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If the shoe fits: Chinelle Henry ready to step up for Alyssa Healy

admin — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 15:29:13 +0000

Alyssa Healy leaves some big shoes to fill, but Chinelle Henry is ready to step in for UP Warriorz and make an unexpected WPL debut she hopes will be the start of something huge.

Henry, the powerful West Indies middle-order batter and handy fast bowler, received a late call-up to the tournament as a replacement for Australia captain Healy, who is recovering from a stress injury in her foot, and while she is yet to play a game, she wants to make her inclusion count.

“This is a really huge, huge opportunity for me,” Henry told ESPNcricinfo’s Powerplay podcast. “My only other franchise league would’ve been the CPL, so to be a part of one of the biggest franchises around in female cricket in the WPL is a really big thing for my career going forward. Next year maybe I could secure a place to be actually a part of a team permanently coming in the next edition of the WPL, so this year is definitely kind of like a test run, a trial run, for me.

“Coming in has a replacement, that’s a huge set of responsibilities on me, huge shoes to fill. The atmosphere playing along with some of the best in the world from their respective regions is going to be huge. This will be a lot of learning this year and I’m hoping that I can actually go there and deliver on the field when called upon, because that’s the reason why I’m here. Obviously they saw something. Healy, unfortunately the team lost to injury, and to be that replacement is a huge honour.”

It only takes a glance back to December to see why UP Warriorz reached for Henry’s number when Healy succumbed to the injury she has been battling on and off since last year’s T20 World Cup.

A 16-ball 43 plus one wicket in a losing cause during West Indies’ third T20I against India at Navi Mumbai and 61 off 72 balls in the third ODI, which India won in Vadodara, indicated some serious good form on Henry’s maiden tour of India.

“We just don’t want to keep dwelling on the past that, ‘hey, we won the 2016 T20 World Cup’. Teams are evolving, teams are getting better, players are getting better. We know that we have to get better”

Chinelle Henry

“A lot of people have been talking about it, that I have been in form lately, and that’s something that I actually want to continue to do because obviously the pressure of the WPL is different from everything else,” Henry said. “Being here in the WPL, I’m not going to lie, I was a little bit nervous at first, but after coming back here, adjusting to the atmosphere, it’s just about getting to know the girls a little bit better and just picking up where I left off the last time I was in India. It’s just about continuing that confidence, continuing to play with that freedom and to know that I have the backing of the coaches and team.”

At the age of 29 and with 111 international caps across both white-ball formats, any lessons Henry can take back to the younger members of the West Indies squad will be a bonus as they look to build on the success of reaching last year’s T20 World Cup semi-finals, where they lost to eventual champions New Zealand.

West Indies will need all of those components to come together again in April when they face five other teams vying for just two qualifying places at the 50-over World Cup, to be played in India later this year.

“When you talk about West Indies, we always want to be at the big stage, big competitions, we always want to be competing,” Henry said. “The same amount of confidence, the same amount of enthusiasm that we play the T20s with, that’s something we are trying to go out there and play the longer version with. The longer version of the game is something that we are going to have to take more responsibility for as a person, as a team, and know that to avoid these situations [going through the qualifier] this is what we have to do.

“We won the T20 World Cup once and definitely the ODI World Cup is something that we talked about. We just don’t want to keep dwelling on the past that, ‘hey, we won the 2016 T20 World Cup’. Teams are evolving, teams are getting better, players are getting better. We know that we have to get better and these are things that we have to do in order to be better at the longer version of the game.”

West Indies will also return to playing a women’s Test for the first time in a generation in 2026 when they host Australia, having last played the format in 2003-04.

Well before that, though, they play three T20Is and three ODIs in May and June in England, against the side they knocked out of the T20 World Cup at the group stage.

Since then, England have suffered a 16-0 points thrashing at the Women’s Ashes in Australia, prompting an ECB review into how to turn the team’s poor run of results around. Henry expects a response.

“The World Cup, it was good for us, the things that we achieved,” she said. “England being one of the best in the world, we were able to overcome that hurdle. Unfortunately we couldn’t make it to the final, but I was definitely proud of the team, proud of the performances. It is definitely going to be a challenge [playing in England] because I’m pretty sure they’ll remember that we’re the reason why they didn’t make it further in the T20 World Cup, so there would be a lot to settle there.

“But that happened and we know what it takes to beat teams that are ranked above us. We know what it takes individually and as a team and there’s a lot we could take from that World Cup and bring into this series that we have coming up against them in May. They will be coming out guns blazing so as a unit we have to be up for the challenge and we have to be ready to know that when the pressure happens we just know how to deal with it.”

Valkerie Baynes is a general editor, women’s cricket, at ESPNcricinfo

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WI to begin 2025 home season with three-Test series against Australia

admin — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 18:09:50 +0000

A three-match home Test series against Australia and a two-Test tour to India will be the highlight of West Indies men’s Test fixtures for 2025. They will begin the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle with the Test series against Australia, for the Frank Worrell Trophy, from June 25 to July 16. This will also be West Indies’ first Test assignment under Daren Sammy, who will take over from red-ball coach Andre Coley.

The Kensington Oval in Barbados will host the first Test and the Grenada National Stadium will host the second. The series will end at Sabina Park in Jamaica and will be followed by five T20Is. West Indies will close out their home summer with three T20Is and three ODIs against Pakistan from July 31 to August 12. Broward County in Florida will host the T20I series and the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad the ODI ones.

They will then travel to India, Bangladesh, and New Zealand from September 21 to December 23. They are set to play three ODIs and three T20Is in Bangladesh. The New Zealand tour will be an all-format assignment comprising three Tests, three ODIs and five T20Is.

Before all that, West Indies, having missed the qualification for the 2023 ODI World Cup, will prepare for the 2027 ODI World Cup with three ODIs in Ireland, followed by three in England. During their visits, they will also play three T20Is each against both teams.

The CWI release also stated that the West Indies women will begin their 2025 campaign with the World Cup qualifiers in Pakistan from April 4-19, where six teams will compete for two spots in the marquee event in India, scheduled from August to September.

West Indies women will then travel to England for three T20Is and as many ODIs from May 21 to June 8. They will then return home to face South Africa women in three ODIs and three T20Is, with the 3Ws Oval in Barbados hosting all six games.

Malahide will host all three ODIs in Ireland from May 21 to May 25 before West Indies will play against England in Headingly (May 29), Cariff (June 1) and June 3 (The Oval). West Indies will also play three T20Is in England before returning to Ireland for three more T20Is in Belfast. Their UK tour will end with the third T20I against Ireland on June 15. They will have a ten-day gap before their Test-series opener against Australia in Barbados.

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CWI introduces ‘data-driven scouting system’ to identify and develop local talent

admin — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 09:48:52 +0000

West Indies, well off the pace in both men’s and women’s international cricket in recent times, will now hope to benefit from what CWI has called a “groundbreaking, data-driven scouting system aimed at identifying and developing the best cricketing talent across the region”.

The system will involve senior talent managers, territorial talent identifiers, and a network of scouts combining “to provide a structured, analytical approach to talent identification”. With the West Indies Championship as their first major assignment, the scouting team will ensure that every performance is tracked, analysed, and reported, creating a clear pathway for emerging cricketers to progress to the highest levels.”

Former West Indies captain Ramnaresh Sarwan heads the team of six territorial talent identifiers, looking after Guyana, with Henderson Broomes (Barbados), Delroy Morgan (Jamaica), Samuel Spencer (Leeward Islands), Gibran Mohammed (Trinidad & Tobago) and Craig Emmanuel (Windward Islands) for company. The senior talent managers are Jamal Smith (men’s cricket) and Ann Browne-John (women’s cricket), and with four regional scouts, they would be “managing senior player data, collaborating with analysts, and assisting in selection decisions”.

“We are moving beyond just relying on what we see on scorecards. This system ensures that performances are seen with context and with a focus on the skill sets displayed, tactical acumen and game awareness,” CWI director of cricket Miles Bascombe said. “We are collecting real-time data, analysing performances consistently, and making informed decisions about player development.”

The key responsibilities of the territorial talent identifiers are:

“Players in the region will now be seen and evaluated by multiple talent identification operatives resulting in more information gathering, and better-balanced data on performances,” Bascombe said. “With this accountability metric in place, our network of scouts ensures that no talent goes unnoticed.

“We are moving into a new era of role-based, data-driven selection that will have ripple effects across our cricket system from the way players prepare to the way we measure performances. In addition, it allows us to examine deficits in players and to optimise through our high-performance framework. However, I would like to reiterate that data-driven does not only quate to stats-based, huge emphasis will be placed on qualitative data. Beyond selection, this data will be used to refine player programming ensuring a targeted approach to getting players international-ready.”

The latest edition of the first-class West Indies Championship is already one round old, but will run till April 2025 and take in 24 more matches featuring eight island teams: Barbados, Combined Campuses and Colleges, Guyana, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies Academy and Windward Islands.

“The West Indies Championship is where we expect to see our next generation of Test cricketers emerge,” Bascombe said. “With this new system, we will have more eyes on players than ever before and clarity about what we are looking for. This ensures that selection methods are consistent over time and based on merit and data-backed insights.”

Both West Indies’ senior men’s and women’s have underperformed on the whole of late with only the rare bright spark – like the Shamar Joseph-inspired Test win over Australia in Brisbane in January 2024 and the recent win in spin-friendly Multan over Pakistan. The men finished one from the bottom in the latest cycle of the World Test Championship and have failed to qualify for the upcoming ODI Champions Trophy, to be played in Pakistan and the UAE. The women, too, have been well behind the top teams – less than a decade on from when they were T20 world champions – and are now outside the top five in both the ICC’s ODI and T20I team rankings.

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Warrican bags five as West Indies win in Pakistan after 34 years

admin — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 22:40:20 +0000

West Indies 166 (Motie 55, Warrican 36, Noman 6-41) and 244 (Brathwaite 52, Imlach 35, Sajid 4-76, Noman 4-80) beat Pakistan 154 (Rizwan 49, Warrican 4-43, Motie 3-49) and 133 (Babar 31, Warrican 5-27, Sinclair 3-61) by 120 runs

Jomel Warrican and the rest of West Indies’ spin cast hoisted Pakistan with their own petard, spinning a web around Pakistan’s batters to skittle them out for 133, securing a first win on Pakistan soil since 1990. It took West Indies little over an hour on day three to slice through Pakistan’s last six wickets, a 39-run partnership between Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Agha the only one that put up any resistance as West Indies secured a 120-run win that levelled the series.

The signs were immediately ominous for Pakistan when, three balls into the day, Saud Shakeel was drawn into playing at one from Kevin Sinclair that ripped away, taking the outside edge to first slip. Nightwatcher Kashif Ali was dispatched the following over, Warrican forcing the ball through his pads as West Indies began to smell blood.

Rizwan and Agha kept the bowlers at bay for a while, hunkering down and trying to ride out this West Indies wave. With Kemar Roach injured, West Indies continued chipping away with their trio of spinners. Rizwan put away the odd delivery when they missed their lines, but this was becoming increasingly rare and Pakistan continued to feel asphyxiated.

For 12 overs, the seventh-wicket pair held out, but Warrican got one to keep low as Agha defended. It rapped him on the back pad adjacent to the stumps, and the visitors had the breakthrough that exposed the tail.

Soon after, it was Warrican again who dispensed with Rizwan, who played all around a delivery that carried on with the arm and went through the bat-pad gap to make a mess of his stumps. By now, only the formalities remained.

Noman Ali fell to Gudakesh Motie, but, fittingly it was Warrican who had the last laugh. Sajid Khan dragged one onto his stumps to seal another five-wicket haul that took Warrican’s series tally to 19. As West Indies squealed with delight, Warrican looked Sajid square in the eye and performed his now famous thigh-thumping celebration. It was an apt metaphor for West Indies giving Pakistan a taste of their own medicine.

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Brathwaite: West Indies had to be ‘brave’ on pitch where ‘you are going to get out’

admin — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 14:29:31 +0000

West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite said that batters had to be brave and trust their plans to succeed on the difficult pitches in Multan, after they won the second of two Tests to level the series and also create a little bit of history. This 120-run victory was their first in Pakistan for 34 years.

Brathwaite led by example. After being part of a collapse that left West Indies 38 for 7 in the first innings, he chose a far more aggressive approach in the second. In fact, he made his fastest fifty in Tests, consciously taking chances against the Pakistan spinners. This approach earned West Indies a lead of 254 and it proved plenty more than enough.

“Both Test matches the pitch was tough to bat on and we knew that so as I said I just wanted us to be brave, to do whatever plans we have, to go there and execute them as good as possible, because regardless of what there will be a ball with your with your name on it on this pitch,” Brathwaite told reporters after the second Test in Multan on Monday.

“I mean it was a difficult pitch to bat on so it was good to see the confidence we went about doing it and you know as I said very proud of this team.

“It was just for the batsmen to be brave you know. I mean as batsmen, as I said everyone’s going to have their plans. Be brave in whatever you want to do as batsmen,” Brathwaite said about West Indies’ strategy. “Bowling wise bring forward the batsmen as much as possible and there will be 20 balls that you will get 20 wickets because as I said the pitch is a difficult pitch so there’s no second guessing.

Brathwaite maintained that the pitch was “very, very difficult” but had no complaints about PCB preparing spinning tracks.

“I would say Pakistan could could prepare the pitch how they want. What I’ll say is batsman will not be averaging high on these pitches. You would average 15-20 and obviously the spinners will do well. and as I said it’s a difficult Test pitch to score runs. You’re going to get out regardless, it’s just a matter of when. So you know as batters we had to come up with a plan of how we want to score and put runs on the board.”

“Jomel was outstanding. To see how he went about his bowling and the pressure he built from from ball one, I mean it was amazing,” Brathwaite said.

Warrican also put in a crucial contribution with the bat, finishing unbeaten on 36 in the first innings, with his 68-run stand for the last wicket with Gudakesh Motie key in reviving West Indies from being 38 for 7 after they won the toss and chose to bat.

“With the bat you can’t count him out, I think he did a fantastic job with the bat as well. But bowling wise I know he’s worked hard over the years. He’s been in and out of the team but it’s good to see him get the chance and he grabbed it. very very proud of him uh he was outstanding.”

West Indies’ triumph in Multan came almost exactly a year after Gabba 2024, and Brathwaite said it showed their ability to adapt to different conditions.

“It’s a very important win for us it just shows that we can get it done in any conditions once we believe and always have a plan,” he said. “It’s right up there with some amazing Test wins because coming here, playing here in Pakistan, it’s never easy to win a test match you know so coming up with a win is fantastic.”

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West Indies bat and hand debut to Jangoo; Kashif Ali receives maiden Pakistan cap

admin — Sat, 25 Jan 2025 05:40:00 +0000

While the toss for the first Test was delayed four hours by foggy conditions last week, it is much clearer and sunnier in Multan now. West Indies have made two changes to their side. A niggle in his leg meanst Jayden Seales misses out, with Kemar Roach, who was unavailable for the first Test with illness, coming into the side. Wicketkeeper-batter Amir Jangoo comes in to make his debut with Keacy Carty dropping to the bench.

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West Indies face another trial by spin, Pakistan eye clean sweep

admin — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 13:38:51 +0000

It is not difficult to know what’s coming this Test match. It is an easy one to analyse, a straightforward one to predict. West Indies will have prepared studiously for the challenge Pakistan will pose, and Pakistan, themselves, have made no secret they will double down on the nature of the surfaces they prepare. The wicket might begin to break up when the two captains head out for the toss. Whoever wins will bat first, and spin bowling will feature right from the outset.

But forewarned is not necessarily forearmed. The challenge Pakistan pose with these surfaces that crackle in the winter heat is much easier to understand than to do anything about. The outcome of the game hinges on West Indies’ execution; any mistakes they made in terms of understanding what kind of pitch this was will have been ironed out.

Kraigg Brathwaite threw the gauntlet down to his team at the end of the first Test, while encouraging them with the reminder they were ahead in the game at a few key stages, and there was significant room for improvement to offer them belief.

West Indies’ own spinners showed they could go toe to toe with Pakistan’s, and Jomel Warrican registered better figures than any of his Pakistani counterparts. In Kemar Roach, they possess the best fast bowler on either side, on the few occasions that one will be required. They even worked out how to make the sweep and reverse-sweep productive, if not necessarily risk-free. And they found runs with the lower order, an inveterate Achilles’ heel of Pakistan’s bowling, no matter the conditions.

Aaqib Javed made an impassioned defence of the pitches Pakistan have begun preparing at home, but he knows he has not won everyone over yet. Concerns about what it means for the country’s Test batting and fast bowling linger, and the only thing – the main thing, in his view – his style has got going for it is simple; it wins Pakistan Test matches. Pakistan are aware they must continue getting these wins, because the moment results turn, that spring-loaded criticism is waiting to be unleashed.

Pakistan: WLLWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)

In the spotlight – Shan Masood and Alick Athanaze

Pakistan cricket brings with it short attention spans, and Shan Masood knows he will not have much of it for the next nine months. He has now been now been captain for just under the full WTC cycle, and this is Pakistan’s last Test in a disappointing year and a half of Test cricket. Reports about his position as Test captain being vulnerable have surfaced more than once, and with a new cycle beginning at the end of the year, Pakistan will likely reevaluate at some point. However, this game represents a chance to finish off strongly, and continue making his case. With the bat, there are possible signs of a patch of form with a hundred and a fifty in his last three innings, and while he has not been viewed as the reason for an upturn in Test results, victory here will mean he finishes the cycle off with four wins in his last six Tests

Alick Athanaze came into this series with runs against Bangladesh, and appears to have enjoyed batting in Pakistan more than most of his team-mates He scored 99 and 58* in the three-day game before the series in Islamabad, and was responsible for nearly half of his side’s runs in the fourth innings in Multan, becoming the only visiting batter to score a half-century. Praise for the Dominican’s technique has come from exalted quarters, with Brian Lara and Ian Bishop among his admirers, and if the visitors top six are to rise to the challenge their captain laid out for them, Athanaze is expected to have a significant role.

Pakistan have not yet named an XI, with Aqib Javed saying they would take a final look at the surface.

Pakistan (likely XI): 1 Shan Masood (capt) 2 Muhammad Hurraira 3 Babar Azam 4 Kamran Ghulam 5 Saud Shakeel 6 Mohammad Rizwan (wk) 7 Salman Agha 8 Noman Ali 9 Sajid Khan 10 Abrar Ahmed 11 Khurram Shahzad

West Indies, too, have yet to name a starting line-up. Jayden Seales misses out with a slightly niggle in his leg. Kemar Roach is available again alongside Amir Jangoo.

West Indies: 1 Kraigg Brathwaite (capt) 2 Mikyle Louis 3 Keacy Carty 4 Alick Athanaze 5 Kavem Hodge 6 Justin Greaves 7 Tevin Imlach/Amir Jangoo (wk) 8 Gudakesh Motie 9 Kevin Sinclair 10 Jomel Warrican 11 Kemar Roach

The pitch has been prepared in the same way as the one for the first Test was. Weather conditions have not changed in the week since, and it remains cold and dry. Any deviation from what happened in the first Test would be a surprise.

“Of course we were right to prepare a spin pitch against West Indies. Their batters are not as proficient against spin when compared to fast bowling.”
Pakistan interim head coach Aaqib Javed makes no apologies for preparing a spin-friendly pitch in Multan.

“I’ve played on surfaces that spun from day one, but this was the first time I’ve seen such cracks on a pitch on day one.”
West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite says he has never seen a pitch break up so early in quite the way the Multan surface did for the first Test.

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CPL 2025 to be played from August 14 to September 21

admin — Sat, 11 Jan 2025 08:39:55 +0000

The 13th edition of the men’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will be held from August 14 to September 21 this year, Cricket West Indies (CWI) and the CPL announced on Friday. “Once again there will be no clash with West Indies international matches,” a CPL statement said.

“We are pleased to have once again worked with Cricket West Indies to find a window that allows the very best players from across the region to take part in the CPL,” Pete Russell, the CPL chief executive, said. “The 2024 season was our most successful to date and we are looking forward to building on that success in 2025.”

As has been the case since 2022, there will be 30 league-stage matches featuring the six teams, followed by four playoffs – the eliminator, two qualifiers, and the final. St Lucia Kings are the defending champions, and the tournament will feature losing 2024 finalists Guyana Amazon Warriors, Barbados Royals, Trinbago Knight Riders, St Kitts and Nevis Patriots and Antigua and Barbuda Falcons, who replaced Jamaica Tallawahs before the 2024 edition.

Lynford Inverary, acting chief executive and chief operating officer of CWI, said, “While CWI continues to take a leading role in shaping our overall cricket calendar, the CPL remains a key part of our cricketing ecosystem, playing an important role in the development and promotion of the game throughout the Caribbean.”

Specifics in terms of venues, fixtures, etc will be announced later. There will be a draft as well as a round of pre-draft signings for the teams to get their squads in place.

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Fraser, Glasgow earn call-ups to West Indies squad for Bangladesh series

admin — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 08:12:20 +0000

Fast-bowling allrounder Cherry-Ann Fraser and uncapped quick Jannillea Glasgow have earned call-ups to the 15-member West Indies squad for the six white-ball fixtures against Bangladesh at home. The series will begin with the first of three ODIs on January 19 and conclude with the last of three T20Is on January 30, with St Kitts hosting all the games.

Fast bowler Shamilia Connell and middle-order batter Rashada Williams are the two absentees from West Indies’ last assignment, the tour of India. West Indies will continue to be without veteran allrounder Stafanie Taylor, who is still recovering from a knee injury, a CWI release said.

Fraser has played a total of 12 ODIs, with her last appearance in the format in October 2023 against Australia. Her last international appearance, though, was against Sri Lanka in a T20I in Hambantota in June last year. Glasgow has played four T20Is, the last of them against Pakistan in Karachi in May 2024. Though she has been travelling with the West Indies ODI squad on and off since 2023, Glasgow hasn’t got an opportunity in the format yet.

West Indies are currently ninth in the Women’s Championship table – the top-six teams qualify automatically for the ODI World Cup in India later this year. But, with 14 points from 21 matches at this stage, it’s impossible for West Indies to secure direct qualification even if they finish with a maximum of 20 points with a 3-0 sweep over Bangladesh, with New Zealand at sixth position with 21 points already. However, seventh-placed Bangladesh, with 19 points from 21 matches, have a chance of moving past New Zealand and securing a top-six finish.

“Bangladesh’s visit comes at an ideal time in our preparation cycle,” West Indies head coach Shane Deitz said. “They’re a skilled unit that has shown impressive growth, and this series gives us an excellent opportunity to examine our squad depth and continue to implement our aggressive, flamboyant brand of West Indian cricket.

“We have been focusing on specific areas of improvement in our training and touring, and these matches will help us gauge our progress. The conditions at Warner Park will challenge both teams and make for compelling cricket. I’m looking forward to seeing how some of our younger and less-experienced players respond to the test.”

This will be the first-ever bilateral series between the two sides, as well as Bangladesh’s first bilateral tour of the Caribbean. The teams’ last ODI meeting was three years ago in the 2022 World Cup in New Zealand, when West Indies won the game by four runs.

Overall, the two teams have met five times in international cricket – four times in T20Is and once in an ODI – and West Indies are yet to suffer a defeat.

However, West Indies will be aware that they are coming off two consecutive ODI series defeats, against India and Sri Lanka, and will be keen to end the six-match losing run when they take on Bangladesh.

West Indies ODI and T20I squad

Hayley Matthews (capt), Shemaine Campbelle (vice-capt), Aaliyah Alleyne, Nerissa Crafton, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Shabika Gajnabi, Chinelle Henry, Zaida James, Qiana Joseph, Mandy Mangru, Ashmini Munisar, Karishma Ramharack, Cherry Ann Fraser, Jannilea Glasgow

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Andre Coley hopes West Indies batters back up the good work of the bowlers

admin — Wed, 08 Jan 2025 07:48:57 +0000

“It’s a new series, a new opportunity,” West Indies Test coach Andre Coley said ahead of the two-match series in Pakistan.

The last series between the two sides, in Kingston in 2021, was drawn 1-1, but West Indies have not won a Test in Pakistan since November 1990. It’s also true that there haven’t been too many of these – only seven since that game – but the best West Indies have done since that 1990 series is a draw, in Multan in November 2006.

As such, the series is part of the World Test Championship cycle, but doesn’t mean much for either team in terms of context: South Africa and Australia have qualified for the final, while Pakistan and West Indies bring up the rear, eighth and ninth respectively on the nine-team table. It’s also a chance for Coley to sign off on a positive note before Daren Sammy takes over.

“Once you play a series or a match there’s an opportunity in itself,” Coley said at a press interaction on Tuesday. “It’s not about us creating history, it’s about using the learnings from 2024 and that consistency that was inserted for the last 12 months, being more set around the brand of cricket we want to play.

“Different people in the squad who would have missed out on opportunities before can use this as an opportunity to do better and do it in conditions that could be different in some instances.

“When you talk about Test cricket, it’s not only the opposition’s skill that provides tests, but the different conditions, different environments, and different game situations provide those tests. And that’s why you want to play at this level and in this format, to test yourself over four-five days. The game could change so rapidly.”

The magical eight-run win, scripted by Shamar Joseph, against Australia in Brisbane in January was by far West Indies’ best result in Test cricket last year, but it was one of only two wins for them in the entire WTC cycle so far. And Coley pointed to the inconsistencies of the batters for the team not being able to build on the work by the bowlers.

“It’s time, going forward in 2025, that the batsmen now, having been given certain opportunities to test their skills, to learn and translate those into performances”

Andre Coley

“Obviously, Jayden [Seales] back to full fitness, Shamar Joseph making his debut in 2024, Alzarri Joseph… Kemar Roach has been a standout in terms of his leadership, on and off the field, with his skill and mentorship. [Gudakesh] Motie and [Jomel] Warrican have been consistent when given an opportunity,” Coley said, counting off his main bowlers, of whom the two Josephs are not in Pakistan. Anderson Phillip is, and Kevin Sinclair is the third spinner.

“We’ve seen a couple of innings where our batters have… Kavem Hodge scoring his first hundred, Alick Athanaze missing out on at least three; there have been instances where we have had significant partnerships from a batting perspective. But they haven’t really been very consistent and put ourselves in match-winning totals.

“The standout has been that we’ve been able to keep ourselves in Test matches on the back of our bowling, and what the young bowlers have done. It’s time, going forward in 2025, that the batsmen now, having been given certain opportunities to test their skills, to learn and translate those into performances.”

The first Test will be played in Karachi, from January 16, and the second in Multan, from January 24, with West Indies playing a three-day tour game in Islamabad from January 10 to get used to the conditions.

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