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Shimron Hetmyer retains spot as West Indies name T20I squad for South Africa series; Andre Russell and Alzarri Joseph absent

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West Indies have rested some big names like all-rounders Andre Russell and Jason Holder alongside star seamer Alzarri Joseph for the three-match T20Is against South Africa at home, starting August 24.

While opener Brandon King also misses out on the cut, as he continues to recover from the side strain he suffered during the T20 World Cup in June, Shimron Hetmyer, who didn’t play a single game in the tournament, retained his place.

Meanwhile, Rovman Powell continues to lead the star-studded T20I side, with Shai Hope tipped to open alongside Johnson Charles, while rookie Alick Athanaze is a backup. The biggest plus, however, is to have superstar batters Nicholas Pooran and Hetmyer in the middle order, with Romario Shepherd there to take care of lower-order duties.

Though Shamar Joseph retains his place following a superb show in the Test series, CWC picked four spinners in Gudakesh Motie, Akeal Hosein, Chase and returning Fabian Allen.

West Indies squad for SA T20Is –

Rovman Powell (captain), Roston Chase (vice-captain), Alick Athanaze, Fabian Allen, Johnson Charles, Matthew Forde, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Obed McCoy, Gudakesh Motie, Nicholas Pooran, Sherfane Rutherford and Romario Shepherd

The three-match series is scheduled for 23 – 27 August 2024 in Trinidad.

The West Indies Men’s T20 team has won four of its last five series and just missed out on a semi-final place at the recently concluded ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, which was hosted in the Caribbean.

In the ICC Men’s T20I Team Rankings, West Indies is number four, and South Africa is number five.

Is Shamar Joseph the next big thing in cricket? West Indies seamer picks 3rd five-wicket haul in 10 innings

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West Indies fast bowler Shamar Joseph picked up 5/33 in the second Test match in the home Test series against South Africa, at the Providence Stadium, Guyana.

This was the 24-year-old seamer’s 3rd fifth-wicket haul in his 10 Test innings of his young but impressive career so far.

After South Africa won the toss and opted to bat first, they were quickly reduced to 9 wickets for just 97 runs, but they managed to push on until 160, after a 63-run partnership between Dane Piedt and Nandre Burger, for the tenth wicket.

South Africa in reply, reduced West Indies to 97/7 after a 4-fer from Wiaan Mulder, with pacers taking advantage of the Guyana wicket as they took all the 17 wickets on the first day.

Is West Indies fast bowler Shamar Joseph the next big thing in cricket?

West Indies fast bowler Shamar Joseph impressed selectors with superb bowling spells during the practice match against Cricket Australia XI, which prompted them to give him the Test debut in the first Test against the Aussies at the Adelaide Oval, on January 17, 2024.

Despite being known as a bowler, he caught attention with his grit as a number 11 batter where he scored 36 runs, which was the highest score by a West Indies number 11 batter on debut, as he stitched up a 55-run partnership for the final wicket.

His first Test wicket was superstar batter Steve Smith, whom he dismissed on the very first ball of his international career. He went on to pick up 5/94, becoming the first West Indies bowler to pick up a five-wicket haul, on debut.

In the second Test match of that series, he took 8 wickets, including a 7/68 in the fourth innings, which was his second five wicket-haul of his career, as he led his team to a historic win over Australia, at Gabba, Brisbane.

What is Shamar Joseph’s record in his first ten innings of his Test cricket career?

Here is how Shamar has performed in his Test career so far, following his third 5-wicket haul against South Africa in the second Test match of the series, at Guyana:

             Innings      Wickets       Best Bowling        Average       5 wicket hauls       Strike Rat

      10                       22              7/68                        23.50               3 3                          2.3

Watch Video: Lungi Ngidi shushes Jayden Seales, mocks him with ‘chirping’ action after cleaning him up

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South African star bowler Lungi Ngidi shushed West Indies star Jayden Seales and further mocked him by chirping action after cleaning him up in the first innings of Day four of the first Test match between South Africa and the West Indies taking place at the Port of Spain.

This hilarious action of the South African right-arm pacer grabbed social media attention on August 11.

Interestingly, the fans have mixed reactions, as some feel that it was his light gesture in the game while others criticise and mock him for his actions in the thrilling action. Both sides have returned to Test cricket to boost the rankings in the WTC cycle.

The West Indies recently lost to England by 0-3, while South Africa’s second-string side also suffered a defeat against New Zealand in the two Test series in February.

Speaking about the game here, it was South African skipper Temba Bavuma who won the toss and invited the host to field first in the game. Notably, after being opted to bat first, the South African side posted 357 runs before being bundled out of the game.

Star opening batter Tony de Zorzi hammered 78 runs from 145 balls, featuring seven fours and two sixes, with a solid strike rate of 54. In addition, skipper Bavuma also hammered 86 runs to help the Proteas stand in the dominant spot.

However, during the chase, West Indies openers Brathwaite and Louis made 35 runs each and gave the team a decent start. Following them, Carty also hammered 42 runs, while Hodge made 25 runs in the middle order.

Meanwhile, it was power hitter Jason Holder who was looking extremely terrific and the biggest threat to the Proteas, but Aiden Markram bowled out for 36 runs, which allowed them to just make 233 runs. South Africa is currently leading by 154 runs at the end of Day 4.

ENG vs WI, 3rd Test: Probable XI, West Indies Should Make Changes, But Who Will They Bring In?

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The third and final game of the Test series between England and West Indies begins on Friday, July 26. Edgbaston in Birmingham will be hosting the final game of the series.

West Indies didn’t have the kind of outing they would’ve wanted in the Test series against England National Cricket Team. They are 2-0 down in the series in the Richards-Botham Trophy with one game still to go. They would be hoping to win the last game and end the series on high.

West Indies started the series on a poor note. They have been extremely poor with the bat and ball in the series. Especially with their win in Australia earlier this year, it was expected that they would put up a fight here. But it hasn’t been the case as they went on to lose both games one-sidedly.

West Indies suffered a massive innings and 114 runs defeat in the Lord’s Test and were humiliated. However, in the second game, they came up with a great fight. They were even in the winning position as they took the lead in the first innings but couldn’t carry on the momentum as they went on to lose the game by 241 runs last week in Trent Bridge.

England vs West Indies Match Details:

Match: England vs West Indies, 3rd Test, West Indies tour of England, 2024

Date and Time: July 26 – July 30, 2024, 3:30 PM IST

Venue: Edgbaston, Birmingham

England vs West Indies Head-to-Head

England and West Indies have faced each other on 165 occasions in Test cricket. England have won 53 of those meetings whereas West Indies have emerged victorious on 59 occasions, with 53 ending in draws.

Matches played: 165

England won: 53

West Indies won: 59

Draw: 53

England vs West Indies Pitch Report

The pitch at Edgbaston in Birmingham is dry in nature. The new-ball bowlers will get some movement off the deck but the surface settles as the game progresses. There will be runs on offer for batters who are willing to spend some time in the middle.

England vs West Indies Weather Forecast

The temperature on the opening day of the Test is expected to hover between 11 and 21 degrees Celsius. It will stay humid throughout the day.

England vs West Indies Probable XIs

England

Team News

No injury concerns. All the players are fully fit.

Probable XI

Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Mark Wood, Shoaib Bashir

West Indies

Team News

Jeremiah Louis has been ruled out of the squad for the final game of the series. Akeem Jordan has been called up as his replacement.

Probable XI

Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Mikyle Louis, Kirk McKenzie/Zachary McCaskie, Alick Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Jason Holder, Joshua Da Silva (wk), Alzarri Joseph, Kevin Sinclair, Jayden Seales/Gudakesh Motie, Shamar Joseph

England vs West Indies Match Prediction

England have already taken an unassailable lead in the series. They have performed brilliantly so far and will be looking to clean-sweep the series. West Indies will have to put in a much-improved performance to avoid a whitewash.

The upbeat England look a well-balanced unit and are likely to clean sweep the series by a 3-0 margin.

England vs West Indies 2nd Test Day 3 Highlights: England recover from nervy start to lead West Indies by 207 runs

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Harry Brook’s unbeaten fifty guided England into a strong position at stumps on the third day of the second Test against the West Indies at Trent Bridge.

England were 248-3 in their second innings at Saturday’s close, already a lead of 207 runs. Brook was 71 not out and star batsman Joe Root unbeaten on 37, with the Yorkshire duo having shared an unbroken stand of 108 in 23.4 overs.

England had been in control against a wayward West Indies attack as Ben Duckett made 76, his second dashing fifty of the match, and Ollie Pope added 51 to his first-innings 121.

At the same time, the Caribbean team would like to wrap up England as soon as possible to make a comeback in the game.

West Indies made a huge score of 457 runs

In response to England’s 416 runs in the first innings at the Nottingham ground, West Indies had scored 351 runs for five wickets with a century by Kavem Hodge (120) before the start of the third day.

After this, West Indies wickets fell quickly on the third day, but in the end, there was a partnership of 71 runs between Shamar Joseph and wicketkeeper-batter Joshua da Silva for the tenth wicket. Due to this West Indies scored 457 runs in the first innings and took a lead of 41 runs against England.

Shamar Joseph, who came at number-11 for West Indies, scored 33 runs from 27 balls with 5 fours and two sixes, while Silva remained unbeaten after scoring 82 runs from 122 balls with 10 fours and three sixes. Chris Woakes took the maximum (4) wickets for England in the first innings.

‘It was like a dream’ – Kavem Hodge delighted with maiden Test hundred vs ENG

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A hard-fought debut Test hundred by Kavem Hodge helped West Indies make a strong comeback in the second Test against England at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on Friday, July 19.

Hodge put on a well-compiled 175-run stand for the fourth wicket alongside Alick Athanaze and bailed the tourists out of crisis after they were reduced to 84 for the loss of three wickets.

Hodge had to grind hard for his hundred as the English bowlers made life extremely difficult in the middle.

Mark Wood, in particular, bowled a hostile spell to the right-handed batter and fired cannonballs at him. However, Hodge managed to negotiate Wood’s spell and reached his maiden three-figure mark in Test cricket to ensure West Indies stayed in the contest.

Hodge admitted that facing Wood was pretty tough but made his century “a lot more satisfying”.

“It was brutal. It’s not every day you rock up and you face someone who’s bowling more than 90mph every single ball. There was one point, I made a joke to him, I said: ‘Hey, I have a wife and kids at home.’ But I think that made the century a lot more satisfying. Test cricket is brutal, it’s challenging, it’s mentally draining. To experience that, facing guys like Mark Wood, it was tough but it was satisfying,” said Hodge after the end of day two.

“It’s a dream come true, you play the game as a youngster, that’s something that you want to do, especially at the highest level – in England against England. I’m really happy and satisfied about it, especially also the position of the team, it’s always good to help the team’s cause,” he added.

While Hodge was brilliant, he received ample support from Athanaze who accumulated his runs at a much more brisk pace.

Athanaze scored 82 off 99 balls and struck ten fours and a maximum during his knock. He was denied his maiden Test ton by Ben Stokes as the England skipper got him caught by Harry Brook at gully.

Athanaze’s fluent knock allowed Hodge to take his time in the middle and build the foundation of his hundred. Hodge credited Athanaze for his valuable contribution and revealed how they complement each other in the middle.

“We always bat good together, play for the same franchise back home, we’ve had a lot of big partnerships. He’s more aggressive than I am, I’m more of an accumulator, so I tend to go under the radar and go about my business quietly. Always good to spend time with him at the wicket,” mentioned Hodge.

WATCH VIDEO: Shamar Joseph breaks roof tiles at Trent Bridge with MONSTER six as West Indies take first innings lead

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It was all fun for West Indies batters in the opening session of Day 3 of the second Test match against England as they took the lead against the odds.

However, the highlight reel of Saturday (July 20) was the monster six hit by Shamar Joseph as it took everyone by surprise while he broke the tiles of the roof at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.

His exploits coupled with Joshua Da Silva‘s brilliant 82-run knock saw the West Indies take a 41-run lead in the first innings.

Shamar Joseph hits monster six

Having come out top bat at 386/9 and West Indies trailing by 30 runs, not much was expected from Joseph with the bat. However, he was brilliant with the bat and on the fourth ball of the 106th over he gained everyone’s attention.

Batting against Gus Atkinson he pulled his bat for a monster six which landed on the roof of one of the Trent Bridge stands, in the process breaking the tiles of the roof. The six also saw West Indies take a first innings lead to everyone’s surprise.

Kevin Sinclair reveals background of unique wicket celebration – Read Full Story Here!

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West Indies spinner Kevin Sinclair has explained the background of his trademark wicket celebration as the Caribbean side fought back strongly late on the opening day of the second Test against England on Thursday.

Sinclair was among the West Indies’ best bowlers on the first day of the crucial ICC World Test Championship contest in Nottingham, with the inexperienced off-spinner claiming two wickets – including the big scalp of England young gun Harry Brook – as the hosts amassed 416 after being sent into bat first.

It was Sinclair’s dismissal of Brook that caught the eye most, with the Guyanese spinner dashing off to perform his now trademark celebration that consists of backflips and somersaults as the West Indies fought back hard to reduce England to 201/4 during the middle session.

It wasn’t the first time Sinclair has produced the eye-catching celebration on the field, with the 24-year-old having performed the acrobatic feat during last year’s ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier tournament in Zimbabwe and then again on Test debut against Australia at The Gabba earlier this year.

Sinclair was quizzed on the background of the unique celebration after the opening day’s play and the right-armer revealed the act had been perfected from years of practice at home.

“That’s my trademark celebration, from where I come from,” Sinclair said.

“Whenever I get a wicket, I just do it for everyone from there.

“It all started at the tender age of eight, practicing it over and over in the back garden. I know what I’m doing, I’ve perfected it over the years.”

Sinclair wasn’t even meant to be in the West Indies’ XI for the second Test, with the spinner only earning a reprieve on the morning of the opening day when first-choice tweaker Gudakesh Motie was ruled out of the clash due to illness.

Sinclair’s enthusiasm on the field helped inspire his fellow bowlers, with Alzarri Joseph (3/98), Jayden Seales (2/90) and Kavem Hodge (2/44) all picking up multiple wickets as England threw away a fast start to be dismissed late in the day.

Right-hander Ollie Pope was the mainstay of England’s innings, with the top-order batter riding the luck provided by a bevy of dropped catches by the West Indies to notch his sixth Test century for his country.

Pope acknowledged the luck he received while batting, but said it was a welcome change from a recent stint at domestic level in England when everything seemed to go against him.

“I’m happy with the way I went about my stuff and obviously there was a nice couple of drops, which always helps,” Pope said.

“No one means to drop them but cricket goes in swings and roundabouts. The luck wasn’t with me in my County stint. I wouldn’t say I had doubts but sometimes you think, ‘Why’s everyone else in the country scoring runs in County cricket but England’s No.3 isn’t going out and averaging 50 this summer?’

“That’s just cricket for you, you want to go and score a hundred every day but sometimes it doesn’t work that way.”

‘Dig deep. Don’t give up. Test cricket is tough’ – Kraigg Brathwaite sent a clear message to his players to not lose heart

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Kraigg Brathwaite is not expansive with the bat. Ditto with words. But in those pithy sentences, the West Indies captain sent a clear message to his players to not lose heart despite being beaten in two days and an hour at Lord’s .

Brathwaite admitted West Indies had arrived at Lord’s with the aim of winning the first Test of the three-match series. His fast bowlers Kemar Roach (before he was injured) and Shamar Joseph wanted to ruin James Anderson’s farewell.

Eventually, though, West Indies were simply the support cast at the Anderson gala attended by full houses including on Friday, for which the ECB refunded fans because there was fewer than 15 overs of play.

“For me to the boys [the message] is generally: things will not always go as planned,” Brathwaite said after the defeat by an innings and 114 runs. “Also, we came to win the Test and it didn’t happen. But [there are] still two Tests remaining in this series and we still have six Tests remaining for the year. So it’s all a build-up. We can’t believe that because of this [England] win, we are out of it or anything. We got to dig deep, we got to keep believing and keep stressing on it. It’s easy to give up. It’s easy to say, ‘well, I can’t get it done’, but we got to keep believing and keep supporting one another.”

West Indies failed to bat 50 overs in both innings – 41.4 in the first, 47 in the second. No batter got to 50, with the unbeaten 31 from tailender Gudakesh Motie, who threw his bat around on day three, being their highest score.

The disappointing bit for West Indies was that their batters were easily defeated and committed basic errors at the smallest nudge from England’s bowlers, especially debutant Gus Atkinson.

Fast bowler Jayden Seales, who took four wickets on day two, had pointed to the batting failure on the first day when West Indies were dismissed for 121. Brathwaite, who made 6 and 4 at Lord’s, concurred.

“Batting first, you want to put runs on the board in the first innings especially. We know where we went wrong. We know where we can be better. My thing for the group is stay mentally tough. It’s Test cricket. You go through successful periods, you go through tough periods, but you just got to be strong and believe in your ability. You got to believe that something’s around the corner. Just keep doing the right things. And everything will work out.”

When asked what positives West Indies could take from this defeat, Brathwaite said bowling England out was a good start.

“We got ten wickets. We did bowl them out albeit [for] 50-60 runs too many. With the bat, we got three guys that got 20-odd, they batted for close to an hour if not an hour. We caught decently as well.”

West Indies do know how to win Tests and even series. They haven’t lost a Test series against England at home in two decades and are current holders of the Richards-Botham Trophy.

Brathwaite said he, along with his predecessor Jason Holder, would remind the players of those facts and keep them inspired for the rest of the series.

“We all have had some memories, we’ve all had glimpses of doing great stuff on this level … That’s what I call experience. That’s where experience comes in, Jason Holder has been great sharing his and I will continue to do it (too). As I said, we just got to dig deep on. Stay mentally tough.”

West Indies captain Brathwaite urges debutant Louis to ‘think big’ against England

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Louis, a 23-year-old batsman, will become the first cricketer from his home island of St Kitts to represent the West Indies in their 96 years in Test cricket when the series opener at Lord’s starts on Wednesday.

He joins a largely novice top order where Kirk McKenzie, Alick Athanaze and Kavem Hodge have just nine caps between them.

But Brathwaite, very much the senior player in the side ahead of his 90th Test, urged his team-mates to avoid being over-awed at the ‘Home of Cricket’.

“Mikyle is a nice guy, a very joyful spirit. I know he’ll do extremely well, playing international cricket for many years,” Brathwaite, 31, told a pre-match press conference at Lord’s on Tuesday as he announced his side.

“My advice to all the younger boys in the group, like Mikyle making his debut, is don’t just expect to play for West Indies, expect to be the first to score 30 hundreds.”

That mark has in fact been achieved by two West Indies greats in Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul but Brathwaite added: “You’ve got to think big, you know. Don’t think too small.

“I think they’re young and exciting. The more games they play the better. They have a lot of talent and we are fully 100 per cent behind them.”

Brathwaite’s predecessor as skipper Jason Holder will bat at six on his comeback to the side after almost a year out of Test cricket, while left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie provides a contrast to a pace attack featuring the exciting Shamar Joseph.

Guyana quick Joseph made his name with a stunning performance against Australia in January, taking 7-68 with a broken foot to steal an upset win in Brisbane.

“It was a big positive for us, to get a win, because it shows we could get the job done,” said Brathwaite. “The key for us as a group is to do it consistently.

“We could take a lot of stuff from that game both as batsmen, because we have some guys doing well, some important partnerships.

“Then the bowlers were outstanding. Shamar was the star, but pretty much all the bowlers, produced a very, very good effort and we caught well as well. “

He added: “We’ve got to look forward to this (match), then the other (two) Test matches this series. We’ve just got to believe in ourselves.”

West Indies team: Kraigg Brathwaite (capt), Mikyle Louis, Kirk McKenzie, Alick Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Jason Holder, Joshua Da Silva (wkt), Gudakesh Motie, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Jayden Seales