Merissa Aguilleira
Merissa Aguilleira made her international debut for the West Indies in 2008 at the age of 22.
This was a time when the West Indies women had no real international pedigree.
Outside of a few names like Nadine George, the only West Indies female player to score a Test century, women’s cricket in the Caribbean was at best struggling for recognition.
The West Indies women played in 12 Tests between 1976 and 2004. The only women who play Test cricket today are Australia and England who still participate in the Women’s Ashes.
The Trinidadian had an inauspicious start to her career, run out for a duck in her first innings against the Netherlands in Utrecht.
She did, however, take two catches behind the stumps as the regional side won the match comfortably.
Ironically, regular captain, George had been forced to sit out that match due to injury and Jamaican Chadean Nation took charge.
By the time the 2009 World Cup came around in March, the St Lucian George had retired at 40 years old.
It meant a permanent captain had to be selected and although a newcomer to the side, the leadership qualities of Aguilleira could not be ignored.
She was already captain of Trinidad and Tobago and her mature demeanour, passion for the game and motivational skills made her a suitable, even if not obvious, candidate for the job.
At the time, she had played just 15 ODIs and by the time she made her T20 international debut against South Africa in June 2009, she was captain in both formats.
Her first major assignment was the 2009 50-over World Cup.
West Indies finished 6th, one place lower than they did four years earlier but the experience would prove invaluable for Merissa and her largely young team.
Under her leadership, the Caribbean women grew and improved.
She took them to the final of the 2013 50-over World Cup.
It was a monumental achievement even with a heavy defeat to Australia in the final.
Around that she led the team to three World T20 semi-finals; 2010, 2012 and 2014.
Aguilleira was never the best player in the West Indies side but she held her own with the bat scoring 1752 ODI runs at an average of 20.61 and 768 T20 runs at 14.49.
She never scored an international century, but in her substantive role as a wicketkeeper she racked up an impressive resume.
Her 70 dismissals from 95 T20 internationals ranks her 4th best of all-time. She is 5th best in the 50-over game with 102 dismissals from 112 matches.
In the shortest format, she has the second most matches as captain (73) and the 5th most in ODIs (74)
She sits top of the tree for most matches as a wicketkeeper-captain, 71 in ODIs and 65 in T20Is.
Her 78 wins from 147 international matches as captain ranks her 7th all-time and by far the best by a West Indian.
West Indies women cricket is stronger because of the role Aguilleira played in leading them from being an unknown quantity to regular tournament contenders.
And even though she had been stripped of the captaincy when the West Indies won the 2016 ICC Women’s T20, a solid foundation had been set for Stafanie Taylor to follow through.
Now with Aguilleira retired and West Indies women’s cricket floundering, another Aguilleira-like figure is needed to motivate a return to the pinnacle.
Stafanie has her work cut out but maybe there is a role for Merissa within the set-up, this time, calling the shots from the dressing room.
Windies fast bowler Kemar Roach to play seven games for Surrey in English County Championships
West Indies fast bowler Kemar Roach has signed with County Championship side Surrey for the first seven games of the season.
Bess backed to bounce back after England spinner misfires
England are confident spinner Dom Bess will rediscover his rhythm after being left frazzled by India's batsman and his own wayward line on day two of the fourth Test.
India reached 294-7 thanks to a stunning 115-ball century from Rishabh Pant, who helped the hosts establish an 89-run lead, after surviving a big lbw shout from Bess shortly before tea.
Bess finished without reward, with figures of 0-56 in 15 overs pointing to a lack of threat from the 23-year-old off-spinner. He bowled with a lack of control at times, throwing in far too many full tosses, and will want to get among the wickets on Saturday morning and put a bad Friday behind him.
He was recalled for this contest in Ahmedabad having been left out for the second and third Tests, both of which England lost after making a winning start to the series in Chennai.
England spin coach Jeetan Patel said Bess had "needed a break" and was "jaded" by his experience of that opening match.
But Patel trusts Bess is capable of troubling batsmen again, and said of his disappointing performance so far in this match: "It's no real one thing, it's just a fact it didn't work out for him today.
"There's still room for him to improve, like everyone in this group, but Bessy's still very young. He's still learning how to bowl red ball at Test level which is very difficult. He'll be better for these experiences going forward.
"There's some things with Bessy that we'd like to get into. He's got time after this Test match to get back and look at that, but right now he's got a job to do and that's getting those three wickets tomorrow.
"He would have liked to have bowled a lot better today and liked to have given a lot more to the group, and it didn't work out for him. They played him very well. They sat on him and looked for balls to score off when they could.
"Right now he will be quite down and quite tired, but the beauty of this game is the fact there is another opportunity tomorrow."
Ben Stokes, by contrast, was hailed as England's 'Superman' by Patel.
Stokes took 2-73 in 22 overs to follow up his 55 with the bat on Thursday, and at stumps he appeared exhausted, having been running in amid searing heat.
"Stokesy's your man. He's the guy you want to go to for anything really," Patel said. "He's almost like a Superman with this sort of stuff. He really does enjoy the tough battles.
"He bowled a lot of overs today. He almost bowled the whole first session and he got some crucial wickets for us on the way.
"He's pretty cooked as you can imagine, but he's a warhorse and he loves it. He loves when it gets tough and he loves when it gets hot and tiring, and that's when he stands up most. Hopefully we see the best of him again tomorrow."
Patel said Pant's innings was "pretty special" but claimed the match was "still quite in the balance".
"He came out after that tea break and took it to us," Patel said of Pant's effort. "Hats have to go off to how they played that."
Record-breaker Finch relishing return of fans for series decider
Record-breaker Aaron Finch is relishing having fans in attendance when Australia face New Zealand for Sunday's Twenty20 series decider.
Finch hit 79 not out off 55 balls in Friday's series-levelling 50-run triumph to become his country's leading run-scorer in the format, with 2,310 overall.
His four sixes in the final over propelled his side to 156-6 and made Finch the first Australia batsman to reach 100 maximums in T20 cricket.
Finch was the only player who really got to grips with a tough surface, but he was just glad to help make it 2-2 after the tourists had fallen 2-0 behind.
"I've always said I'd rather get a duck and win than get some runs and lose," he said after New Zealand subsided to 106 all out, seamer Kane Richardson (3-19) the pick of the Australia attack as spinners Ashton Agar, Glenn Maxwell and Adam Zampa took two apiece.
"But to get some runs and contribute to a win is really nice. I felt like I was hitting them terribly for a large portion of the innings, but it was one of those wickets where you never really felt totally in, particularly when spin was bowling.
"It was nice to get a few out of the middle towards the end and get us to a decent total."
On the subject of a relaxation of coronavirus restrictions allowing for the return of fans for the final match, he added: "You play professional sport because you love entertaining, you love the atmosphere when you're at the ground.
"I love going to and watching sport, so to have fans at the ground, regardless of whether they're rooting for you or against you, is just brilliant. It provides so much."
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