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The 2026 West Indies Four-Day “knockout” championship is hurtling toward its semifinal stage this Sunday (May 10). It is poetic that the match begins on Mother’s Day, providing a built-in opportunity for mothers across the region to offer up a collective prayer for West Indies cricket. Before we get to the semifinal, let us backtrack a little to the, I suppose, preliminary or points rounds.
To the surprise of absolutely no one, the Guyana Harpy Eagles emerged victorious over a hapless Windward Islands Volcanoes side that looked more like a gentle puff of smoke than the eruption of lava that their name suggests. In horse racing terms, Guyana was tied by the winning pole. The Windwards’ “Test-ready” batsmen, Kavem Hodge and Alick Athanaze, produced averages (25.6 and 32.0, respectively) that didn’t exactly scream “promising talent” or “one for the future”. With the ball, I like the exuberance of Gillon Tyson, but the rest of the Windwards’ performance is best left alone.
Even the Guyana batsmen seemed a bit bored by the ease of it all. Guyana’s batsmen should have feasted on the Windwards bowling, but outside of Tagenarine Chanderpaul, who scored 308 runs from five innings with one hundred and two fifties, averaging 77.00, there was nothing much else to shout about, as the rest of the lineup was curiously quiet.
Tevin Imlach, who somehow leapfrogged others into the Test squad recently, was a huge disappointment with the bat, scoring 151 runs with one fifty, averaging a pedestrian 30.00 runs. Like Hodge and Athanaze, is that good enough for Imlach to get into the West Indies Test squad? If that’s the entry fee for a West Indies cap these days, the bar hasn’t just been lowered; it’s been buried. We await his performance in the final.
Gudakesh Motie showed his Test credentials with 24 wickets at an average of 12.83. Shamar Joseph played only two games, bagging six wickets, but he has proved himself at the Test level on more than one occasion. The Leeward Islands’ batting was also disappointing and was a collection of “what-ifs.” Outside of Jahmar Hamilton, who was the lone bright spot, they only came good in the final innings against the T&T Red Force. Hamilton averaged 51.80 with one hundred and one fifty.
I thought Justin Greaves would have performed better, and even though he averaged 42.8 with one hundred and one fifty, he is a far better player than his scores suggest. Keacy Carty got a big hundred at the pitch-friendly Antigua Recreation Ground, but his performance in general was not that of a Test batsman. Karima Gore seems to be on the right track. He batted two innings fewer than the other batsmen but still made two fifties and averaged 37.25. However, the less said about the Leeward Islands’ bowling, the better. Let’s move on.
The T&T Red Force did exactly what they were supposed to do: they bullied the team they were expected to defeat. Amir Jangoo and Joshua Da Silva with the bat have given King Sammy plenty to think about. Jangoo has scored 299 runs with that huge 203 not out, as well as one fifty, to average an obscene 149.5 runs. Da Silva, who bizarrely lost his place to Imlach in the Test squad, also scored an epic 220 and one other score of 50 for an average of 106 with 318 runs. The decision to drop Da Silva for Imlach in the Test squad remains one of the great mysteries of our time—right up there with why Cricket West Indies prefers this tournament format.
Meanwhile, Jayden Seales is operating on a different planet, with 13 wickets from 59.3 overs at an average of 8.76; truly remarkable. Anderson Phillip, the other T&T quickie, has taken 17 wickets from 24 more overs, but has a pretty good average of 17.35.
In the only part of the tournament that actually resembled a contest, the Barbados Pride showed true fight and teamwork to finally overcome a battling Jamaica Scorpions. No doubt the standout performer has been Kevin Wickham, who has scored 371 runs more than anyone else in the tournament from a miserly four innings with three centuries at an average of 123.66. Together with the former West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite, they have inspired the Bajan posse to get to the semifinal playoff. Strangely enough, the spinners have done the trick for them, with Jomel Warrican leading the way with 11 wickets, then Joshua Bishop with 10, and Roston Chase with eight.
Jamaica was being taken to the semifinal largely on the backs of the openers John Campbell and Kirk McKenzie, the former scoring 334 runs at an average of 66.8 with one hundred and one fifty, and McKenzie not far behind with 323 runs averaging 64.6, but with two hundreds. Two bowlers stood out for Jamaica, Marquino Mindley with 11 wickets and Peat Salmon showing his worth with 10. I would have loved to see the Jamaicans giving the left-arm chinaman and googly bowler Vitel Lawes an opportunity.
Unfortunately, we will not be seeing any more of Jamaica, the Leewards or the Windwards, so those players can no longer address King Sammy. What a shame, but that is the nature of this beautifully crafted, wonderful tournament.
Let’s therefore move on to the semifinal playoff between Barbados Pride and T&T Red Force. Spare a thought for Jamaica, it would have been great to include the fourth-place team to play the other semifinal vs Guyana, rather than the “whatever you call it” game between Guyana and the West Indies Academy. It is difficult to pick a winner in that semi-final game. Both teams have played good cricket during the tournament, and the Pride would be buoyed by their victories over the Scorpions. The opening bowlers for the Red Force hold the key, as the top order of the Pride batting is good. Openers Brathwaite and Shane Mosely at the top of the order can give them a good start, and a strong middle order with Jonathan Drakes, the in-form Kevin Wickham, Roston Chase and Kyle Mayers are all capable of getting them to a total of over 300. If Seales and Phillip don’t make early inroads, the spinners in Khary Pierre and Bryan Charles are good enough to cause their own problems.
The Red Force batting is steady enough to get a big total. Jangoo and Da Silva have been the standouts, but the dangerous Evin Lewis is back in the Four-Day squad and, together with Jason Mohammed and Jyd Goolie, can supply the Red Force with the runs needed. All around, the Pride bowling is good, with maybe two out of Johann Layne, Shamar Springer, and Akeem Jordan backing up their spinners.
It is a pity we did not have more competitive matches like this for the tournament, but no point continuing to cry over spilt milk. I am unsure as to what we have learnt thus far with the performances; however, whatever happens, it promises to be an exciting four days. And if the cricket fails to entertain, we can always watch the Guyana vs. Academy match—if only to figure out what it’s actually for.
Happy Mother’s Day in advance to all the wonderful Mothers of the world—may your prayers for West Indies cricket be heard.
Editor’s note: The views expressed in the preceding article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views of any organisation in which he is a stakeholder.
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