West Indies Cricket Team – Explosive West Indies opener Chris Gayle is set to play his first international ODI in over two years after being recalled from the squad against England.
The 37-year-old, who has amassed 9,221 runs in 269 ODIs, returns along with fellow veterans Marlon Samuels and Jerome Taylor to add some much-needed class to the Windies squad.
West Indies Cricket Team
And in another sign of the improving relationship between Windies officials and the Caribbean’s top players, the selectors also confirmed that star spinner Sunil Narine and former skipper Dwayne Bravo have announced plans to return to the international fold.
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The return of some of the Caribbean’s biggest names was marred last month when the West Indies announced a “temporary amnesty” over their controversial selection policy, which drove a wedge between managers and players.
With the Windies facing the prospect of missing out on automatic qualification for the 2019 World Cup, the board has reversed its controversial stance that players must be available for domestic tournaments in the format they want to play at international level.
“In relation to ODI squad selection, the panel welcomes back Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels who will add value to our batting and help promote the young batsmen in the squad,” read a statement from the chairman of the selection panel, Courtney Browne.
“But Narine has confirmed his desire to play 50 again but has asked to play in our regional Super50 series before he was considered and Darren has said he is not available for selection.
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“Dwayne Bravo said he’s still not 100 percent fit, but he’s looking for a possible international return next year.”
The Windies are currently the ninth-ranked ODI team in the world and look set to miss out on automatic qualification for the next World Cup, meaning they will have to play in a mini-qualifier next year against the Associate Nationals.
The previously unthinkable possibility of the Windies not making it to the World Cup, a tournament they won in 1975 and 1979, has become highly probable due to their recent drop in the rankings and the fact that the 2019 tournament has been reduced to just 10 teams. The recent ICC Champions Trophy, which featured only the top eight teams in the world, was the first time the Windies failed to qualify for a major tournament.
Last month, Gayle stated that the 2019 World Cup remained his big goal despite being away from the ODI side until the 2015 tournament in Australia and New Zealand.
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“This is my goal – to play in the 2019 World Cup and be involved,” he said.
“We don’t want to miss the World Cup event. It was sad what happened in the Champions Trophy when there was no West Indies team there for the first time. It’s disappointing. We don’t want to miss the World Cup, it will be more devastating for us.”
West Indies will play a one-off ODI against Ireland in Belfast on September 13 before taking on England in a five-match series.
West Indies ODI Team Sunil Ambris, Devendra Bishoo, Miguel Cummins, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder (c), Kyle Hope, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Evin Lewis, Jason Mohammed, Ashley Nurse, Rovman Powell, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Kesrick Williams.
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West Indies, once the emperors of one-day cricket – reigning champions in the first two World Cups in 1975 and 1979 and runners-up in 1983 – perhaps hit rock bottom on Saturday. For the romantics of the game, it was disappointing that they were knocked out of the qualifiers and will miss out on the ODI World Cup for the first time.
West Indies players shake hands after losing to Scotland during an ICC Cricket World Cup qualifier at the Harare Sports Club in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, July 1, 2023. (AP/PTI photo)(AP07_01_2023_000256A)(AP)
The Caribbean side will not participate in this year’s tournament in India after they were handed a seven-point defeat by an unfancied Scotland in a Super Six qualifier in Harare.
Their qualifying campaign has already collapsed, losing to hosts Zimbabwe and the Netherlands in their previous two matches. And their first loss to Scotland in this format means they are yet to open their account at the Super Six stage, with matches against Oman and Sri Lanka remaining.
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The top two teams from the qualifiers will advance to the 10-team World Cup, joining the teams that qualified by finishing in the top eight of the 2020-23 ODI Super League. Currently, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe are at the top of the qualifiers, with six points each.
While a steady decline in cricket has plagued the Caribbean over the past two decades, their failure to make it to the ODI World Cup is a disaster. Let’s not forget that the West Indies – captained by Clive Lloyd – ignited the tournament in its early years and gave it and their attractive brand of cricket the upper hand. India played its part in breaking its dominance by winning the 1983 World Cup – India celebrated its 40th anniversary on 25 June. Given the different flavors brought to the men’s maroon, Indian fans would love to be a part of this year’s carnival at home.
Although the West Indies narrowly missed out on direct qualification by finishing ninth in the ODI Super League, they simply did not rise from the start of the qualifying event on 18 June. On Saturday they were all out for 181 as Scotland eased to victory with 6.3 overs to spare. West Indies, reduced to 81/6 after the dismissal of Nicholas Pooran, were in danger of further embarrassment, but all-rounder Jason Holder brought some respectability to the total with 45.
“To be honest, I can’t put my finger on one thing. We let ourselves down throughout the tournament,” West Indies captain Shai Hope said. “The preparation has to be better. We can’t come here and expect to be an elite team without preparation. We can’t expect to wake up one morning and be a great team. We know with two games left, we have to find a way to bounce back.”
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Such setbacks usually require a head, but it is important to note that Hope was only appointed ODI captain in February. Daren Sammy, who led West Indies to two T20 World Cup titles in 2012 and 2016, was appointed as the Whites coach in May. They may need to give them a longer period of time before assessing their suitability for the role.
The more urgent need is to ensure the availability of the best players at all times. Since the emergence of T20 leagues around the world, Cricket West Indies (CWI) has been involved in an endemic struggle to get all players committed to the national team. Shimron Hetmyer, Evin Lewis, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine are just four of those who would have lifted the team in Zimbabwe, but they were all absent for different reasons. Russell has not played for the West Indies since 2021, while Narine’s last game was four years ago.
After his appointment as coach, Sammy contacted these players to get them back into the game. “I reached out to guys like Russell. I reached out to Sunil Narine and all these guys as well to get their views. Because they are still involved in some of our domestic competitions. I am encouraged by the discussions we had about West Indies cricket, which spells out a clear plan to reintegrate them,” he said.
After seeing the team surrender in the qualifiers, Sammy wants to get more talent at his disposal. If they don’t, their fortunes will continue to plummet.
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Perhaps today’s West Indies cricket punch is a very different set of links to the 1970s, when a cricket team called Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana, Antigua, Trinidad & Tobago jointly carried the flag of the long-oppressed “Black Caribbean Country”.
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