Staff Writer – Archi
West Indies Cricket news. Sunil Narine was adjudged the Twenty20 Cricketer of the Year at the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players Association awards ceremony, in Jamaica, on Thursday.
The award comes after Narine didn’t find a spot in the West Indies squad for the Test series against New Zealand. Narine’s decision to play for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the cash-rich Indian Premier League-7 final instead of joining the preparatory camp upset the WICB.
The WICB had served an ultimatum to its players to join the national camp latest by June 1, but Naraine preferred to stay back to play his franchise team KKR’s final match forcing the board to drop him from first Test squad.
West Indies spinner Sunil Narine. Photo courtesy www.telegraphindia.com
Darren Bravo was a big winner on the night, bagging two awards. The left-handed batsman won the T20 MVP award as well as the prestigious Cricketer of the Year award. This came after he made a career-best 218 against New Zealand in Dunedin in December.
Other major awards went to Stafanie Taylor (Female Cricketer of the Year); Shivnarine Chanderpaul (Test Cricketer of the Year) and Dwayne Bravo (ODI Cricketer of the Year).
Chanderpaul also received a special award as the first West Indian to play 150 Test matches, while Chris Gayle was also honoured as he prepares for his 100th Test match.
