The Limacol Caribbean Premier League’s 2013 champion, the Jamaica Tallawahs, defeated the St. Lucia Zouks by seven wickets during the opening Twenty20 match in St. George’s, Grenada last Saturday. Captain of the Jamaica Tallawahs Chris Gayle scored his first C.P.L 100. Gayle scored 111 runs off 63 balls with 10 massive sixes and five fours. The St. Lucia Zouks scored 161 runs off their 20 overs while the Jamaica Tallawahs scored 162 for 3 off 19 overs.
TEAMS PARTICIPATING IN THE C.P.L
1. Jamaica Tallawahs
2. Antigua Hawksbills
3. Trinidad and Tobago Redsteel
4. St. Lucia Zouks
5. Guyana Amazon Warriors
6. Barbados Tridents
Bangladesh tour to the Caribbean
Aug. 20 – First One-day international in Grenada
Aug. 22 – Second One-day international in Grenada
Aug. 25 – Third One-day international in Warner Park, St. Kitts
Aug. 27 – Twenty20 in St. Kitts
Sept. 5 – First Test match in Arnos Vale, St. Vincent
Sept. 13- Second Test match at Beausejour Stadium, St. Lucia
NO IMPROVEMENT IN TEST OR ONE-DAY INT’L STATUS
West Indies losing the recent Test series to New Zealand 2-1 clearly shows the weakness within the West Indies senior decision makers. West Indies players are bewildered with poor decisions at the managerial and lower levels. Many of the cricketers are more focused on the shorter version of the game while few West Indies players are fully committed to the longer version. Test cricket calls for much concentration, patience and few West Indies players have displayed those qualities. It is rather unfortunate that after so much have been invested into the development of cricket, there are no meaningful improvements displayed by the players.
WEST INDIES BATSMEN MUST REVIEW THEIR TACTICS
Much work has to be done to improve the quality of batsmen coming out of the West Indies. Their approach and strategy must be modified if any improvements are to be realized. Test cricket nations such as South Africa, Australia and England have many training techniques employed to make their teams proficient. Test cricket calls for numerous preparation techniques and an in-depth study of the game. The West Indies team is behind in most of the ICC ratings and much hard work has to be done for them to improve their standings.
