2022 has been quite a hectic and successful year for Cricket
West Indies Masters Association on several fronts, both
on and off the field and masters’ cricket in general.
Structured masters cricket only got started in 2018 with the
administration of O50s cricket since there may have been some
grey area on the intention of cricketers over 40 years of age
whether they would still be playing ICC international cricket or if
they would have wanted a rest from cricket in general. Attempts
were being made in 2021 to have the O60s World Cup but
COVID ensured that did not materialize. CWIMA was being
actively encouraged to enter a team for the O60s World Cup but
was always hesitant to attempt to do so since they were cognizant
of the additional work that it entailed plus the uncertainty of
attracting quality players in that age group. Be that as it may,
we decided to have a go at it in late 2021 when we commenced
planning an Over 60s tour to Thailand.
The main focus of this Thailand tour was to have some games for our O60s potentials in
a fairly competitive environment coupled with the opportunity to
have a vacation in an attractive tourist destination which was open
for business at that time. The interest generated by this tour was
amazing and plans were well advanced for same with an itinerary
already worked out along with tour fees collected from a group of
players rearing to go after such an extended period of hibernation
with the dreaded COVID virus. This was all effectively scuttled in
late December 2021/early January 2022 when USA announced
plans for a joint O50s and O60s Champions Trophy tournament
scheduled to be held in March/April 2022.
1. O50s & O60s Champions Trophy- Houston, Texas- March/April 2022
Our teams had mixed results in this joint tournament that featured 4 teams in
each age group- Hosts USA, Canada, West Indies & USA A. Both of our teams
were severely crippled by a shortage of players and injuries.
Our O50s team came out as Runners up in this tournament having lost to
USA in the finals. There were commendable batting performances in the
tournament by Ishwar Maraj- 157 runs with a highest score of 55; William
Lashley-116 runs with a top score of 37 runs; and Fareed Hosein-102 runs
with a top score of 44. Congrats to Kenny Girdharry who was the pick of
the bowlers for the WI and the entire tournament with 9 wickets with an
economy rate of 3.36 followed closely by Zamin Amin with 8 wickets and an
economy rate of 4.35. Fareed Hosein capped a good all-round performance
in the tournament with 7 wickets at an economy of 3.98 followed by Vejai
Seonarine with 6 wickets at 4.77.
The O60s team on their first outing finished 3rd in the rankings having won a
solitary match. Captain Roy Singh top scored with 210 runs with 2 @ 50s and
a highest score of 97 followed by Monty Venkersammy with 147 runs and a
top score of 54. Kris Ramdat contributed with 105 runs and a top score of 53
whilst Hafiz Mohamed also made 105 runs with a top score of 41. Pramesh
Seheult took 8 wickets at an economy rate of 4.42 followed by Prem Singh
with 7 wickets at a miserly rate of 3.44. Keith Lawrence impressed with 5
wickets at 4.17.
Our O50s side had to be disappointed with their performance after such a
massive performance in the Americas Cup in Canada a mere 7 months prior.
Without trying to make any excuses WI were without some of its key players in
this tournament and will have to focus more on their fitness levels continuously
in order to compete at this level. Our O60s team was also hampered by an
inadequate squad size and injuries with WI legend Colin Croft pulling up with
double hamstrings in the very first match but commentated throughout the
tournament. Crofty braved it all along with a few others suffering from injuries
to turn out in our final match and bowled his full spell of 9 overs. This was
the very first time that the O60s played as a team together and it was fairly
commendable for them with some impressive individual performances by
some of the players. They need to work much harder on their fitness levels
also and gel a bit more with their colleagues to play as a cohesive unit.
2. O50s Marlborough Cup- London, England-July 2022
This tournament was most demanding with new conditions and different
oppositions. In hindsight, we have learned quite a lot from this tour in terms
of planning practice games and general tour schedules with the amount of
travel envisioned taking into consideration the proximity of venues and backto-
back games.
West Indies lost all 4 of their practice games against Wales (2), India (1) and
England (1) but turned the tables against Wales and India in the Marlborough
Cup games and lost to England in the Marlborough Cup final.
WI had quite a few positives to come away from this tour. Two of our premier
batsmen, Sudesh Dhaniram and Ishwar Maraj, registered their maiden
centuries 108 against India and 113 against Wales respectively. Congrats to
Sudesh Dhaniram who had his best tour by topping the aggregate scores in
only 5 matches with 215 runs for an average of 53.75 and a century and
half-century. Ishwar Maraj also played in 5 matches to follow with
183 runs at an average of 61.00. Sunil Dhaniram made 179 in 6
matches with a top score of 83. Daniel Sadeo made 163 in 7 matches
with a solitary half century (57). Fareed Hosein continued with his
impressive bowling topping the bowling with 10 wickets but was a bit
expensive at a 5.30 economy rate. Sunil Dhaniram copped 8 wickets
at an economy rate of 4.52 with Zamin Amin taking 7 wickets at an
unusually high economy rate of 5.47.
This was a very grueling tour with too much travelling and too many
back-to-back games for such a major tournament. Our guys played
well in the circumstances but here again we were crippled with an
inadequate squad size and injuries. Our squad was made up of just 11
@O50s and 4 @O60s.
3. O60s World Cup- Queensland, Australia- September, 2022
Our O60s ventured into the Sunshine State of Queensland, Australia
to compete in the inaugural O60s World Cup under quite different
conditions. The weather wreaked havoc with this tournament and
the schedule was hastily adjusted by the World Cup Committee
that resulted in us playing 7 matches in 9 days. That was a recipe for
disaster that would test even the fittest of teams much less an O60s
team not yet attuned to a proper fitness regimentation. Starting a
World Cup having to play 3 back-to-back matches will never do justice
for any team that does not play cricket regularly and not having any
established leagues for that age group level followed by a solitary rest
day then 2 other back-to- back matches and a rest day in between 2
other similar matches.
From the inception, our full complement of 17 players could not
have been met when former Test player, Alvin Kallicharran, broke
his finger and had to pull out from the tour at the last minute. This
was further exacerbated when our vice-captain and opening batsman
Kris Ramdat ruptured his ankle tendon and had to return the TT
for emergency surgery. Off spinner Gerald Singh was also nursing a
rotator cuff injury to his bowling arm that caused us to lose a major
bowler from the get go. Walter Persaud was also struggling with a
knee injury after the practice match against India but was forced to
play in all of the matches. Our top batsman, Sunderdat Sookram,
pulled up with a knee injury after the first match which ruled him out
of most of the Cup matches. Our star player, Richard Sieuchan also
pulled up with a groin injury midway through the tournament that
severely crippled his performance even though he participated in all
the matches. One of our main all-rounders, Hafiz Mohamed, came to
Australia a bit under the weather and had to be carefully managed. Our liaison
officer, George Downes, of Barbados roots was convinced to join us even
though he was suffering from a knee injury also. He was also able to assist us in
recruiting the De Silva brothers, Richard & Roger, from TT who were residing
in Australia and were willing to take the time off to be a part of our squad for
the tournament.
Richard Sieuchan was out top batter with 212 runs and a highest score of
60 not out and an average of 35.33. He was followed by captain Roy Singh
with 198 runs at an average of 28.29. No other batter passed 100 runs in
aggregate. Prem Singh was the pick of our bowlers finishing with 16 wickets
at an economy rate of 4.51 followed by Hafiz Mohamed with 12 wickets at an
economy rate of 4.96. West Indies won their final encounter against Zimbabwe in the playoffs to
finish at number 11 but lost all the other games by fairly close margins.
4. BIG MAN CRICKET O50s CARIBBEAN CUP – Barbados- November, 2022
CWIMA in its first attempt at hosting a tournament pulled off a major coup
when it hosted a mini world cup with its 8 team BMC O50s Caribbean
Cup. This tournament was announced at the closing ceremony of the Texas
tournament and was hugely successful barring the inclement weather that
affected some of the matches. The countries that participated were: Canada,
England, India, UAE, USA, Wales, West Indies and West Indies A.
Preliminary matches were played at the BNOC, Pickwick, Windward, St
Catherine and Police grounds. USA defeated West Indies in the finals which
was played at the historic Kensington Oval on Friday, November 11th 2022.
Following the final, CWIMA hosted a gala Closing/Presentation Dinner
Awards Ceremony at the Golden Sands Hotel. USA carted off the beautiful
BMC O50s Caribbean Cup whilst West Indies had to settle for the Runners
up trophy. However, as a consolation, West Indies players copped three of the
four individual awards presented that evening:
PLAYER OF THE SERIES- ZAMIN AMIN (WI)
BEST FIELDER- ANTHONY SAHADEO (WI)
BEST BOWLER- ZAMIN AMIN (WI)
BEST BATSMAN- JONATHAN WILEMAN (England)
This was our very first full year of cricket ever since our formation and we have
achieved quite a lot and have had a very steep learning curve in administering
tours and the like. One thing that stands out is the necessity for our players to
adopt a consistent training and fitness regimentation as it has been proven that
it is easier to sustain injuries when you are unfit. We trust that those players
who intend to take masters cricket seriously will make this commitment for
themselves, their families and West Indies cricket in general.
March 2022 in Texas marked a very significant milestone in our history when
CWIMA was officially constituted as a legal body and held its first elections of
officers. The following persons were elected as directors to serve:
Raj Singh- Chairman
Dave Narine- Vice-Chairman
Roy Singh- Secretary
Kenny Girdharry- Treasurer
Oral Bedessie- Asst. Secretary/Treasurer
Imtiaz Ali- Director
Zamin Amin-Director
Anthony Morris-Director
Julian Charles- Director
CWIMA wishes to extend to everyone best wishes for a bright and prosperous
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