Recap of the action in CWI Regional Four-Day tournament: Barbados and T&T dominate

– Guyana’s performance MUST improve

The first two rounds of Cricket West Indies’ (CWI) Regional Four-Day Championships are completed, and the remaining three rounds will return in May, after the Test series against England in the Caribbean.
Some Caribbean players have thrown their hats in the ring with strong performances.
Defending champions Barbados Pride are table leaders with 42 points, while Trinidad and Tobago Red Force are on 38.6 points. Both of these teams have won both of their matches. Leeward Islands Hurricanes are in third position with 24.6 points, with one win and a defeat; while Guyana Harpy Eagles are in fourth with 21.4 points, with one win and a defeat.

Windward Islands Volcanoes are in fifth with 10.8 points, and Jamaica Scorpions are in sixth with 8.8 points. Both of these teams are yet to register a win.
West Indies Test captain and opener Kraigg Brathwaite is the leading batsman with 341 runs, including a double century. He has an average of 113.6. Devon Thomas has 242 runs, while opening batsman John Campbell has 213 runs at 53.25.
The Guyana Harpy Eagles’ batting has been poor. Vishaul Singh is their leading batsman with 143 runs. He has a high-score of 93, and averages 35.75.
Anthony Bramble has 129 runs, and Chandrapaul Hemraj has 124 runs.
Red Force fast-bowler Anderson Phillip is the leading wicket-taker with 12 wickets at 14.25. His team-mate, off-spinner Bryan Charles, has 11 wickets at an average of 15.63. Red Force captain Imran Khan has 10 wickets, while Windwards off-spinner Kenneth Dember has 10 wickets.
Sherman Lewis, Jomel Warrican, Marquino Mindley, Colin Archibald and Veerasammy Permaul have each taken eight wickets. Permaul, the most consistent regional bowler, went wicketless in the second match against Leewards.
In addition to Brathwaite’s double, Campbell and Thomas were the century-makers in the first two rounds. Most of the batsmen wasted good starts, and failed to convert their scores into centuries.

After these two rounds, ten bowlers had five-wicket hauls. Raymon Reifer had the best figures: 6-23, followed by Charles, who had 6-48, and Jomel Warrican, who had 6-78.
In a few days’ time, the selectors, the Hon Dr Desmond Haynes and Ramnaresh Sarwan, who were both present at the different venues in these first two rounds, would select the Test team to play England in March. (Brandon Corlette)