Cricket West Indies has announced a new domestic red-ball tri-series, the Headley-Weekes series, which will be played at the end of the West Indies Championship, the regional four-day tournament.
The series will feature three four-day matches and will be played from April 18 to 6 May at Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua. Team Headley and Team Weekes (named in honour of George Headley and Everton Weekes) will be selected from the best performers in the 2023 West Indies Championship and players outside the starting West Indies Test XI. The new West Indies Academy will provide the third team.
The 2023 edition of the West Indies Championship, which begins on February 1, will be played across five rounds of four-day games featuring six regional franchise teams.
Johnny Grave, the CEO of CWI, said: “We are delighted to unveil the Headley-Weekes series, which is a new idea that will extend the four-day season, create more opportunities for our players to showcase their skills and will be a huge incentive for them to strive towards selection into our ‘A’ team, and ultimately our Test team. It will also provide some strong competitive red-ball cricket for our new West Indies Academy players as we continue to try to ensure that the next generation of players is being prepared along the pathway to international cricket.
“Whilst the West Indies Championship is once again going to be played on a one-round, five-match basis, with the plans we have for our ‘A’ team and Academy, to go on overseas tours after the Headley-Weekes series, we expect our best players in the region will still play at least ten four-day games in the first half of next year.”
The first two rounds of the championship will be played from February 1 to February 11 in Grenada and Antigua. The tournament will then have a break and resume on March 15 and run until April 1 for the final three rounds, which will be played in Trinidad.
