Young Windies fast bowler Jayden Seales is expected to join English cricket club Sussex for the start of the 2023 season.
The 21-year-old, who last played for the West Indies in July is expected to represent the English club for the first three months of the 2023 season, which is scheduled to get underway in April.
During the period the player will have the opportunity to take part in both the team’s Championship and T20 games. The young bowler, who became the youngest player to take five wickets for the West Indies in Tests, last year against Pakistan, was understandably excited for the opportunity.
“As a young fast bowler, I like to find myself facing as many different situations and challenges as possible,” Seales said.
“I can’t wait to test myself in England and hopefully contribute to a winning start for Sussex in both Championship and T20 cricket.”
West Indies legend Sir Vivian Richards has been named as brand ambassador for the upcoming Lankan Premier League (LPL).
The tournament, which will take place from December 6-23 will be its third edition, having bowled off in 2020. As such it remains one of the newest and smaller leagues in world cricket and hopes the high profile of the former swashbuckling West Indies, one of the most respected in the sport, will help elevate its profile.
“We are pleased to announce one of the finest batters of all time, Vivian Richards as Brand Ambassadors for the 2022 LPL. Having someone like Sir Vivian Richards will boost the league and attract more followers from the whole world, and help in our quest to make this tournament a global cricketing attraction. I am really excited to see great Sri Lankan talents on display in the league,” Anil Mohan, Chairman of IPG Group and founder of LPL.
The LPL will also have West Indies presence on the pitch with big-hitter Evin Lewis and Carlos Brathwaite expected to feature.
Former West Indies captain Darren Sammy believes regional body Cricket West Indies (CWI) and the smaller boards can be stuck between a rock and hard place when it comes to holding on to their top players, as they lack the financial clout to do so.
Since the advent of lucrative global T20 leagues, the team has on many occasions struggled to have its top players available, as they opt to take part in the competitions over scheduled international fixtures.
At the moment, the problem is less of an issue for some of the sport’s bigger for team who hold a much tighter rein on when and where their players play. India for instance does not allow their player to take part in any other T20 league except the IPL, as Sammy points out, the issue comes down to money.
“India is strong because they can tell their players that you don’t play anywhere else. You have to understand that they have the money to back it up,” Sammy said in an interview with the Press Trust of India (PTI).
“An India A list contracted player could probably make a million dollars a year (match fees plus TV rights money) compared to a Windies A-lister, who would earn USD 150,000,” he added.
Successive West Indies administrations have tackled the issue with various approaches that have yielded little success, the former captain does not see things changing anytime soon.
“Gone are those days when you played for love. Love doesn’t buy you groceries from a supermarket,” he added.
The player believed the region could possibly think of adopting a similar model to the one used by New Zealand.
Tagenarine Chanderpaul, son of the great Shivnarine Chanderpaul, has been handed his first West Indies Test squad call-up for the upcoming tour of Australia.
The 26-year-old, who was a reserve batter for the series against Bangladesh earlier this year, could open the batting alongside captain Kraigg Brathwaite.
Chanderpaul scored the second-most runs in the 2021-22 West Indies four-day championship, hitting 439 across eight innings at an average of 73.16.
His father made 164 Test appearances for West Indies, scoring 11,867 runs at an average of 51.37, managing 30 centuries. Only Brian Lara has scored more in the team's history (11,912 runs).
"We have been playing good Test cricket and expect to do well against the Australians on their home turf," lead selector Desmond Haynes said.
"We have one newcomer to the team in Tagenarine Chanderpaul. He equipped himself very well in the West Indies Championship four-day matches and also did a very good job at the top of the order against Bangladesh A in Saint Lucia this summer.
"He has what it takes to do well at the highest level."
Meanwhile, Jason Holder, Roston Chase and Shamarh Brooks also return to the squad, with West Indies due to play two Test matches in Australia in November and December.
The tour will be the last for head coach Phil Simmons, who offered his resignation after West Indies suffered a humiliating first-round exit at the T20 World Cup.
The Cricket West Indies (CWI) Selection Panel on Saturday named the Men’s Test squad for the upcoming series in Australia. West Indies will be under the leadership of Kraigg Brathwaite and will face the hosts in two Test matches at the Perth Stadium (30 November to 4 December) and the Adelaide Oval (8 to 12 December).
The Selection Panel named one newcomer in Tagenarine Chanderpaul, the left-handed opening batter and recalled two experienced players in allrounder Roston Chase and middle-order batter Shamarh Brooks.
Lead Selector The Most Hon. Dr Desmond Haynes said: “We have a core group of players who have been part of the Test squad and have performed well. We have played two series this year – against England and Bangladesh – and won both. We have been playing good Test cricket and expect to do well against the Australians on their home turf.” “We have one newcomer to the team in Tagenarine Chanderpaul. He equipped himself very well in the West Indies Championship four-day matches and also did a very good job at the top of the order against Bangladesh A in Saint Lucia this summer. He has what it takes to do well at the highest level.” Haynes added: “Roston Chase has returned to the squad as an allrounder and we believe his experience and skill set will be beneficial and Shamarh Brooks has also returned to bolster the middle-order batting.”
The West Indies Test squad is expected to assemble in Australia on 10 November. As part of the preparations for the two-match series the visitors will have a three-day warm-up game against an ACT/NSW XI at the Philip Oval, Canberra on Thursday 17 to Saturday 19 November.
This will be followed by a four-day pink ball match against the Australia Prime Minister’s XI at the Manuka Oval in Canberra on Wednesday 23 November to Saturday 26 November. The day/night match will be played under lights and will recognize the anniversary of the inaugural fixture in 1951, also against the West Indies.
The Test series will be contested for the prestigious Frank Worrell Trophy – named in honor of the legendary West Indies captain. It will also form part of the ICC World Test Championship.
FULL SQUAD
Kraigg Brathwaite (Captain)
Jermaine Blackwood (Vice Captain)
Nkrumah Bonner
Shamarh Brooks
Tagenarine Chanderpaul
Roston Chase
Joshua Da Silva
Jason Holder
Alzarri Joseph
Kyle Mayers
Anderson Phillip
Raymon Reifer
Kemar Roach
Jayden Seales
Devon Thomas
West Indies' white-ball captain Nicholas Pooran will use the hurt of his team's first-round exit at the T20 World Cup as "motivation" to bounce back strongly.
The Windies failed to make it to the ongoing T20 World Cup main tournament for the first time after suffering defeats against Scotland and Ireland last week.
"Obviously, we don't know what the future holds but we will take it day by day," Pooran said ahead of the Super50 Cup, West Indies' regional one-day tournament, where he is set to lead Trinidad & Tobago.
"Again, it was a learning experience for all of us and this is our journey and our story. Time will tell what will happen but for now it is just about focusing on ourselves and how we can get better as individuals.”
The reaction to West Indies' early exit was sharp and swift, with CWI president Ricky Skerritt blaming the batters and promising that a "thorough post mortem" would be carried out. Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting was also critical of West Indies' performances, calling their first-round exit a "disgrace". Phil Simmons, meanwhile, has resigned as head coach, with his last assignment set to be a two-Test series in Australia, which starts next month.
Pooran also suggested that he would not step down as captain, but look to learn from these setbacks.
"I have been thinking about the last couple of months...Playing cricket is my dream and obviously I have had my test in life as well and this is another test for me," he said.
"I am a person that embraces challenges and this was just another one for me. It is not going to stop me. I am going to continue to learn from my experiences and again I am happy I can wake up in the morning and see that I have an opportunity to play cricket again."
Pooran's immediate focus will be to help Trinidad & Tobago defend their Super50 title, with the tournament scheduled to begin on Saturday.
Antiguan all-rounder Rahkeem Cornwall will reportedly make his return to the West Indies Test side for the two-test series against Australia from November 29-December 12 in the land Down Under.
The 29-year-old has played nine Tests for the Windies, with his last coming against Sri Lanka in November 2021. In those nine Tests, he has taken 34 wickets at an average of 37.76 and a strike rate of 78.3.
The squad is also expected to include Guyanese left hander Tagenarine Chanderpaul, son of West Indies legend Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who is in line to make his Test debut after incumbent West Indies opener John Campbell was banned for four years by an Independent Anti-Doping Panel after failing to provide a blood sample to doping control officers in April 2022.
Full Squad: Kraigg Brathwaite (Captain), Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Nkrumah Bonner, Kyle Mayers, Jermaine Blackwood (Vice Captain), Joshua Da Silva, Shamarh Brooks, Raymon Reifer, Jason Holder, Devon Thomas, Rahkeem Cornwall, Alzarri Joseph, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, Anderson Phillip.
Former Cricket West Indies (CWI) president Dave Cameron has branded the player-centric approach employed by the incumbent administration as a failure, insisting it prioritizes the needs of a few players over those of the region.
After surprisingly ending six years of the Cameron administration in 2019, the Skerritt and Shallow body promised significant improvements to the player, regional cricket board dynamic, which had soured over previous decades.
Under the new administration, the cricketers, board and players association seem to enjoy a less acrimonious existence, but previous issues of players choosing to make themselves unavailable for the regional team, while continuing to take part in lucrative T20 leagues around the world has remained an issue.
The Skerritt association has, however, insisted that no action would be taken against players who choose to go that route. Cameron has again questioned the merit of the approach.
“The Shallow-Skerritt experiment has failed, basically what that Shallow-Skerritt experiment did was it put the players ahead of the region and that is the challenge,” Cameron told the Mason and Guest radio program.
“Someone had attacked me and said some players weren’t happy and I said to him you could name the players that weren’t happy on one hand versus the region,” he added.
“If you are running a business and you are trying to move the system forward you have to look at greater good not just what’s good for a few players.”
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Former West Indies captain Kieron Pollard has expressed disappointment with the team’s unceremonious exit rom the T20 World Cup but believes it adds some perspective to criticism directed at the unit he led one year ago.
Pollard was captain of the team at the previous edition of the tournament, which ended in a similarly disastrous fashion. On that occasion, however, the team, which consisted of veteran 30-somethings Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Lendl Simmons, Andre Russell, and 40-something-year-old Chris Gayle, was criticized for being too old.
Pollard, who retired from international cricket earlier this year, however, believes the sub-par display at this year’s tournament should also serve as a cautionary tale for selecting teams with too little experience.
“We have a young captain, we have young players, guys who have played only a handful of T20 cricket and now they are in the World Cup. When I look back at it, I sit back and I have a smile on my face because I remember some of the things that we said around last year this time when some individuals weren’t selected,” Pollard told Trinidad and Tobago radio.
“I just had to remind these people that there was a World Cup we were going to and another bilateral series. Now some of these individuals get a chance to play in the World Cup and again look what has happened. It's no fault of theirs,” Pollard added.
"When we tried to protect them and let people understand they were not ready and for that we were lambasted. There were a lot of things that were said that we are very derogatory at times. It’s a sad day for West Indies cricket and all of us.”
Cricket West Indies (CWI) has confirmed that as reported by Sportsmax.TV earlier Monday, Phil Simmons will be stepping down from his role as Head Coach of the West Indies Men’s team following the team’s exit from the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup being played in Australia.
His last assignment will be the upcoming two-Test series against Australia from 30 November to 12 December.
“I acknowledge that it’s not just the team that is hurting but the proud nations we represent as well," said Simmons on his resignation.
"It’s disappointing and heart wrenching but we just didn’t turn up. We weren’t good enough and we now have to watch a tournament play-out without our involvement. It's unfathomable and for that I deeply apologize to our fans and followers.
“From a personal perspective this is not a knee jerk reaction, but a move I have been considering for some time and now is the time to make public that I will step down as West Indies Head Coach at the end of the Test series against Australia. It is earlier than hoped for, but I will now focus my energies in Australia on continuing to build on the excellent progress the Test team has made. Of course, as the President has pointed out, we will also carry out the necessary review into our World Cup campaign.
“I must say I have enjoyed aspects of the unique challenge that being West Indies Head Coach provides and the unwavering support of my Management Team. There remain some exceptional individuals within CWI who I firmly believe will continue to work in the best interests of West Indies cricket.”
CWI President Ricky Skerritt thanked Simmons for his service.
“On behalf of CWI I want to thank Phil for his hard work and dedication to West Indies cricket, most recently in his role as head coach," the CWI president said.
"Phil is a proud West Indian, with high ideals and has never lacked motivation in guiding our younger players on and off the field of play. He brought valuable experience and stability at a very important period of transformation, including the most challenging environment of the COVID-19 pandemic. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”
Simmons was at the helm in 2016 when West Indies won their second ICC Men’s T20 World Cup title defeating England at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Earlier this year he guided the team’s fortunes in their hard-fought 1-0 Test series win over England on home soil to capture the Richards-Botham Trophy and in June a Test series victory against Bangladesh in their last outing.
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As the fallout begins regarding the West Indies’ disastrous performance at the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup in Australia, Phil Simmons, head coach of the two-time world champions, has reportedly tendered his resignation, Sportsmax.TV sources have indicated. Members of the CWI board are said to have convened an emergency meeting over the matter.
Simmons tendered his resignation on Saturday, sources said, and it is expected to take effect in January 2023 as his contract requires that he give his employers 12 weeks’ notice.
The timing of the resignation comes at an inopportune time as the West Indies are scheduled to Australia for two Tests in late November. The team begins with a four-day pink-ball match from November 23-26. The first Test bowls off on November 30.
Simmons was appointed head coach in 2019 shortly after Ricky Skerritt and Dr Kishore Shallow came to power at Cricket West Indies Annual General Meeting in Kingston. Since then, West Indies have fared poorly in international competition.
The team is currently ranked eighth in Tests, ninth in ODIs and seventh in T20I.
At the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, the West Indies won one match before bowing out of the competition. Then just last week, at the 2022 competition, the West Indies put in an even more disappointing performance, failing to get to the Super 12 round for the first time ever having lost their opening match by 42 runs to Scotland before being dumped out of the competition following a humiliating nine-wicket loss to Ireland in the qualifying round.
Following the nine-wicket drubbing, the CWI boss laid the blame squarely at the feet at the batsmen while promising to conduct a thorough investigation into the reasons behind the poor showing.
"Untimely shot selections seem to be deeply embedded in the T20 batting culture of our senior team," the CWI president said.
Australian captain and great Ricky Ponting called the showing “embarrassing”.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) will conduct a "thorough postmortem" after the Windies' embarrassing early T20 World Cup exit.
West Indies are the only team to have won the T20 World Cup twice, but they failed to qualify for the Super 12 stage in Australia.
Nicolas Pooran's side crashed out with a whimper at Bellerive Oval, where Ireland hammered them by nine wickets to advance along with Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and Netherlands on Friday.
The Windies suffered a stunning defeat to Scotland in their first game of the tournament in Hobart on Monday and despite beating Zimbabwe in midweek, will be on the plane home.
West Indies finished bottom of Group B and it appears there may be consequences for such an abject failure.
CWI president Ricky Skerritt said in a statement: "I am deeply disappointed with the performance and results of our team in Australia, and I appreciate the sense of utter frustration that is being experienced by many.
"The ongoing inability of our batsmen to prevail over opposing slow bowling continued to be an obvious weakness in Australia, and untimely shot selections seem to be deeply embedded in the T20 batting culture of our senior team.
"However, I want to assure stakeholders that a thorough postmortem will be carried out on all aspects of our World Cup preparation and performance and that solutions will be found in keeping with CWI's strategy to improve the quality and sustainability of cricket on all fronts, and in all formats.
"West Indies cricket is bigger than any one individual or event, and continues to need the input and support of all stakeholders."
Cricket West Indies President Ricky Skerritt promised a “thorough post-mortem” after the West Indies elimination from the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia on Thursday.
The team entered their final game in the qualifying round needing a win against Ireland to advance to the super 12s but were handily beaten by nine-wickets.
“I am deeply disappointed with the performance results of our team in Australia and I appreciate the sense of utter frustration that is being experienced by many,” Skerritt said in a statement on Friday.
The team, once again, showed an inability to play spin bowling, with Ireland’s spin duo of Gareth Delany and Simi Singh combining to bowl six overs for just 27 runs, grabbing four wickets in the process.
“The ongoing inability of our batsmen to prevail over opposing slow bowling continued to be an obvious weakness in Australia, and untimely shoe selection seems to be deeply embedded in the batting culture of our senior team,” Skerritt said.
The statement continues: “However, I want to ensure stakeholders that a thorough post-mortem will be carried out on all aspects of our World Cup preparation and performance, and that solutions will be found in keeping with CWI’s strategy to improve the quality and sustainability of cricket on all fronts, and in all formats. West Indies cricket is bigger than any one individual or event, and continues to need the input and support of all stakeholders.”
West Indies were sent tumbling out of the T20 World Cup after a nine-wicket humbling by Ireland in Hobart.
A dismal performance by the Caribbean side saw them post 146-5 in their final first-round pool match, before Ireland raced to 150-1 to win with 15 balls to spare.
Victory carried Ireland through to the Super 12 stage, joining Netherlands and Sri Lanka in advancing from the first round, with one further place to be decided later on Friday.
Brandon King, back from illness, made 62 not out for the Windies but found little by way of substantial support, with Ireland spinner Gareth Delany snagging 3-16 from his four overs.
West Indies are the only team to have won this World Cup twice, taking the 2012 and 2016 titles, but their total against Ireland looked on the low side.
Ireland confirmed that as they encountered little trouble in streaking to victory, with Paul Stirling rattling along to 66 not out from 48 balls at the top of the order. Captain Andy Balbirnie made 37 and Lorcan Tucker finished unbeaten on 45, cracking the winning four to complete the job.
Man of the match Delany said: "It's obviously an incredible day for us."
Saturday will mark a year to the day since Ireland lost to Namibia in their final first-round game at the 2021 edition of this tournament, meaning they were eliminated, and Delany said that had been "one of the toughest days for a lot of us".
"To get over the line today in the fashion that we did was amazing," Delany added.
Skipper Balbirnie said: "It means everything. We had a really disappointing loss last year at this same stage. We did a lot of thinking, a lot of things changed back home. Different personnel came in, a new coach [Heinrich Malan].
"Losing the first game [to Zimbabwe] and then coming back and beating a two-time champion in a must-win game, I couldn't be prouder."
West Indies quick Alzarri Joseph insists the work is nowhere close to finished for the former champions, despite a campaign revitalizing 31-run win over Zimbabwe at the Bellerive Oval on Wednesday.
Joseph, who scooped man of the match honours, certainly played his part in the crucial victory, bowling with plenty of pace and hostility to restrict Zimbabwe to 122 in pursuit of the West Indies 153 for 7.
The win, however, while giving the Caribbean team a tournament saving two points, still leaves them just out of the equation on Net Run Rate. In the ultra-competitive group where all the teams are on 2 points after 2 matches, the equation becomes simple. Win the next one and advance.
“It’s very encouraging but we know the job’s not done. We still have one more game to win and we have to try and get that win in order to get out of this round,” he added.
For the second match in a row, Joseph, who worked well in tandem with Holder, was brought in with the team on the back foot and managed to steady the ship so to speak.
“For me, it’s all about pulling it back for the team. I try and get an early wicket, if not I just keep it tight,” he added.
The West Indies will face Ireland in their final fixture of the tournament on Thursday at 11:00 pm, while Zimbabwe will face Scotland.
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