Ball-smashing T20 star Chris Gayle believes the West Indies could struggle at the upcoming World Cup, a tournament that they will head into with a new generation of players.

For the first time in decades, the likes of Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, and Andre Russell will not be a part of the team.  While Bravo and Pollard have retired from international cricket, Russell was not selected for the squad after an indifferent run of form.

Instead, the unit will feature the likes of burgeoning T20 star Nicholas Pooran and a host of other talented players yet to prove themselves on the international stage for the Caribbean team.

"It will be very difficult for the West Indies team as the captain of the team is new and there is no Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, and Bravo in the team," Gayle told India daily Dainik Jagran.

Despite the relative lack of experience, Gayle believes the team’s talent could, however, make them a dangerous prospect for any opponent on a given day.

"Yes, it is definitely that the players who are included in the West Indies team are talented and can prove to be dangerous for any team. As everyone knows it is just a matter of adapting your strategy in the right way on match day. I hope the team plays well," he added.

The West Indies will bow into action with a Group Stage encounter against Scotland on Sunday.

With the T20 World Cup on the horizon, West Indies fast bowler Alzarri Joseph has vowed to keep putting in the hard yards, following a narrow 3-wicket loss to Australia in a practice match on Wednesday.

In an encounter marred by messy fielding from the Caribbean team, Matthew Wade and Mitchell Starc got the Aussies over the line, with a ball remaining, but the last over, bowled by paCer Sheldon Cottrell, was one filled with drama.  Needing just 11 from the last 6, Wade was dropped in the deep by Raymon Reifer off the second ball and an opportunity to stump Starc on his way back for the winning run was also missed out on.

As a result, the Aussies got home at 146 for 7, surpassing the West Indies' first innings tally of 145 for 9.  Aussie captain Aaron Finch batted in the unfamiliar position of 4 but top-scored with a valuable 58.  A visibly disgruntled Cottrell ended with figures of 2 for 49, while Joseph ended with a tidy 2 for 17 and 7 runs with the bat.  The bowler would admittedly have preferred a win but took some solace in a decent outing with the ball.

“For me, it’s always about trying to add that one percent every day.  Keep on trusting the process, keep on training hard and keep doing what I need to do to get the success,” Joseph said following the match.

“It wasn’t the result we wanted but we really fought hard.  We pushed Australia down to the last over, so all in all it was a fairly good performance we just have to go back and see what we can improve for the next game,” he added.

In their turn at the crease, all-rounder Kyle-Mayers led the way for the West Indies at the top of the order, scoring 39 from 36 deliveries before his innings was ended by Pat Cummings.  Reifer contributed a 23-ball 19 from the middle order but no other batsman really got going until Odean Smith’s useful 27 from 17 at the back of the innings.  He was run out by Wade.

It was, however, Josh Hazelwood who did the most damage with the ball for the Aussies as he ended with 3 for 35, while Starc and Cummings each claimed two wickets.

Legendary West Indies fast bowler Curtly Ambrose has expressed surprise at the unusual circumstances that have led to the dropping of explosive batsman Shimron Hetmyer ahead of the team’s campaign for the upcoming T20 World Cup.

According to a release issued by Cricket West Indies (CWI), which roiled the cricketing world on Monday, the body opted to replace Hetmyer with Shamarh Brooks after the player missed a rescheduled flight, having been advised of the consequences of doing so.

The release stated that the player's original flight was changed from Saturday to Monday due to family reasons but did not mention if Hetmyer had given a reason for being unable to catch the second flight.

“I must say I am a bit surprised because who wouldn’t want to play in the World Cup tournament and who wouldn’t want to represent their country,” Ambrose told the Mason and Guest radio program.

“What I heard in the media is that he had some family issues.  So, I take it that if you are going to miss playing for your country, or playing at the World Cup then he has some serious issues to deal with.  I reckon that if that’s the case, you want to ensure that whatever issues he has with his family are being sorted, so he has to miss the World Cup.  I wish him well.”

Legendary West Indies fast bowler Sir Andy Roberts believes not having a settled team could make things difficult for the team in the upcoming T20 World Cup qualifiers.

In order to officially book a spot in Australia next month, the two-time champions must advance from a play-off group that will also feature Ireland, Scotland, and Zimbabwe.  The team will start as heavy favourites to advance from the group but the squad will feature several players that have not been in the squad for the last few months and even some who have never played the format internationally.

Since a disastrous campaign at the 2021 World Cup, the Windies have played 22 matches, but a few of the players added to the squad have not played in the majority of them over the past year.  For instance, Evin Lewis has not played since the last tournament, Johnson Charles has not played for the team since 2016, Sheldon Cottrell has played sparingly since the start of the year, and Yannic Cariah and Raymond Reifer are yet to play in the format.

Having played so many matches Roberts believes the team should have been already been using a settled squad ahead of the tournament.

“We don’t have a settled team and that is the biggest problem.  You don’t know what your teammate is capable of doing because he has just come into the team,” Roberts told the Mason and Guest Radio program.

“When West Indies was at its best, we had a settled team for five, ten years.  If you check out Australia, Australia has a settled team, and Pakistan has a settled team.  India is fiddling around with the team and just look at the issues they have been having.  You need settled teams,” he added.

“We are going with a number of new players, new to the international scene.  We knew for a long time that the World Cup was going to be this year, so we should have been trying our best to make sure we have a unit that is ready to go from ball one.”

Former West Indies opening batsman Philo Wallace believes the 15-man squad selected for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia has the issue of being short of genuine batsmen.

It’s safe to say that the selection announced by the Desmond Haynes-led panel, earlier this week, included quite a few surprises.  The list included some players on the fringes of the T20 unit for a while, with the likes of Sheldon Cottrell and Johnson Charles recalled and the inexperienced Yannic Cariah also earning somewhat of a shock selection.  

In some ways, Wallace believes the team is similar in composition to the West Indies squad selected for last year's failed World Cup campaign, which had focused on stacking up power hitters.

“We’re going to Australia on bigger cricket grounds and we are carrying a lot of hitters of the cricket ball.  I think when these guys are asked to bat, they are going to find themselves in problems.  A lot of them are not even in form,” Wallace told the Mason and Guest radio program.

The former opener also had questions regarding how different pieces of the team would fit together.

“If you play Johnson Charles you have four openers on that T20 squad right now.  Is he going to keep wicket or is he going to field out.  Yannic Cariah is a wildcard, he doesn’t play T20 cricket, and he’s not involved in CPL.  If he plays where is he going to fit into the 11?”

Cricket West Indies chief of selectors Desmond Haynes is confident veteran fast bowler Sheldon Cottrell remains able to provide the team with plenty of firepower up front despite a recent spell of indifferent form and injury.

Two years ago, the 33-year-old was one of the most explosive fast bowlers in the sport and was bought by the Kings XI Punjab ahead of the Indian Premier League season.  The bowler has, however, since struggled to build on that momentum and has also been plagued by recurrent injury.

His selection would have come as somewhat of a surprise for many having not represented the T20 team since earlier this year when he played in series against India and England.  The player also missed out on this season’s IPL and has not featured regularly in the CPL so far.

  The left-arm seamer, who recently recovered from injury, only just returned to action for the St Kitts Patriots and has not made a telling impact so far.

 In 8 overs bowled, in the three CPL matches to date, he has produced figures of 2 for 73 at an average of 36.50. The economy rate for his 8 overs bowled has also been an unimpressive 9.12.  Haynes, however, believes once fully fit the player will have plenty to contribute to the campaign.

“He does the job for us up front but he is coming back from an ankle injury, so everyone is going to be assessed before we go to Australia,” Haynes said.

“I think that with Cottrell we know that he has been very good for us and that’s the reason we would select him.”

Cricket West Indies (CWI) Desmond Haynes says the panel decided to not pick T20 big-hitter Andre Russell for the Windies World Cup squad based on a combination of his long-term absence from the regional team and recent struggles.

The 34-year-old has not played for the West Indies since representing the squad at the World Cup last year, despite controversially featuring in several lucrative T20 tournaments since then, including the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Vitality T20 Blast.

In addition, the player has failed to make much of an impression in this season’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL), which is admittedly closely watched by the panel of selectors.  In six matches the all-rounder has averaged 7.40 and has a top score of 17.  With the ball, he has taken four wickets.

“We just didn’t consider Russell for selection and that was it,” Haynes said of the player’s exclusion.

“We haven’t really seen a lot of Russell in playing cricket for the West Indies recently and judging from what is happening now we just decided that we would move on,” he added.

Russell has played 67 matches for the West Indies and averaged 19.50 with a strike rate of 150.  He has taken 37 wickets at an economy rate of 9.18.

Legendary Windies skipper Viv Richards believes it is important for players to remember the role representing the team played in earning big-money T20 contracts, but insists there should be plenty of room for negotiation with cricketers currently out of the team.

The absence of the likes of Sunil Narine and Andre Russell, for example, two of the team’s most explosive players, from the unit for the last year has been a sore point.  Despite the fact that they have continued to play in lucrative T20 leagues around the world, both players have been unavailable for the regional team.

Russell has not played for the team since last year’s World Cup while Narine has not appeared since 2017.  Another player, opener Evin Lewis, remains out of the team after opting out of fitness tests.  Recently West Indies coach Phil Simmons expressed frustration with the issue.  Richards believes a lot of the issues could come down to communication.

 “Guys sometimes try and make that particular decision in terms of what they want to do because they don’t feel that they are represented well enough on the left, and that’s why they will move to the right so it is pretty much troublesome knowing and hearing that from the coach, which means there are issues where these matters are concerned,” Richards told the Antigua Observer.

“There has got to be a meeting of all the individuals who participate and that’s the board and all the individuals they may believe to be in that particular lane where they do not want to play,” he added.

“That’s always your first aim, for you to represent your country as a sports person and then, if you can move further up-field like representing the region, which is obviously the West Indies cricket team, and then expand elsewhere because if that’s what you’re looking for, then that’s the opportunity you’re looking for,” he said.

“Also, there are times when we should look at the lighter side of things where one has got to remember that it was the West Indies platform that obviously gave you an opportunity for you to expand yourself.”

West Indies T20 star Andre Russell insists he is content to focus on the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), at the moment, leaving questions regarding his selection for the upcoming World Cup up to the selectors.

The 34-year-old has found himself at the centre of controversy in recent months, with the majority of the debate surrounding his lack of availability for the West Indies team.  In the last year, despite his appearances at various T20 leagues around the globe, the player has not appeared for the West Indies since the T20 World Cup last year.

It is a situation that has at times left Windies coach Phil Simmons, and some fans, admittedly exasperated.  With the player having not been part of the Windies T20 squad for the last year, many have speculated on the merits of his inclusion for the upcoming tournament.

The all-rounder, who is currently plying his trade for the Trinbago Knight Riders, insists the CPL tournament is his only focus at the moment.

"I am focusing on CPL at the moment. This is where it is for me at the moment. I am taking it one day at a time, one game at a time,” Russell told members of the media.

“Whatever is to happen will happen. I have no control over what’s going on at the (CWI) or what is going on in (the) selectors' minds…whatever happens in the next week or two only God knows, so I am not even going to stress on that,” he added.

“No one has reached out to me, no one has said anything…once I do the performance on the field then I leave everything else in their hands.”

Former West Indies captain Sir Richie Richardson admits he was surprised but honoured to receive recognition from the University of the West, which is poised to issue the retired cricketer with an honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) award for his contribution to the sport of cricket.

Richardson, a former opening batsman, led the West Indies from 1991-1996 and scored 5,949 runs in 86 Tests and scored 6,248 runs in 224 One Day International (ODI) matches.  One of a handful of West Indies players that have been knighted, Richardson remains involved with the sport as he is now also an ICC match referee.

“The University of the West Indies is a very important institution to us as a Caribbean people and it’s ranked as one of the best universities in the region so for them to see the need to bestow such an honour on me, then I am deeply touched, honoured and I am very grateful,” Richardson told the Good Morning Jojo Radio Show.

“I was surprised to be honest because I never really expected it but when I realised that it was going to happen I was very excited and deeply honoured.”

West Indies spinner Yannic Cariah insists the team must find a way to see off the first 10 overs from New Zealand’s front-line bowlers if they are to have any chance of winning the ongoing three-match One Day International (ODI) series.

After losing the opening match, the Kiwis came roaring back into the series with a dominant 50-run (DLS) win over the Windies on Friday.  The team would have taken plenty of encouragement after bowling out New Zealand for 212, led by Kevin Sinclair’s industrious 4 for 41.

In their turn at the crease, however, the Windies batsmen could not come to grips with the duo of Trent Boult and Tim Southee.  Together, the two combined for a relentless opening spell that left the home team six wickets down in the 10th over.

Overall, the duo finished with seven wickets and ended the Windies response before it began.  Southee finished with 4 for 22 and Boult 3 for 18. 

Cariah, however, did play his part in making a contest of things.  He provided the majority of the little resistance getting his maiden half-century in an 85-run partnership with Alzarri Joseph.  With the series and possibly an automatic spot at the ICC World Cup on the line the bowler knows the team can’t afford a repeat performance at the crease.

“We need to find a way to bat the first 10 overs from Southee and Boult, keep them out of the game in the wickets column and we will be fine,” Cariah said ahead of Sunday’s decider.

“I just think with the new ball is we had faced some balls and bat some overs and get ourselves in it would have been easier for us,” he added.

Stubborn lower-order resistance from bowlers Yannic Cariah and Alzarri Joseph proved insufficient as devastating spells from Trent Boult and Tim Southee led New Zealand to a series-levelling 50-run (D/L) win over the West Indies on Friday.

In the rain-affected fixture at Kensington Oval, the West Indies, chasing New Zealand’s first innings total of 212, looked in real trouble at 27 for 6, and then 63 for 7 when the rain intervened.

On the resumption, Cariah and Joseph buckled down to steer the team into a much more competitive tally.  Cariah scored his maiden half-century with 52 from 84, while Joseph added 49 from 31.  The pair combined for 85, the highest partnership of the West Indies' innings.

Their brave resistance and the Windies' faint hope were ended when Joseph was bowled by Southee.   Cariah was the last man to go after being caught by Finn Allen off the bowling of Mitchell Santner.

Earlier, Southee and Boult had ransacked the Windies batting line-up as the pair eventually combined for 7 wickets.  Southee ended with 4 for 22 and Boult 3 for 18.  The pair’s early assault left the Windies six wickets down by the 10^th over.

In New Zealand’s turn at the crease, Allen only narrowly missed out on a maiden century, after leading the team out of trouble at 31 for 3.  He was eventually dismissed on 96.

  Despite Allen’s heroics, the West Indies had another strong outing with the ball, which was led by spinner Kevin Sinclair’s maiden four-wicket haul.  Sinclair ended with 4 for 41 while all-rounder Jason Holder ended with 3 for 24.  

West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell insists he remains very interested in being part of the team’s ICC T20 Cricket World Cup plans but expects Cricket West Indies (CWI) to also respect his terms.

The 34-year-old has been one of the most controversial names when it comes to West Indies cricket team selection over the past few years.  The player has not represented the team since last year’s ICC T20 World Cup, with the unit having played several series since.  Despite taking part in several T20 leagues around the world, Russell has not been available to represent the West Indies.

The issue has been a source of frustration for fans as well as Windies coach Phil Simmons who recently expressed his discontent with the issue.  While insisting that he remains eager to represent the team, Russell pointed out that there is also the interest of both himself and his family to consider.

 "I always want to play and give back. But at the end of the day, if we are not agreeing on certain terms...they (CWI) have to respect my terms as well. At the end of the day, it is what it is,” Russell told Sky Sports.

 "We have families and we have to make sure that we give our best opportunity while we have one career. It's not like I can start over again. I'm 34 and I want to win another World Cup -- or two more -- for West Indies because at the end of the day, I'm here now, and I'm just taking it day by day," he added.

"Of course, of course. The maroon is all over. Honestly, I have two franchise hundreds and I wish those hundreds were actually playing for West Indies. I don't regret saying this just now. I really enjoyed playing for Jamaica Tallawahs but those two hundreds, it would be more special coming in international cricket.”

Russell is expected to return to the Caribbean to take part in the upcoming edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).  It remains to be seen whether the player will then be included as a part of the T20 World Cup squad for the tournament in Australia later this year.

West Indies spinner, Yannic Cariah, revelled in a successful debut after doing his part in an impressive team bowling performance that helped secure a crucial One Day International (ODI) win over New Zealand on Wednesday.

After receiving his debut cap at the Kensington Oval, ahead of the first ODI in the series, Cariah finished with figures of 1 for 49 in 9 overs.  The spinner accounted for the wicket of Michael Bracewell who was dismissed lbw.

The 30-year-old player, a regular in the region’s A-Team, was added to the squad after Gudakesh Motie failed to fully recover from a fractured thumb, which he sustained during the ODI series against India last month.

“It was a great feeling, I worked very hard to reach here.  It took longer than I expected but I’m grateful to finally have the opportunity and I’ve enjoyed it so far,” Cariah said of his debut.

Another debutant Kevin Sinclair also reaped success after taking 1 for 37 in the bowling unit's overall strong performance.  The charge was led by Akeal Hosein’s 3 for 28 and Alzarri Joseph’s 3 for 36.  All-rounder Jason Holder also chipped in with 2 for 39.

“I think we utilized the wicket well.  I think Akeal bowled, Sinclair bowled well and all the bowlers, in particular, bowled well.  We set up a good chase.”

A classy half-century from West Indies batsman Sharmarh Brooks anchored the team to a five-wicket win over New Zealand and a 1-0 series lead at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on Wednesday.

Chasing 190 to win, Brooks put together a responsible 79  from 91 deliveries and formed part of a crucial partnership with Windies captain Nicholas Pooran.  The pair put on 75 for the fourth wicket, with Pooran getting 28 from 47.  

In pursuit of the total, New Zealand struck an early blow after removing Kyle Mayers for 6.  Shai Hope blasted an aggressive looking 26 off 24 but was eventually caught by Tom Latham off the bowling of Tim Southee.  Kacey Carty then struggled to 11 from 22 before being mopped up lbw by Mitchell Santner.

Pooran then combined with Brooks to push the score to 149 for 4.  After several rain interruptions, Brooks was dismissed shortly after the third time the teams re-took the pitch.  The batsman was finally out after edging to Latham off the bowling of Trent Boult.  Pooran perished a few overs later but with the damage done Jermaine Blackwood (12) then combined with Jason Holder (13) to see the Windies easy over the line at 193 for 5, with 66 balls remaining.

Boult and Southee took two wickets each for New Zealand.

Earlier after winning the toss and choosing to field Akeal Hosein led a stifling spell by the Windies bowlers, who took wickets at crucial points to ensure New Zealand never got momentum.  Hosein picked up figures of 3 for 28, with Windies pace bowler Alzarri Josephs also claiming 3 for 36.