Trinidad and Tobago Red Force coach David Furlonge and former West Indies T20 leg coach Samuel Badree agree that Headley-Weekes’ new star-studded series is a good initiative, suggesting it will give them red ball players something extra to aim for. for during the four-day regular season.
According to Cricket West Indies, the Headley-Weekes Series will have three teams; Team Headley and Team Weekes– which will be selected from the best performers in the West Indies Championship and players outside the starting XI of the West Indies Test side– and a squad from the West Indies Academy currently based in a high performance program in Antigua.
The matches will be played from April 19 to May 6 at the Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG) in Antigua and are intended to give the best players in the region more opportunities to play against each other.
“Great initiative to have this series as the thought behind it has some merit,” said Badree. “This should provide extra motivation for players during the regular season to show up for one of the two teams and get extra time to show their worth,” he added.
With the best four-day players from all the territorial teams involved, Badree hopes for a competitive series. “I have seen tournament matches played against visiting teams and President’s XI matches etc. at very low intensity and of an average standard,” noted Badree.
“I hope this series is well contested and that there is some extra incentive for the players to make the series an exciting game and not just another few games with few performances,” he added.
Meanwhile, Furlonge said, “it’s always good to have more cricket”.
“I thought the two rounds were the most suitable for the professional circuit. But what is happening now is that we have some cricketers who play only 28 days of cricket in a year. But we have to make the best of what is offered and move forward with it,” he noted.
“Hopefully it will motivate the players. It is a good opportunity, especially those players who are on the verge of making the West Indies team. It is something that will give them another purpose; to lead their performances in the West Indies Championship, knowing that when you get there, you’re basically one step away from the West Indies team,” Furlonge reasoned.
“We have to wait and see if this series will have the desired impact. We need more information on how the teams will be selected. We will have two teams that have to fight and perform to be part of the tournament and then you will have a team that will just come in to play,” the Red Force coach emphasized.
The first two rounds of the six-team West Indies Championship will be played from February 1-11 at the National Cricket Stadium in Grenada and the CCG and Sir Vivian Richards Stadium (SVRS), in Antigua.
After a nearly five-week break in the championship, the final three rounds will be played from March 15 to April 1 at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Queen’s Park Oval and Diego Martin Sports Complex, in Trinidad.
After that, the champions will be crowned and presented with the Headley-Weekes trophy, a symbol of supremacy in the West Indies’ four-day first-class competition.
