West Indies Lendl Simmons plays a shot against India during the World Twenty20 cricket tournament
semi-fi nal in Mumbai, India in 2016. REUTERS /Danish Siddiqui, File
Caribbean Life, October 23-29, 2020 29
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By Azad Ali
Five senior West Indies players
have opted out of the Twenty20
International tour of New Zealand,
Cricket West Indies announced.
Powerful all-rounder Andre Russell
along with openers Lendl Simmons
and Evin Lewis were not part
of the 14-man squad named for the
three-match series from Nov. 27-30,
with embattled off-spinner Sunil
Narine and veteran superstar Chris
Gayle are also missing on the list to
New Zealand next month.
Chairman of Selectors, Roger
Harper said Simmons declined the
opportunity to tour at this time after
discussions with his family.
He said Lewis says he still has an
injury that it troubling him and Russell
said he was not handling playing
during the COVID-19 pandemic and
needed some time to clear his head.
Continued on Page 30
West Indies’ Kraigg Brathwaite. Jon
Super / Pool via REUTERS, File
Barbados Pride
collects trophy
By Azad Ali
Barbados Pride has finally collected
their Headley/Weeks Trophy for capturing
this year’s Cricket West Indies
(CWI) first-class tournament.
Legendary all-rounder Sir Gary
Sobers, Barbados’ only living National
Hero, presented the trophy to Pride captain
Kraigg Brathwaite during a recent
luncheon event hosted by the Barbados
Cricket Association.
The tournament was halted after
Continued on Page 30
World Test
Championship!
By Azad Ali
The International Cricket Council
(ICC) is forging ahead with plans to
stage an inaugural World Test Championship
(WTC) final in 2021, despite the
disruption caused to the international
game by the coronavirus pandemic.
The ICC has devised the championship
to give some context to dozens
of Test series taking place around the
world every year, finally giving the fiveday
game its own standalone showpiece
to with World Cup finals and One-Day-
International and Twenty20 formats.
Having been force to cancel its inaugural
competition in both 2013 and
2017, there were concerns that the ICC
would shelve its latest attempts to hold
the WTC final next year because of so
many Test series being called off amid
Continued on Page 30
MISSING IN
ACTION
Top Windies players opt out of New Zealand tour
/SPORTS
