West Indies players to feature in matches in Trinidad and Guyana starting on 15 March; All matches streamed LIVE on the Windies Cricket YouTube channel
ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Members of the West Indies Test squads from the recent tours to Zimbabwe and South Africa are expected to feature in the upcoming matches in the West Indies Championship. Cricket West Indies (CWI) today announced the six franchise squads for the third round of matches which start on Wednesday 15 March.
Left-handed batter Alick Athanaze will return to captain Windward Islands Volcanoes against Jamaica Scorpions, who will have experienced batter Nkrumah Bonner back in their line-up for the match at the Guyana National Stadium.
Devon Thomas, the versatile wicket-keeper/batter, has been named in the Leeward Islands Hurricanes 13-member squad for the match against Barbados Pride at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad. The third match of the third round will see Trinidad & Tobago Red Force hosting the Guyana Harpy Eagles at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.
Entering the third round, Athanaze is among the leading batters with 244 runs (average 61). He made his maiden first-class century (141) against Guyana Harpy Eagles last month. He is a second spot behind Trinidad & Tobago Red Force skipper Daren Bravo who has scored 261 runs (average 87) – which included twin centuries against Leeward Islands Hurricanes.
Third on the list are young openers Kimani Melius of Windward Islands Volcanoes and Matthew Nandu of Guyana Harpy Eagles, who both have 204 runs (an average of 51). Both scored breakthrough maiden first-class centuries in the first round – Melius made 192 against Trinidad & Tobago Red Force and Nandu got 126 against Barbados Pride. Melius will however miss the third round with an injury.
In the bowling, the leading wicket-taker after two rounds is Akeem Jordan, the Barbados Pride pacer, who picked up 12 wickets and was named in the Test squad for the tour of South Africa. Next is Veerasammy Permaul, the experienced Guyana Harpy Eagles left-arm spinner with 11 wickets – which included his 500th at the first-class level for his country. Three bowlers are tied on 10 wickets – Rahkeem Cornwall of Leeward Islands Hurricanes, Ryan John of Windward Islands Volcanoes and Bryan Charles of Trinidad & Tobago Red Force.
Every West Indies Championship match will be streamed LIVE on the Windies Cricket YouTube channel. Fans can follow every game from their mobile devices, computers or connected TVs, including access to live ball-by-ball scoring on the windiescricket.com match centre.
The new Headley Weekes Series will follow the West Indies Championship and will feature three matches and three teams. Team Headley and Team Weekes will select from the best performers in the 2023 West Indies Championship and players outside the starting West Indies Test XI. The new West Indies Academy will provide the third team in the new Series.
WEST INDIES CHAMPIONSHIP ROUNDS 3 – FULL SQUADS:
Barbados Pride: Shane Dowrich (captain), Camarie Boyce, Jonathan Carter, Dominic Drakes, Jonathan Drakes, Chaim Holder, Jair McAllister, Zachary McCaskie, Shayne Moseley, Roshon Primus, Ramon Simmonds, Shamar Springer, Kevin Wickham
Guyana Harpy Eagles: Leon Johnson (captain), Antony Adams, Kevlon Anderson, Anthony Bramble, Ronsford Beaton, Tevin Imlach, Shamar Joseph, Matthew Nandu, Keemo Paul, Veerasammy Permaul, Kemol Savory, Kevin Sinclair, Nial Smith
Jamaica Scorpions: Palmer jr. (captain), Nkrumah Bonner, Tevin Gilzene, Derval Green, Nicholson Gordon, Patrick Harty, Leroy Lugg, Kirk McKenzie, Abhijai Mansingh, Jamie Merchant, Marquino Mindley, Ojay Shields, Aldaine Thomas
Leeward Islands Hurricanes: Hamilton (captain), Colin Archibald, Larry Audain, Sheeno Berridge, Rahkeem Cornwall, Karima Gore, Montcin Hodge, Kofi James, Jeremiah Louis, Kieran Powell, Akeem Saunders, Devon Thomas, Hayden Walsh jr.
Trinidad & Tobago Red Force Bravo (captain), Bryan Charles, Jyd Goolie, Amir Jangoo, Imran Khan, Justin Mannick, Jason Mohammed, Vikash Mohan, Uthman Muhammad, Khary Pierre, Keagan Simmons, Jeremy Solozano, Tion Webster
Windward Islands Volcanoes: Alick Athanaze (captain), Sunil Ambris, Teddy Bishop, Kenneth Dember, Larry Edward, Justin Greaves, Kavem Hodge, Johan Jeremiah, Ryan John, Shermon Lewis, Preston McSween, Jerlani Robinson, Tevyn Walcott
WEST INDIES CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
ROUND 1
Guyana Harpy Eagles beat Barbados Pride by 183 runs
Windward Islands Volcanoes drew with Trinidad & Tobago Red Force
Leeward Islands Hurricanes drew with Jamaica Scorpions
ROUND 2
Barbados Pride beat Jamaica Scorpions by 6 wickets
Trinidad & Tobago Red Force drew with Leeward Islands Hurricanes
Windward Islands Volcanoes drew with Guyana Harpy Eagles
FULL MATCH SCHEDULE
GNS – Guyana National Stadium, Guyana
BLCA – Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad
QPO – Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad
ROUND 3: 15 to 18 March
Jamaica Scorpions v Windward Islands Volcanoes at GNS
Trinidad & Tobago Red Force v Guyana Harpy Eagles at BLCA
Leeward Islands Hurricanes v Barbados Pride at QPO
ROUND 4: 22 to 25 March
Guyana Harpy Eagles vs Jamaica Scorpions at GNS
Trinidad & Tobago Red Force v Barbados Pride at QPO
Leeward Islands Hurricanes v Windward Islands Volcanoes at BLCA
ROUND 5: 29 March to 1 April
Guyana Harpy Eagles v Leeward Islands Hurricanes at GNS
Trinidad & Tobago Red Force v Jamaica Scorpions at BLCA
Barbados Pride v Windward Islands Volcanoes at QPO
Headley Weekes Tri-Series
All matches to be played at CCG, Antigua
Match 1: 19 to 22 April: Team Headley v West Indies Academy
Match 2: 26 to 29 April: Team Weekes v West Indies Academy
Match 3: 3 to 6 May: Team Weekes v Team Headley