The West Indies cricket team on Monday departed from Antigua for their scheduled three-test tour of England as international cricket is finally set to resume. Two planes collected players from various islands in the West Indies earlier on Monday before they all took a private charter flight for the UK, which will reach Manchester on Tuesday.
West Indies eked out a two-wicket win over Pakistan in a low-scoring Group B encounter to start their Champions Trophy campaign on a perfect note at the Kennington Oval on Friday.
'Indian diplomacy faltered amidst multiple failures of statecraft.' 'The functionaries responsible must be held to account for their abject failure,' asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Even though West Indies stars such as Chris Gayle and Andre Russell were not part of that series, Jason Holder's team still must be smarting from those three consecutive losses last month.
Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi produced a brilliant performance with both bat and ball to lead his team to a thumping 126-run victory over West Indies in their first One-day International on Sunday.
Ishant Sharma attributed his good showing on Day 2 of the first Test against the West Indies to his pace bowling partner Jasprit Bumrah's advice of trying cross-seam stuff.
Jason Holder struck his maiden first-class century to lead the West Indies to a draw in the first Test in Antigua on Friday after James Anderson had become England's leading Test wicket-taker.
Six of the CA players were making their first class debut, while seven of them were also aged 21 or younger
Bangladesh kept calm under pressure to clinch their One-Day International series against Twenty20 world champions West Indies 3-2 on Saturday.
England levelled the three-Test series against West Indies after bowling the tourists out for 198 in the second innings to win by 113 runs in the final session of the second Test with Ben Stokes in inspired form at Old Trafford on Monday. England had declared their second innings at 129-3 in the first session in Manchester after sizzling all-rounder Stokes smashed 78 off 57 deliveries, setting West Indies a target of 312 with 85 overs left in the day.
After a 117-day absence, international cricket returned in familiar fashion on Wednesday as rain and bad light restricted the first Test between England and West Indies to 17.4 overs and the hosts closed a frustrating day on 35-1.
Young England batsman Zak Crawley believes Ben Stokes will have no trouble filling the captain's shoe in the absence if Joe Root as the all-rounder is already a "big leader" of the team. Root will miss the Test series opener against West Indies, which starts on Wednesday at the Ageas Bowl to attend the birth of his second child, handing over the captaincy duties to England's World Cup hero Stokes.
The West Indies secured an impressive 2-0 Test series victory over New Zealand, with Shivnarine Chanderpaul guiding them to a five-wicket win in the second Test at Sabina Park, Jamaica, on Sunday.
A fine all-round performance from Darren Sammy helped West Indies crush Bangladesh by 75 runs in the fourth One-Day International in Dhaka on Friday to square the five-match series 2-2.
A fine all-round performance from Darren Sammy helped West Indies crush Bangladesh by 75 runs in the fourth one-day international in Dhaka on Friday to square the five-match series 2-2.
Kraigg Brathwaite, Kieran Powell and Kirk Edwards all hit half-centuries as West Indies held the edge in the second and final Test against Bangladesh, reaching 253 for five at close on the first day on Saturday.
England finally bowled out a determined West Indies for 345 and limped to 10 for two in the evening gloom chasing 191 for victory after an absorbing fourth day of the first Test at Lord's on Sunday.
IMAGES from the 2nd ODI played between West Indies and India at Port-of-Spain in Trinidad on Sunday
Darren Bravo hit his first international century while Kirk Edwards missed his second of the match as the West Indies tightened their grip over Bangladesh in the second Test on Monday.
Lewis had recently declined a central contract offered by the Cricket West Indies, potentially making him more available for leagues around the world, following in the footsteps of Chris Gayle and other stars from the region.
A devastating spell from seam bowler James Anderson set England up for a nine-wicket triumph in the second test against West Indies on Saturday as the tourists went 1-0 up in the three-match series.
Youngsters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma conjured a match-winning partnership as India beat West Indies by five wickets in the second ODI in Vizag on Friday to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
CA said the difference between the old ball and the new one was an updated lining of the leather designed to increase the resilience of the seam.
The victories in the last two ODIs may not have been enough to clinch the series, but the West Indies surely gained the momentum going into the Tests against India, says explosive host batsman Darren Bravo.
IMAGES from the first Test between England and West Indies played at the Rose Bowl Cricket Stadium, Southampton on Thursday
Root said England could not afford to lower their guard against an attack which featured three bowlers -- Jason Holder, Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel -- who are among the top 20 in official Test rankings.
West Indies' magnificent 215-run win over the Netherlands is their biggest by runs margin in the World Cup, bettering the 191-run victory over Sri Lanka at Karachi on October 13, 1987.
Explosive batsman Chris Gayle was once again left out, while fast bowler Fidel Edwards made his return to the 13-member West Indies squad named for the first Test against India starting on Monday.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is slated to present the Budget on February 26.
The West Indies scored one of the quickest wins in the World Cup when they beat Bangladesh by nine wickets in their Group B match in Mirpur, Dhaka, on Friday.
Ruthless West Indies humiliated Bangladesh with the bat and ball in front of their own fans on Friday, skittling the World Cup co-hosts for their lowest ever ODI score of 58 before chasing down the target in 12.2 overs.
After Kenya stunned the Lankans in the 2003 World Cup, the Island nation would be keen to get their revenge and send a message to their oppostion. Rediff staffers Manu Shankar and Abhishek Mande lists out reasons on why Kenya stands no chance of repeating their 2003 heroics.
Captain Virat Kohli endured a rare failure but Rohit Sharma more than compensated with a blistering 162 to help India steamroll West Indies by 224 runs in the fourth ODI.
West Indies won the battle of the ICC World Cup's basement dwellers, beating Afghanistan by 23 runs in their final group match at Headingley on Thursday.
After Australia scored 399 in a first innings highlighted by a knock of 199 by Steve Smith, West Indies were left reeling at 143 for eight in reply, 256 runs behind and facing the prospect of having to follow-on on Saturday.
Chocolate majors, home and surface cleaning companies, beauty brands say that business has been brisk this festive season.
Formidable India will hope to get more answers for their unsettled middle-order puzzle when they take on a reeling West Indies in the five-match ODI series, starting Sunday and ticking off the home team's countdown to the 2019 World Cup.
Skipper Virat Kohli is impressed with Hanuma Vihari's temperament, as the youngster's self-belief spreads a sense of calm in the dressing room when he is out there in the middle. Vihari was undoubtedly India's find of the West Indies Test series. He emerged the top run-getter with 289 runs that included a century and two half-centuries.
Seven deals with Nicholas Cage's Saturn Films, Jim Carrey's JC 23 Entertainment, George Clooney's Smokehouse Productions, Chris Columbus' 1492 Pictures, Tom Hanks' Playtone Productions, Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment and Jay Roach's Everyman Pictures were announced last year itself. These were followed by deals with Julia Roberts' Red Om Films and Brett Ratner's Rat Entertainment.
Archer, who has played his junior cricket in the Caribbean and qualified to play for England only in April, is a familiar figure for the West Indies camp and it knows what the 24-year-old is capable of.
