Cricket West Indies (CWI) Senior Men’s Selection Panel today named the squads for the upcoming Headley Weekes Tri-Series.
Team Headley – named in honor of George Headley – will be captained by Joshua Da Silva, the wicket-keeper-batter. Team Weekes – named in honor of Sir Everton Weekes – will be led by Alick Athanaze, the left-handed top-order batter.
The two teams have been drawn from the leading performers in the 2023 West Indies Championship and those deemed to be on the fringe of the Test team.
Guyana Harpy Eagles, who won the recent Four-Day Championship, saw seven of its players selected across the three teams.
Selected are Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Gudakesh Motie, Veerasammy Permaul, Nial Smith, Kevin Sinclair, Kevlon Anderson along with Ashmead Nedd, who did not play for the Eagles this season but was part of the squad for the first two rounds in Antigua.
Nedd and Anderson retain their spot in the West Indies Academy team, who will form the third team in the series.
The two teams have been drawn from the leading performers in the 2023 West Indies Championship and those deemed to be on the fringe of the Test team.
The series aims to provide further first-class opportunities to the best performers from the West Indies Championship in a competitive and intense setting, as well as opportunities for players who the selectors believe would benefit from playing red-ball cricket as West Indies prepare for the upcoming “A” Team tour of Bangladesh and the two-Test Series against India at home.
Team Headley and Team Weekes will play against each other and against the West Indies Academy in the three-match series running from 19 April to 6 May, at the Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG) in Antigua.
All three matches have been awarded First-Class status.
The West Indies Academy was unveiled last year and played CG United Super50 tournament last November.
Team Weekes will feature Athanaze who was the leading batter in the West Indies Championship with 647 runs, which included two centuries; left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul the second-highest wicket-taker with 28 wickets; as well as Jahmar Hamilton who was the joint leading keeper with 19 dismissals.
Team Headley will feature experienced left-hander Darren Bravo, who was the second-highest run-scorer in the West Indies Championship with 446 runs which included two centuries; fast bowler Akeem Jordan who was third-highest wicket-taker with 22 wickets in four matches; as well as Tevyn Walcott, who was the joint leading keeper with 19 dismissals.
“Following the conclusion of the West Indies Championship, we are pleased to have more First-Class matches on the calendar,” said CWI Lead Selector Desmond Haynes.
“This is a great initiative and will provide our players with more opportunities as we look ahead to the very important Test Series against India later in the year as well as ‘A’ Team matches. We looked at everyone who was available, and we came up with teams who will be very competitive and push each other.”
All matches in the Headley Weekes Tri-Series will be streamed LIVE on the Windies Cricket YouTube channel with live scorecards and ball-by-ball scoring on the Windiescricket.com live match centre.
Team Headley: Joshua Da Silva (captain), Sunil Ambris, Darren Bravo, Justin Greaves, Kavem Hodge, Chaim Holder, Akeem Jordan, Marquino Mindley, Shayne Moseley, Gudakesh Motie, Anderson Phillip, Kieran Powell and Tevyn Walcott.
Team Weekes: Alick Athanaze (captain), Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Keacy Carty, Dominic Drakes, Jahmar Hamilton, Brandon King, Jair McAllister, Zachary McCaskie, Veerasammy Permaul, Raymon Reifer, Kevin Sinclair, Nial Smith and Devon Thomas.
West Indies Academy: Kevlon Anderson, Ackeem Auguste, Joshua Bishop, Teddy Bishop, McKenny Clarke, Rivaldo Clarke, Joshua James, Johann Layne, Kirk McKenzie, Ashmead Nedd, Kelvin Pitman, Keagan Simmons, Ramon Simmonds, Kevin Wickham and Nyeem Young.
According to Cricket West Indies Shai Hope was selected but was given permission to represent Yorkshire in the English County Championship while Rahkeem Cornwall and Shane Dowrich made themselves unavailable for selection.
MATCH SCHEDULE
All matches to be played at CCG, Antigua
Match 1: 19-22 April: Team Headley v West Indies Academy
Match 2: 26-29 April: Team Weekes v West Indies Academy
Match 3: 3-6 May: Team Weekes v Team Headley
