ACS Overseas First-Class Annual 2016

Australian attack, at the time the third-fastest Test century of all in terms of balls faced), but he was always a picture of reliability, displaying a determination and obduracy so often sadly lacking in today’s struggling Test side. In January 2016 the West Indies Cricket Board announced that they would honour Chanderpaul “at the appropriate time”, but as at the deadline of this Annual, that time has not yet come. Perhaps they are waiting until his retirement from all first-class cricket, for he continued to play domestic cricket for Guyana in 2015/16, and has indicated his intention of doing so in 2016/17 as well. For Guyana he sometimes plays alongside his son Tagenarine (more usually known as Brandon), who is an opening batsman – though curiously, although they have played together in four first-class matches, they have never yet batted in partnership. It is something to look out for in next year’s Annual, perhaps. The Chanderpauls’ side, Guyana, led from start to finish in the domestic first-class competition, the WICB Professional Cricket League Regional Four-Day Tournament. It was played on exactly the same basis as in 2014/15, with each of the six participants meeting the other five at home and away, and with no semi-finals or final to decide the winner. Wins in all their first six matches took reigning champions Guyana into a lead which Barbados, despite six wins in their last seven matches, could not quite make up. Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago battled it out for third place; defeats in their last two matches meant that it was Trinidad & Tobago who missed out. The Leeward Islands finished last for the second season in a row - a far cry from the days when Antigua (Viv Richards, Richie Richardson, Curtly Ambrose and all) virtually dominated world cricket on their own. Leading runscorer of the West Indian season was Guyana’s captain Leon Johnson, who scored 807 runs at 57.64, nearly 100 runs ahead of second-placed Devon Smith (Windward Islands) on 719. The list of wicket-takers was, as is usual these days, headed by a spinner – former Test slow left-armer Nikita Miller (Jamaica), who took 65 wickets at 16.87 apiece. In fact, of the top ten wicket-takers over the 2015/16 season, no fewer than five were slow left-arm bowlers, a further three bowled off-breaks, there was one leg-spinner, and just one quick bowler (Miguel Cummins, with 33 wickets). The call continues to go out for West Indian groundsmen to produce pitches that will provide some help in the area where one of their greatest strengths used to lie – really quick fast bowling; but sadly the call continues to go unheeded. Without reliable pace bowlers, and without batsmen experienced in facing such bowlers, surely the West Indies cannot hope to rise significantly either in spectator appeal, or in the Test rankings, in the future. The year’s saddest news from the Caribbean came on 11 May with the death of commentator, writer and journalist Tony Cozier, for so long the voice – literally and metaphorically – of West Indian cricket. His mellifluous tones, and his wise insights into the often politically-sensitive subject of cricket in the West Indies, will be greatly missed. (KSW) Regional Four-Day Tournament 2015/16: Final table P W L D BatBP BowBP Pts 12 0 3 1 Guyana 10 8 0 2 18 29 149 2 Barbados 10 7 1 2 22 30 142 3 Jamaica 10 4 6 0 11 26 85 4 Trinidad and Tobago 10 3 5 2 14 25 81 5 Windward Islands 10 2 6 2 12 22 64 6 Leeward Islands 10 1 7 2 7 25 50 504 West Indies in 2015/16