The Emerging Ireland Team produced an excellent display with the ball to hand the West Indies Academy a 26-run loss in the opening game of their three-match 50-Over series at the Sir Viv Richards Stadium in Antigua on Friday.

The Irish were first bowled out for 245 in 49.1 overs after winning the toss and batting first.

Opener Murray Commins batted beautifully to finish 118* off 129 balls to lead Emerging Ireland. His knock included 14 fours and a six.

Most of the other established batsmen in the side didn’t manage to do much damage before Tom Mayes, batting at number 10, was able to hit a 46-ball 51 including a pair of fours and three sixes.

Joshua Bishop led the way with the ball for the West Indies Academy with 4-45 from his 10 overs of left-arm spin while Kevin Wickham and Johann Layne took two wickets, each.

The Academy chase started well, with them reaching 117-1 in 20 overs before a collapse followed.

The hosts went from 117-1 to 152-6 in the space of just seven overs before eventually being bowled out for 219 in 41.4 overs.

Openers Matthew Nandu (59) and Kadeem Alleyne (42) were the main scorers for the Academy while Junior Sinclair (35) and Leonardo Julien (28) also scored well.

Off-spinner Scott MacBeth and leg-spinner Gavin Hoey were the main wicket-takers for Emerging Ireland with 3-33 from nine overs and 3-43 from 10 overs, respectively.

The second 50-Over game is scheduled for Sunday at the Coolidge Cricket Ground.

Final Scores

Emerging Ireland 245 off 49.1 overs (Murray Commins 118*, Tom Mayes 51, Gavin Hoey 25, Joshua Bishop 4-45, Kevin Wickham 2-50, Johann Layne 2-52)

West Indies Academy 219 off 41.4 overs (Matthew Nandu 59, Kadeem Alleyne 42, Junior Sinclair 35, Leonardo Julien 28, Scott MacBeth 3-33, Gavin Hoey 3-43)

Ackeem Auguste and Nyeem Young bowled West Indies Academy to an emphatic 92-run victory over the Guyana Harpy Eagles in the CG United Insurance Super50 Cup at the Sir Frank Worrell Cricket Ground in St. Augustine, Trinidad on Wednesday.

Needing 264 for victory after the West Indies Academy had posted 263 all out from their 50 overs, Guyana were dismissed for 171 in 35.1 overs as their batters offered little resistance to the bowling of Auguste, known for his batting, but who took 4-48 and Young who chipped in with 3-18.

The only real resistance came from Kevin Sinclair, who scored a hard-fought 46 and late order 32 from Veerasammy Permaul.

The Academy owed their match-winning total to Matthew Forde, known more for his bowling, and Teddy Bishop who posted scores of 52 and 48, respectively.

 Young was also productive with the bat with a solid 42 while Joshua Bishop got 37 and Kevin Wickham 32 against the bowling of Sinclair, Permaul, Gudakesh Motie and Shamar Joseph who each took two wickets for the Harpy Eagles.

A polished all-round performance by Hayden Walsh Jr saw Leeward Islands Hurricanes to a second-consecutive victory in this year’s CG United Super50 Cup, as they defeated West Indies Academy by 66 runs at Queen’s Park Oval on Saturday.

Walsh Jr, who first hammered three fours and three sixes in an unbeaten 60 off 55 balls, to guide the Hurricanes to a competitive 239, returned to snare five wickets for 48 runs in nine overs which restricted West Indies Academy to a paltry 173 and in the process, handed them their first defeat of the tournament.

Scores: Leeward Islands Hurricanes 239 all out (48.5 overs); West Indies Academy 173 all out (40 overs)

Asked to take first strike, the Hurricanes –unlike the brisk start in their opening eight-wicket win over reigning champions Jamaica Scorpions –were slow into stride, as they lost Kofi James (three) with six runs on the board.

However, first match hero Kieran Powell (33) and Keacy Carty (37), balanced things out before the former’s 36-ball knock which included five boundaries was brought to an end by Ashmead Nedd.

Carty pushed on in his 55-ball innings which had four boundaries, but when Joshua Bishop accounted for his and Karima Gore’s (nine) scalp, Hurricanes were left at 101-4 in the 21st over.

Jahmar Hamilton (27) and Rahkeem Cornwall (14) had good starts but couldn’t click on, as they too succumbed to Bishop’s spin, with the score at 157-6.

But Justin Greaves, who had a solitary boundary in a patient 34 off 59 balls, stood with Walsh Jr to add 66 valuable runs for the seventh wicket, especially as the remaining batsmen, including captain Alzarri Joseph, fell cheaply.

Bishop led the Academy bowlers with four wickets for 27 runs from his 10 overs, while Nedd had two wickets for 43 runs from his 10 overs, and Matthew Forde snared two wickets for 45 runs from 5.5 overs.

The Academy’s chase started positively, with Kimani Melius (37) and Matthew Nandu (29), posted a 64-run opening stand, but when both fell, things quickly took turn in favour of the Hurricanes.

This, as the Academy lost wickets at regular intervals, with Teddy Bishop (27), Nyeem Young (25) and Ackeem Aguste (21), the only other batsmen to offer any resistance to Walsh Jr’s leg spin. Another slow bowler, Daniel Doram, who picked up seven wickets against the Scorpions, took three wickets for 33 runs on this occasion.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) and the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will continue to offer development opportunities to some of the best young West Indians during the ninth edition of the CPL, which takes place in St Kitts later this year.

Since 2019, and for the third consecutive season, 12 players have been drafted, retained or signed into the two mandatory Emerging Player positions in each of the six CPL franchises.

Each CPL franchise will have to field an Emerging Player a minimum of five times during the tournament, ensuring that these players get at least some competitive playing experience and the opportunity to train with some of the best players and coaches from across the Caribbean, and around the world.

The list of 12 retained and drafted players include recent West Indies Men’s Test and T20I debutants Joshua Da Silva and Kevin Sinclair who will feature for St Kitts & Nevis Patriots and Guyana Amazon Warriors respectively. At relatively young ages, these two players have notably risen through the CWI development ranks in the last 18 months since featuring for the victorious West Indies Emerging team in the 2019 CG Insurance Super50 Cup.

Four of the Emerging Players will be experiencing the CPL for the first time: Joshua James, Kirk McKenzie, Kadeem Alleyne and Leonardo Julien.  McKenzie and James were members of the West Indies Under-19 side that featured in the last ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, held in South Africa in 2020, who now have a chance to develop their white ball skills with the Jamaica Tallawahs.

CWI’s Director of Cricket, Jimmy Adams congratulated the selected players saying: “CWI is extremely happy for the 12 Emerging Players who will participate in this year’s CPL tournament. The Emerging Player programme is now a focal point of our elite player pathway and the CPL plays a critical role in exposing these young players to elite players and high level competition. We have no doubt that the experience gained by these young players will be a significant factor in establishing the next generation of international players within this format of the game.”

Reflecting on the third year of the CWI and CPL collaboration, CWI’s High-Performance Manager Graeme West said: “The Emerging Player Programme underlines the growth and strength of the CWI and CPL partnership. In a year where running high-performance activities for our talented young players has been challenging, CPL will provide the 12 emerging players a great learning and development opportunity.”

He continued: “With seven players retained from the 2020 CPL, this draft represents a reward for the performances and potential that the franchises saw from the Emerging Players in Trinidad last year. I’m delighted that three players from last year’s West Indies Under-19 squad have been drafted for the first time with McKenzie, James and Julian joining team-mates Nedd, Young and Seales who will look to build on their performances in 2020. The drafting of Kadeem Alleyne is really significant as it demonstrates to all young cricketers in the Caribbean that outstanding performances in local tournaments can be recognized and rewarded.”

The full list of drafted, retained and signed Emerging Players for their respective CPL teams is as follows:

Joshua Bishop​​ (Barbados) - Retained by Barbados Tridents

Nyeem Young (Barbados) - Retained by Barbados Tridents

Ashmead Nedd​​ (Guyana) - Retained by Guyana Warriors

Kevin Sinclair (Guyana) - Retained by Guyana Warriors

Joshua James* (Trinidad & Tobago) - Drafted by Jamaica Tallawahs

Kirk McKenzie​​* (Jamaica) - Drafted by Jamaica Tallawahs

Dominic​ Drakes (Barbados) - Retained by St Kitts & Nevis Patriots

Joshua Da Silva​​ (Trinidad & Tobago) - Retained by St Kitts & Nevis Patriots

Kadeem Alleyne* (Barbados) - Drafted by St Lucia Zouks

Jeavor Royal (Jamaica) - Drafted by St Lucia Zouks

Leonardo Julien* (Trinidad & Tobago) - Signed by Trinbago Knight Riders

Jayden Seales​​ (Trinidad & Tobago) - Retained by Trinbago Knight Riders

 The Barbados Tridents have announced their retentions for the 2021 Hero Caribbean Premier League which gets underway on August 28 in St Kitts & Nevis.

 The Tridents will welcome back the world’s number one rated Test all-rounder and Tridents’ captain Jason Holder, along with fellow Barbadians Shai Hope, Kyle Mayers, Raymon Reifer, Justin Greaves, Nyeem Young and Joshua Bishop.

 In addition to the local playing contingent, the Tridents have retained opening batsman Johnson Charles and leg spinner Hayden Walsh Jr who was the player of the tournament when the Tridents claimed the Hero CPL title in 2019.

 Tridents have eight spots left to fill in their squad and the remaining players will be announced in the coming weeks.

 Kailash Pardasani, Barbados Tridents Co-CEO, said: “We are really excited to welcome back our retained players and especially look forward to making Barbados and all Tridents’ fans very proud in our upcoming 2021 season. Our primary driving factor is the Barbados Tridents family which comprises our players, their extended families and all fans across the globe. This together with our love and passion for the game of cricket will enable us to bring the Hero CPL 2021 title back home as we did in 2019.“