West Indies to play ‘A’ team tour against Bangladesh in August

By Brandon Corlette

After an extended break, ‘A’ team cricket is set to return to the Caribbean. West Indies’ ‘A’ team will be playing Bangladesh ‘A’ from August. This is according to Director of Cricket, Jimmy Adams, who made this disclosure on the Caribbean Cricket Podcast.

“We are going to have ‘A’ team cricket in August against Bangladesh. What we are looking to fill out is a calendar that has a minimum of two ‘A’ team tours per year,” Adams explained.
While some players had shown promise and performance at the recent West Indies First-Class championships, they sat as reserves on the last Test series against Bangladesh. Despite their current form, these players will have to wait a while for more red-ball cricket, until the next season; but with the reintroduction of ‘A’ team tours, players such as Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Jeremiah Louis would have the opportunity to play competitive red-ball cricket at a level above the Regionals.

“Looking at the development pyramid, we see ‘A’ team cricket as critical in bridging that gap to where our First-Class cricket is at the minute and International cricket. So yes, we have moved from my time to playing five First-Class games now. Pre COVID-19, we played ten games, five home and away. The logic in getting five, ten First-Class games, we feel in terms of standard and development, we need to find that filler between that level and international level, and ‘A’ team cricket is perfect for that. So, we (CWI) are looking to fill out our calendar for the next five years, of having two ‘A’ team tours per year,” Adams added.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) have also confirmed in recent reports that they will send the Bangladesh ‘A’ side for a tour to the West Indies. It will be the Bangladesh ‘A’ team’s first series in nearly three years. Their last tour was to Sri Lanka in September-October 2019, while the Bangladesh Emerging Team – comprising predominantly Under-23 cricketers – last played a series in March 2021.
The BCB’s decision-makers believe that the younger lot, who will be eventually considered for the next batch in Tests, should be given at least another couple of years to prepare themselves, and ‘A’ team tours is the perfect platform for this.
Based on statistics from the most recent First-Class season in the Caribbean, uncapped Test players who were standout performers are Chanderpaul, who scored 439 runs; Devon Thomas, who made 414 runs; Paul Palmer (336), and Yanic Cariah (314). Guyanese Tevin Imlach, who also scored 215 runs in three matches and is a wicketkeeper-batsman, may also get a look-in.
In the bowling department, uncapped players who may be given a look-in are Jeremiah Louis, who claimed 18 wickets; off-spinner Brian Charles, who had 16 wickets; and Kenneth Dember, who had 15 wickets. In the coming weeks, CWI will announce the full details of the ‘A’ team series against Bangladesh in the Caribbean.