clarke, Johann Layne, Kelvin Pitman, Ashmead Nedd, Joshua Bishop, Nyeem Young, Joshua James, Leonardo Julien.

Reserves: Anderson Amurdan, Kimani Melius, Kirstan Kallicharan, Brad Barnes, Shaaron Lewis, and Camarie Boyce.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) has announced the formation of a new Emerging Players Academy, aimed at supporting the development of world-class players from the Caribbean.

The Academy, which will run annually, will utilize the facilities at the Coolidge Cricket Ground – the new Home of West Indies Cricket - where the best young male and female cricketers will come to Antigua throughout the year for several High-Performance training and development camps.

 “For some time, CWI has been looking at ways of bridging that critical gap between our junior and professional levels and this Academy initiative provides us with a great start towards achieving this,” said CWI Director of Cricket Jimmy Adams.

“The programme will also play an important role in building regional capacity within High-Performance player support – technical, physical, mental, and personal development. The programme will also set a template for our Territories to mirror as they build out their individual High-Performance pathway programmes.”

The first intake for the CWI Emerging Players Academy will start in July 2022 and run for a year. Up to 30 players will be selected from both the Men’s and Women’s talent pool, aged between 19 and 25. The aim is to bridge the gap after the West Indies Under-19 level and assist their progression into one of the six Territorial Board Franchise squads, with the intention that they will graduate to earn one of the fifteen (15) retainer contracts available in each team.

Players selected for the CWI Emerging Players Academy will be first expected to meet the CWI minimum fitness requirements before they will be exposed to high-quality training programmes and camps in Antigua.

The programme will focus on developing the players holistically and include specific aspects of the game away from the pitch such as media engagements, financial management, personal development, and leadership.

Players will also enjoy playing opportunities through the CPL Emerging Players partnership with CWI and the Emerging Players team that participated in the annual CG Insurance Super50 Cup.

A dispute over the use of player agents is said to be one of the key issues at the heart of allegations of player victimisation, which roiled West Indies cricket a few weeks ago.

The controversial issue was brought to the fore during the England tour of the Caribbean after all-rounder Odean Smith was dropped from the team ahead of the third T20 international.  Reports of the accusations were initially downplayed by Cricket West Indies president Ricky Skerrit and the senior members of the team’s hierarchy as an attempt to distract.

The CWI hierarchy has, however, since met with representatives of the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) to address the claims and the body’s Honourary General Secretary Wayne Lewis has confirmed that there are in fact a few issues to resolve.

“There were complaints to WIPA about things that happened, they were uncomfortable because of the situation, they were very unhappy and so we sat with Cricket West Indies and spoke about it,” Lewis told the Mason and Guest radio program.

“The complaint was that members within the cricket West Indies set-up were calling franchises overseas and advising them that particular players would not be given NOCs to play, and we thought that was odd because we have an MOU and a protocol that covers that, that did not include anyone from that area,” he added.

“There were situations where players were encouraged to change their agents to go with an agent of their (CWIs) choice and the players were resisting that because they had their own agents already.  So that made them a little uncomfortable as well, so these issues needed to be addressed, so we did the proper thing by talking to the CWI to get to the bottom of it.”

Lewis revealed that talks between the bodies had continued to be cooperative but that a complete solution on how to address the issue had not yet been reached.

The West Indies squad have flatly rejected the suggestions that Smith's omission from the match was anything other than tactical.

Cricket West Indies has named a 15-member squad and five reserves to contest the ICC Under 19 World Cup to be held in the West Indies from January 14 to February 5, 2022.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) today confirmed that the West Indies Men’s team will play three T20 Internationals (T20I) and three One-Day Internationals (ODI) against Pakistan at the National Stadium in Karachi from December 13 to 22.

The ODI Series will be West Indies fourth series of 12 in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League in which the top seven teams can secure automatic qualification for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in India. West Indies currently lie in eighth position out of 13 teams and have the opportunity to move above Pakistan into seventh position.

This will be the West Indies’ first tour of Pakistan since April 2018 when three T20Is were contested. The two-time former World Champions will be playing ODIs in Pakistan for the first time since December 2006.

“Today we have confirmed the details for the West Indies Men’s white-ball tour of Pakistan in December. CWI would like to thank the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and our own cricket operations, medical and security teams for the work that has gone into the organization of this tour,” said CWI CEO Johnny Grave.

“West Indies and Pakistan have always delivered exciting series and we’re looking forward to visiting Pakistan to complete what has been a hectic and momentous year of cricket in the light of the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The tour starts a new cycle of T20i cricket, building towards next year’s ICC T20 World Cup in Australia. The ODIs also have great significance as West Indies looks to earn more points towards securing qualification for the ICC Men’s ODI Cricket World Cup in India in 2023.”

According to CWI, independent security advisors, Eastern Star International (ESI) will continue to monitor the security situation in Pakistan, and will also have a representative assigned to the team for the duration of the tour.

Meanwhile, the West Indies Women’s Team is presently in Karachi, Pakistan for three ODIs as part of their final preparations for the upcoming Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers.

Tour Schedule

December 9 – West Indies arrive in Karachi

December 13 – 1st T20I, Karachi

December 14 – 2nd T20I, Karachi

December 16 – 3rd T20I, Karachi

December 18 – 1st ODI, Karachi

December 20 – 2nd ODI, Karachi

December 22 – 3rd ODI, Karachi

As their sponsorship arrangement comes to an end, Cricket West Indies (CWI) has expressed its gratitude to Sandals Resorts International for their contribution to West Indies cricket as a principal partner during the last four years.

Sandals became CWI’s principal partner, enjoying branding rights across all West Indies Men’s, Women’s and age-group teams in 2017, a partnership extended by a further year during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Over the course of many years, CWI and Sandals were able to achieve many positives, including the fact that it was CWI and the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB), who one year ago jointly led the resumption of international cricket at all levels following the initial Pandemic shutdown. Sandals’ encouragement and support for that historic CWI decision to tour the UK was much appreciated”, said CWI CEO, Johnny Grave.

“Global sports and tourism have suffered badly from the unprecedented health-based crisis, caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic, which has reduced Caribbean travel and hospitality revenues immensely. In spite of those setbacks, we were still able to encourage Sandals to extend their sponsorship for a further year. That extended period has now come to an end, and we want to again thank Sandals and its Board for their immense contribution and long-standing support of West Indies cricket.”

The CWI Partnership with Sandals was part of the incredible legacy of the late Sandals’ Chairman, Gordon “Butch” Stewart, who was a life-long supporter of West Indies cricket and who made sure that the Sandals brand stood proudly on the shirts of all West Indian cricketers, continuously over the past four years.

CWI paid tribute earlier this year to Stewart, whose passing was closely followed by the loss of his senior management colleague David Roper, himself also a Sandals-based West Indies cricket stalwart. It was Mr Roper who coordinated the varying commercial relationships with West Indies cricket for more than two decades at home and abroad.

Sandals’ financial contribution through the most recent four-year period of commercial sponsorship, provided much-needed capital to CWI for investing in players and tournaments across all formats of the game.

Sandals had also previously entered into shorter-term sponsorships with CWI on a number of specific tours to the United Kingdom (UK), one of the major tourism markets where Sandals received a significant return on investment from their partnership with West Indies cricket. Sandals was the first-ever West Indies sponsor to have their logo across the chest of the Test teams.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) has forged a new partnership with digital inventory management specialists, Horizm to value and unlock revenues from CWI’s website and social media channels.

Legendary West Indies captain, Clive Lloyd, has called on embattled batsman Shimron Hetmyer to answer doubters by scoring a lot of runs whenever he gets the opportunity.

The 24-year-old has been in the spotlight in recent weeks after losing his international retainer contract with Cricket West Indies.  The young batsman has long been considered to be one of the region’s premier talents but has struggled to hit top gear in recent seasons.

In Test cricket, where he has not played for the team since 2019, he averages 27.93 having played 16 matches.  In One Day International cricket, where he last played in January of last year, he averages 36.66.  In T20 international cricket, he averages 18.95 with a strike rate of 116.97.

In addition, the player has struggled with fitness issues, twice failing a fitness test during the period, ahead of a subsequent tour of Sri Lanka last year and a visit of the same team earlier this year.

“The guy has got ability, we know that all he has to do is produce the runs and there should be no problem,” Lloyd told the Mason and Guest radio program.

“We all know Pooran, Hetmyer these are very talented guys, but that talent must come out with runs.  For a bowler it’s wickets,” he added.

“I would like to say to all the young people, Mr. Hetmyer and the rest of the gentlemen.  They are asking you to be fit, they want you to produce the goods.  If you do well, we would have a world-beating team.”

The West Indies cricket team camp in St Lucia is reportedly dealing with a COVID-19 scare, which has seen players and the management team forced into isolation.

The details or extent of the outbreak are yet to be confirmed by Cricket West Indies (CWI), but the team’s practice session at the Darren Sammy Grounds in St Lucia on Saturday was cancelled, with no official reason yet to be provided.

Several members of an 18-man squad, which had been called ahead of a flurry of upcoming T20 international series, reported to a bio-secure environment, where they were to live and train in preparation for the upcoming series.  The players and support staff were expected to undergo rigorous COVID-19 testing.

In addition to that, however, 13 members of the training squad and management received vaccinations against the coronavirus last week.

CWI has been painstakingly and, for the most part, successfully navigating play during the coronavirus pandemic for the last several months.  The West Indies and England were the first teams to return to playing international cricket, with the Raise The Bat series, which took place in a biosecure environment in England in July of last year.