ICC World XI take on West Indies for a worthy cause today

LONDON: Cricket’s credibility as a gentleman’s game has taken a major hit in recent times. So much so that that ICC’s cricket committee, in its recent meeting, decided to take immediate stock of the situation and advocated greater authority to match officials to improve player behaviour.

In such an atmosphere of hostility, the Twenty20 International fixture between Windies and World XI on Thursday at Lord’s, to be played for a worthy cause, is a much-needed antidote which will play a part towards the eradication of the bad blood that has taken the focus off the game itself, in addition to its original objective.

In August-September last year, Hurricanes Irma and then Maria wreaked havoc in the Caribbean region and the United States. The cataclysmic effects of the category 5 storms included heavy casualties and damage to properties. Ronald Webster Park in Anguilla, Sir. Viv Richards Stadium in Antigua, Windsor Park in Dominica, AO Shirley Recreation Ground in British Virgin Islands and Carib Lumber Ball Park in St. Martin were among the the cricket stadia that bore the brunt of the storms.

The cricketing world took notice and came together to provide its sliver of support. This is not the first time that the cricketing fraternity has come together for a noble cause, with the previous one being the three T20Is played between World XI and Pakistan in a bid to bring top-flight cricket back to Pakistan. Andy Flower, who was the coach of that World XI team led by Faf du Plessis, reprises the same role for the Shahid Afridi-led side. “Sport has been used as a vehicle for good in many instances in the past and this is one of those occasions. The intent behind everyone’s involvement is for good and you get some really amazing side benefits as well. For instance, here we’ve got Pakistanis and Indians sharing a dressing room which doesn’t happen very often,” noted Flower. Although there were a few people pulling out at the last moment owing to different reasons, it is still a star-studded side with plenty of fire-power. Led by Afridi, the team is a blend of England, Asian and New Zealand presence, with several players coming off a rich vein of form in the just-concluded Indian Premier League, chief among them being Rashid Khan and Dinesh Karthik.

Squads: ICC World XI: Shahid Afridi (c), Sam Billings, Sam Curran, Tamim Iqbal, Tymal Mills, Dinesh Karthik, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Lamichhane, Mitchell McClenaghan, Shoaib Malik, Thisara Perera, Luke Ronchi, Adil Rashid.

West Indies: Carlos Brathwaite (c), Samuel Badree, Rayad Emrit, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Ashley Nurse, Keemo Paul, Rovman Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Kesrick Williams.