Kevin Sinfield is to step down as England defence coach after the summer tour to Japan and New Zealand.

Sinfield has been Steve Borthwick’s number two since the start of his reign in December 2022 but his time at Twickenham will come to an end after 18 months.

Before he moves on, the Leeds rugby league great will take charge of individual skills and work with the kickers having previously overseen the defence.

“Kevin after the World Cup had a period of reflection, like every member of the management team did,” Borthwick said.

“Kev’s decided that longer-term he’s going to head in a different direction away from the England rugby team.

“He’s going to work with the team through the Six Nations and through the summer tour.

“Ahead of the autumn series Kev will not work with the team then, he will move away from the team and in a different direction.”

When asked to expand on Sinfield’s future plans, Borthwick replied: “Not right now and Kev hasn’t told us. That’s a question you can discuss with Kev in due course.

“I’m just grateful that’s he added so much value over these 12 months and that he’s going to stay with the team for the Six Nations and the summer tour.

“Through this first 12 months, Kev’s role and what he’s added as we’ve reset the team, you can’t overstate the value he’s brought, what he’s done and the relationships he’s built.

“I’ve changed his role to skills and he will be working specifically on catch-pass skills with the kickers and goalkickers, which he does so very well.”

Harlequins prop Joe Marler’s arm injury is being assessed by specialists amid front-row concerns for England ahead of the Guinness Six Nations.

Marler’s fellow loosehead props Ellis Genge, Bevan Rodd, Mako Vunipola and Val Rapava-Ruskin are all currently on the sidelines.

And Quins are awaiting a full medical verdict on Marler, who went off during the Gallagher Premiership victory over Gloucester at Twickenham on Saturday.

England head coach Steve Borthwick has potentially been presented with a major headache just a month before England’s Six Nations opener against Italy in Rome.

His problems include a four-match ban being imposed on Saracens’ Vunipola, who was sent off for a dangerous tackle against Premiership opponents Newcastle.

Although he will be available if required for the Six Nations, experienced campaigner Vunipola cannot play again until after Saracens’ Premiership appointment with Exeter, which is only a week before the Italy clash.

Vunipola missed out on the Rugby World Cup in France, with Borthwick choosing Genge, Marler and Rodd to fill three loosehead slots.

Genge, an England captaincy contender following Owen Farrell’s decision to miss the Six Nations, last featured for his club Bristol on December 2. He has been sidelined due to a hamstring injury.

Sale forward Rodd is out for the rest of this season after undergoing toe surgery and Gloucester’s Rapava-Ruskin, who was part of England’s World Cup training squad last year, is another long-term absentee following a knee operation.

Borthwick will announce his Six Nations squad in the near future, with prop resources seemingly being stretched.

On 88 times-capped Marler, Quins rugby director Billy Millard said: “We had three big injuries in the first-half to three very influential and key decision-makers on the pitch (Marler, Dino Lamb and Stephan Lewies).

“To be totally honest, they are still seeing specialists. I think some of them have turned out alright, but I am still not 100 per cent clear on the three. We are still waiting for total clarity.

“It’s his (Marler’s) arm, but again, they are getting MRIs and there are specialists looking at it and until I am 100 per cent clear I wouldn’t want to speculate.

“God love him, he battled on for a long time, but we have got specialists looking at him as we speak. I doubt very much he will be available for selection (against Newcastle on Friday).

“Fingers crossed, it is only a short-term one. Joe is Joe. He is big for us in so many ways. Hopefully, it is not a long one for him.”

On a positive note, Genge’s situation appears to be improving, with Bristol rugby director Pat Lam stating: “He is back running now, so he is on track.

“He is certainly going to make the Six Nations, whether he makes the start… the most important thing is that he gets back to playing.”

West Indies captain Hayley Matthews has been shortlisted for the Women’s Twenty20 International Player-of-the-Year honours in the International Cricket Council's 2023 awards.

Matthews, the number one-ranked ICC Women's T20I all-rounder put together a remarkable series of performances last year, as she racked up 700 runs in the year, the most by any player in a year in Women's T20Is. She also picked up 19 wickets at an average of 16.21 in a mere 14 matches for the year.

The 25-year-old Barbadian is up against three high-class players, with, England’s Sophie Ecclestone, the top ranked T20 international bowler, Australia’s Ellyse Perry, and Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu also nominated.

Matthews’ stellar display against Australia in a bilateral T20I series in the second half of the year, was one for the ages. During that series, she posted scores of an unbeaten 99, 132 and 79, as she proved to be a thorn to the Australian side.

Matthews’ extraordinary unbeaten 99 in the first game of the series was overshadowed by her mind-blowing 132 in a run-chase of 213 in Sydney. The world-record run-chase in women's T20Is saw Matthews break several records, including that of the highest individual score in a women’s T20I run-chase.

Her overall tally of 310 runs in the series is the most by any player in a women's T20I bilateral series. Matthews also enjoyed good form in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup, where she tallied 130 runs and took four wickets and four catches.

The hard-hitting Matthews produced a match-winning performance in a tight encounter against Ireland at the T20 World Cup. In that contest, she picked up four wickets and made a 34-ball 48, but her remarkable 132 against Australia overshadowed it all.

Having taken three wickets for 36 runs with the ball as Australia made a whopping 212, West Indies were faced with a daunting task in the run-chase, but nothing could have prepared anyone for Matthews’ innings.

She hit two fours and a six in the 17th over of the run-chase to raise her century off just 53 balls, and then clubbed Jess Jonassen for four fours in a row in the 19th over to bring the equation down to eight runs needed off six balls.

While Matthews was dismissed in the over, she had set the stage for one of the most outrageous women's T20I wins of all-time with her blistering 132 off just 64 balls. The innings was studded with 20 fours and five sixes, as 110 of her 132 runs came in boundaries.

Meanwhile, the men’s T20 shortlist includes 2022 winner Suryakumar Yadav of India, New Zealand’s Mark Chapman, Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza and Uganda’s Alpesh Ramjani – who helped his side qualify for their first ever World Cup.

Gerald Coetzee (South Africa), Yashasvi Jaiswal (India), Dilshan Madushanka (Sri Lanka) and Rachin Ravindra (New Zealand), compete for the men’s emerging player.

Nominees for Test and ODI awards will be released later this week.

Saracens and England prop Mako Vunipola has received a four-match ban after being sent off against Gallagher Premiership opponents Newcastle.

Vunipola was dismissed during the closing stages of Saturday’s encounter following a dangerous tackle on Newcastle hooker Bryan Byrne.

He will miss Saracens’ Premiership appointments with Leicester and Exeter, plus Investec Champions Cup games against Bordeaux-Begles and Lyon.

Vunipola, though, will be available for England’s Guinness Six Nations opener against Italy in Rome on February 3 if head coach Steve Borthwick decides to recall him.

And that could prove timely, given current injuries to England’s three World Cup squad loosehead props Ellis Genge, Joe Marler and Bevan Rodd.

Vunipola’s case was heard by an independent disciplinary panel.

“The player admitted that foul play took place, but not that it met the red card threshold,” the Rugby Football Union said.

“The panel upheld the charge and Vunipola received a four-match ban.

“He is ineligible to take part in World Rugby’s coaching intervention programme, having completed it in 2022.”

Had Vunipola not already done that programme, he could have applied on this occasion and then expected to have had one game subtracted from the suspension.

Ben Stokes has hit back at Steve Harmison’s criticism of England’s Test preparation for the forthcoming tour of India.

Ex-England seamer Harmison, a former Durham team-mate and close friend of Stokes, believes that arriving in India just three days before the start of a five-match series is a recipe for disaster.

He claimed the tourists would “deserve to get beat 5-0” without spending longer acclimatising to conditions, drawing a curt response from the England captain.

Stokes replied to a video of Harmison’s comments, saying: “Good job we’re going to Abu Dhabi for a training camp before we go to India for even more training before that 1st test then isn’t it.”

England, who lost 3-1 in their previous Indian tour on spinning pitches, do not have any warm-up fixtures scheduled but hope to tune up for the series opener on January 25 with a week-long workout in the United Arab Emirates.

Harmison suggested that approach was insufficient, telling talkSPORT: “If England go in three days before they deserve to get beat 5-0, they really do.

“I’m an old man, that’s what they’ll say…times have changed, but preparation hasn’t changed. I love this new approach, I love Ben Stokes and (head coach) Brendon McCullum. But I’m sorry, going three days before…you’d never do that for an Ashes series.

“You’d never go to Australia three days before the Gabba, so why go three days before Hyderabad? For me it stinks, it absolutely stinks.”

Stokes, meanwhile, is racing to be fully fit for the first Test.

He underwent surgery on his longstanding left knee injury at the end of November and has been chronicling his rehabilitation with a sequence of videos on Instagram.

England are not expecting him to feature as a bowler but even having him available to bat pain-free would represent an improvement on recent times.

Posting from the gym on Wednesday, he wrote: “massive progress for the week”, “muscle symmetry coming back” and “finally able to get into the flexion needed for a spin on the bike, for something normally so easy it was very pleasing to be able to do [it] today”

Shane Warne became the first bowler in Test history to claim 700 wickets when he dismissed England’s Andrew Strauss in Melbourne on this day in 2006.

The Australia leg-spinner went into the fourth Test of the Ashes at his beloved Melbourne Cricket Ground on 699 wickets, having revealed in the build-up that he would be retiring from international cricket at the end of the series.

Warne fittingly reached yet another milestone in front of a Boxing Day crowd of 89,155 with a sharply turning leg-break which spun into the stumps of England opener Strauss.

He went on to dismiss another four batters that day, claiming what would be the 37th and final five-wicket haul of his illustrious Test career, as the tourists collapsed to 159 all out.

“As it turned out, whoever writes my scripts is doing an unbelievable job,” said Warne.

“I’ve just been sitting there since we started batting just shaking my head – I can’t believe it happened to be honest. It was a pretty amazing day.”

Warne would go on to finish with 708 wickets in 145 Tests as Australia sealed a 5-0 whitewash over England.

He died aged 52 in March last year from a suspected heart attack in Thailand.

Former West Indies captain Kieron Pollard will join the England coaching team for the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

Pollard becomes part of the England set-up specifically as an assistant coach for the June tournament.

The 36-year-old from Trinidad and Tobago will provide expertise of Caribbean conditions with the competition being co-hosted by the West Indies and the United States.

Former Somerset all-rounder Pollard helped the West Indies win the T20 World Cup in 2012 and has played a record 600-plus matches in the format.

The ninth edition of the T20 World Cup will be held between June 4 and June 30 next year, with the final to be staged at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.

England will defend the title they won for the second time in Australia 13 months ago in a tournament expanded from 16 to 20 teams.

Former West Indies captain Kieron Pollard is set to start a new chapter in his decorated cricketing career, as he is expected to join reigning Twenty20 World champions England as a batting consultant ahead of their title defence in the Caribbean and the United States, next year.

According to media reports, Pollard, 36, is expected to impart knowledge of Caribbean conditions and pitches to the England, for the showpiece tournament scheduled for June 4-30.

With the region notorious in recent years for its low, slow pitches, conditions are expected to play a key role in the tournament, and, as such, Pollard's experience of same, will be an asset for England.

The Trinidadian's appointment is expected to flawless, as he is already acquainted with current England captain Jos Buttler with whom he played during a couple of stints with county Somerset, and others, who he would have rubbed shoulders with, in franchise tournaments.

Pollard, who retired from international cricket last year, after a T20 series away to India two months prior. Still, the powerfully built player continues to feature in the global short-format franchise leagues, recently leading New York Strikers to victory in the Abu Dhabi T10.

His vast experience in the T20 format, will also be of value to England, as Pollard has 123 One-Day International and 101 T20 International appearances under his built. Overall, he has featured in 537 T20s, scoring over 12,000 runs, with 300 wickets from his part-time bowling.

Pollard was at the helm when West Indies copped the T20 World Cup title in 2021, to go along with the 2016 title won by a Darren Sammy-led team which he was a part of.

In the midst of celebrating a hard-fought 3-2 series win over England, West Indies Twenty20 captain Rovman Powell expressed disappointment about the of absence of international and Caribbean Premier League (CPL) matches in Jamaica and called on the government, particularly minister of sport Olivia "Babsy" Grange to address the issue.
 
It has been almost two years since West Indies last played Ireland in a One-day international contest in Jamaica last January, and four years since Jamaica Tallawahs last played at Sabina Park in 2019. This doesn't sit well with Powell, who yearns to once again grace the Jamaican fans.
 
"I am a Jamaican and I want to play in front of my home crowd, but for the last few years I haven't," Powell lamented during a post-match interview, after West Indies won the decisive contest against England by four wickets to clinch the five-match series at Brian Lara Cricket Academy on Thursday.
 
"West Indies Cricket Board (Cricket West Indies) and the Jamaica Government really have to sit down and have a conversation about that. Cricket has not played there for a long time...There are quite a few Jamaicans playing for West Indies now and no cricket has been there," Powell argued.
 
Along with Powell, Andre Russell, Oshane Thomas and Brandon King, were also a part of the triumphant West Indies team.
 
To add insult to injury, Jamaica will not have a CPL franchise in next year's CPL tournament, as the Tallawahs are to be replaced by a yet-to-be-named franchise from Antigua and Barbuda. This would mark a return for another Leeward Islands franchise since the Antigua Hawksbills contested the first two CPL editions in 2013 and 2014.
 
 
Jamaica Tallawahs won CPL titles in 2013, 2016 and 2022, the latter under Powell's leadership.
 
"Even if you look at the CPL team, I heard reports that they are looking to move the CPL team from Jamaica. Jamaica is the biggest island in the Caribbean, a proud nation, a proud cricketing nation and for those things to be happening it is a little bit disappointing," Powell noted.
 
In fact, Sabina Park is currently used to host football matches, which is contrary to its name the 'cricket mecca' of Jamaica, an island that has produced many great West Indies players, such as George Headley, Lawrence Rowe, Michael Holding, Jeffrey Dujon, Courtney Walsh, Patrick Patterson, and in recent era, Chris Gayle, Russell, Powell and others.
 
Another Jamaican and West Indies stalwart Nehemiah Perry also expressed discontent with the happenings at Sabina Park, one of the oldest cricket grounds in the Caribbean, as it first hosted an international match almost 100 years ago. The first Test match played at Sabina Park was in 1930 between West Indies and England.
 
“I remember the days gone when we were talking about a Test series coming to the Caribbean; there were some grounds that you knew were going to get games like Sabina Park, Kensington Oval (Barbados), Queen’s Park Oval (Trinidad) etcetera," Perry said in a recent interview on the Mason and Guest Radio Show.
 
When a Test series was played in the Caribbean in the 1980s and 1990s, Jamaicans, Barbadians, Trinidadians, Guyanese and Antiguans could certainly look forward to seeing cricket played. Many other countries in the Caribbean have international cricket grounds now, so the traditional cricket venues in the region are no longer guaranteed matches. St Lucia, Grenada, Dominica and St Kitts and Nevis have all hosted international cricket regularly over the past decade.

Manchester City added the Club World Cup to last season’s treble with an emphatic 4-0 win over Brazilian side Fluminense in Jeddah on Friday.

Julian Alvarez struck twice, setting them on their way after just 40 seconds and wrapping up victory late on, while Phil Foden forced an own goal and grabbed the other himself.

It was manager Pep Guardiola’s fourth triumph in the competition but one that came at a cost as influential midfielder Rodri was forced off in the second half with an injury.

City, who were again without striker Erling Haaland due to a foot problem, now face an anxious wait over the Spaniard’s fitness ahead of the resumption of their Premier League title defence at Everton next Wednesday.

Rodri, who limped off after a challenge from Alexsander, has already missed four games through suspension this season and City have lost them all.

Yet for now City can celebrate their fifth trophy of 2023, having also claimed the European Super Cup in August.

They were far too strong for the ageing Copa Libertadores winners, who repeatedly invited pressure on to themselves.

City were gifted the perfect start when veteran former Real Madrid captain Marcelo – one of seven in the Fluminense starting line-up aged 33 or over – found Nathan Ake with an attempted crossfield pass from deep inside his own half.

Ake wasted no time as he thumped a long-range shot against a post and there was nothing goalkeeper Fabio could do as Alvarez crouched to make sure the rebound bounced in off his chest.

City did have a scare when Ederson gave the ball away and then brought down German Cano but were spared by an offside flag.

Apart from that, Fluminense rarely threatened and City doubled their lead when Rodri played in Foden and his ball across the box deflected off Nino and looped into the net.

Ederson was called upon to keep out a Jhon Arias header just before the break, but City almost claimed another when Jack Grealish tested Fabio from distance.

Fabio also produced a good double save to deny Foden and Bernardo Silva in quick succession early in the second half.

City’s third came as Rodri attempted to run off his injury, with Alvarez getting free down the left and crossing for Foden to slide in after 72 minutes.

Rodri was removed moments later, but Alvarez put the seal on success with a clean strike two minutes from time.

West Indies T20I Captain Rovman Powell praised his team’s ability to perform under pressure to secure a 3-2 series victory over England on Thursday at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba.

The West Indies won the first two games of the series relatively comfortably before England produced a pair of magnificent batting performances to tie the series heading into the Thursday’s decider.

The West Indians first restricted the English to 132 all out in 19.3 overs, their lowest score of the series.

The hosts then held their nerve to reach 133-6 with four balls to spare, securing another series win under Powell’s leadership in international cricket’s shortest format.

“I think we played very well today. After England came back in the series and put us under pressure, I think the guys responded like champions,” Powell said in a post-match interview.

He especially credited his bowlers for keeping player of the series, Phil Salt, in check. Salt hit hundreds in both the third and fourth T20Is. He made 38 on Thursday to finish the series with 331 runs.

"It was very important for us to control him. Yesterday we sat in our team room and tried to have some one on one discussions with the guys to try our best to come up with collective plans to control him. For the last two games they scored 70 in the powerplay to totally write us off," Powell said.

Powell added that he feels like his side are well prepared for next year’s T20 World Cup but mentioned that there’s still work to be done, particularly in the bowling department.

“I think we are prepared but we still have areas we need to sharpen up, especially our bowling. Two games back to back where England beat us badly as a bowling unit. Hopefully, over the next few months we can sharpen up and get those areas sorted,” Powell said.

Powell also heaped praise on opponents England, noting that the reigning World T20 Champions have an excellent chance of defending their title next year.

“England is a world class team and they have world class players to come into their squad so that is always going to boost them. All they need to do is get familiar with the conditions. Because they are such a quality team, if they get familiar with conditions they will be difficult to beat,” he said.

“We realized something with the English batters. Once you put them on the good wickets, they’re very good but when the pitch starts assisting the bowlers, it becomes a little bit tricky for everyone. For us Caribbean players, we’ve been playing on bad wickets for such a long time so we know how to play on it,” he added.

The West Indies’ next T20I assignment will be a three-match away series against Australia from February 9-13.

 

 

Reece Topley admitted he felt deflated at England losing their T20 series decider against the West Indies.

Two days after compiling their highest T20 total of 267 for three, England subsided to 132 all out in 19.3 overs on the same pitch at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, which was much trickier to bat on.

Despite the best efforts of their bowlers England tumbled to a four-wicket defeat as the Windies were grateful for Shai Hope’s efficient run-a-ball 43 not out to get them home with four balls to spare.

On a trip that doubled as a reconnaissance mission for the 2024 T20 World Cup, England can take some positives away, not least from battling back from 2-0 down to set up a winner-takes-all showdown.

But a World Cup group stage exit has now been followed by ODI and T20 series defeats against the Windies and Topley acknowledged there can be no excuses at leaving the Caribbean empty-handed.

“I was so excited to turn up here because it was basically like a final and those are the games you want to play in and be on the right side of,” he said.

“It is gutting. There’s a lot of talk about Test cricket being the priority and there’s some faces missing here but when we come up against the guys, they’ve got a lot of their main players here.

“The bottom line is you want to win this series, especially as a player where white-ball cricket is my Test cricket so I want to win every series I can for England.”

This was the Windies’ fourth successive series win over England in all formats, built on Gudakesh Motie’s three for 24 with fellow slow left-armer Akeal Hosein taking two for 20.

Phil Salt followed up his back-to-back hundreds by top-scoring with 38 off 22 balls, only prised from the crease by a peach from Motie, who produced drift then sharp turn to uproot middle stump.

England struggled from then on and lost their last five wickets in 19 balls for 11 runs although Topley’s two for 17 and Adil Rashid’s two for 21 made sure the chase was anything but a cakewalk.

“The other day there was another wicket made up next to our strip but it was their decision to play on the same wicket again, probably knowing it brings spin into the game a little bit more,” Topley said.

“It’s been an amazing series, both teams have played some unbelievable cricket.

“We’ve taken a lot from this series, there’s the World Cup here next year but there’s also some fresh faces that have been exposed to top-level international cricket and some have taken to it really well.”

 

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While his efforts were in vain, Topley has enhanced his case for the T20 World Cup next June after being overlooked for the first two matches following the broken finger which ended his World Cup early.

“Obviously no one likes to be left out and I was thinking about why I was left out for the first two,” Topley said.

“But then I had a point to prove, almost, coming back in and I’d like to think that maybe I’d have justified being selected after the third game.”

Windies captain Rovman Powell was satisfied his team held their nerve after back-to-back defeats but admitted they are not the finished article for the T20 World Cup they are co-hosting.

“I think we are prepared for the World Cup but there are still areas where we need to sharpen up, especially our bowling,” Powell said. “Two games back-to-back England beat us badly as a bowling group.

“There is a lot of work for us to do, so hopefully over the next few months we can sharpen up and get those areas sorted.”

England were left in a spin as their hopes of recording a T20 series victory over the West Indies were undermined by slow left-armers Gudakesh Motie and Akeal Hosein.

Two days on from recording their highest ever T20 score, England came up against a more disciplined bowling performance by their opponents on the same pitch at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba.

Motie was the pick of the attack with three for 24, which included a peach of a delivery to bowl England dangerman Phil Salt, who followed up his back-to-back hundreds with 38 off 22 balls.

Salt was undone by drift then sharp turn as he lost his middle stump, although he was still England’s top-scorer for a third game in a row as they were all out for 132 in 19.3 overs in this series decider.

Five of England’s top-six departed to spin, with Hosein claiming two for 20, on a pitch that provided some help. Liam Livingstone (28) and Moeen Ali (23) put on a stodgy 40 for the tourists in the middle.

Where they had clubbed 20 sixes in their 267 for three on Tuesday, England amassed just five this time.

It was a particularly shabby end to their innings as they lost their last five wickets in 19 balls for the addition of just 11 runs, with all-rounder Andre Russell taking two dismissals in two balls.

England could not even bat out their overs as Sam Curran, one of only five batters to pass double figures, clothed Jason Holder to long-off to depart for 12.

England are to provide greater support for the welfare of their players in response to captain Owen Farrell taking a break from Test rugby to prioritise his mental health.

Farrell made the shock decision just weeks after leading England to a third-placed finish at the World Cup in France – during which he was regularly booed by fans – and he will miss at least the Six Nations.

The fly-half’s international team-mate Kyle Sinckler stated that Farrell taking a step back was “only the beginning” because of the workload and pressure faced by players at the highest level.

As well as being booed at games, Farrell has been the victim of online abuse and there is an acceptance at the Rugby Football Union that playing for England brings with it a growing level of scrutiny.

“We just want to support Owen and all the time we are looking to improve the wrap-around care for players. That is the most important thing,” RFU executive director of performance rugby Conor O’Shea said.

“It is getting more and more difficult and febrile to operate in some of these environments so we need to look really carefully at this to make sure we are the best at it.”

Head coach Steve Borthwick is to be given greater control over his most important players with the introduction of 25 ‘hybrid contracts’.

But while he will be able to set an England star’s conditioning program and influence medical decisions when they are with their clubs, he will not have the scope to dictate what position they play.

Marcus Smith was primarily used as a full-back during the World Cup but Borthwick would be unable to insist he wears the 15 jersey for Harlequins were he to be given one of the new contracts.

“We are very careful when it comes to selection and where a player will play at his club,” O’Shea said.

“The deal is that players are paid to win at the weekend and so clubs will make that final call where the player plays.”

O’Shea has been involved in shaping plans for a new-look second tier of English club rugby that will sit below the Gallagher Premiership.

The league – tentatively named ‘Premiership 2’ – would replace the existing Championship with teams currently in that competition invited to indicate whether they wanted to be involved.

If there was insufficient interest then all funding to the Championship in its current form would be pulled by the RFU, who believes the competition needs a significant overhaul.

“What are you investing in? You’d rather take that money and invest it in other things,” RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney said.

“I know it’s a controversial topic, but where are you going to get that return on investment?

“We’ve shown that if you pour money into the existing structure of the Championship, it just doesn’t deliver. That’s not being disrespectful, it just doesn’t.”

West Indies captain Rovman Powell is backing his team to bounce back from back-to-back defeats and secure a Twenty20 series victory over England, as they head into the decisive contest of the five-match affair in Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday. 

Powell's side which was on a high after they opened up an early two-nil series lead with four-wicket and 10-run victories, was brought down to earth in the third and fourth encounters that England won by seven wickets and 75 runs respectively.

On both losing occasions, England's opening batsman Phil Salt hammered centuries, while West Indies batting was sub-par, as they lost wickets at regular intervals when gathering some semblance of momentum.

Still, Powell saw some positives, particularly in the most recent contest on Tuesday when Andre Russell made a brisk 51, as they were bowled out for 192 chasing 267.

“I think the way Andre Russell played, I think he give us some impetus at the back end of the innings, and it showed us that if we had batted properly, or if they had scored just a little bit less runs, we would have been able to get it," Powell said.

“I think the intensity at which we start was very low, and you know in a T20 game when you start with such low intensity it's very difficult to find a rhythm, and I think that's cost us. They posted 260 which was a very, very big total. If you're going to chase 260, everything has to go right and it's not it's not very often you see those things happen, so it was it was always going to be uphill task," he added.

With things now squared at 2-2, Powell is well aware that his regional side will not only have to learn from the defeats, but more importantly, reproduce performances from the top of the series.

In fact, he believes the situation requires some serious introspection, as it is imperative that they improve, both individually and collectively.

“We have to do some introspection. You know, as individuals, we have to look into ourselves and see if we have done ourselves justice, and if we haven't done ourselves justice, then it's obvious that we haven't done the team justice. So, some introspection and see if we can come up with some better plans to fix what's happening," Powell reasoned.

“I think in all the games the batting has stand up, hopefully the batting can stand up for the final game, but the bowlers have to come to the party. It has been disappointing for the last few games how we have executed as bowling group, so this final game provides an opportunity for us to get that right," he noted.

That said, the Jamaican expressed confidence that whichever 11 players take the field at the Brian Lara Cricket Stadium for the day/night clash scheduled for 3:00pm, will represent with much gusto.

“, we always feel as if when we put guys on the park, it's the best combination for that game. We'll sit down, revise the plan, see if we can come up with different plans and if we come up with different plans, we'll find the players who can execute that plan," Powell declared.

"It's a final, and when it comes to final situation West Indies normally triumph so hopefully, we can pull it off," he ended.

 

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