Increase in WBBL salary cap, 25% hike for centrally contracted players could see multiple Australian women break the million-dollar bracket

Andrew McGlashan03-Apr-2023Cricket Australia (CA) has poured money into the BBL and the WBBL under the new five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which was signed on Monday to try and ensure both leagues remain competitive in the changing global landscape.In a deal where the women’s game was the huge financial winner, the WBBL salary cap has been doubled to AU$732,000 per team amid the increased competition from the Hundred and most significantly the WPL.It comes as part of an MoU that could see multiple female Australian stars break the million-dollar bracket over the coming years alongside overseas earnings, with the top centrally-contracted player now able to earn AU$800,000 when a national deal and WBBL are combined. Domestically, the average earnings for a player with a WBBL and WNCL contract – which is around 75% of cricketers – will be A$151,000.Related

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“I think we’ll have a few of them [earning a million] in the next few years,” Todd Greenberg, the Australia Cricketers’ Association CEO, said. “Some of our girls who are playing in India earn significant amounts of money in the WPL, and on top of this deal now, they will become million-dollar athletes. And so they should because they’re the best in the world at what they do.”Unashamedly we stand here and want them to be remunerated at the levels that we are talking about. That is a wonderful thing, not only for those athletes but for every girl who wants to make a choice of what sport they want to play. Cricket is that choice and it’s where you can achieve those things.”

How Australian women’s cricket is winning

• Top women’s CA contract holder with a WBBL deal now able to earn AU$800,000

• Next six contracts potential to earn on average AU$500,000

• Minimum and average CA women’s contract increases 25%

• Number of contracts rises from 15 to 18

• Average domestic earnings for a player with WNCL and WBBL contract now AU$151,019

• WBBL salary cap doubles to AU$732,000

• Top WBBL player can earn AU$133,000; average retainer doubles to $54,200

• Two additional state (and ACT) contracts per team

BBL boost to ward off new leagues

In the BBL, the salary cap has risen from AU$2 million to AU$3million with the top bracket of players now earning A$420,000 for a season in the competition. That money will also come across a shorter tournament after it was trimmed to a 10-game season under the new broadcast deal which begins in 2024, although it has yet to be confirmed if a reduced competition will start with the 2023-24 edition.It is hoped that the new schedule will entice big-name overseas players to sign tournament-long deals, rather than start the BBL and then fly to either South Africa or the UAE as happened last season, while also ensuring more local players do not look to take the route of Chris Lynn who negotiated to split his time between the BBL and ILT20. The average BBL retainer will be worth AU$167,000.The average BBL retainer will be worth AU$167,000•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

“We’re prioritising to make sure playing in the Big Bash is the destination for them,” CA CEO Nick Hockley said. “We are excited about the fact that the BBL going forward will be that tighter 43-game format. Overall, the players on a played-match basis are more than doubling. With those levels, we think it makes it a really competitive proposition for domestic and overseas players.”

Increased central contracts

CA will also increase the women’s national contract list from 15 to 18, with a 25 percent pay increase for those players.”Cricket now clearly offers the best earning opportunities of any team sport for elite female sportspeople,” Hockley said. “I am particularly pleased that this MOU represents another major step forward in the rise of women’s cricket with significant increases in remuneration for the inspirational role models of the world champion Australian women’s team and the WBBL, who are driving substantial growth in female participation.”Centrally-contracted Australian male players will have their pay increase by 7.5 percent to an average of AU$ 951,000 before match payments, while the squad will increase to 24 players. That average figure will cross AU$ 1 million during the lifetime of the MoU.

On a pitch where none of his team-mates crossed 20, Prabhsimran scored a 65-ball 103 to secure two crucial points for Kings

Alagappan Muthu13-May-20232:09

Muzumdar: Prabhsimran has come through the grind of U-19 and U-23 cricket

A special century from Prabhsimran Singh knocked Delhi Capitals out of IPL 2023 and pushed Punjab Kings up to sixth place, well within reach of a playoff spot.In demanding batting conditions, the Punjab opener, who had begun the season with a highest IPL score of 16, found ways not just to survive but to keep scoring quick runs in a way nobody else managed to. It felt like a coming-of-age innings.

How it started

When there is pace in the pitch, it’s easy to hit through the line and keep scoring runs steadily. When it is not there, it’s hard to even get the ball off the square. So you get your runs in fits and spurts.Kings suffered 22 balls for no runs in the powerplay, but hit seven others for 32 runs (5×4 and 2×6).A lot of this work was the result of Prabhsimran’s enterprise. His role in the team is to do whatever is necessary to maximise the field restrictions. And he performed admirably, switch-hitting spin for sixes and moving around all over the batting crease, just to throw the bowlers off their plans.But then his role changed. From being the guy who could not place any price on his wicket, he became the guy who simply could not get out. So he settled in. Got used to the pitch. And by around the 11th over or so, he was finding ways to hold his shape and exert complete control over his shots.Prabhsimran was 53 off 44. Then he was dropped on 68. Then he was 102 off 61.Prabhsimran Singh soaks in the applause as he walks back after his ton•BCCI

That’s 49 in 17 balls. On a pitch where none of his team-mates crossed 20, and only two others managed to score at better than run-a-ball. This was a spectacular display of perseverance, even if he did have a tiny bit of help.In conditions where the ball isn’t coming onto the bat, all you have to do is take pace off, hit a hard length and, most importantly, target the stumps. Do not let the batter free his arms.Prabhsimran though was basically invited to free his arms. According to ESPNcricinfo’s data, a majority of the balls he faced (33) were either outside off stump or worse, wide outside off stump. And he took 60 runs from them including seven fours and three sixes.Capitals should have known better. The chance they created – the catch that Rilee Roussouw dropped – was the result of a mis-hit to a ball that arrived in line with this body. They didn’t learn. And they were punished.

How it ended

Capitals had a great start to the chase. They came out knowing 168 was a tricky target, and that they had to knock off a significant portion of it within the powerplay. David Warner helped them accomplish that goal, taking them to 65 for 0 in six overs. He cruised to a 23-ball fifty, scoring 42 of those runs in boundaries. But the thing is, Capitals only faced six balls of spin in that period.It didn’t make sense why Kings would have let any of that happen on a pitch where the ball was both stopping on the batters and turning more than a fair bit.Eventually, Shikhar Dhawan turned to spin and the game changed.Cornered by Harpreet Brar (4 for 30) and Rahul Chahar (2 for 16), Capitals lost three wickets for two runs between the ninth and the 11th overs. ESPNcricinfo’s forecaster quantified this swing in momentum – in a mere eight balls, Kings went from a lowly 20% chance of winning this game to 78% favourites.By the end, Capitals needed seven players to combine just to reach the total they allowed one batter to get. These were not the conditions to give away a century.

India batter to play the remainder of the County Championship and also the Royal London One-Day Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jul-2023India batter Prithvi Shaw has secured a deal with Northamptonshire to play the remainder of the County Cricket season in England and also be a part of the Royal London One-Day Cup which starts in August. The 23-year-old is expected to join them at the end of the Duleep Trophy.Shaw is part of a strong West Zone side which is tipped to make it all the way to the final of the Duleep Trophy scheduled between July 12 and 16. He may have fallen down the pecking order for India but remains a prolific run-scorer for his state side, Mumbai, in all formats of the game. Shaw hasn’t played any first-class cricket for six months but he did make a career-best 379 off just 383 balls in a Ranji Trophy game against Assam in January 2023.The ability to score runs quickly is a big reason for Shaw’s rise through the ranks since winning the Under-19 World Cup for India in 2018. He had a stunning introduction to Test cricket, scoring a century on debut, but has since then struggled to deal with the quality of bowling on offer in international red-ball cricket. He played his last game as a first-choice pick for India in 2020 and only managed to get back when they had to send a second-string side to Sri Lanka in 2021.Most recently, Shaw was part of the Delhi Capitals in IPL 2023. He went through a six-game stretch where he was unable to score more than 15 runs which led to his being dropped there as well. He did return later in the tournament and immediately struck a half-century.Northamptonshire play in Division One of the English County Championship. They have won just one out of seven games so far and have seven more until the end of the season.This will be Shaw’s first time playing domestic cricket in the UK. He will become the fifth Indian to be part of the 2022-23 season following Cheteshwar Pujara (Sussex), Ajinkya Rahane (Leicestershire), Arshdeep Singh (Kent) and Navdeep Saini (Worcestershire).Shaw is a very attractive package in white-ball cricket, where hitting through the line of the ball is much easier. He is approaching 3000 List A runs at an average of 52.54 and a strike-rate of 123.27 with eight centuries, one of which is a double. Former India opener Gautam Gambhir, in 2022, had even tipped him to lead the country at some point in the future.

13-member committee suggests “removing bilateral ODIs, other than in the one year preceding each World Cup”

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jul-2023The MCC has suggested limiting men’s bilateral ODI cricket after the 2027 World Cup, questioning the value the format adds to an already jam-packed calendar.The MCC’s World Cricket Committee met on the sidelines of the recent Ashes Test at Lord’s and have come to the conclusion that in a world of growing franchise T20 tournaments around the year, something has to give.The 13-member committee, led by former England captain Mike Gatting, is hopeful that “a scarcity of ODI cricket would increase the quality, achieved by removing bilateral ODIs, other than in the one year preceding each World Cup. This would, as a consequence, also create much-needed space in the global cricketing calendar.”The ICC and its various members have been grappling with this situation for a while now. Jason Roy is foregoing a part of his incremental contract with England to play in the US’s Major League Cricket (MLC). Trent Boult gave up a central contract with New Zealand last year, and the IPL has expanded into a two-month window with its franchises buying teams in other leagues as well, leading to the prospect of players being offered year-round T20 contracts.Related

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The FTP for 2023-27 is more or less set. “Nothing is going to be removed,” Wasim Khan, the ICC’s general manager of cricket said in May. But he also highlighted that, going forward, the international game needs to find a way to co-exist with the ever-increasing number of T20 leagues.

MCC wants to know how much it really costs to host a Test match

Test cricket faces challenges of its own. The widely-held belief is that only a few countries don’t lose money hosting a five-day game. In 2017, for example, Zimbabwe were exploring the possibility of playing a majority of their matches away from home because of these very concerns. To address this, the MCC’s World Cricket Committee has asked the ICC to undertake an audit of the Test game with the view to setting up a “Test fund”.”This audit of operational costs [of hosting a Test match] versus commercial return would help the ICC identify nations in need of support in order to sustain a Test match programme,” an MCC press release on Tuesday said. This need could be subsequently addressed via a separate Test fund, established to “protect the sanctity of Test match cricket.”The ICC established a Test fund after the Big Three boards of the BCCI, ECB and CA took administrative control of the game’s governance in 2014. That, however, did not last long.Gatting, who is on his way out as committee chair, added: “In many ways, cricket is growing and, on the surface, seems financially strong. However, we are increasingly seeing a game which focuses on a powerful few, as opposed to a democratic and inclusive approach for the benefit of the whole sport.”It’s time for the global game to reset. Too often, member nations are finding themselves living hand to mouth with their cricketing operations, versus having a long-term, viable strategy in place that future-proofs the game in their country, both financially and in terms of participation.”We are currently at the commencement of a new ICC Future Tours Programme and financing cycle, and we would recommend further evidence of the requisite funding being directly apportioned to the strategic needs of cricket.”The World Cricket Committee also advised the setting up of a “substantial and ringfenced fund” solely for growing women’s cricket, the money from which can be “allocated on a required basis to full member and associate nations who, amongst other key initiatives, fully commit to their women’s pathway and national team. The WCC also believes that in order to qualify as a full ICC member, each nation must be required to commit to investing in both men’s and women’s cricket and field a national women’s team.”

He was earlier replaced by Anamul Haque in the squad as he was down with fever

Mohammad Isam04-Sep-2023Litton Das has joined the Bangladesh side in Lahore ahead of the Asia Cup Super Fours. Litton, who was initially ruled out of the tournament due to illness, linked up with his team-mates on Monday evening after receiving medical clearance.Bangladesh chief selector Minhajul Abedin said Litton was added to the squad due to a number of injury concerns in the team. Najmul Hossain Shanto clutched his hamstring a few times during his century against Afghanistan. Mehidy Hasan Miraz suffered finger cramps during his century as well and retired hurt. Earlier, Mustafizur Rahman picked up a niggle in the Sri Lanka game in Pallekele on August 31 and could not play against Afghanistan.”The Asia Cup squad has a few injury concerns and the team management felt the need for an additional player going into the Super Four,” Abedin said. “We have received the BCB medical team’s clearance regarding Litton’s health and have decided to send him to Pakistan.”Bangladesh secured a spot in the Super Four following the 89-run win over Afghanistan in their last group match in Lahore on Sunday.

Managing director Gough says he would “play a big part in everything we are looking to achieve”

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Aug-2023Yorkshire have signed Dan Moriarty, the South African-born left-arm spinner, on a three-year contract from Surrey, making his loan move permanent.Moriarty broke into Surrey’s first team in 2020 and was part of their side that reached the T20 Blast final that season. But he gradually found opportunities harder to come by, and played a solitary game in their County Championship win last year.He played four games on loan at Yorkshire earlier this year, but will spend the rest of the season with Surrey.”I’m incredibly honoured and extremely excited to begin this new chapter with Yorkshire Cricket,” Moriarty said. “Headingley is a special place to play, and I’ve really enjoyed my time with the club so far and I’m looking forward to continue creating special memories and improve my game at such a prestigious club.He added in a Surrey media release: “I am extremely grateful for the opportunities and experiences this club have given me over the past three years. A massive thank you to all players, staff and members for everything. I will look back at my time at Surrey fondly.”Darren Gough, Yorkshire’s managing director, said Moriarty would “play a big part in everything we are looking to achieve” moving forward. Gough said: “I’m pleased to have secured Dan on a three-year deal. He is a brilliant addition to the team – offering up another bow to our bowling attack – and has impressed at Yorkshire.”We are so pleased that Dan is staying at Headingley. He is the kind of player and person who will continue to add so much to our dressing room, and we look forward to him enjoying a long and successful career with the club.”Alec Stewart, Surrey’s director of cricket, said: “It’s always disappointing when a player chooses to leave Surrey to go to another county but after numerous conversations with Mozza I fully understand and respect the tough decision he has taken.”He feels he will get more opportunities at Yorkshire to further his own career ambitions and I wish him well and thank him for the contributions he has given to Surrey since joining us.”

SLC comes to an understanding with the country’s sports ministry over a dispute surrounding the restructuring of the domestic tournaments

Madushka Balasuriya21-Sep-2023Sri Lanka Cricket has resumed its domestic cricket season, which was halted nearly three weeks ago, after coming to an understanding with the country’s sports ministry over a dispute surrounding the restructuring of the domestic tournaments. As such the Major Club three-day tournament and the Tier B Club three-day tournament will resume on Friday, September 22.”Consent was given by the Ministry of Sports and Youth, subsequent to a meeting held between Sri Lanka Cricket and the Ministry of Sports,” an SLC media release stated. “Following the meeting, in a letter addressed to Sri Lanka Cricket, the Ministry of Sports and Youth further clarified the direction given by the Director General of Sports pertaining to the ratification of an appeal advisory committee decision by the Hon. Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs, which resulted in domestic cricket tournaments being halted, until further clarification was sought on the matter.”While the exact contents of the meeting haven’t been disclosed, ESPNcricinfo understands that the ministry had agreed to abide by the Court of Appeal’s decision to allow the tournament to continue uninterrupted until a decision is taken in the case of Gesto Cricket Club (GCC) versus SLC.The case, which had seen GCC argue against a decision taken at an SLC Emergency General Meeting to change the tournament structure, is due to be taken up again on September 26.Sri Lanka’s sports ministry had become involved in the matter after GCC, unhappy with the court’s decision to allow the tournament to continue while the case was being heard, had appealed to the sports ministry directly.This led to a dispute between SLC and the sports ministry, in which the latter claimed that any change to the structure of a tournament would need to be done via a change to the SLC constitution, itself something that could only be made through with the approval of the sports ministry.SLC however argued that, after it had written to and not received a response from the sports minister regarding the proposed changes, it had gone ahead with it regardless as it had been voted for by the SLC membership. This view was bolstered by the fact that change in structure itself was to one that had been in place for several years prior – as such SLC believed it was reasonable to assume that this would not be an issue. Aside from that, there is also disagreement in some quarters over whether in fact a change to tournament structure requires the explicit approval of the sports ministry.

In the other matches in this round, Sylhet Division, Barishal Division and Chattogram Division notched up victories

Mohammad Isam30-Oct-2023Their fast-bowling trio helped Sylhet Division to an innings-and-26-run victory over Rangpur Division in the NCL Tier-1 match over the weekend. The result also helped Dhaka Division keep their lead in the points table despite their game against Dhaka Metropolis in Cox’s Bazar ending in a draw, with cyclone Hanum on the south-eastern coast allowing very little cricket to be played.Batting first in Khulna, Sylhet reached 415, only the third 400-plus score in their first-class history. Shamsur Rahman, playing for his fourth NCL side, struck 15 fours and two sixes in his knock of 160 off 252 balls. He added 180 runs for the fifth wicket with Tawhidul Islam, who made 62. For Rangpur, quick bowler Asadullah Galib took 5 for 107, his second five-for this season.Sylhet’s quick bowlers Khaled Ahmed, Abu Jayed and Rejaur Rahman Raja grabbed all ten wickets as Rangpur were bowled out for 159 in reply. Khaled took 5 for 50, while Jayed picked up four wickets and Raja took the other one.The trio then shared six more wickets in the second innings, with Jayed taking three to get to 300 first-class wickets. Jayed became the third Bangladeshi fast bowler to reach the milestone, following Mohammad Sharif (374) and Forhad Reza (312), as Rangpur were bowled out for 230 in the second innings after being asked to follow on.Barishal Division opened their account this season with a seven-wicket win against Khulna Division, who, despite the loss, remained on top of the Tier-2 points table.Ruyel Miah took four wickets and Kamrul Islam three as Khulna were bowled out for 142 in the first innings in Bogra. Moin Khan’s 76 then gave Barishal a 79-run lead after they had slumped to 121 for 8. No. 8 Moin added 98 runs for the ninth wicket with Kamrul, who added 30 to the total.Soumya Sarkar, who took four wickets in the Barishal innings, then remained not out on 96 with ten fours and three sixes as Khulna were bowled out for 225 in the second innings. Kamrul took four wickets for Barishal, who then needed 43.2 overs to knock off the 147 runs in the fourth innings. Moinul Islam made an unbeaten 71 to help them along.Chattogram Division picked up their second win after they beat Rajshahi Division by nine wickets in Sylhet. Sabbir Hossain’s quick maiden first-class century gave Rajshahi the perfect start. But his 123 off 122 balls, that contained seven sixes and 13 fours, couldn’t translate into a big score for his side. Rajshahi were bowled out for 309, with Shykat Ali taking five wickets.Chattogram replied with 437, with fifties from Parvez Hossain Emon, Mominul Haque, Shamim Hossain and Irfan Shukkur. Taijul Islam took his 29th five-wicket haul in first-class cricket, having bowled 44.4 overs in this innings.Quick bowler Ifran Hossain’s five-for, however, dealt Rajshahi a heavy blow, as they were all out for 182. Nayeem Hasan took four wickets to add to his three in the first innings. Chattogram then needed just ten overs to knock off the required 57 runs in the fourth innings.

The tourists are keen to play a specialist spinner in the New Year Test against Australia, with Sajid and Nawaz the other options

Danyal Rasool01-Jan-2024There is cautious hope in the Pakistan camp that legspinner Abrar Ahmed may be fit in time for the third Test in Sydney. Abrar, who was ruled out of the first two Test matches with a right leg injury, bowled for a significant period in the nets during Pakistan’s training session on Monday without obvious discomfort.While that represents reason for optimism, the nature of Abrar’s injury means it does not guarantee his participation in the third Test. While he was initially ruled out after complaining of “discomfort in his right leg” during Pakistan’s tour game against Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra, Abrar’s history of injury issues makes any degree of certainty elusive.ESPNcricinfo understands part of the issue afflicting Abrar involves a pinched nerve in his right leg and a weakness in his muscles, and he was given injections as part of his treatment. But Pakistan will wait to see how he pulls up overnight after today’s training session, and if significant pain or discomfort arises over the next 12 hours or so, it will determine his ability to start in the final Test.Related

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Since he was initially ruled out of the first Test, the PCB only issued a vague update about his fitness status when ruling him out of the second. They declared that his “symptoms have significantly improved” but that he was not “100% asymptomatic”. There are also understood to be concerns about his ability to manage the workload required of a leading spinner in a Test match, and Pakistan understand the risk of selecting him, given the potential any injury flareup effectively reduces them down to ten players.Pakistan are also aware of the risk of any injury to Abrar in a T20 World Cup year. He is part of Pakistan’s squad for the upcoming five-match T20I series against New Zealand, and the PCB views him as a valuable white-ball asset in addition to a key Test spinner.Abrar, 25, has played only six Tests since making his debut against England last December. But 11 wickets in his first Test, and 38 so far, clubbed with the paucity of Pakistan’s spin-bowling stocks have made him an important player. While much of his early cricketing days were blighted by lengthy, persistent injuries, there were signs he was putting that behind him, though his current injury scare could set back some of the gains he has made.Pakistan have also called up Sajid Khan and Mohammad Nawaz as cover, though neither have played a Test match this series so far. Both also bowled during Pakistan’s training session on Monday.Pakistan are understood to be keen to play a specialist spinner in the third Test, having gone with an all-seam attack in each of the previous two. Agha Salman was used as the spinner in those games, and while his discipline and economy rate have impressed Pakistan, the absence of a wicket-taking spinner has been felt. Nathan Lyon has nine wickets in the first two Tests, while Salman has managed one.The third Test starts on January 3, with Pakistan looking to avoid what would be a sixth successive clean sweep in Australia.

Centurion Travis Head says he felt like the short-ball barrage got him into his innings

Alex Malcolm18-Jan-2024West Indies coach Andre Coley says it has been a pretty steep learning curve for some of his batters against Australia’s attack, but he believes they are still in the game despite staring down the barrel of a heavy defeat on a challenging pitch in Adelaide.A spectacular century from Travis Head looms as the difference between the two sides as Australia posted a first-innings lead of 95, which was set to be a lot less after Shamar Joseph took five wickets on debut to put the hosts under extreme pressure. But all that pressure evaporated when Josh Hazlewood ripped through West Indies’ top order again to claim 4 for 2 at one stage and have West Indies reeling at 19 for 4. They lost two more to be six down at stumps still 22 behind Australia.Despite 26 wickets falling in two days, Coley did not think the pitch was overly challenging for the batters and instead lamented his side’s decision-making despite showing good intent.Related

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“The learning curve has been pretty steep for some of them,” Coley said after play on day two. “But if they were to sit back and some of the feedback has been, it hasn’t been tremendously difficult. It has been testing.”I think the challenge has pretty much been the consistency of the bowlers, obviously a wealth of experience in that Australian bowling attack, so their ability to stay patient, and there were times our batters played quite well.”Our intent to score has always been evident but that has to be matched with decision-making here and with a lot more bounce potentially, the ability to leave the ball more consistently has to be part of your repertoire and your approach. Generally, I thought that our intent was pretty good. Our decision-making was questionable on occasions.”Coley was not critical of his bowler’s decision-making to bowl short to Head earlier in the day despite five of Australia’s top seven being dismissed nicking fuller lengths.”Originally, the plan to Head was pretty much go short at him upfront, and then plan B was pretty much a comeback into him, shut him down, which we did most of the time,” Coley said. “But by the time he was set, the bowlers jaded. But I thought we stuck to the plans as best as we could, and generally, that worked well.”Travis Head hit 119 off just 134 ballshere”•CA/Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Head said he felt like the short-ball barrage got him into his innings having not received much of it during the Pakistan series, where they instead tested his patience on the front foot and wide of off stump with good success.”I felt like I started well,” Head said. “Obviously, the short pitch stuff, which is what I faced in England, first look at it in Australia where the ball is more consistent, bounces a bit quicker.”I felt I made really good decisions around that. Swayed out of the way of a few and played a few.”It sort of got me in the innings a little bit.”Head was very impressed by the performance of Shamar Joseph who finished with 5 for 94.”Very good,” Head said. “I think you’ve seen with the quality of our three fast bowlers when they come in, they’re aggressive, they’ve got a fast bouncer, they’re aggressive on the stumps. And he’s got all of that. And he’s young. I thought he was very good. We’ll play him a lot over the next period.”Coley said Shamar Joseph had delivered exactly what they expected after he had performed so well on the West Indies A tour of South Africa.”What you see is what you get,” Coley said. “We took him to South Africa earlier. We knew he was inexperienced, but he had pace. He had a natural ability to work to a plan and be consistent with discipline around it. And he’s done that. On the back of that A tour he was fantastic. He got the most wickets on that tour and he showed what he’s capable of in his first Test match.”Coley said his young players can only get better at Test level with more Test cricket and exposure to high-quality teams like Australia. But he said the lack of fixtures coming up is concerning and will make it harder to keep players committed to red-ball cricket given the amount of franchise opportunities on offer.”The challenge really is the number of Tests that we do play,” Coley said. “Generally, outside of a Test series against England, we generally play two-Test match series. And then if you look at how our schedule is set up over the next two years, in some instances Test series is six months apart. There’s not a lot in between. So it’s really about us trying to fill the gap in some instances where we can, maybe with other bilateral tours or potentially looking to fit in A team tours that could help to improve that exposure or increase the exposure that the players have.”Our situation is that financially we aren’t secure enough to be able to offer substantial central contracts and that is always going to be a challenge for us. And what we have tried to do in the last maybe six or 12 months is really have more conversations with the players to be able to work out windows where we can have our best players available. But I believe this is something that is widespread already and will become more of a challenge. But more so for countries who potentially aren’t financially viable and don’t play a lot of Test cricket.”