The Leeward Islands cricket team is a

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

team representing the member countries of the Leeward Islands Cricket Association, an associate of the

West Indies Cricket Board Cricket West Indies (CWI) is the governing body for cricket in the West Indies (a sporting confederation of over a dozen mainly Commonwealth Caribbean, English-speaking Caribbean countries and dependencies that once formed the British West Ind ...

Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda is a Sovereign state, sovereign archipelagic country composed of Antigua, Barbuda, and List of islands of Antigua and Barbuda, numerous other small islands. Antigua and Barbuda has a total area of 440 km2 (170 sq mi), ...

Saint Kitts Saint Kitts, officially Saint Christopher, is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Kitts and the neighbouring island of Nevis constitute one ...

Nevis Nevis ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute the Saint Kitts and Nevis, Federation of Saint Kitts ...

Anguilla Anguilla is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Sa ...

Montserrat Montserrat ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, wit ...

British Virgin Islands The British Virgin Islands (BVI), officially the Virgin Islands, are a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, to the east of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, US Virgin Islands and north-west ...

US Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and a Territories of the United States, territory of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Isl ...

and

Sint Maarten Sint Maarten () is a Countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean region of North America. With a population of 58,477 as of June 2023 on an area of , it encompasses ...

are members of the Leeward Islands Cricket Association. The team does not participate in any international competitions (though Antigua and Barbuda took part at the

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ( Malay: ), officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games (Malay: ), were a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 1998 games were the first held in Asia and the last Commonwealth Games of the 20th cen ...

), but rather in inter-regional competitions in the Caribbean, such as the Regional Four Day Competition and the

Regional Super50 The Super50 Cup, currently named the CG Insurance Super50 Cup for sponsorship purposes is the domestic one-day cricket competition in the West Indies cricket team, West Indies. It was previously known as the KFC Cup until the fast food chain p ...

. The team competes in regional cricket under the franchise name Leeward Islands Hurricanes. The Leeward Islands has won a total of ten domestic titles – four in

first class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

and six in

one-day cricket Limited overs cricket, also known as white ball cricket, is a version of the sport of cricket in which a match is generally completed within one day. There are a number of formats, including List A cricket (8-hour games), Twenty20 cricket (3-h ...

, but their last title was in 1997–98 when they won the double (although the first-class title was shared with

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

). The list of prominent cricketers who have played for the Leewards Islands includes

Curtly Ambrose Sir Curtly Elconn Lynwall Ambrose KCN (born 21 September 1963) is an Antiguan former cricketer who played 98 Test matches for the West Indies. Widely acknowledged as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, he took 405 Test wickets at ...

, Eldine Baptiste, Kenny Benjamin, Winston Benjamin, Sheldon Cottrell, George Ferris, Ridley Jacobs, Viv Richards,

Richie Richardson Sir Richard Benjamin Richardson, KCN GCM (born 12 January 1962) is a former West Indies international cricketer and a former captain of the West Indian cricket team. He was a flamboyant batsman and superb player of fast bowling. He was named ...

, Andy Roberts and Hayden Walsh Jr.

History

The Leeward Islands played their inaugural first-class game in 1958, and lost by an innings and 19 runs to

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. Their first win did not come until 1968–69, when they beat

by 43 runs at the

Warner Park Sporting Complex Warner Park Sporting Complex is an athletic facility in Basseterre, St. Kitts, St. Kitts and Nevis. It includes the Warner Park Stadium, which was one of the hosts for the 2007 Cricket World Cup. It is named after Sir Thomas Warner, the explo ...

ground. From 1965–66 to 1980–81 the team competed as the Combined Islands in first-class cricket, along with the best cricketers from the

Windward Islands The Windward Islands are the southern, generally larger islands of the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean islands or the West Indies. Located approximately between latitudes 10° and 16° N and longitudes 60° and 62° W, they extend from D ...

. However, when regular one-day competitions began in 1975–76 the island groups were separate, and the Leeward Islands won on their third outing in 1977–78. In 1981–82 the Leeward Islands made their debut in the Shell Shield with a 57-run win over the Windward Islands (the season after the Combined Islands had won the title), but it was to take eight seasons until they could lift the first-class trophy – which by then had been renamed the Red Stripe Cup. From 1989–90 to 1997–98, the Leeward Islands won three outright first-class titles with one shared and three outright one-day titles with one shared. Since then their only major trophy has been their 2010–11 WICB Cup triumph.

Squad

----

Notable players

The list of prominent cricketers who have represented the Leeward Islands includes: *

* Kenny Benjamin * Winston Benjamin * Ridley Jacobs * Viv Richards *

* Andy Roberts * Eldine Baptiste *

Sylvester Joseph Sylvester Cleofoster Joseph (born 5 September 1978) is a West Indian cricketer who has played in five Test cricket, Test matches and 13 One Day Internationals from 2000 to 2005. He captained the West Indies in one of those ODI games due to the mo ...

* Sheldon Cotterell * Keith Arthurton * Derick Parry * Stuart Williams * Runako Morton * Kieran Powell *

Omari Banks Omari Ahmed Clement Banks (born 17 July 1982) is an Anguillan musician and former cricketer, who appeared in 10 Test cricket, Test matches for the West Indies cricket team, West Indies, as well as domestic matches for the Leeward Islands cricket ...

* Lionel Baker *

Adam Sanford Adam Sanford (born 12 July 1975) is a former professional cricketer who played eleven Test cricket, Test matches for the West Indies cricket team, West Indies between 2002 and 2004. He later qualified for the United States national cricket team, ...

Grounds

The Leeward Islands play cricket on all their territories, though the only grounds to have seen Test cricket are the

Sir Vivian Richards Stadium Sir Vivian Richards Stadium is a stadium in North Sound, Saint George, Antigua and Barbuda. It was built for use in the 2007 Cricket World Cup where it hosted Super 8 matches. The stadium usually caters for 10,000 people, but temporary seatin ...

, Warner Park in

St Kitts Saint Kitts, officially Saint Christopher, is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Kitts and the neighbouring island of Nevis constitute one ...

and the now disused

Antigua Recreation Ground Antigua Recreation Ground is the national stadium of Antigua and Barbuda. It is located in St. John's, on the island of Antigua. The ground has been used by the West Indies cricket team and Antigua and Barbuda national football team. It had ...

. The Leeward Islands have also played home games at Salem Oval (

), Edgar Gilbert Sporting Complex (

), Carib Lumber Ball Park (

), Addelita Cancryn Junior High School Ground ( St. Thomas) and Elquemedo Willet Park (

Honours

* Regional Four Day Competition (4): 1989–90, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1997–98 (shared) * Domestic one-day competition (7): 1977–78 (shared), 1981–82, 1992–93 (shared), 1993–94, 1994–95, 1997–98, 2010–11

References

External links

Cricinfo

at CricketArchive
Leeward Islands Cricket – Info from West Indies Cricket Board
{{West Indies first class cricket teams National cricket teams West Indian first-class cricket teams Cricket in Antigua and Barbuda Cricket in Saint Kitts and Nevis Cricket in Anguilla Cricket in the British Virgin Islands Cricket in Montserrat Cricket in the United States Virgin Islands Cricket in the Leeward Islands Cricket in the West Indies Cricket clubs established in 1980 1980 establishments in North America