Cricket West Indies (CWI) today announced the appointment of Roland Butcher, as a Selector to the West Indies Men’s Senior & Youth Panels.
Butcher is a former England batsman who also played for over 15 years in English County Cricket with Middlesex. His appointment was confirmed during a meeting of the CWI Board of Directors on Monday 19 December.
Butcher was delighted to accept the appointment,
“It is a great honour and a privilege, to be given the opportunity to serve West Indies Cricket. I’m eager to get started to work alongside the other members of the selection panels as we look to ensure the growth and improvement in West Indies cricket at all levels.”
The West Indies Men’s Senior Panel is led by the Most Honorable Dr. Desmond Haynes and the Men’s Youth Panel is led by Robert Haynes. The third member of both panels is the respective Head Coach.
Butcher was the first Black cricketer to represent England in Test cricket when he debuted against West Indies in his native Barbados in 1981. He played three Tests and three One-Day Internationals. In his first-class career he played 277 matches and scored over 12,000 runs.
Andre Coley has been named as the Interim Head Coach of the West Indies Men’s team for the upcoming tour of South Africa, Cricket West Indies announced Wednesday.
The West Indies Men’s team will start their 2023 international year with two Test matches against Zimbabwe. The visitors will play both matches at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.
Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) confirmed the schedule on Wednesday, with the first Test slated for 4-8 February, and the second Test match for 12-16 February. Ahead of the two-Test rubber West Indies will have a four-day warm-up match against a local side set for 28-31 January at Bulawayo Athletic Club.
All matches start at 10am local time (4am Eastern Caribbean/3am Jamaica).
“The tour to Zimbabwe early in 2023 will be an important part of our 2023 Test programme, which also includes series against South Africa and India," said CWI's Director of Cricket Jimmy Adams. "Having produced some good results early in 2022, the team will be eager to begin the year with strong performances in Zimbabwe.”
Zimbabwe’s last Test match was way back in July 2021 against Bangladesh in Harare and, according ZC Director of Cricket Hamilton Masakadza, they will be eager to make the most of the upcoming series.
“We are pleased to confirm the West Indies will be visiting us for two Test matches that will be played in Bulawayo,” Masakadza said.
“Although it’s been a while since we last played Test cricket, our boys will be hungry and ready for some red-ball action and I believe an exciting series against one of the game’s top sides is on the cards.”
The last Test Series between Zimbabwe and the West Indies was also played at Queens Sports Club in October 2017. West Indies clinched the two-match series having won the first game by 117 runs while the second match ended in a draw.
MATCH SCHEDULE
28-31 January: four-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, Bulawayo
Renowned former West Indies wicketkeeper, Deryck Murray, has commended the team’s coach Phil Simmons for stepping down from the post but insists he is far from the only one who should be doing so.
The regional team has endured a particularly wretched run of form across all formats in recent months. A poor showing at the T20 World Cup saw the two-time champions embarrassingly eliminated in the first round of the competition after loses to Scotland and Ireland.
In the aftermath, Simmons, and, then later team captain Nicholas Pooran, resigned their positions. The Test team then traveled to Australia to face the home team in a two-match series where they were badly outplayed. In the second Test, for instance, the team lost by a massive 419 runs after being bowled out for 77.
In light of such performances, Murray believes there needs to be many more changes at the broader management level than just Simmons, if the team is to truly start moving forward.
“I want to commend Phil Simmons he has done the honourable thing.
He was responsible for the team when we did not qualify for the T20 World cup and he did the hourrable thing,” Murray told the Mason and Guest radio program.
“We should not assume for one minute, however, that one man, Philip Simmons, is responsible for the decline, for the losses of West Indies cricket," he added.
“I keep looking to see others follow suite but nothing like that has happened…”
Murray went on to state that he believed the entire government system surrounding the sport in the region needed to change.
West Indies Women’s captain Hayley Matthews bagged a three-for but could not prevent 16 run loss to England who took an overall 2-0 lead in the ongoing T20 series on Wednesday.
After winning the toss and choosing to bat, England Women put up an average 141 for 6 in their stint at the crease. The team was led by an enterprising 43 runs from 43 deliveries from opener Sophia Dunkley, who gave England a solid start with partner Danni Wyatt.
Dunkley and Wyatt put 36 on the board before Afy Fletcher broke the partnership, after bowling Wyatt for 20. Following the dismissal of Lauren Winfield-Hill, Heather Knight became the first of Matthew’s wickets. She was caught by Karishma Ramharack on 4.
Matthews then also accounted for Dunkley, who was stumped by Knight. A new-look England line-up then struggled to put together solid partnerships after that managing just 31 off the last five overs.
In pursuit of the target, the West Indies started out at 21 without loss but Lauren Bell and Charlie Dean were then introduced to the attack with great success.
Davies got the breakthrough when she removed Aaliyah Alleyne, who made 16 from 14. Dean then the important wicket of Matthews to leave the team struggling at 23 for 2 after the first 4 over. The Windies never recovered and eventually fell short at 125 for 8. Dean ended with figures of 3 for 22, while Bell claimed 2 for 21.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) has congratulated Sir Clive Lloyd on being awarded an Honorary Doctorate from The University of Guyana.
The legendary former West Indies captain received the honour for being an exemplar in the field of sport, management and leadership during the university’s graduation ceremony in Georgetown on Friday.
“We want to congratulate Sir Clive on this well-deserved honor bestowed on him by the University of Guyana,” said CWI President Ricky Skerritt.
“Sir Clive’s leadership style brought unity and pride to his team. His vision and passion on the game and his respect and trust for his colleagues were the driving forces behind his immense success as he drove the West Indies to become a sporting dynasty. We celebrate with Sir Clive as he receives this valued award for his service to Guyana and West Indies cricket.”
Sir Clive Lloyd was captain of the West Indies team during a period of unprecedented dominance, which included winning the Cricket World Cup in 1975 and 1979.
He played 110 Test matches between 1966 and 1985, where he scored 7,515 runs with 19 centuries. He also played 87 ODIs and made 1,977 runs with a best score of 102 in the 1975 World Cup final against Australia at Lord's.
Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of Australia's first Test against South Africa starting in Brisbane on Saturday while Pat Cummins remains in contention to return from injury.
Cricket Australia on Monday confirmed a 14-man squad for the series opener at the Gabba following Sunday's 419-run rout of the West Indies in Adelaide.
Cummins has been named in that squad despite missing the Adelaide pink ball Test with a quad injury, but Hazlewood is absent again with an ongoing side strain issue.
The return of the Australian skipper would mean one of Scott Boland or Michael Neser would likely miss out in Brisbane against the Proteas. Uncapped WA tearaway Lance Morris retains his place in the squad but appears unlikely to break into the XI.
"Pat continues to improve, bowled with freedom on Saturday and appears likely to play this match, although Josh will need more time," selection chief George Bailey said. "With that in mind we have retained Michael Neser and Lance Morris in the squad for this match.
"Michael bowled superbly in Adelaide, as did Scott. We were impressed as always with their performances that backed up what they have achieved in the past. Lance is a very exciting prospect who will benefit from time with the squad.
"With so much cricket ahead, we continue to seek opportunities to grow and maintain our fast-bowling experience and depth."
Neser took five wickets for the match in the second Test against the West Indies, while Boland only managed three, but the latter's trio came in one devastating over in the second innings.
Following his team’s humiliating 419-run defeat to Australia in the second and final Test in Adelaide on Saturday night, West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite has lamented his team’s lack of fight.
Already trailing 1-0 in the series after going down by 164 runs to the home side in the lop-sided first Test, at Perth the West Indies once again found themselves behind the eight-ball on Saturday night (Caribbean time).
Their bowlers proved ineffective as Australia declared their first innings at 511-7. Their bowlers then dismissed the West Indies for 214.
Batting a second time after deciding against imposing a follow-on, Australia raced to 199-6 before declaring and then reducing the West Indies to 38-4 to be in complete command heading into the fourth day of the Test.
The hosts quickly completed the victory as the tourists capitulated to 77 all out to lose the two-Test series 2-0.
Brathwaite, the only batter to score a century for the West Indies during the series, said the team failed to put up much resistance.
“It was very disappointing. The first game, we fought to day five which was a decent effort. Coming here we didn't show any fight at all," said Brathwaite who had scores of 19 and three in the match.
"Obviously Australia bowled well but we didn't fight. The pink ball is always different, under lights is always tough. Bad days happen and bad games. This was a bad game for sure, but it's not the end of the world, we have a lot of Test cricket to play next year so we have to look ahead."
The Barbadian batter reserved praise for debutant Tagenarine Chanderpaul, who was one of the few bright spots in an overwhelmingly disastrous series. The 26-year-old son of West Indies great Shivnarine Chanderpaul had scores of 50, 45, 47 and 17 during the series to be the leading run scorer along with Brathwaite.
"It showed that he's tough," Brathwaite said. "You've got Mitchell Starc coming in at 90mph and you see a guy fighting like that, says a lot about his character. I thought he had a good start to his career and can see him really blossoming to have a superb career for West Indies."
West Indies Women head coach Courtney Walsh has expressed disappointment with an overall tepid batting display in a 3-0 One Day International series loss to England Women.
After losing the first two matches by margin of 142 runs, things did not get better for the Caribbean team as England closed out the series with another dominant display in 151 run win margin on Friday.
At the crease for the series, overall, while England averaged 274, the Windies could only manage 131, producing their lowest total of in the final game, avter limping to 105. On the back of a battling display against New Zealand Women, in September, Walsh admits that he was expecting a better performance from the team.
“I thought that it was a poor series by us. We did not play the type of cricket that we wanted to play. England outplayed us,” Walsh said.
“The bowling was not bad and the fielding was not bad but in all three games the batting wasn’t what we expected, wanted or were looking for,” he added.
“It was a lot of disappointment because I know we can play better cricket than that and we did not show that.”
Rashada Williams was the team’s highest scorer over the 3 matches, making a combined total 93 after scoring a half century in the first match. The team will now turn its attention to the T20 series, which bowls off on Sunday.
Mitchell Starc and Steve Smith both paid tribute to Scott Boland after the right-armer took 3-16 to help seal a ruthless 419-run win over the West Indies.
The Victoria quick was only drafted into the hosts' XI for the second Test in Adelaide following an injury to captain Pat Cummins sustained in their opening match.
Though only playing in his fourth red-ball match for his country, Boland repaid the faith with a terrific second innings performance, as the tourists were skittled for 77.
Both Michael Neser and Starc also produced three-wicket hauls, and it was the latter who got the plaudits for his turn with the ball at Adelaide Oval.
"It was the MCG all over again," he said, in reference to Boland's ruthless 6-7 against England in Melbourne last year. "The batters were giving him a hard time, as he did not get the wickets, but he was at his consistent best.
"Neser, Boland, Morris, [they] have all been brilliant and shown off the depth in our bowling. [It has been] great individual and team performances."
Smith, who returned to the captaincy he was previously banned from in Cummins' absence, was also full of praise for Boland.
"He is a second innings specialist," he added. "He was spectacular yesterday evening, and he bowled well in the first innings too.
"That's what you want, to keep challenging and get better. It gets exciting."
Australia will next kick off a three-Test series with South Africa at the Gabba on Saturday, before further games in Melbourne and Sydney.
They look likely to be without Josh Hazlewood however, in another blow to their bowling attack, after he picked up a strain.
Australia made light work of the West Indies' resistance on day four to claim a dominant 419-run victory at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday and round out a comfortable 2-0 Test series win.
The West Indies collapsed to lose 35-6, with the defeat confirmed within an hour-and-a-half of the resumption of play, as Michael Neser claimed three of the six fourth day wickets in his second Test match.
The tourists had resumed at 38-4, chasing an improbable target of 497, but were all out for 77.
Left-arm Mitchell Starc grabbed the opening two wickets of the fourth day, including an inswinging gem to clean bowl Jason Holder.
Nathan Lyon took his 450th career Test wicket, when he bowled a heaving Alzarri Joseph who had danced down the pitch. Lyon was denied another when Travis Head dropped a chance close in from Marquino Mindley.
Neser, who finished with 3-22, closed out the job with wicketkeeper Alex Carey pulling off an excellent one-handed catch off his bowling to dismiss Mindley for a duck.
Carey took four catches on Sunday, including a brilliant juggling pluck when he stood up at the wicket off Neser's bowling to remove Joshua Da Silva who offered the only real resistance from the tourists on the fourth day with 15 from 40 balls.
Local batsman Head was named Player of the Match after scoring 175 from 219 deliveries in Australia's first innings, which set up the win. Marnus Labuschagne was named Player of the Series after making 502 runs in two Tests, the most-ever by an Australian in a two-match Test series.
Day-night dominance
Australia's win means they have claimed 11 from 11 victories in day-night Tests, relishing the pink ball conditions. Australia are also seven from seven in Adelaide in recent times.
The 419-run victory was also Australia's largest-ever win by runs against the West Indies, who had not lost a Test this calendar year prior to this lopsided series.
Quick turnaround for Aussies
Australia will be delighted to have secured victory with more than a day to spare, given they are due to take on South Africa in a three-match Test series starting Saturday.
Josh Hazlewood is highly unlikely to be available for the first Test against the Proteas due to a side strain, with Neser and Scott Boland vying for that spot, assuming Pat Cummins is fit to return.
Scott Boland claimed a spectacular triple wicket maiden to leave Australia on the brink of a 2-0 series victory over West Indies at the Adelaide Oval.
Mitchell Starc also claimed a wicket to leave West Indies on 38-4 in their second innings and needing an improbable 459 runs to avoid defeat on Sunday.
West Indies resumed play on day three on 102-4 and got off to a poor start when shining light Tagenarine Chanderpaul (47) was run-out by Starc.
Jason Holder (0) then edged Starc behind and, while Anderson Phillip (43) and Joshua da Silva (23) put together a 60-run seventh-wicket stand, the Windies soon faded again.
The tourists reached 214, and Australia then built up a seemingly unsurmountable lead as they posted 199-6 declared in their second innings and sent their opponents back in to bat.
Usman Khawaja top-scored with 45 off 50 balls for Australia, while Marnus Labuschagne (31), Steve Smith (35) and Travis Head (38 not out) all contributed in a rapid 31-over innings from Australia.
West Indies' opening batters were 15-0 off five overs when Smith brought in Boland, who took the wicket of Kraigg Braithwaite (3) off his first ball.
Boland then trapped Shamarh Brooks (0) in front with a ball that nipped back into the right-hanger from his third delivery, before snaring Jermaine Blackwood (0) with his sixth.
Chanderpaul did not fare much better as he was dismissed for a second time in the day three overs later for 17 when caught by Alex Carey off the bowling of Starc.
Labuschagne adds further misery
West Indies are winless in their past 18 Tests against Australia since 2003 and they have not had many – if any – worse days across that run than Saturday.
They lost 10 wickets for 150 runs across two innings, either side of Australia piling another 199, with Labuschagne's 31 taking him to 502 runs from his four innings – the sixth-most scored in a two-Test series.
Boland rips through Windies
Boland famously took 6-7 against England on his Test debut in last year's Ashes and he produced a display that was equally as ruthless here.
The 33-year-old, making just his fourth Test outing, claimed 3-9 off 5.2 overs bowled and now has a bowling average 9.81 for his 21 wickets.
Nathan Lyon became the outright most prolific Test wicket-taker at the Adelaide Oval, going past Shane Warne as Australia dominated day two of the second Test against West Indies.
Lyon, who served as a groundsman at the venue before his career took off, had Jermaine Blackwood caught and bowled for three in the evening session as Australia reduced West Indies to 102-4 at stumps, a world away from Australia's 511-7 total. It gave Lyon a 57th wicket in 12 Tests in Adelaide, beating Warne's haul of 56 from 13 matches.
Michael Neser, playing just his second Test match and first since facing England in Adelaide last year, took 2-20 after drawing edges from West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite and Shamarh Brooks. Tagenarine Chanderpaul (47no) was the only West Indies batter to have passed 20 by the close.
Earlier, Marnus Labuschagne advanced from his overnight 120 not out to 163 before edging Devon Thomas through to wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva.
Hometown favourite Travis Head had delighted the Adelaide crowd by reaching 114 on Thursday, and he looked set to convert that to a double century before being run out for 175 after a mix-up with Cameron Green over a second run. Head, crestfallen to miss out, could console himself with what goes down as the best score of his Test career.
In the second of two Tests, Australia look to be on track for a hefty win to match their previous victory in Perth, particularly with their bowlers already firmly on top.
Neser, a 32-year-old Queensland seamer, told Fox: "The boys set it up there with the bat. We took advantage of the night session."
He praised Lyon for going past Warne, saying: "He's been performing for many years now, so it's great to see him getting milestones. I'm sure he has many more years left in him."
Labuschagne and Head go sixth on all-time list
The partnership for Australia's fourth wicket was worth 297 runs before Labuschagne was the first to go, and only five Test pairings have put on more for any wicket at the Adelaide Oval. Labuschagne also featured in the second-highest Test partnership at the ground, putting on 361 with David Warner for Australia's second wicket against Pakistan in November 2019. The highest remains the 386 that Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke shared in against India in January 2012 – both batters making double centuries.
Chanderpaul at it again
West Indies arrived in Australia with high hopes for Test rookie Chanderpaul, son of the great Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and while the team are collectively struggling, he has proven highly capable. Scores of 51 and 45 in the first Test boded well, and he will certainly hope to post a new personal Test best on Saturday.
Former Barbados wicketkeeper-batsman turned analyst Jamal Smith believes struggling West Indies batter Nkurmah Bonner could benefit from some decisiveness at the crease.
The 35-year-old Bonner has earned plenty of accolades for gritty performances for the West Indies since making his debut against Bangladesh in 2021. The player has, however, struggled vor vorm ov late, managing just 65 in his last 5 innings and has been hit twice off short pithed bowling in the last year.
Bonner has been ruled out of the current Test series against Australia after being struck on the back of the helmet by a Cameron Green bouncer. Despite being allowed to continue batting for another few hours Bonner is now under the team’s concussion protocol.
In light of the latest incident, questions have been raised regarding the player susceptibility to pace bowling.
“Short bowling is simple yet complex, you are either looking to attack the ball or defend it. I think. In simple parlance either you are hooking or you ducking. I think either Bonner is caught between two minds,” Smith told the Mason and Guest radio program.
“…He takes his eyes off the ball. We’ve seen him now being struck. If we’re being honest, we can pinpoint some of the technical deficiencies our batters have,” he added.
“We can’t knock Bonner because he’s done reasonably well up until this point, but you know he’s languid, he always looks little bit slow on the ball and these hard bouncy surfaces will show that up.”
Bonner has recorded two 100s and three 50s for the West Indies in 15 matches so far.
Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head rattled off punishing centuries as Australia dominated once more against West Indies, racking up 330-3 on day one of the second Test.
Top of the ICC batting rankings, the in-form Labuschagne put on a show as he reached 120 not out, while local hero Head joined him on three figures later in the day, finishing up on 114no at stumps.
They shared in a fourth-wicket partnership worth 199 and will resume on Friday looking to bat West Indies out of the match.
For Labuschagne, a third consecutive century and 10th of his Test career was complete when he cracked a boundary square of the wicket.
He was the more watchful of the hundred-makers, with Head more up front about his intentions, getting stuck into a mostly blunt West Indies attack and reaching three figures in just 125 balls, some 61 fewer than Labuschagne needed to reach his ton.
For Head, getting the job done brought obvious relief, after he was dismissed for 99 in the first match of the series in Perth. He brought up this century with a drive through mid-off for four, removing his helmet and waving to the Adelaide Oval crowd. Born in the South Australia city, this is his home ground and the century earned him the warmest of ovations.
After making 204 and 104no in the first Test, Labuschagne again mastered the West Indies attack. He came in at number three and shared in a stand of 95 with Usman Khawaja, who fell lbw to Devon Thomas for 62 to leave Australia 129-2 during the afternoon.
That soon became 131-3 when stand-in captain Steve Smith went for a duck, caught and bowled by Jason Holder, but from that point on it was all one way in Australia's favour.
Better late than never for Thomas
At the ripe cricketing age of 33, Thomas is a Test wicket-taker for the first time. A wicketkeeper by trade, he is not wearing the gloves in this game, his Test debut. With West Indies seeking to break the second-wicket alliance, Thomas was given a try with the ball by West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite and made the breakthrough.
Thomas made his international debut in the limited-overs formats all the way back in 2009, and lately he has been a familiar face in their T20I side, but this is his first opportunity in the five-day game. He was the seventh bowler used by West Indies on Thursday, finishing the day with 1-43 from nine overs.
Labuschagne does it again
Ten centuries in a batter's 30 Tests is great going by anyone's standards, so hats off to Labuschagne. Taking into account the second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle back in July, Labuschagne has made tons in four of his last five innings and his average has shot up to 61.81. He is 33 runs short of reaching 3,000 Test runs, which will be a target for day two.
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