Regional cricket growing - Hunte

ST JOHN'S, Antigua (CMC):

West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president, Julian Hunte, believes regional cricket is continuing to grow and, as a result, predicting the results of tournaments is becoming increasingly difficult.

He was speaking against the backdrop of the final of the WICB one-day championship between Barbados and the Leeward Islands, which finished in a tie last Sunday.

"Barbados played with a clinical efficiency as they made their way to the final while the Leeward Islands displayed an unyielding tenacity from their opening match to the final ball of the tournament," said Hunte.

"I must observe that with the Leeward Islands making it to the finals and showcasing that they are a team on the move forward, to predict that one team or another is a clear favourite in regional cricket is becoming more and more difficult.

"In recent years, we have had Trinidad and Guyana winning T20 titles, Jamaica winning four-day titles, Barbados making two consecutive finals and Windward Islands playing consistently competitive cricket and pulling off an increasing number of victories against some of the traditionally more established teams."

B'dos unbeaten

Barbados played unbeaten in the tournament staged in Jamaica, and entered the final as heavy favourites against a Leewards side that had squeezed into the semi-finals in the final round of group stage matches.

However, in a low-scoring final at Sabina Park, they managed to defend a paltry total of 139 to grab a share of the spoils.

"Congratulations to both Barbados and Leeward Islands for producing what turned out to be a phenom-enal and historic result in the final," Hunte said.

"The performances of both teams throughout the tournament were worthy of them being finalists and the WICB is immensely proud of the two teams for making what was a low-scoring final into a match which ended in high drama."

For Barbados, it was their first limited-overs title in eight years while the Leewards broke an 11-year drought.