And a warm welcome to the Netherlands Antilles

Cricket’s global community expanded just a little further on Friday February 6 when the Netherlands Antilles hosted its first first-class cricket match. The Leeward Islands played host to the Windwards in their Carib Beer Series match at the Carib Lumber Ground, Philipsburg, Sint Maarten. The Netherlands Antilles is now the 35th country to host first-class cricket. Continue reading “And a warm welcome to the Netherlands Antilles”

Pakistan to replace WI on Sri Lankan tour

Pakistan will play one Test and three one-day internationals in Sri Lanka in January following the cancellation of the West Indies’ tour.

The West Indies Women’s Cricket Federation decided last month that they would not proceed with their tour of Sri Lanka and Pakistan because of security concerns related to geopolitical instability in the south Asian region.

The Pakistanis have taken up the tour itinerary originally laid out for the West Indians. They will arrive in Sri Lanka on January 18. A four-day Test match at the Colts Ground, Colombo on January 20-23 will be followed by three ODIs – the first (January 26) at Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy, and the others (January 28 and 30) back at the Colts Ground.

In other Sri Lankan news, national team coach Guy de Alwis has resigned due to work committments. De Alwis, a wicketkeeper who had represented the Sri Lankan men in Tests and one-day internationals between 1983 and 1988, has been replaced by Nihal Kodituwakku.

WI shelve Asian tour but plan home triseries

The West Indies’ plans for their first international tour since the 1997 Women’s World Cup were shelved during November. The West Indies Women’s Cricket Federation cancelled its tour of Sri Lanka, scheduled for January, and abandoned tentative plans for a visit to Pakistan immediately afterwards.

The war in Afghanistan, and broader concerns about security in Sri Lanka and globally, were given as the reasons for the cancellation of the tour. Pakistan have since agreed to play the tour dates in Sri Lanka vacated by the West Indians.

Meanwhile, plans are afoot to bring all three teams – West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka – together for a triangular series in the Caribbean in 2002. The West Indies Cricket Board’s (WICB) website reported recently that WIWCF treasurer Jocelyn Opadeyi had said that Pakistan had been invited to play five one-day internationals in the West Indies along with three Test matches. The Tests would, according to Opadeyi, be played in Trinidad & Tobago and St Vincent & The Grenadines.

If the Sri Lankans accept their invitation, it is likely that a triangular one-day series will be held in about March.

West Indian women’s cricket has been in the doldrums at an international level for many years due to the lack of financial support. They have not played in any full international competition since the 1997 World Cup in India, having failed to qualify for the 2000 tournament in New Zealand. They last played Test cricket in 1979, in England, while only two women’s Tests have ever been hosted in the Caribbean – both against Australia in Jamaica in 1976.

New Zealand women’s tour of India cancelled

[This article was originally published on the defunct Cricketwoman website in 2001. – RE]

The New Zealand White Ferns tour of India set down for late November and December has been cancelled due to security concerns.

The decision to call the tour off was announced on November 1 by New Zealand Cricket chief executive Martin Snedden, who said in a press release that it was an “extremely difficult decision” to reach, but that “the level of risk which exists here [in touring India] is unacceptable.”

Snedden went on to say that, unlike security arrangements promised by the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) for the English men’s tour of India, which begins in a fortnight, the Women’s Cricket Association of India (WCAI) would be unable to organise special security arrangements. Snedden added that the WCAI is an organisation which has a voluntary administration and few resources.

Snedden said that the players had not been consulted about the cancellation of the tour. “This is a team of amateur players. It did not seem right to me for New Zealand Cricket to place any degree of responsibility on the players to make the decision.”

CricInfo reports that New Zealand captain Emily Drumm felt “gutted” when she learned of the tour’s cancellation, but had no problems with the decision made by NZC CEO Snedden.

WCAI secretary Anuradha Dutt was reported by CricInfo as expressing regret upon receiving notification of the NZC’s decision. Disagreeing with Snedden’s viewpoint, Dutt said “I can’t really imagine the New Zealand women being in any real danger in India.”

“They’d be much safer here than in many western countries,” Dutt said. “But it’s their psychological perception that matters, and I can’t really make a decision for them.”

New Zealand were to have played three tour matches, five one-day internationals and one Test between November 29 and December 21. The first five matches on the tour would have been played at Delhi and neighbouring Faridabad, before moving north to Chandigarh – approximately 200km from the Pakistani border and 700km from Afghanistan – for one match on December 6. The remaining matches on tour were set for Lucknow, Calcutta and Jamshedpur, in the north-east of India.

The White Ferns, who were unable to secure a replacement international series, will now have to wait until their three-ODI tour of Australia in February for their next international experience. India are scheduled to receive the England team in February before visiting South Africa.

Further information:
NZC press release

CricInfo report on Anuradha Dutt’s reaction