ACS Overseas First-Class Annual 2014

West Indies in 2013/14 West Indies’ period of success in Test cricket in 2012 and 2012/13 proved all too short-lived, as the side lost the first three of its Test series in 2013/14 and 2014. First came a 2-0 loss in India in November 2013, in which West Indies were twice beaten inside three days. Their disappointing performance in this series could perhaps be put down to their relative unpreparedness for a Test series arranged at short notice largely to provide a celebratory end to the career of Sachin Tendulkar. But there was no such excuse for the 2-0 drubbing by New Zealand the following month, in which West Indies were again twice beaten with one or more days to spare, or the 2-1 defeat at home by the same opponents in June 2014. Recovery of a sort came with two thumping wins over Bangladesh in September 2014, in which Kraigg Brathwaite continued his good form from the second series against New Zealand with a maiden Test 200, and the eternal Shiv Chanderpaul scored 270 runs without ever being dismissed. Nevertheless, their poor showing over the period as a whole saw West Indies drop from seventh to eighth in the ICC rankings, with only Zimbabwe and Bangladesh below them and New Zealand - behind them twelve months previously - now well clear in seventh place. Many reasons could be put forward for West Indies’ renewed decline at Test level. In no particular order, these might include the preference of some of their potential Test players for the more lucrative shorter forms of the game, and the limited availability of some other players; the loss of touch at the top of the order of Chris Gayle (when available); doubts about the bowling actions of their leading Test spinner Shane Shillingford and, later, of Sunil Narine; and the lack of fire-power among the many opening bowlers tried - itself surely a reflection of the loss of the hard, fast home pitches on which the great West Indian fast bowlers of an earlier generation had learned their trade. After the Bangladesh series, the domestic problems that have beset West Indian cricket for so long flared once again, the row this time not being ‘simply’ between the players and the West Indies Cricket Board, but now extending to include a dispute between the Test players and the West Indies Players’ Association as a whole. Surely, not a situation from which great improvements to the fortunes of the Test side can be expected, in the short term at least. In the domestic Regional Four-Day Competition, holders Barbados led after the all-play-all first phase, but they were narrowly defeated in the semi-finals by Jamaica, whose last two wickets managed to add the last 28 runs needed for victory. The Windward Islands had a more comfortable win over Trinidad & Tobago in the other semi-final, but were unable to secure their first-ever domestic first-class title when the final against Jamaica ended as a draw, with Jamaica winning the title (and the Headley-Weekes Trophy that goes with it) by accruing more bonus points than their rivals. This seemed a fair result, as Jamaica held the upper hand throughout the game (aided by innings of 94 and 118 - a maiden century - by Jermaine Blackwood), and the fight seemed to go out of the Windwards after their first innings collapsed from 155-0 to 217 all out, with leg-spinner Damion Jacobs taking 8-47 in only his fourth first-class match. At the end, needing 376 to win the Windwards had reached 204-6, and were surely headed for defeat had the game been scheduled for a fifth day. In only his second season, Blackwood had the highest run aggregate of another low-scoring season, with 611 runs at 40.73. The Windwards had the satisfaction of providing the season’s leading wicket-taker - not Shane Shillingford this year, but left-arm medium-pacer Kenroy Peters, who took 40 wickets at 12.75. Six other bowlers took 30 or more wickets; all were spinners. In mid-2014 it was announced that for 2014/15 the domestic first-class competition will be reduced to six teams by the exclusion of Combined Colleges & Campuses - who had been first-class only since 2007/08. The other six sides would retain their present names but would in 599