ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Reigning champions Guyana Jaguars are expected to face a feisty challenge when they open the 2015-16 West Indies Cricket Board Professional Cricket League Regional 4-Day Tournament against Windward Islands Volcanoes at the Guyana National Stadium.
The WICB recently announced the schedule which opens November 6, and will again be played under the franchise arrangement that was implemented from last season.
It will be a hard act for the Jaguars to follow after they became the first side to claim the Headley-Weekes Trophy, symbol of regional supremacy, in the franchise era of the R4Day. They topped the table, following victories in eight of their maximum ten matches.
Their only loss came on home soil in the third round of matches, when their long-standing rivals Barbados Pride clinched a nail-biting, two-run victory, dismissing the Jaguars for a record low of 66 in the second innings on the final day at the Guyana National Stadium, where they also drew with Trinidad & Tobago Red Force in the penultimate round.
In the other first round matches during the coming season, Leeward Islands Hurricanes host Red Force at Warner Park in Basseterre, St Kitts, and the Pride, last year’s second-placed team, welcome Jamaica Scorpions to Kensington Oval in Bridgetown.
The tournament will again be contested under a round-robin format, featuring ten rounds of matches, comprising five home and five away fixtures apiece for each of the six franchises, with the team accumulating the most points being declared the Champions.
The season also includes three breaks – following the third, fifth and eighth rounds.
For the coming season, the Addelita Cancryn Junior High School ground has been brought back onto the list of approved venues to stage first-class matches in the R4Day for the first time in six seasons.
The ground, located in Charlotte Amalie, the capital of the United States Virgin Island of St Thomas, will stage the seventh round match between Hurricanes and Volcanoes, following a series of inspections of the venue by a joint team from the WICB and West Indies Players’ Association.
The PCL also comprises the NAGICO Super50 Tournament which will be played January next year in Trinidad and St Kitts. Venues for this tournament are being finalised and the full schedule will be published soon.
Match Schedule
(Scheduled start 10 a.m. daily, except where indicated)
Round 1 – November 6 to 9
Jaguars vs Volcanoes – National Cricket Stadium, Guyana (9:30 a.m. start)
Hurricanes vs Red Force – Warner Park, St Kitts
Pride vs Scorpions – Kensington Oval, Barbados
Round 2 – November 13 to 16
Scorpions vs Volcanoes – Sabina Park, Jamaica
Pride vs Red Force – Kensington Oval, Barbados
Jaguars vs Hurricanes – National Cricket Stadium, Guyana (9:30 a.m. start)
Round 3 – November 20 to 23
Volcanoes vs Hurricanes – Windsor Park, Dominica
Jaguars vs Pride – National Cricket Stadium, Guyana (9:30 a.m. start)
Red Force vs Scorpions – Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad
BREAK
Round 4 – December 4 to 7
Volcanoes vs Pride – National Cricket Stadium, Grenada
Scorpions vs Hurricanes – Sabina Park, Jamaica
Red Force vs Jaguars – Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad
Round 5 – December 11 to 14
Scorpions vs Jaguars – Sabina Park, Jamaica
Volcanoes vs Red Force – Beausejour Cricket Ground, St Lucia
Pride vs Hurricanes – Kensington Oval, Barbados
BREAK
Round 6 – February 11 to 14
Hurricanes vs Scorpions – Vivian Richards Cricket Ground, Antigua
Round 6 – February 12 to 15
Pride vs Volcanoes – Kensington Oval, Barbados
Jaguars vs Red Force – National Cricket Stadium, Guyana
Round 7 – February 19 to 22
Hurricanes vs Volcanoes – Cancryn Ground, St Thomas
Pride vs Jaguars – Kensington Oval, Barbados
Scorpions vs Red Force – Sabina Park, Jamaica
Round 8 – February 26 to 29
Volcanoes vs Jaguars – Beausejour Cricket Ground, St. Lucia
Red Force vs Hurricanes – National Cricket Centre, Trinidad
Scorpions vs Pride – Sabina Park, Jamaica
BREAK
Round 9 – March 11 to 14
Volcanoes vs Scorpions – Arnos Vale Multiplex, St. Vincent
Red Force vs Pride – National Cricket Centre, Trinidad
Hurricanes vs Jaguars – Vivian Richards Cricket Ground, Antigua
Round 10 – March 18 to 21
Red Force vs Volcanoes – National Cricket Centre, Trinidad
Jaguars vs Scorpions – National Cricket Stadium, Guyana
Hurricanes vs Pride – Warner Park, St Kitts
