“[…] For the last 30 years, we in the Caribbean have been producing pitches that are more suitable to spin bowling for our batsmen to practise on as well as a plethora of slow bowlers for our batsmen to practise against. “Yet, every year, in every series, they just appear …
Read More »Vaneisa: Making a case for mixed-sex cricket
How about mixing it up a bit? Two West Indies cricket T20 encounters last Tuesday. The men played their second match against Sri Lanka, and the women challenged England for a semi-final spot in the World Cup. At the tenth over, the women were 89-0, with openers Hayley Matthews and …
Read More »RBCPL24: How the CPL took wing to become dominant regional sport event
Allen Stanford, remember that name? No? Not a surprise really. When West Indians are focused on the biggest party in sport, who has time to remember a man who was a party to the biggest fraud ever perpetrated on West Indian sport? On Republic Day, a lady who lives on …
Read More »RBCPL24: Are WI being served? Wired868 looks back at CPL24
“Yuh tink is so de ting does work?” Calypso History Month has just begun and the 2024 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL), the biggest party in sport, has just ended. How are they connected? Well, if you know where to look, you can find several through-lines. There’s no Lying …
Read More »Vaneisa: Under the crescent moon—the good, the bad and the ugly of the CPL
The day after the end of the T20 World Cup, my daughter and a friend of ours were at my home, and as I was talking cricket, he suggested we have a lime to watch the final. I burst out laughing, explaining that the final had already gone and the …
Read More »RBCPL24: Roger that, Coachman! Chase and Jones flip final script for SLK after warning
Five overs to go, six wickets intact and 66 runs still needed for victory. Saint Lucia Kings (SLK) are chasing their first-ever Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) title. Before a partisan crowd at the National Stadium in Providence, Guyana on Sunday evening, the right-handed pair of Roston Chase and …
Read More »RBCPL24: Aaron Jones steps up as SLK deny defending champions GAW the double
The deed is done. The defending champions have been defeated. By six wickets. And on their third attempt—having repeatedly discussed the distinct possibility of a double Lucian celebration this year after Julien Alfred’s sprint gold in Paris in the summer—the Saint Lucia Kings finally have their first title. On Sunday …
Read More »RBCPL24: Feeling the fielding—how David Wiese leads Kings’ bowlers’ support staff
A cricket match, a cricket sage once wrote, is played in the minds of the opposing captains. Were he writing in the post-20th century T20 world and thus disposed to making the compulsory compromises imposed by today’s audience of e-literates, he might not have stopped there. But, I imagine him …
Read More »RBCPL24: How ‘hit-and-hope’ Hetmyer overhauled his game to pace GAW
Shimron Odilon Hetmyer warmed the West Indies bench throughout the recent T20 World Cup staged in the West Indies and the USA, unable to land a place in a team that clearly was not playing its best cricket. Yet, mere months later, in the 2024 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League …
Read More »Jewel, Evin in Windies white-ball teams; Pooran, Hetmyer, Hosein opt out
The Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced a slew of changes in its player rosters today as the West Indies teams were named for a white ball tour of Sri Lanka this month. Among the notable absentees from the West Indies T20 International (T20I) squad were the in-form trio of batsmen …
Read More »RBCPL24: GAW coast into Sunday’s final after Royals collapse
When Ramon Simmons bowled Shai Hope for 56, the Guyana Amazon Warriors had not yet overhauled the modest target set them by the Barbados Royals. They still needed two runs. From 35 balls. And they got them to seal an 8-wicket win and secure the second spot in Sunday evening’s …
Read More »CPL announces Guyana and Barbados as final hosts for 2025 and 2026
The next two finals of the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will be hosted by Guyana and Barbados in 2025 and 2026 respectively. CPL CEO Pete Russell today announced their plans for the regional franchise T20 cricket competition, which is in its 12th season at present. “Guyana and Barbados …
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