Barbadian off-spinner Sulieman Benn was named West Indies’ Player of the Year for the 2013-2014 season in the West Indies Cricket Board’s annual awards function in Kingston, Jamaica on Wednesday night, June 10, 2015.
Benn picked up 28 wickets in five Tests at an average of 25.03 between October 2013 and September 2014 — the period under consideration.
Kraigg Brathwaite was voted the Test Players of the Year, while Test captain Denesh Ramdin was named ODI Player of the Year.
Braithwaite scored 593 runs in five Tests that were played during this period at an average of 74.12, which included a 129 against New Zealand and a double-century against Bangladesh.
Ramdin produced impressive numbers in ODIs, scoring 445 runs in 11 games at an average of 63.57, including two centuries and a half-century, with a career-best 169 against Bangladesh.
Jamaican Jermaine Blackwood, who scored 63 on Test debut in a 2014 against New Zealand, and a 150 against England recently, was named Emerging Player of the Year and Jamaican Stafanie Taylor was awarded the Women’s Player of the Year.
Trinidadian Samuel Badree was named Twenty20 Player of the Year for his 19 wickets in 12 matches during this period, with an average of 12.36 an economy of five runs per over.
Special awards were presented to the seven current West Indies cricketing knights: Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Vivian Richards, Sir Wes Wall, Sir Andy Roberts, Sir Richie Richardson and Sir Curtly Ambrose.
Meanwhile, Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit says that people must stop just blaming the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for the regional team’s performance and see what they can do to assist in getting the team back to the top of the world cricket.
This according to an article in the Trinidad Guardian newspaper.
Skerrit was present when West Indies were defeated by Australia by nine wickets in the opening Test of the Sir Frank Worrell two-match series in Dominica recently.
Batting first West Indies made 148, to which Australia replied with 318 all out. Batting a second time the West Indies slipped from 181 for three to 2016 all out and Australia romped to victory at 47 for one.
“We continue as a people to blame the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for the performance of the regional team and while they have their role to play and must take some responsibility, we as governments in the region must see what we can do assist in getting the cricket back to the top again,” he said.
The prime minister said the government of Dominica sponsored the first Test match against Australia and made a significant investment according to Skerrit to ensure the venue was up to standard.
Skerrit says the government also plans to build a cricket academy to assist in the development of young cricketers on the island.
“We have decided to invest in a cricket academy in Dominica for the development of our young cricketers,” he said.
