Guyanese all-rounder Kevin Sinclair was the star of the day as Team Weekes secured an eight wicket win over Team Headley inside three days at the Coolidge Cricket Ground on Friday.

Beginning day three 67-2, Team Headley only managed to add a further 86 runs before being dismissed for 153 in 63.1 overs, leaving Team Weekes needing just 96 for victory.

Matthew Nandu carried on from his overnight 26 to top-score with 36 while Justin Greaves ended 25*.

Sinclair ripped through the Headley XI batting line-up on the way to grabbing 5-48 in his 21 overs. His countryman, Veerasammy Permaul, took 2-20 in 13.1 overs.

Team Weekes then needed 26.5 overs to reach 96-2. Openers Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Zachary McCaskie both made 33 while Raymon Reifer and Captain Alick Athanaze finished on 19* and 10*, respectively.

The West Indies Academy emerged as overall winners of the Tri-Series after a dominant win over Team Headley and a first-innings triumph over Team Weekes in their two games.

A half-century from Devon Thomas was crucial in Weekes XI eking out a 58-run lead over Headley XI on the second day of the final match of the Headley Weekes Tri-Series at Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua on Thursday.

Resuming from their overnight score of 61-3 in reply to Headley XI’s 177, Weekes XI were 155-7 still 22 runs behind when Thomas and Veerasammy Permaul added a crucial 68 for the eighth wicket that gave their side the small lead.

Earlier Alick Athanaze made 37 as he and Kacey Carty, who scored 12, took Weekes XI past 100 runs with a 46-run stand but both fell in quick succession to Anderson Phillip and then Hodge dismissed Kevin Sinclair and Dominic Drakes for 12 and 18, respectively, which resulted in Weekes XI slipping from 107-2 to 155-7.

The eighth wicket partnership that ended with Permaul’s dismissal for 35 and which gave Hodge this third wicket had taken Weekes XI to 223. However, once Permaul fell, it didn’t take long for the Headley XI bowlers to wrap the innings up.

Akeem Jordan bowled Thomas for 57 and Jordan bowled Jair McAllister for a duck with the score at 235.

Hodge took 3-46, Phillip 2-44 and Jordan 2-41.

By the close, Kieran Powell was dismissed by Dominic Drakes for nine and Hodge was caught and bowled by Kevin Sinclair for 28 but by then Headley XI had eked out a five run lead. Matthew Nandu remains undefeated on 26 and Sunil Ambris has a run on the board with Headley XI at 67-2 at stumps.

Dominic Drakes and Veerasammy Permaul each took three wickets as Weekes’ XI bowled Headley XI out for 177 on Wednesday’s opening day of the final match in the Headley Weekes Tri-Series at Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua.

However, Headley XI’s bowlers have struck back having Weekes XI at 61-3 at stumps still trailing by 116 runs.

Drakes dismissed three of the five top order batsmen as Headley XI got off to a terrible start and were reduced to 74-6. Only opener Kieran Powell with 23 managed to get into double figures.

Kavem Hodge and Ackeem Jordan held the Weekes’ bowlers at bay with a partnership of 71 but then Jordan became Permaul’s 600^th first-class wicket when he was caught behind for 37. Kevin Sinclair soon after ended Hodge’s vigil for 67 and Permaul cleaned up the tail dismissing Chaim-Alexis Holder and Marquino Mindley for three and seven, respectively.

Drakes ended with figures of 3-17 while Permaul took 3-18.

In reply, Weekes’ XI lost Zachary McCaskie to Marquino Mindley for two but Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Raymon Reifer added 48 for the second wicket before Holder struck, dismissing Chanderpaul for 12 and 11 runs later, got Reifer for 34 as Weekes XI slipped to 61-3.

Holder has so far taken 2-2 while Mindley has 1-17.

The second match of the new CWI Headley-Weekes Tri-Series between the West Indies Academy and Team Weekes ended in a draw at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua on Saturday.

The Academy entered the fourth and final day on 378-4, replying to Team Weekes’ 401 all out in their first innings.

Kirk McKenzie, carrying on from his overnight 209* was eventually dismissed for 221 while Kevin Wickham, who entered day four on 104*, made 121 as the Academy were eventually bowled out for 435 in 142.5 overs, leading by 34 runs.

Jair McAllister took 4-84 and Veerasammy Permaul 3-106 for Team Weekes.

In reply, Team Weekes reached 107-3 in 41 overs before proceedings came to an end on another rain-affected day.

Opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul managed to carve out a composed 53 off 118 balls while his opening partner, Zachary McCaskie who made 93 in the first innings, contributed 31. Joshua Bishop finished with impressive figures of 2-1 from four overs for the Academy.

The third and final match of the Tr-Series starts on Wednesday when Team Headley battles Team Weekes.

Kirk McKenzie and Kevin Wickham both hit their maiden First-Class hundreds as the West Indies Academy ended day three of their Headley-Weekes Tri-Series match against Team Weekes trailing by only 23 runs at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua.

McKenzie, the 22-year-old Jamaican opening batsman, ended the day on a magnificent 209* while Wickham, the 20-year-old Bajan, ended 104* as the Academy, replying to Team Weekes’ 401 all out, ended day three 378-4 off 121 overs.

McKenzie’s knock has, so far, come off 365 deliveries and included 25 fours and a six while Wickham has faced 223 balls, hitting eight fours and a six.

Earlier, Ackeem Auguste made 21 and Kevlon Anderson, who got 153 in their first game against Team Headley, made 26.

Jair McAllister and Kevin Sinclair have both taken a pair of wickets, each, for Team Weekes.

Kirk McKenzie scored an unbeaten half-century for West Indies Academy, who are 89-2 at stumps on a rain-shortened second day of their four-day match against Weekes XI at Coolidge Cricket Ground on Thursday.

Chasing Weekes XI’s 401 all out, McKenzie and Keagan Simmons put on 27 in their opening stand before the latter was bowled by Jair McAllister for seven. The bowler would later dismiss Ackeem Auguste in similar fashion for 21 as West Indies Academy slipped to 57-2.

However, McKenzie and Kevlon Anderson, who scored 153 for West Indies Academy in the seven-wicket victory over Headley XI last week, added 30 without further loss when play ended. McKenzie has so far struck eight fours in his even 50 while Anderson is not out on seven.

McAllister has so far taken 2-21.

Earlier, Weekes XI resuming from their overnight score of 365-7 with Kevin Sinclair on 52 and Veerasammy Permaul on nought, lost Permaul for duck to make it 365-8. Realizing he was running out of partners, Sinclair attacked the bowling smashing 11 fours and three sixes in his score of 86 before he was bowled by Ramon Simmonds.

Simmonds bowled McAllister for a duck next ball to wrap up the innings leaving Nail Smith not out on two.

West Indies white ball opener Brandon King was a significant contributor as Team Weekes ended day one of their Headley-Weekes four-day series fixture in a strong position against the West Indies Academy at Coolidge on Wednesday.

King made a 148-ball 92, supporting Zachary McCaskie’s 147-ball 93, as Team Weekes ended the day 365-7 off 90 overs. Jahmar Hamilton (57) and Kevin Sinclair (52*) also got fifties on day one.

Entering this contest, King had an average of 34.84 in 32 First-Class games including three hundreds and 12 fifties.

King's last four-day appearance came in March last year when he made an unbeaten 119 for the Jamaica Scorpions against the Windward Islands Volcanoes at the Brian Lara Stadium.

He spoke about his return to red-ball cricket after the day’s play.

“Very happy to be back playing red ball cricket. It’s been a little while. It was great fun batting out there with no time restrictions,” King said.

The West Indies batsman opener got to the crease with his side 82-3 having lost the wickets of Keacy Carty for 12 and captain Alick Athanaze for a two-ball duck.

He then formed a crucial 136-run fourth wicket partnership with McCaskie.

“It’s 4-day cricket so you have time on your side and you want to try and build a partnership to put the team in a better position,” King said.

“We kept it simple. The pitch wasn’t doing a great deal so we just tried to take as little risk as possible while still putting the bowlers under pressure and it worked out for us,” he added.

Regarding the team’s plan going into the innings, King said it was simple.

“We know that the pitch is generally good for batting and that in the first session the bowlers would get something out of it. Our plan was always to try and bat through the first session with as little wickets as possible then bat the rest of the day,” King said.

“We weren’t too focussed on the number of runs but we knew that if we batted the whole day we’ll get a good score,” King added.

Day two takes place on Thursday.

Half-centuries Zachary McCaskie, Brandon King, Jahmar Hamilton and Kevin Sinclair have put Weekes XI in a strong position of 365-7 against West Indies Academy on the opening day of their Headley Weekes Tri-Series match at Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua on Wednesday.

West Indies Academy fresh off their seven-wicket victory over Headley XI last week, won the toss and asked Weekes XI to bat. Tagenarine Chanderpaul and McCaskie laid a solid platform with an opening stand of 55.

However, Chanderpaul was then trapped leg before by Nyeem Young for 25, triggering a minor slide during which Kacey Carty was caught behind by Tevin Imlach for 12 off McKenny Clarke, who dismissed Alick Athanaze in similar fashion for a duck in his next over as Weekes XI slipped from 55 without loss to 82-3.

However, McCaskie and Brandon King put an end to the bloodletting with a fourth-wicket partnership of 136 in 35 overs that resurrected the innings. McCaskie would fall short of a deserved 100 when Kirk McKenzie had him caught by Ackeem Auguste for 93.

King continued on to 92 during a partnership of 39 with Jahmar Hamilton but then he became the third victim of the Imlach/Clarke combination to miss out on his century.

Hamilton than stitched together a stand of 74 with Kevin Sinclair but then was dismissed by Nyeem Young for 57. Sinclair soldiered on putting on 23 with Dominic Drakes who made 13 before he lost his wicket to Kevin Wickham for 13.

Sinclair will resume on 52 on Thursday with Veerasammy Permaul at the other end with the intention of taking Weekes XI past 400.

Clarke was the best bowler on the day with 3-91 while Young took 2-75.

West Indies Academy defeated Headley XI by seven wickets on day three of the opening match of the Headley Weekes Tri-Series at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua on Friday.

Trailing by 64 on first innings, Headley XI’s second innings lasted only 49 overs in which they were bundled out for 122 for a lead of just 58. West Indies Academy then reached 59-3 to seal the victory.

It was the Headley XI bowlers who saved their team from complete embarrassment as Justin Greaves top-scored with 30 and Akeem Jordan, 28, that helped their past the 100-run mark after West Indies Academy bowlers had scythed through the top order to have them tottering at 61-6.

The pair put on 50 for the seventh wicket that helped extend the match after Nyeem Young 3-17 and Kelvin Pittman 3-27 did the early damage. Joshua Bishop (2-18) and Ashmead Nedd 1-20 combined to clean up the tail leaving their batters to chase 59 for victory.

They duly obliged but not without a few stumbles as Chaim Holder dismissed Kirk McKenzie and Teddy Bishop for ducks and first innings century maker for 16 to finish with 3-22. However, Keagan Simmonds kept his cool to score an unbeaten 31 while sharing in a match-winning stand of 20 with Tevin Imlach who was unbeaten on eight at the end.

Scores in the match: Headley XI 259 (Joshua da Silva 136) and 122; West Indies Academy 323 (Kevlon Anderson 153) and 59-3.

Sunil Ambris has been named as the replacement for Shayne Moseley in Team Headley for the ongoing Headley-Weekes Tri Series first-class match against West Indies Academy at Coolidge Cricket Ground.

 Moseley, the left-handed opener, sustained an injury to his left knee on Wednesday morning and was forced to retire hurt during the Team Headley first innings. He was unable to return to bat and was also unavailable to field. He is under the care of CWI Medical Staff.

 The change is in accordance with the ICC Rules which govern the first-class cricket matches and was approved by the Match Officials.

Headley XI will resume on 27-1 on Friday after bowling West Indies Academy out for 323. Headley XI made 259 in their first innings.

Kevlon Anderson's superb hundred provided the foundation for West Indies Academy to take a 64-run lead on first innings over Headley XI's 259 on the second day of their Headley Weekes Tri-Series match at Coolidge on Thursday.

Anderson scored 153 and Kirk McKenzie, 50, as West Indies Academy made 323 all out. At stumps, Headley XI, batting a second time, reached 27-1, trailing by 37 runs. 

The 22-year-old Guyanese right-hand batsman who was on 12 overnight and with Kirk McKenzie (31 overnight) had steered West Indies Academy away from potential disaster of 0-2 to 49-2 at stumps. On Thursday, they had extended that third-wicket partnership to 84 when Justin Greaves dismissed McKenzie for 50.

Greaves then dismissed Tevin Imlach for four and Kevin Wickham for five as West Indies Academy slipped from 84-2 to 102-5. Anderson and Nyeem Young then set about repairing the damage a sixth-wicket stand of 80, which ended when Anderson Phillip dismissed Young for 27.

Joshua Bishop came and went for 12, bowled by Marquino Mindley, who then dismissed Ashmead Nedd for a duck as West Indies Academy slipped once again to 202-8 and seemingly about to fall short of Headley XI’s first innings score.

However, Anderson found a useful partner in Johan Layne. Together they posted a ninth-wicket partnership of 120 that took West Indies Academy past Headley XI’s first innings score and gave them a 64-run lead by the time Anderson was dismissed by Darren Bravo. He hit 22 fours in the innings in which he faced 281 balls.

Kelvin Pitman was trapped lbw for a duck as the innings closed on 323 from 94 overs with Layne unbeaten on 38.

Greaves took 3-46 while Mindley had figures of 2-47. Jordan, who took the first two wickets to fall on Wednesday, failed to add to his tally Thursday and ended with figures of 2-77

A century from Captain Joshua da Silva spared Headley XI blushes against West Indies Academy on Wednesday’s opening day of the Headley Weekes Tri-Series at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua. Having been restricted to 257-9, Headley XI have struck back to have West Indies Academy at 49-2 at stumps.

Da Silva’s unbeaten 136, rescued the team he leads from a precarious 59-5 after Johan Layne had ripped through the top order on his way to a five-wicket haul, dismissing Kieran Powell for a duck, Darren Bravo for five, Kavem Hodge for 10 and Tevyn Walcott for 15.

Headley XI’s problems were compounded when Sheyne Moseley retired hurt for nine.

The captain and Akeem Jordan managed to stem the slide with a sixth-wicket partnership of 105. Jordan’s contribution was 54 that included eight fours before he became Layne’s fifth victim as Headley XI recovered to 164-6.

Da Silva and Anderson Phillip added 38 for the seventh wicket before the latter lost his wicket to Kirk McKenzie for 16 and 22 with Chaim Holder, who had made 10 when he lost his wicket to Joshua Bishop.

Da Silva then scored all 35 runs in a ninth-wicket partnership with Marquino Mindley, who was eventually dismissed by Ashmead Nedd for 0 as the innings closed at 257-9.

Layne took his first first-class five-fer, finishing with figures of 5-43. Bishop took 2-98.

When play resumes on Thursday, Kirk McKenzie will continue from his overnight score of 31 while Kevlon Anderson is not out on 12. The pair are staging a recovery after Jordan had dismissed Keegan Simmonds and Teddy Bishop for ducks in his opening over.

Jordan’s two wickets have come at a cost of 15 runs from the five overs he bowled before close of play.

West Indies wicketkeeper/batsman Joshua Da Silva and Alick Athanaze, the top scorer in the recently concluded West Indies Championship, have been appointed captains for Team Headley and Team Weekes, respectively for the upcoming Headley Weeks Tri-Series.

The two teams have been drawn from the leading performers in the 2023 West Indies Championship and those deemed to be on the fringe of the Test team.

The series aims to provide further first-class opportunities to the best performers from the West Indies Championship in a competitive and intense setting, as well as opportunities for players who the selectors believe would benefit from playing red-ball cricket as West Indies prepare for the upcoming “A” Team tour of Bangladesh and the two-Test Series against India at home.

Team Headley and Team Weekes will play against each other and against the West Indies Academy in the three-match series running from 19 April to 6 May, at the Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG) in Antigua. All three matches have been awarded first-class status. The West Indies Academy was unveiled last year and played CG United Super50 tournament last November.

Team Weekes will feature Athanaze who was the leading batter in the West Indies Championship with 647 runs, which included two centuries; left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul the second-highest wicket-taker with 28 wickets; as well as Jahmar Hamilton who was the joint leading keeper with 19 dismissals.

Team Headley will feature experienced left-hander Darren Bravo, who was the second highest run-scorer in the West Indies Championship with 446 runs which included two centuries; fast bowler Akeem Jordan who was third highest wicket-taker with 22 wickets in four matches; as well as Tevyn Walcott, who was the joint leading keeper with 19 dismissals.

“Following the conclusion of the West Indies Championship, we are pleased to have more first-class matches on the calendar,” said CWI Lead Selector Desmond Haynes.

“This is a great initiative and will provide our players with more opportunities as we look ahead to the very important Test Series against India later in the year as well as ‘A’ Team matches. We looked at everyone who was available, and we came up with teams who will be very competitive and push each other.”

All matches in the Headley Weekes Tri-Series will be streamed LIVE on the Windies Cricket YouTube channel with live scorecards and ball-by-ball scoring on the Windiescricket.com live match centre.

Team Headley: Joshua Da Silva (captain), Sunil Ambris, Darren Bravo, Justin Greaves, Kavem Hodge, Chaim Holder, Akeem Jordan, Marquino Mindley, Shayne Moseley, Gudakesh Motie, Anderson Phillip, Kieran Powell and Tevyn Walcott.

Team Weekes:  Alick Athanaze (captain), Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Keacy Carty, Dominic Drakes, Jahmar Hamilton, Brandon King, Jair McAllister, Zachary McCaskie, Veerasammy Permaul, Raymon Reifer, Kevin Sinclair, Nial Smith and Devon Thomas.

West Indies Academy: Kevlon Anderson, Ackeem Auguste, Joshua Bishop, Teddy Bishop, McKenny Clarke, Rivaldo Clarke, Joshua James, Johann Layne, Kirk McKenzie, Ashmead Nedd, Kelvin Pitman, Keagan Simmons, Ramon Simmonds, Kevin Wickham and Nyeem Young.

According to Cricket West Indies Shai Hope was selected but was given permission to represent Yorkshire in the English County Championship while Rahkeem Cornwall and Shane Dowrich made themselves unavailable for selection.

MATCH SCHEDULE

All matches to be played at CCG, Antigua

Match 1: 19-22 April: Team Headley v West Indies Academy

Match 2: 26-29 April: Team Weekes v West Indies Academy

Match 3: 3-6 May: Team Weekes v Team Headley