Trinidad & Tobago Red Force captain Darren Bravo can now call himself the winningest man in Regional white-ball cricket after leading his team to the CG United Super50 Cup title over the weekend.

The Red Force secured a dominant seven-wicket victory over the Leeward Islands Hurricanes at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy on Saturday.

It was the 14^th Super50 Cup title for the Red Force and the sixth for Bravo, a new record most individual Super50 titles.

Bravo was playing in his 200^th List A game and top scored for the champions with a 35-ball 40.

That performance fittingly capped off a remarkable Super50 campaign for the 34-year-old.

Bravo was named as the tournament’s best batsman after finishing with 416 runs in eight games at an average of 83.20 with one hundred and three fifties.

For comparison, Bravo made 240 runs in seven innings at an average of 48 with three fifties in last year’s tournament which saw the Red Force get to the final before losing to the Jamaica Scorpions.

He also showed excellent form in red-ball cricket in the last edition of the West Indies 4-Day Championship where he finished as the second-highest run scorer with 446 runs in 10 innings at an average of 55.75 including two centuries and a fifty.

Bravo’s performances this season may see him being recalled to the West Indies One-Day International squad for the upcoming three-game series against England.

The 34-year-old last played an ODI back in February last year against India in Ahmedabad. In that game Bravo scored 19 off 30 balls batting at three.

Overall, Bravo, who made his ODI debut in 2009, has scored 3109 runs in 117 innings at an average of 30.18 with four centuries and 18 fifties.

Shane Dowrich, the experienced wicket-keeper/batsman, has been named to captain the Combined Campuses and Colleges in the upcoming CG United Super50 Cup. Dowrich is one of two Test players in the 14-member squad. The other is fast bowler Chemar Holder.

The squad also includes two members of the West Indies Rising Stars Under-19 team which recently toured Sri Lanka. They are Jordan Johnson, the left-handed batsman and Isai Thorne, the strongly-built fast bowler. The team was announced on Friday following a preparation and selection camp at the Sir Frank Worrell Cricket Grounds of the University of the West Indies Sport and Physical Education Centre (UWI SPEC) at the St. Augustine Campus.

Head Coach Floyd Reifer gave an assessment of the team’s preparation for the region’s premier List A 50-over tournament which will feature a new eight-team league format followed by Semi-Finals and Finals to determine the 2023 CG United Super50 Cup Champions.

“We had a really good camp at UWI SPEC and the players all look ready for the tournament. Last year it was good to be back, and we are happy to be here once again this year in the regional tournament,” Reifer said.

“What we want to do is to start planting the seed, so they can blossom. I know the brand of cricket we want to develop in West Indies cricket so we looked to inculcate that in our preparations and when we take to the field.” 

The 50-over tournament will officially bowl off in Trinidad on the morning of Tuesday 17 October with the opening match between home side Trinidad & Tobago Red Force and the CCC at the Queen’s Park Oval (QPO) at 9am (8am Jamaica). Also on Tuesday, the Guyana Harpy Eagles will face the Windward Islands Volcanoes at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy (BLCA) in the first televised match at 1pm (12 noon Jamaica).

The Tournament will feature 31 matches to be played at three venues: the BLCA, the QPO and UWI SPEC – with the final on Saturday 11 November under lights.

FULL SQUAD

Shane Dowrich (captain)

Kadeem Alleyne

Jediah Blades

Romario Greaves

Chemar Holder

Johann Jeremiah

Jordan Johnson

Kirstan Kallicharan

Abhijai Mansingh

Shaqkere Parris

Akshaya Persad

Shatrughan Rambaran

Demario Richards

Isai Thorne

Team Management Unit

Floyd Reifer (Head Coach)

Pedro Collins (Assistant Coach)

Keno Mason (Assistant Coach)

Ryerson Bhagoo (Team Manager)

Kelly Coonjah (Physiotherapist)

Candace Joseph (Strength and Conditioning Coach)

Avenesh Seetaram (Analyst)

Cricket West Indies (CWI) today confirmed the squads for seven of the eight teams that will compete in the CG United Super50 Cup.

The Combined Campuses & Colleges (CCC) squad will be named after their ongoing preparation and selection camp in Trinidad.

The 50-over tournament will officially bowl off in Trinidad on the morning of Tuesday 17 October with the opening match between home side Trinidad & Tobago Red Force and CCC at the Queen’s Park Oval (QPO) at 9am (8am Jamaica).

Also on Tuesday, the Guyana Harpy Eagles will face the Windward Islands Volcanoes at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy (BLCA) in the first televised match at 1pm (12 noon Jamaica).

The Tournament will feature 31 matches to be played at three venues: the BLCA, the QPO and the Sir Frank Worrell Cricket Grounds of the University of the West Indies Sport and Physical Education Centre (UWI SPEC) at the St. Augustine Campus.

Additionally, there has been a change to the match schedule. On 4 November the fixture between CCC and Leeward Islands Hurricanes has been moved from the QPO to UWI SPEC at 9am (8am Jamaica).

The captains of the squads named are: Shai Hope (Barbados Pride), Veerasammy Permaul (Guyana Harpy Eagles), Rovman Powell (Jamaica Scorpions), Alzarri Joseph (Leeward Islands Hurricanes), Darren Bravo (Trinidad & Tobago Red Force), Nyeem Young (West Indies Academy) and Andre Fletcher (Windward Islands Volcanoes).

 Johnny Grave, CWI’s CEO said: “The countdown is on to the first ball of this year’s CG United Super50 Cup and we are delighted to announce all but one of the squads for the tournament. The teams have all had an intense period of preparation and we know this will lead to an action-packed and entertaining tournament for our fans – from the first ball on Tuesday to the last ball on the night of 11 November.”

Grave added: “As we look towards the future in West Indies cricket, we are again pleased to have our West Indies Academy players participate in this year’s edition, which will provide them with strong, quality competition along their pathway to hopefully future international cricket. We wish all the teams the best in their quest to glory and being crowned the champions of the CG United Super50 Cup in 2023.”

This year, the region’s premier List A 50-over tournament will run until Saturday 11 November with a new eight-team league format followed by Semi-Finals and Finals to determine the 2023 CG United Super50 Cup Champions.All 13 matches at the BLCA, including the Semi-Finals and Final, will be televised live on ESPN Caribbean, with 12 of those matches being day/night games.

CONFIRMED SQUADS

Barbados Pride: Shai Hope (captain), Kraigg Brathwaite, Shamarh Brooks, Roston Chase, Dominic Drakes, Akeem Jordan, Javed Leacock, Kyle Mayers, Jair McAllister, Zachary McCaskie, Roshon Primus, Raymon Reifer, Kemar Smith, Jomel Warrican; Vasbert Drakes (Head Coach)

Guyana Harpy Eagles: Veerasammy Permaul (captain), Tevin Imlach (vice-captain), Kevlon Anderson, Ronsford Beaton, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Shimron Hetmyer, Gudakesh Motie, Sherfane Rutherford, Quentin Sampson, Kemol Savory, Romario Shepherd, Kevin Sinclair, Nial Smith; Ryan Hercules (Head Coach)

Jamaica Scorpions: Rovman Powell (captain), Fabian Allen, Brad Barnes, Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Dennis Bulli, Sheldon Cottrell, Nicholson Gordon, Andre McCarthy, Kirk McKenzie, Shalome Parnell, Jeavor Royal, Odean Smith, Chadwick Walton; Nikita Miller (Head Coach)

Leeward Islands Hurricanes: Alzarri Joseph (captain), Rahkeem Cornwall (vice-captain), Jewel Andrew, Keacy Carty, Terrence Warde, Daniel Doram, Karima Gore, Justin Greaves, Jahmar Hamilton, Kofi James, Jeremiah Louis, Kieran Powell, Oshane Thomas, Hayden Walsh Jr.; Stuart Williams (Head Coach)

Trinidad & Tobago Red Force: Darren Bravo (captain), Joshua Da Silva (vice-captain), Yannic Cariah, Mark Deyal, Shannon Gabriel, Terrance Hinds, Akeal Hosein, Evin Lewis, Jason Mohammed, Sunil Narine, Kjorn Ottley, Khary Pierre, Jayden Seales, Tion Webster; David Furlonge (Head Coach)

West Indies Academy: Nyeem Young (captain), Ackeem Auguste, Joshua Bishop, Teddy Bishop, Carlon Bowen-Tuckett, McKenny Clarke, Matthew Forde, Leonardo Julien, Johann Layne, Kimani Melius, Matthew Nandu, Ashmead Nedd, Kelvin Pitman, Kevin Wickham; Andre Coley (Head Coach)

Windward Islands Volcanoes: Andre Fletcher (captain), Alick Athanaze (vice-captain), Sunil Ambris, Johnson Charles, Darel Cyrus, Kenneth Dember, Shadrack Descarte, Larry Edward, Kavem Hodge, Ryan John, Shermon Lewis, Jeremy Solozano, Shamar Springer, Tevyn Walcott; Kenroy Peters (Head Coach)

CG United Super50 Match Schedule:

Venues: Queen’s Park Oval (QPO); Brian Lara Cricket Academy (BLCA); UWI SPEC

Matches in bold are televised matches, exclusively live on ESPN Caribbean

All other matches are streamed live on the windiescricket YouTube channel

 17 October: Trinidad & Tobago Red Force vs CCC at QPO – 9am

17 October: Guyana Harpy Eagles vs Windward Islands Volcanoes at BLCA – 1pm

18 October: Leeward Islands Hurricanes vs Jamaica Scorpions at BLCA – 1pm

19 October: Trinidad & Tobago Red Force vs Windward Islands Volcanoes at QPO – 9am

19 October: CCC vs West Indies Academy at BLCA – 1pm

20 October: Barbados Pride vs Jamaica Scorpions at UWI SPEC – 9am

21 October: Leeward Islands Hurricanes vs West Indies Academy at QPO – 9am

21 October: Trinidad & Tobago Red Force vs Guyana Harpy Eagles at BLCA – 1pm

22 October: Windward Islands Volcanoes vs CCC at UWI SPEC – 9am

23 October: Guyana Harpy Eagles vs Leeward Islands Hurricanes at QPO – 9am

23 October: Barbados Pride vs West Indies Academy at UWI SPEC – 9am

25 October: Windward Islands Volcanoes vs Barbados Pride at BLCA - 9am

25 October: West Indies Academy vs Jamaica Scorpions at QPO – 9am

25 October: Guyana Harpy Eagles vs CCC at UWI SPEC – 9am

26 October: Trinidad & Tobago Red Force vs Leeward Islands Hurricanes at BLCA – 1pm

27 October: Jamaica Scorpions vs CCC at UWI SPEC – 9am

28 October: Trinidad & Tobago Red Force vs West Indies Academy at QPO – 9am

29 October: Barbados Pride vs Guyana Harpy Eagles at UWI SPEC – 9am

29 October: Jamaica Scorpions vs Windward Islands Volcanoes at BLCA – 1pm

31 October: Windward Islands Volcanoes vs Leeward Islands Hurricanes at QPO – 9am

31 October: CCC vs Barbados Pride at UWI SPEC – 9am 

1 November: West Indies Academy vs Guyana Harpy Eagles at UWI SPEC – 9am

2 November: Trinidad & Tobago Red Force vs Jamaica Scorpions at QPO – 9am

2 November: Leeward Islands Hurricanes vs Barbados Pride at BLCA – 1pm

3 November: West Indies Academy vs Windward Islands Volcanoes at UWI SPEC – 9am

4 November: CCC vs Leeward Islands Hurricanes at UWI SPEC – 9am

4 November: Jamaica Scorpions vs Guyana Harpy Eagles at BLCA – 1pm

5 November: Trinidad & Tobago Red Force vs Barbados Pride at BLCA – 1pm

8 November: Semi-Final 1 at BLCA – 1pm

9 November: Semi-Final 2 at BLCA – 1pm

11 November: Final at BLCA – 1pm 

From 2008-2012, Jamaica dominated red-ball cricket in the Caribbean, winning five consecutive Regional Four-Day titles. This feels like centuries ago.

In the recently concluded 2022/23 season of the West Indies Championship, the Scorpions failed to win a single game, finishing last with 25.6 points after recording four losses and a draw in five matches. This was following a fifth-place finish in the 2021-22 season.

The team was especially poor with the bat, scoring the second-lowest amount of runs in total in the season with 1803.

Individually, only two batsmen, Abhijai Mansingh with 248 and Leroy Lugg with 217, scored over 200 runs for the Scorpions. To put it in perspective, Alick Athanaze of the Windward Islands Hurricanes finished as top run-scorer with 647, 182 more runs than Jamaica’s two highest run-scorers combined.

It begs the question, what on earth has happened to the Scorpions batting in the longer format of the game?

“Aggression without proper selection and lack of a desire to bat long are two things that jumped out at me,” Jamaica Cricket Association CEO Courtney Francis told SportsMax.TV.

“The pride of playing for country, I am not seeing it. Even in dialogue with them, I don’t think they have an appreciation for what the sport has done for us as a people,” Francis added.

The Scorpions did start the year well, however, by winning the Regional Super50, their first since 2012 but, as Francis explains, that may have been detrimental to their hopes in the longer format.

“A significant number of the players who played that tournament were unavailable to play the 4-day tournament. We had persons playing at the highest level or playing all over the world,” he said.

“The significant influx of white-ball cricket,” is another reason for Jamaica’s downward spiral in the red-ball game according to Francis.

“If you notice, our players aren’t batting an extended number of overs. Some games are ending with a day to spare,” Francis added.

He went further, analysing a technical flaw he saw throughout the line-up.

“It seems like whenever the ball is bouncing, our batsmen don’t seem to cope with it properly. I am very confident that they would have had enough training. They’ve had the facilities here at Sabina Park and elsewhere,” he said.

Another contributing factor highlighted by Francis is the weakness of the Island’s premier two-day competition, the Senior Cup.

“Our Senior Cup competition is not competitive enough. In the Senior Cup, when certain teams play against certain teams, you might get a competitive game which is commendable but, there are a significant number of instances where games finish within a day and we’re not going anywhere with that. The transition from Senior Cup to first-class is not it,” said Francis before offering up a potential solution to that problem.

“In my view, we need to have a tier higher than the Senior Cup. I’ve recommended that we have the best 60 players in the country playing a four-team competition. You can hold trials to see who can get up there,” Francis added.

Francis then took issue with the complacency of contracted players, noting that their desire to improve seemingly dwindled after being rewarded.

“Persons who are on contracts now seem to not want to work hard enough because the contract is set for one year. If you notice, we have 15 persons on contract and of those 15 persons, maybe 40% of them did not feature in the Super50 and/or the West Indies Championship. That is something for us to take a different look at,” Francis said

“We can understand that persons are contracted from July so people may lose form and others come in for pay-for-play and stuff but that percentage is too high.

As selectors, coaches and administrators we have to come up with a different mechanism to ensure that we do not waste money. If you look at the numbers of a number of the players, we’re not getting a return on our investment” he added before noting that shorter term, incentive-based contracts may be the way forward to return Jamaica to winning ways in the longest format.