Australian cricket set to break $100k minimum wage barrier for female players

Those with state and WBBL contracts stand to earn $151,000 on average next season

AAP02-Apr-2023Cricket is poised to become the first sport in Australia to break the six-figure wage mark for the vast majority of its domestic female athletes, with players on state and WBBL contracts to earn an average of AU$151,000 from next season.Cricket Australia and the players’ union are closing in on finalising the sport’s new pay deal, with a Memorandum of Understanding likely to be announced as soon as early this week.Final details are still being sorted, through a negotiation that has been largely amicable and headed by Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley and union counterpart Todd Greenberg.Sources from both sides have confirmed talks have been far removed from the dramas of the pay war of 2017, which resulted in an abandoned tour and threats of strikes.The big winners of the deal will be domestic female cricketers. AAP has been told that the lowest-paid players with state and Women’s Big Bash League contracts will earn AU$83,000, with state squad sizes to increase from 14 to 16 across each of the seven WNCL sides.Players will also continue earn match fees for WNCL matches beyond their salary, meaning a significant portion of those on a minimum salary will earn more than AU$100,000 in 2023-24.Ultimately, the deal will take the average salary to AU$123,000 and AU$151,000 after match fees.In comparison, players with a minimum WNCL and WBBL contract last year who received full match payments were paid AU$70,000.The deal will rocket cricket well above other women’s sports, with its nearest competitor being Super Netball where the minimum salary is AU$43,000 with no additional match payments.The AFLW minimum wage sits at close to AU$40,000, while NRLW is AU$30,000 and A-League women’s is AU$25,000.It’s also believed that contract values will significantly increase in the WBBL for overseas and Australia’s centrally contracted stars in a bid to keep the league competitive with England’s Hundred and other franchise tournaments.Organisers are hopeful the pay rise will be able to continue to attract the best overseas talent to Australia, for a tournament that was once unrivalled as the stand out in global women’s cricket.The deal will also mean Australia’s centrally contracted players have the potential to earn close to AU$1 million a season, when factoring in national deals and big-money offers from the WPL.

Bowling success an unexpected boost for Glenn Maxwell

With spin set to play a key role at the World Cup, Maxwell could have a vital part to play in providing Australia the balance they want

Andrew McGlashan in Brisbane05-May-2019The closest Glenn Maxwell got to the IPL this year was texting David Warner about his outstanding form, but he is hopeful of being proven right in having opted for county cricket before the World Cup after his brief first spell with Lancashire produced an unexpectedly key role with the ball.While some of his Australian team-mates were in India, Maxwell played one County Championship match and six one-day games. Though his top score was just 35, it was his success with the ball, which included a maiden five-wicket haul in the Championship and eight one-day wickets, that has proved timely.Australia captain Aaron Finch has said that he expected spin to play “huge role” in the World Cup, but it would appear tough for Nathan Lyon and Adam Zampa to both find a starting place in the XI in England with Australia likely to want a third frontline quick in the ranks compared to the balance they had in India and in the UAE. That puts the onus back on Maxwell to be the second spinner and after his role with Lancashire over the last few weeks, his confidence is high.Maxwell bowled his full allocation of ten overs in four of his six limited-overs matches and signed off with 3 for 42 against Durham, which included the wicket of Cameron Bancroft.”Certainly the bowling part I didn’t expect,” Maxwell said during Australia’s pre-World Cup camp in Brisbane. “I was able to get a lot of overs and find a rhythm I probably haven’t had for a while. To get some time at the bowling crease and get some real good feel out of that was nice.””I think with myself and Marcus Stoinis able to be a fifth or sixth bowler, depending on what sort of side we go with, to have those extra overs is really important for Aaron to have at his disposal. If we can be relied on to bowl key overs, even if it’s in the Powerplay or at the end, that’s going to be really important.”It was a great month, and I’m looking forward to going there at the back-end of the World Cup as well. Hopefully I have a successful World Cup and then we can give it a big tick.”Glenn Maxwell of Lancashire claimed a career-best 5-40 against Middlesex at Lord’s•Getty Images

However, Maxwell’s role at this year’s tournament is unlikely to be the same as in 2015, when Australia shunned a frontline spinner in favour of hitting the opposition with pace, leaving Maxwell as the only spin option. In the intervening years, spin has played an increasingly important role for all one-day sides, but Australia had lagged behind until quite recently when they threw their weight behind Zampa and Lyon.Still, it’s with the bat that Maxwell could really light up the World Cup. Having slipped to No. 7 during the home summer, as Australia tried to work out how they wanted the one-day side to play, he emerged with the role that many have long thought was right: floating in the middle order, ready to take on the game situation, the way he did in the last World Cup during which his lone ODI hundred came from No. 5: 102 off 53 balls against Sri Lanka. In India and the UAE, he batted from three to six, closing that run of matches with scores of 71, 98 and 70. They were vital innings for a player who has dealt with a host of mixed messages.”It was probably only after the Dubai series where I felt really comfortable with where my game was at,” he said. “I was able to play three really consistent innings, and all completely different – I went about it in different ways in all three of them. So I think that adaptability and consistency is something that Australian cricket and the fans have always really wanted from me. So to do it in three different ways, at different times, was really pleasing for me personally, but it’s something I need to continue to work on to continue being successful.”I generally work with JL [Justin Langer], just keep asking him what he wants from me, and it’ll get to a point where he’ll say ‘go put ’em on’. He’ll send a message out to Aaron, ask him what he thinks, and that’s how we get to that decision. It was something that I did reasonably well in 2015, so we’re sort of trying to emulate that in this World Cup. Hopefully I can do it similar.”English conditions are not foreign to the Australian squad, but Maxwell’s spell with Lancashire, though early season, also gave him the chance to get a taste of what could be on offer. He was involved in an extraordinary game at Trent Bridge, where Lancashire came within a whisker of chasing down Nottinghamshire’s 417. Australia play two of their group matches, against West Indies and Bangladesh, at Trent Bridge and it was also the venue where their under-strength team was plundered for a world-record 481 by England last year.Some of the domestic one-day games were played to the edges of wicket blocks while the main pitches were protected for the marque games to come, but Maxwell still expects some heavy scoring at the World Cup.”There might be a couple of games that are extremely high-scoring. That was the extreme part at Trent Bridge where you’ve got the corner boundary which is quite a cut off. We should’ve basically chased 417, and that’s the sort of conditions we’re going to be exposed to. It didn’t really spin a whole lot. It wasn’t lightning fast, the wickets, and there wasn’t a lot of swing. It should be interesting for the bowlers over there.”

Rahane, Dube and Conway blow KKR away

Roy and Rinku threw a few punches in pursuit of 236 but couldn’t prevent CSK from topping the table

Shashank Kishore23-Apr-20233:39

Moody: Bowlers flourish under Dhoni’s guidance

For a while, the IPL record for most sixes in an innings (21), which was coincidentally set on this day in 2013, was in danger of being toppled. Chennai Super Kings fell just three short of that mark, but muscled a record first-innings score at Eden Gardens courtesy swashbuckling knocks from Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube and Devon Conway.Kolkata Knight Riders lost two wickets inside the first three overs and merely played catch up for much of their chase. They eventually stumbled to their fourth successive loss. This meant MS Dhoni’s men are now top of the leaderboard with five wins in seven matches, two clear of a logjam that has five teams on eight points apiece.

CSK set the pace

Leading the six-hitting spree was Rahane, who smashed five of them in a 29-ball 71 to take Super Kings through the gears in the middle order, along with Dube.The raw numbers from their partnership read like this: 85 runs, 32 balls, four fours, eight sixes. This came on the back of another stellar knock from Conway, who hit a fourth straight half-century to set the innings up with Ruturaj Gaikwad.Their 73-run opening stand in just 7.3 overs was another fine exhibition of timing, power, wrist work and plenty of muscle. KKR’s bowlers went with length into the pitch up front when they discovered there wasn’t much swing, but it backfired as Conway was superb at picking lengths and hitting them square on both sides.

Suyash’s strike offset by sustained aggression

All the elements that make for compelling viewing when a legspinner is on were at play in Suyash Sharma’s first over – drift from wide of the crease, flight, rip and turn to beat the inside edge. Gaikwad was stunned. But the relief was quickly offset with Conway skipping down to launch Sunil Narine for a massive six down the ground.The 100 was up in the 11th over and CSK seemed bullish. Conway eventually perished when he couldn’t quite get the elevation off Varun Chakravarthy, but Dube got into the act with two massive hits in the same over. The first of those was a 100-metre hit to deep midwicket when Varun attempted a carrom ball into the pitch. Then, when Varun went full, he was tonked down the ground, over the sight screen.Ajinkya Rahane and Shivam Dube put on 85 from just 32 balls•BCCI

Rahane takes the attack to Umesh

In the very next over, the 14th, Rahane made it three sixes in a row for CSK when he played a stunning pick-up shot, using Umesh Yadav’s pace and letting his wrists take over. It was instinct-driven batting out of the top drawer, free of any shackles that might have been holding him back in previous seasons. He seemed to feed off this role clarity. He was an anchor no more; he was instead unlocking his destroyer avatar.The over would fetch another six that would be hoisted over fine leg and one of the most gorgeous extra cover drives you could see – feet to the pitch, leaning into the stroke and lacing the ball through the off side.That was the start of a fascinating passage as Rahane and Dube – another batter who seems empowered to play the game he has long threatened to – had fun and made the bowling attack look pedestrian. Rahane got to his fifty off 24 balls, Dube off 20. The last five overs went for 75 as KKR went into the break a deflated lot.

KKR stumble early

Narine saw his off stump cartwheel in the first over of the chase and N Jagadeesan was out to Ravindra Jadeja’s athleticism in the second. Venkatesh Iyer and Nitish Rana then swung hard and connected from time to time, before Moeen Ali and Jadeja struck in consecutive overs. Venkatesh was out lbw sweeping a full ball, Rana dragging a slog sweep to Gaikwad at deep midwicket.

Roy’s blitzkrieg

Jason Roy came in at this point, and hardly took time to settle in, going 6, 6, 6 off his second, third and fourth balls – all off Moeen. The first two were powerful slogs to the leg side, and when Moeen fired one full in trying to correct his line, he was reverse-swept behind point. Roy was in the mood to mow the ball down and connected more often than he missed to race away to a 19-ball half-century. By then the equation had touched 109 off 36.

Sri Lankan flavour to finish

Roy continued to hit out. After taking Maheesh Theekshana for two fours to begin the 15th though, he was out off the third ball to a full delivery that dipped and slid underneath his powerful swing. Even after all that magic, KKR’s win percentage was less than 1%.Two overs later, when Theekshana’s Sri Lanka team-mate Matheeshan Pathirana sent back Andre Russell, you got the sense that it was game over. And so it was, despite everything Rinku Singh did at the other end to make a half-century of his own.

Rishabh Pant lines up for Test debut at Trent Bridge?

Pant had shown his readiness for Test cricket averaging 63 in the two unofficial Tests he played on India A’s tour of England recently

Nagraj Gollapudi at Trent Bridge16-Aug-20181:05

India, Kohli train ahead of Trent Bridge Test

Rishabh Pant might be in line for his Test debut, based on the training session India had at Trent Bridge two days before the third Test. Dinesh Karthik, who kept wicket for India in the first two Tests, was feeding balls to Pant during the wicketkeeping drills.It is not known whether Karthik, if he does miss the Test, will be sitting out due to bad form with the bat or any injury. At Lord’s on the third day, Karthik was seen wincing in pain after he collected a wide delivery from Hardik Pandya. Indian team physio Patrick Farhart attended to Karthik at the end of that over and taped his fingers. Karthik did eventually do some keeping later at training though, indicating that he is fit.Despite doing a decent job behind the wicket, Karthik has had a miserable time with the bat in both the Tests. Out of the four innings, he had two ducks, and 20 of his 21 runs so far came in the second innings at Edgbaston. What has been worrisome for the team think tank is Karthik’s fraught technique, which has resulted in him getting bowled twice and lbw once.Today at training, Pant batted after all the specialist batsmen had finished their rounds. Does this then mean the swashbuckling batsman, who gained prominence based on his exploits in the limited-overs versions, is set to be blooded?It was a bold call on part of the selectors to pick Pant in the Test squad. For his part, Pant, who has already played four T20Is for India, showed his readiness during India A’s tour of England. In the two first-class matches he played on the tour, Pant scored a total of 189 runs, at an average of 63 including three half-centuries.Asked if India would hand a Test debut to Pant, head coach Ravi Shastri said wait for the toss on Saturday. “About Rishabh, you will know 11am day after,” Shastri said at Thursday’s media briefing.Meanwhile, Kohli had a light training session and batted fluently, seemingly without any difficulty, in the nets, and also took part in fielding practice. Kohli had picked up a stiff back during the second Test, for which he had required treatment. Kohli then admitted that the pain was severe and did not allow him to run with the same intensity on the field and when he came out to bat on the fourth day at Lord’s. But now the signals are positive for India, suggesting that Kohli is likely to be fit for the third Test, something England head coach Trever Bayliss too pointed out after having watched Kohli at training this morning.

Warner back in top five in ODI batting rankings; Conway moves to No. 3 among T20I batters

Starc moves to No. 4 in ODI bowling rankings while Smith goes up to seventh in the batting charts

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Nov-2022Australia opener David Warner is in the top five of the ICC rankings for batters, moving one spot up to fifth following his match-winning 106 in the third ODI against England in Melbourne. Steven Smith, who accumulated 195 runs in the three-match ODI series, which Australia won 3-0, moved up three places to seventh position in the format, which he also previously held in January 2017.Warner played a crucial role at the top of the order, scoring 208 runs across three matches which included a half-century and a century, which earned him the Player-of-the-Series award. Smith, meanwhile, scored 80* and 94 in the first two matches.Australia’s bowlers also gained in rankings following the series. Fast bowler Mitchell Starc, who finished with five wickets in two matches, including a 4 for 47 in the second ODI, went up four places to No. 4, while legspinner Adam Zampa, who picked 11 wickets in three games, moved eight places up to seventh.Travis Head, who put up a record-breaking 269-run opening partnership with Warner and scored a career-best 152 in the third ODI, moved 12 spots up to No. 30.Devon Conway scored a half-century in the third T20I against India•Getty Images

In the men’s T20I rankings, New Zealand opener Devon Conway’s 59 off 49 balls in the tied third match of the series against India pushed him one slot up to third position. He went past Pakistan’s Babar Azam, who is 10 rating points behind him. Also moving up the rankings list were Glenn Phillips (up one place to seventh among batters) and Tim Southee (two places up to joint-14th among bowlers).Among Indians to have gained in the latest rankings update were bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar (two places up to 11th), Arshdeep Singh (one place up to 21st) and Yuzvendra Chahal (eight places up to 40th)India batter Suryakumar Yadav consolidated his position at the top of the rankings after his 111 not out off 51 balls in the second match. He gained 31 rating points from the series and is on 890 rating points, 54 ahead of Pakistan’s Mohammed Rizwan who’s at No. 2.

Jason Roy leads rampage as Surrey hunt down Essex with ease

Jason Roy hit 86 from just 64 balls as Surrey eased to a six-wicket victory at Essex in the One-Day Cup

ECB Reporters Network27-May-2018
ScorecardJason Roy hit 86 from just 64 balls as Surrey eased to a six-wicket victory at Essex in the One-Day Cup.Roy picked up four sixes and eight fours before he was caught behind off Neil Wagner. By then, he had shared in a stand of 127 in 22 overs with Dean Elgar who went on to hit a superb 87.His effort, which spanned 95 deliveries, contained three fours and four sixes, and formed part of another century stand with Ben Foakes, who hiimself finished unbeaten on 84.Essex’s innings owed much to Varun Chopra, Tom Westley and Ravi Bopara, each of whom passed 50. Chopra, fresh from his 160 in the previous match against Somerset, continued his good form with 61 from 84 balls with the help of five fours.He departed when he chipped spinner Scott Borthwick to short cover, the previous ball having accounted for Westley when he was caught at mid-on for 54 accumulated fr0m 50 balls; this innings contained two sixes among his five boundaries.Bopara went on to make 74 from 71 deliveries, his fourth successive half-century in the competition, before he ran himself out in the penultimate over of the innings.Essex’s innings had slowed after the loss of Chopra and their inability to increase the tempo in the later stages of their innings proved fatal.A total in excess of 300 seemed on the cards when they reached 257 for 5 with five overs remaining but they lost five wickets for only 38 runs in that time.That included four wickets in 14 balls as the innings faded away.Essex have now lost three of their opening five matches and they will need to win all three of their remaining games if they are to stand any chance of progressing in the competition

James Taylor appointed full-time England selector

The former England batsman will now form the selection structure with Ed Smith and head coach Trevor Bayliss

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Jul-2018The former England batsman James Taylor has been named as a full-time selector to work alongside recently appointed national selector Ed Smith.Taylor, who was forced to retire in 2016 having been diagnosed with the heart condition ARVC, played seven Tests and 27 ODIs. He was already one of the scouts appointed by the ECB earlier this season to assess emerging talent around the English game.Taylor will now form the selection structure with Smith and head coach Trevor Bayliss.”I’m thrilled to be taking up this role with the ECB and once again supporting the England set-up. This is an important role and it’s a huge honour to be appointed,” Taylor said.”I have always been deeply passionate about the game and will bring all of my energy and experience – from the Lions, domestic cricket and the international Test and white-ball game – to this task.”I’m excited to be given the opportunity to work alongside Ed Smith and can’t wait to get started.”Smith said: “We are excited that James is joining us as a full-time England selector for the men’s game.”He is highly determined, with a deep knowledge of the contemporary game at domestic and international level. He was the outstanding candidate.”James’s early retirement has brought a unique opportunity for the game; he can bring his recent experiences and insights to selection, as we seek to identify the best players to drive forward England’s teams in all formats.”I know that James wants to channel the dedication that shaped his playing career into the new challenge of Talent ID and selection.”

Classy Madsen takes control as Bears bowling injuries tot up

Ryan Sidebottom has been added to Warwickshire’s list of injured pace bowlers and that threatens to disrupt their attempts to return to Division One at the first attempt

ECB Reporters Network03-May-2018
ScorecardWayne Madsen unfurled a century of high skill and courage as Warwickshire and Derbyshire swapped blows on an engrossing opening day of their Specsavers County Championship match at Edgbaston.In a clash of Division Two’s early-season front-runners, Derbyshire chose to bat and made 318, to which Warwickshire replied with 32 for 1 by the close.The visitors’ linchpin was Madsen who steered his side away from early trouble with a classy 144 from 203 balls, his 27th first-class century. It was completed despite a painful blow on the head from a Henry Brookes bouncer when the batsman had 82. After a seven-minutes-and-20-seconds delay for treatment, Madsen carried on with resolve undiminished to at least partially vindicate Derbyshire captain Billy Godleman’s decision to bat first.At 84 for 4 and 209 for 6, that decision looked dubious, but Madsen led determined resistance against a Warwickshire side which suffered another injury blow to its seam-bowling department during the day. Already without Olly Stone and Keith Barker, the Bears lost Ryan Sidebottom who suffered a side-strain midway through his tenth over in mid-afternoon.Having chosen to bat, Derbyshire did so unevenly in the first session. Ben Slater looked set to continue his vibrant early-season form when he moved crisply to 16 but he top-edged a pull at Chris Wright to mid-on.Warwickshire captain Jeetan Patel then took two wickets in his first 13 balls. Luis Reece offered a return catch then Alex Hughes top-edged a sweep and was brilliantly caught by Will Rhodes running back from square leg.When Henry Brookes hit Godleman’s leg-stump, Derbyshire were 84 for 4 and needed some shoring up. Madsen, dropped on 13 and 87, obliged with valuable support from Gary Wilson and Matt Critchley. After Wilson edged Wright to slip, Critchley batted positively until he fell lbw to Patel who soon collected his fourth wicket when Hardus Viljoen nicked behind.Hamidullah Qadri edged Brooks to second slip but then it was the turn of Duanne Olivier (40, 72 balls) to dig in alongside Madsen. The ninth-wicket pair added 67 in 16 overs before Brooks bowled Madsen and Mark Footitt in five balls. Eighteen-year-old Brooks finished with a career-best 4 for 63 and Patel 4 for 94.Warwickshire were left with 12 awkward overs batting as the floodlights fought the increasing gloom and lost Dominic Sibley who fell to an exceptional catch by Critchley at fourth slip off Olivier.

Harmanpreet says India played 'forcefully' in wet conditions that were 'not 100%'

India struggled their way to 132 after being asked to bat, found it difficult to field, and had Radha Yadav injured while diving

S Sudarshanan11-Sep-2022India captain Harmanpreet Kaur feels the side “forcefully played” in damp conditions in the first T20I against England in Chester-le-Street where the match was delayed because of rain earlier in the day.India were asked to bat in and they struggled their way to put up a big score as England spinners kept them to 132 for 7. While the outfield was sluggish and a bit slippery due to the wetness, the pitch was also not conducive to strokeplay. India also found it difficult to field during the chase, dropping catches and misjudging balls to let them escape to the boundary.”I think in the end we were not able to get that many runs we were expecting,” Harmanpreet said after the match. “I just feel today we forcefully played because it was not 100% conditions for cricket to play. Still I am happy the way girls put the effort because when there are chances to get injured but they are ready to play.”That’s what you need to have team-mates in the team [for] who can score in whatever conditions and I am happy the way we put our efforts.”Only Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet and Deepti Sharma managed to score 20 or more as legspinner Sarah Glenn (4 for 23) had the batters in a tangle along with offspinner Bryony Smith and left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone. Glenn and Smith picked five off the seven Indian wickets. Mandhana was happy to use the extra pace T20I debutant Lauren Bell offered early on to score three of her four fours. But taking pace off meant the ball held up on the surface and occasionally stayed low as well. Case in point being Harmanpreet’s dismissal.She had managed to get off the blocks pretty quickly but when she tried to come down the track to hit through the line of a delivery that Glenn landed on a length, it stayed low to hit off stump. Harmanpreet could only stare at the surface and her partner before walking off.In the second over of the chase, when Radha Yadav dived to her left at backward point, she seemed to have jammed her shoulder into the ground and walked out clutching it in pain. There were more instances of fielders in the deep either over-running the ball or slipping to let the ball through, and Sophia Dunkley and Alice Capsey capitalised on it to complete the nine-wicket win.”I know it was not 100% conditions to play cricket and still we were putting efforts,” Harmanpreet said. “I know the ground was too wet and there were so many chances to get injured and one of our players got injured also. She was our main bowler and that’s why we were lacking.”With Radha unavailable for India’s bowling innings, Harmanpreet used herself and Shafali Verma and those two overs went for a combined 28. She also had to use more of Deepti and Sneh Rana’s offspin against England’s right-hand batters, in the absence of a left-arm spinner like Radha who could take the ball away from them.”We were one bowler short and the way we were trying to put efforts [meant a lot],” she said. “I am really happy girls were coming forward to give 100%.”

Phil Simmons: We can't beg people to play for West Indies

Two months away from the T20 World Cup, the West Indies management have no clarity on the availability of key players

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Aug-2022Andre Russell hasn’t made himself available for selection. The status of Sunil Narine’s availability is a bit of a mystery. Evin Lewis and Oshane Thomas have not appeared for their fitness tests. Sheldon Cottrell and Roston Chase are out with injuries while Fabian Allen has pulled out for personal reasons. As a result, with the men’s T20 World Cup about two months months away, West Indies are far from identifying their best squad, and the 4-1 series defeat to India at home recently hasn’t helped.The three-T20I series against New Zealand, starting later today, gives the team management one last chance to see the players in an international setting – the CPL will follow – and lead selector Desmond Haynes and chief coach Phil Simmons expressed their disappointment at the state of affairs ahead of the series.Russell, for example, has not played for West Indies since the 2021 T20 World Cup. He’s playing the Hundred at the moment – along with Narine – and missed the home series against India and now against New Zealand. A couple of days ago, Russell was part of the list of overseas players unveiled by the UAE’s International League T20, which begins in January next year.”From what I have gathered, I think he is unavailable because he hasn’t made himself available,” Haynes said of the Russell situation.Related

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Lewis failed to complete a fitness test that had been arranged for him by the CWI during his IPL stint with Lucknow Super Giants earlier this year, according to Haynes.”I will love everyone to play for West Indies. I would love to make sure that all the guys make themselves available to play,” Haynes said. “But you must realise that the guys have options now, and if guys are choosing other franchises in front of West Indies, then we have to pick from who is available to us.”Simmons’ comments were stronger: “It hurts. There’s no other way to put it. But what can you do? I don’t think that I should be begging people to play for their countries. I think if you want to represent West Indies, you will make yourself available.””Life has changed, in that people have the opportunities to go different places and if they choose that over West Indies, that’s just how it is.”The CPL, which runs from September 1 to October 1, will come at a good time vis-à-vis West Indies’ selection for the T20 World Cup. The West Indies will have to play the first round of games, which starts on October 16, to qualify for the Super 12 round of the T20 World Cup.”If there is a competition that is run by the West Indies (and) somebody is playing well, I think his name should really come up for selection,” Haynes said about considering CPL performances for World Cup selection. “That performance is very important to us, and we didn’t say that we have picked the World Cup team yet, so all the games that are going to be played leading up to the World Cup, we must take into consideration.”In the three T20Is against New Zealand, West Indies could tinker with the positions of their two main batters in the middle order, Nicholas Pooran, the captain, and Shimron Hetmyer.”So far we have been experimenting; as we get to the end of these games, we’re going to have a better idea how we want them to be put in the order and how we want them to go in,” Simmons said. “And we tend to judge it by overs and the situation. So in each game it could be different. Shimron could bat higher and Pooran could bat lower. It just depends on the game, the situation in the game.”

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