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BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Cricket West Indies believes its decision to add two four-day “Trials” to the upcoming New Zealand tour will pay dividends by expanding the opportunities for specialized white ball players to play in the longer format.
The Caribbean side will play three Twenty20 Internationals and two Tests on the tour from November 27 to December 15, and set out for the Caribbean last Tuesday with a 15-man Test team and six reserves, along with a 14-man T20 side. .
At the conclusion of the three-game T20 series, CWI will withdraw half of the team to join the reserves and, in addition to the two non-playing test team members, will form a 15-man team for four days. “On Mount Maunganui and Nelson against the” A “side of the hosts.
Both games will run parallel to the Official Trials in Hamilton, December 3-7, and in Wellington, December 11-15, and CWI CEO Johnny Grave said it was an innovative way to add a look. from development to tour.
“It’s one of the things we learned from the tour of England. It is a fantastic opportunity for the reserves to meet and train with the first team, help prepare them and be there in case we have an injury or illness that reduces or discards a player, “said Grave.
“But once the test matches started in England, the reserves didn’t have much to do other than continue to prepare the players and train a little while the test match was going on.
“I think giving them competitive cricket against New Zealand” A “is great and for some of those T20 players who have played so much white ball cricket for the West Indies during the West Indies championship for the past few years, it will be their first chance. they would have probably had in two years to play red ball cricket.
“It’s a great opportunity and certainly one that we as management look forward to seeing how that” A “team performs in those two games.”
The tour is only the second of the year for the West Indies amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the closure of international cricket last March.
Until the outbreak of the pandemic, CWI had planned a busy household itinerary but was forced to scrap all series due to public health concerns.
One of the canceled series was South Africa’s “A” tour of the Caribbean, comprising three four-day “Trials” and five 50-year matches, and Grave said the New Zealand tour offered the opportunity for the South African program to team “A” be revived.
“To travel all that way [to New Zealand], then going through 14 days of quarantine for three T20s played over four days, it’s a tremendously long way to go for the fourth days of cricket, ”Grave noted.
“That’s when we started hearing feedback from the players and management on the England tour and we thought that with the six reserves we have, with some of the T20 players, the selectors wanted to encourage them to play red ball cricket and giving them opportunities, which isn’t always easy when our over 50 and T20 schedules are so tight, it just seemed like a really good idea to work for.
“We clearly don’t play ‘A’ team cricket against New Zealand and Australia because it’s too far to travel… but it’s a great opportunity.
“Obviously the conditions in New Zealand are quite unique, it will be different challenges for the players, so it will be a great opportunity.”
After traveling with 10 bookings for the three-round tour of England last July, the selectors only brought six to New Zealand, but Grave explained that this was due to the more relaxed COVID-19 regulations in place.
“It’s a different tour than the England tour. The reality is that after the 14-day quarantine, the entire tourist group will join New Zealand society, as long as New Zealand’s COVID level remains at Level One, the lowest possible threat level ”, said the English.
“So we are not going to have to play a three-day match between us, as was obviously the case in England. We also won’t have to use our own net launchers throughout the tour. They will be able to have young New Zealanders as part of the practice.
“So all the practice and prep after the 14-day quarantine will be like a normal tour, whereas in England, we not only had to have a full XI to play against in terms of prep games, but we couldn’t have no network. bowlers or additional support to prepare equipment. That is not the case in New Zealand. “
