The year 1996 was a great year for sports. The cricket World Cup, Olympics Games, European football championships and Chicago Bulls produced a then NBA basketball record, winning 72 games that season.
Seeing all those 1996 sports events set off my path from sports fan to professionally in sports journalism and public relations.
I mention this to highlight that it’s 100 per cent clear to me that the modern “West Indies selection” trivialities are unique in global sports. It’s no longer a case where one can use the clichés; it's simply a case of selectors' opinion and Caribbean people can’t expect them to pick West Indies teams that attain full agreement.
It’s very possible for myself and many astute sports fans to watch all teams in the NBA, English Premier League, other international cricket teams or at a FIFA World Cup and get a clear idea of the best starting XI or five.
These teams still elicit media and fan discussion over player selection. However, it never descends to the current Windies selection malaise since the rise of T20 cricket leagues in 2009, where chosen teams never gets 90-100 per cent support from all stakeholders.
As noted on another publication - https://m.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/127188/has-the-time-come-to-end-the-west-indies-experiment - observing CWI internally from 2019-2023 after previously in sports media from 2010-2019, fundamentally leads me to believe due to the modern dynamics of international cricket, unfortunately, despite who is in charge, the “Caribbean cricket” ecosystem cannot be fixed, whether the quasi-national “West Indies” construct is maintained or broken up voluntarily or by market forces.
However, doing the simple global sports concept of “picking your best team” should not be hard for West Indies cricket to accomplish.
What are the best West Indies XIs?
The reality is that selectors don’t objectively know and can’t currently select West Indies teams that will gain unanimous media and fan support. These suggested hypothetical XIs across might have been universally accepted if things were perfect but erudite West Indies observers know there is no chance of these teams ever taking the field.
T20
King, Hope, Pooran (wicketkeeper), Hetmyer, Powell (captain), Holder, Russell, Narine, Hosein, Joseph, McCoy
Reserves: Rutherford, Allen, Shepherd, Drakes
ODI
Lewis, Hope (captain/wicketkeeper), King, Pooran, Hetmyer, Mayers, Holder, Shepherd, Hosein, Joseph, McCoy
Reserves: Carty, Paul, Motie, Seales
TEST
K Braithwaite (Captain), T Chanderpaul, Bravo, Hope, Hetmyer, Pooran (wicketkeeper), Holder, Hosein, Joseph, Roach, Seales
Reserves: King, Mayers, Cornwall, Gabriel, Da Silva
General selection problems:
The role of “selectors” no longer works in the unique dynamics of the West Indies cricket multi-national construct. The former Ricky Skerritt administration's “selection review” task force implementation regrettably hasn’t been able to cure this problem.
That review outside of the five Governance task force documents since 1992 was arguably the most consequential administrative document in recent CWI history.
Caribbean cricket media and fans can attest to the complete trust breakdown in West Indies selection process since 2009 and why such a task force, that no cricket board globally had done before, was needed.
Since 2009 West Indies have tried two “legends' Clive Lloyd & Desmond Haynes, a highly respected player, Roger Harper, and two players who didn’t succeed at the international level in Clyde Butts and Courtney Brown, for the polarizing role of chairman of selectors. None led to the improvement in West Indies results.
Given the long-standing issue of insularity, currently having two selectors from Barbados in Desmond Haynes and Roland Butcher is unsustainable. Despite the gentleman’s potential good intentions - their presence is exasperating insularity feelings and bias in selection, whether real or perceived.
Roger Harper lost his job after the West Indies were eliminated from the 2021 T20 World Cup group stage - however Desmond Haynes still remains despite selecting teams that failed to qualify for the 2022 T20 and ongoing 50 overs World Cups.
A good example of this current case was when new white ball coach Darren Sammy, on appointment in May, saying he had in-depth conversations with Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Evin Lewis and Shimron Hetmyer about playing for West Indies.
However, only Hetmyer has returned and selector Haynes said in his last public press conference in July, that Russell and Narine, who had just shown their quality in TKR’s run to CPL final, were not in his conversations.
https://x.com/caribcricket/status/1686128090324320257?s=46
This is basic deja’ vu. Many will recall a similar coach clash over players with selectors/administrators. During Phil Simmons’ first stint as coach he was comically suspended in 2015 for simply saying he wanted to select the best players.
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/phil-simmons-suspended-as-west-indies-coach-924039
Also at domestic level there isn’t a clear alignment in picking teams for West Indies in mind, but rather for national interest to win the four-day and 50 over’s tournaments.
To highlight two quotes from Daren Ganga who called out this issue in Trinidad & Tobago via a public Facebook post a few months ago:
“Please focus on using retainer contracts to develop and reward younger cricketers and stop using for senior players who are underperforming and have non contention to play for West Indies.”
“West Indies cricket is declining and our national selectors are directly contributing to the further demise of the game.”
Copying the English system:
Since the rise of T20s in 2009 and the decline in domestic standards since the PCL revamp in 2014, West Indies selectors have erred more on the side of conservative selections. They have never truly been innovative in picking players away from statistical performances in a poor domestic system or picking players for Test cricket based on international limited overs form like other nations have attempted.
That factor has led to the current predicament of having only two all-format players, Jason Holder and Alzarri Joseph. The West Indies talent pool isn’t big enough to allow further continuing of this systematic selection faux pas.
The English strategy of empowering the coach to be a selector with scouts around nations assisting should be implemented. Under Director of Cricket Rob Key in April 2021, the ECB made the role of selector redundant for 19 months, overseeing a period where the much-hyped “Bazball” Test cricket was implemented and England winning the 2022 T20 World Cup.
Afterwards, despite success Luke Wright was appointed selector in November 2022,
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/luke-wright-named-as-england-men-s-new-selector-1345988
That approach seems perfect for the West Indies, where the coach would have sole selection authority like a football manager with support of the captain and Caribbean-wide scouting network support system. Then Desmond Haynes and any of the “legends” can be used in a more productive role, rather than the outdated and impossible West Indies context job of “selector”.
Colin Benjamin was a Cricket West Indies communications officer from 2019-2023. He has covered West Indies cricket for more than a decade for other global and Caribbean publications.
Jordan joins TKR for remainder of 2024 CPL season; Sowter joins Amazon Warriors as temporary replacement for Tahir
England international Chris Jordan will join the Trinbago Knight Riders for the remainder of the 2024 season.
The experienced all-rounder will replace USA international Ali Khan who was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to injury.
Jordan previously represented the Knight Riders in the 2019 edition of the CPL, taking seven wickets in five matches.
The Guyana Amazon Warriors have signed leg spinner Nathan Sowter as a temporary replacement for Imran Tahir who is currently recovering from injury and is expected to be unavailable for around 10 days.
A new era: Women's T20 World Cup champions to receive equal prize money as male counterparts
The upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup will be the first ICC event where women will receive the same prize money as their male counterparts, marking a significant milestone in the sport’s history.
This decision was taken at the ICC Annual Conference in July last year, when the ICC Board took the step of reaching its prize money equity target seven years ahead of its schedule of 2030, making cricket the only major team sport to have equal prize money for its men’s and women’s World Cup events.
For the upcoming October 3-20 tournament, which will now be staged in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the winners of the tournament will receive US$2.34 million, a massive, 134 per cent increase on the $1 million awarded to Australia when they clinched the title in South Africa last year. The runners-up will receive US$1.17 million, up from $500,000, while the two losing semi-finalists will earn US$675,000, up from $210,000, with the overall prize pot totalling US$7,958,080, a massive increase on the US$2.45 million dished out last year.
This move is in line with the ICC’s strategy to prioritise the women’s game and accelerate its growth by 2032. Teams will now receive equal prize money for the equivalent finishing position at comparable events as well as the same amount for winning a match at those events. The ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 event prize money is only higher on account of 10 additional teams participating and 32 more matches played.
Each win during the group stages will see teams take home US$31,154, while the six teams who fail to reach the semi-finals will share a pool of US$1.35 million depending on their finishing positions.
In comparison, the equivalent pool for the six teams in 2023 was US$180,000, shared equally. Teams who finish third or fourth in their group will take US$270,000 each, while the teams who finish fifth in their group will both receive US$135,000.
All 10 participating teams are assured of US$112,500.
The increase in prize money for this year's ICC Women’s T20 World Cup comes in line with the prize pot for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022, also increasing to US$3.5 million in total.
The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup will get going on October 3, with Bangladesh taking on Scotland at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
There has been a minor change to the schedule for the double-header on Saturday, October 5, in Sharjah, with Australia now facing Sri Lanka in the curtain-raiser and Bangladesh will lock horns with England in the feature encounter. A total of 10 teams will play 23 matches in Dubai and Sharjah to decide the 2024 champions.
England's cautious approach to managing Jofra Archer during Australia ODI Series
England will continue to take a cautious approach to managing Jofra Archer's workload during the upcoming five-match One Day International (ODI) series against Australia. The Barbados-born fast bowler, who has been steadily reintroduced to international cricket following a series of injuries, will be closely monitored throughout the series, according to a report from ESPN Cricinfo.
Archer's return to the international stage has been managed with great care this year. After making his comeback with two T20 Internationals against Pakistan in May, he featured in all eight of England's matches during June's T20 World Cup, where he emerged as their joint-highest wicket-taker. However, since then, his playing time has been carefully limited. He did not play at all for Sussex in the latter half of the T20 Blast's group stages and was given intermittent rest periods during The Hundred, much to the frustration of Southern Brave captain James Vince.
Since The Hundred, Archer has only played two matches: a T20 Blast quarter-final for Sussex and one T20I for England against Australia, where he showcased his skill at the death by clean-bowling Sean Abbott and Xavier Bartlett in consecutive deliveries. He was rested for the second T20I in Cardiff, and the series decider was washed out by rain in Manchester. Despite these limited appearances, Archer has consistently proven why England has invested heavily in his recovery and return.
Archer is now part of England's 15-man squad for the ODI series against Australia, starting in Nottingham. However, given that he has not played a 50-over game in the last 18 months, he may be rested for one or two matches in the series. England is taking a gradual approach to increasing his workload, especially considering his long-term ambitions to return to red-ball cricket. Archer has not played a first-class match since May 2021 due to his persistent back and elbow issues.
"Jofra will have to be managed throughout the series," England captain Jos Buttler told Sky Sports on Sunday. "He's played a really good stint now of T20 cricket, but obviously you can only bowl four overs in there. There's a jump in intensity getting loads up to taking full part in an ODI - and of course, as an England fan, to push those loads up hopefully to get back into the Test arena as well."
England's interim coach, Marcus Trescothick, echoed Buttler's sentiments, emphasizing that Archer is aware of and comfortable with the long-term plan to manage his workload. "He knows the plan," Trescothick said. "It's discussed long in advance of picking the team on each day. We know what we're doing with him, and where we're going. He's comfortable: he knows what he's doing."
Trescothick further explained that managing Archer's workload is part of a broader strategy, involving coordination between the coaching staff, team directors, and medical personnel. "That's a bigger structure, in terms of what we're trying to do with Jofra. You come into the series knowing what we've got and what we can do with him. That's an agreed plan between the coaches, directors, physios, and all the different people. We'll still be managing him [in the ODIs] - exactly the same thing."
England's cautious approach to Archer's reintegration into international cricket reflects the value they place on his long-term fitness. With Archer having already shown glimpses of his match-winning capabilities, his careful management during the ODI series against Australia aims to ensure he remains a key asset for England in all formats of the game for years to come.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
