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The ECB will establish a groundbreaking tournament next summer when it launches a new women’s domestic T20 competition. The Women’s Super League will abandon the traditional county structure and comprise six teams

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jun-20150:39

Women’s Cricket Super League to be launched in England

The ECB will establish a groundbreaking tournament next summer when it launches a new women’s domestic T20 competition.The Women’s Super League will abandon the traditional county structure and comprise six teams.Potential team hosts will be invited to show an “expression of interest’, a process that will start formally this month, and consideration will be given to bodies outside the current county structure with the ECB saying that “any cricket-minded organisations will be able to submit a proposal to become a host.”The successful candidates will be confirmed by the end of the year.During its first season, the Women’s Super League will be comprised solely of T20 cricket and sit alongside the Royal London Women’s One-Day County Cup and NatWest Women’s County Twenty20 competitions. From 2017 onwards the structure will develop to both T20 and 50-over formats.The ECB is investing £3 million over the first four years of the tournament and believes that the competition will:*Develop higher standards for the England team with greater competition for places and creating more experienced players.*Inspire more women and girls to play cricket at all levels by offering new opportunities, a new narrative for the game, and new role models.*Create more opportunities to play through a network of host clubs linked to their communities.*Increase commercial support and broadcast coverage.The Minister for Sport, Tracey Crouch, was quick to offer support, saying: “”This is a huge step forward for women’s sport, providing female athletes with a platform to showcase their skills. It is also a great opportunity to further grow the game, inspiring a whole new generation of women to take up cricket.”The women’s game in England has made massive strides towards full professionalism in the past two years. In 2013, the ECB followed Cricket Australia’s lead in awarding central contracts to the national squad, allowing players to turn fully professional for the first time.A year later the ECB struck a deal with car manufacturer Kia which secured standalone sponsorship of England Women.Cricket Australia has also announced plans for a revamped domestic T20 league, with a Women’s Big Bash League to run in conjunction with the men’s tournament in December and January.Three England players – Charlotte Edwards, Heather Knight and Sarah Taylor – all played in Australia’s domestic competitions during the English winter.Now, with the advent of fully supported T20 competitions in both hemispheres, the incentives and rewards for female professional cricketer have dramatically increased.The £3m investment will help each team to improve coaching standards and community engagement plans, support a marketing campaign and, for the first time in domestic women’s cricket in England, offer prize money.Tom Harrison, ECB chief executive, heralded a “major step for the women’s game in England.”He said: “We are already very proud of the achievements of the England women’s team and the growth of the game for women and girls over the past decade.”We now have the opportunity to build on this, inspiring more women and girls to take part and offering players a domestic structure that gives the best cricketers the chance to play against each other in the most competitive environment.Women’s cricket is changing for Charlotte Edwards (left) and Clare Connor•Getty Images”The new Women’s Cricket Super League will take standards to a new level and show more women and girls the opportunities that cricket can give.”Clare Connor, ECB director of England women’s cricket, called the league “the next stage in the evolution of women’s cricket in this country” and said it would be a catalyst to increase female participation.”Last year brought the introduction of central contracts for 18 England women’s players and a significant commercial deal,” she said. “Now, through the Women’s Cricket Super League, we will create high-performance training and competition environments, which will constantly challenge our very best players and drive the sustained success of our England team.”We also have the chance to invite the world’s finest players into the Women’s Cricket Super League to drive ever higher standards.

Jadon Sancho is one of the worst signings Manchester United have ever made, according to former Red Devils striker Louis Saha.

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Saha tears into Sancho Flop winger closes in on Dortmund move'One of Man Utd's biggest transfer failures'WHAT HAPPENED?

Sancho is about to seal a loan move back to Borussia Dortmund, two-and-a-half-years after leaving the Bundesliga side to sign for United for £73 million ($94m). Sancho's time with the Red Devils has been a disaster for everyone involved and the player has not played or trained with the first team since lashing out at Erik ten Hag on social media after being omitted from the squad against Arsenal in September.

AdvertisementWHAT SAHA SAID

“Jadon Sancho is one of Manchester United’s biggest transfer failures – you can't have that type of quality sidelined because of his mindset," Saha told “We know that he is good enough, which is why it doesn’t sit right. You can’t be putting yourself in that situation and thinking that you are bigger than the manager. Whatever happens, I don’t back Sancho – which is hard for me as a supporter of United. It’s just horrendous.”

imago imagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Sancho arrived at United hoping to spearhead a title charge under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but he started just four Premier League matches before the Norwegian was sacked, and his place in the team was disrupted by the unexpected return of Cristiano Ronaldo. United will cover the bulk of Sancho's wages and will receive just a €3m (£2.5m) loan fee for parting with the winger, but they will hope that he rediscovers his form so his value will rise at the end of the season and they will be able to sell him in the summer.

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DID YOU KNOW?

Sancho will leave United for Dortmund with just 12 goals and six assists in two-and-a-half years with the club, compared to 114 goal contributions during his first spell at BVB between 2017 and 2021. He has not been selected in an England squad since 2021.

The Brazilian striker was a class act as Mikel Arteta's men got the win in Spain, even though their captain was again not at his best

Gabriel Jesus put in a fantastic performance to inspire Arsenal to a 2-1 win against Sevilla in the Champions League on Tuesday. A sublime piece of skill and an excellent pass sent Gabriel Martinelli through to open the score and give the Gunners the lead right at the end of the first half, and Jesus then smashed in his team's second early in the second period, cutting inside from the left and curling it into the net.

Sevilla pulled a goal back with a Nemanja Gudelj header from a corner – the relatively diminutive Jesus was, inexplicably, the man tasked with marking the tall Serb – and the Spanish side looked up for the fight. With William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes and Takehiro Tomiyasu looking strong at the back, however, the north London side were able to hold on for the win.

Coach Mikel Arteta will have some concerns with the way captain Martin Odegaard once again was kept quiet and ineffective, while Bukayo Saka was bullied too easily and was too wasteful on the ball before he was substituted near the end.

GOAL rates Arsenal's players from the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan…

GettyGoalkeeper & Defence

David Raya (6/10):

One typically awful pass gifted Sevilla a slight chance but was sound otherwise.

Ben White (5/10):

Poor marking when defending set-pieces.

William Saliba (7/10):

Strong and reliable as ever. Nothing got by him.

Gabriel Magalhaes (6/10):

Composed on the ball and looked solid beside Saliba.

Takehiro Tomiyasu (7/10):

Pushed high up to get involved in attack but did a good job tracking runs defensively, too.

AdvertisementGettyMidfield

Martin Odegaard (5/10):

Missed a great chance in the second half and had another tame shot. Not good enough on the ball.

Jorginho (6/10):

Stable in possession and helped keep Rakitic quiet for most of the game.

Declan Rice (7/10):

Excellent in possession as he pushed up to create danger for Sevilla and was there to sweep up at the back.

GettyAttack

Bukayo Saka (6/10):

A bit of a dead end, he struggled up against Sevilla's muscle as he kept on getting knocked down.

Gabriel Jesus (8/10):

A brilliant performance! Amazing turn and perfect pass to set up Martinelli, then a gorgeous finish to make it 2-0.

Gabriel Martinelli (8/10):

Raced forward to get a great early chance but squandered it. Made up for it with his excellent goal on his full debut in the Champions League and was busy defensively.

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GettySubs & Manager

Kai Havertz (5/10):

Replaced Odegaard with under 20 minutes left but barely got on the ball.

Eddie Nketiah (5/10):

A late introduction but did not get much time on the ball as Sevilla pushed up the other end.

Leandro Trossard (5/10):

Had to act more as a defender than a winger after his late arrival.

Jakub Kiwior (N/A):

Came on right at the end as Arsenal resorted to pure defence.

Mikel Arteta (7/10):

Set his team up well to dominate early on and create big chances, but they gave away control halfway through the second half and were scrambling to save the result.

Lionel Messi is reluctant to make Antonio Sanabria famous by discussing a spitting incident that occurred during Argentina’s win over Paraguay.

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All-time great in qualification actionStepped off the bench after nursing knockFocused on picking up three pointsWHAT HAPPENED?

Seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi started that game on the bench, as he has been nursing an injury since the last international break, but was introduced in the 53rd minute. That was enough time for him to come close to scoring on a couple of occasions, but an early effort from Nicolas Otamendi ended up settling a tight contest.

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Messi was involved in one unfortunate incident that saw Paraguay striker Sanabria spit in his direction, but the World Cup winner was unaware of those actions at the time and refused to be dragged into a debate regarding them afterwards for fear of giving “importance” to a player that he claims to know nothing about.

WHAT THEY SAID

Messi told of the spitting saga: “My team-mates told me about it in the locker room. It is better to leave the issue alone.”

The all-time great added: “I don't know who this guy is and I don't want to give him importance either, because if he gets that he's going to go out and talk everywhere and he becomes known.”

Messi preferred to discuss the fact that he was able to get more game time under his belt after seeing just 72 minutes of action for Inter Miami since last turning out for his country. The iconic 36-year-old added: “I'm happy to play again and add minutes. It is always difficult to enter and even more so in such a tight game. The important thing is that we won and at times we played very well, especially in the first half.”

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GettyWHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Argentina will be back in 2026 World Cup qualifying action next Tuesday when taking in a trip to Peru, with there a chance that Messi has already played his last domestic minutes of the season for Inter Miami – as they have missed out on the MLS play-offs.

Cristiano Ronaldo has reacted to Portugal’s “historic” Euro 2024 qualification campaign that delivered nothing but '100% victory'.

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Tickets booked to another major tournamentEnjoyed faultless run through 10 gamesStar-studded squad can challenge in GermanyWHAT HAPPENED?

The European champions from 2016 are heading to another major tournament in style, with a faultless run enjoyed through their qualifying campaign. Roberto Martinez inherited the managerial reins with Portugal on the back of a disappointing display at the 2022 World Cup, and the Spaniard has made an immediate impact.

AdvertisementGettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

His cause is aided considerably by the fact that he has the likes of Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, Joao Felix, Bernardo Silva and Rafael Leao to call upon. They have helped to deliver a memorable run towards Euro 2024 that has seen 30 points picked up from 10 games.

DID YOU KNOW?

Ronaldo is delighted to have played his part in those history-making efforts by Portugal, with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner posting on Instagram after seeing a perfect record maintained in a 2-0 victory over Iceland: “Historic clearance, 100% victorious! Congratulations Portugal.”

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WHAT NEXT?

Portugal proved too strong for Group J rivals Slovakia, Luxembourg, Iceland, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Lichtenstein. They scored 36 goals through 10 matches, conceding only two, and will fancy their chances of competing for the ultimate prize when the European Championship returns to Germany next summer.

GOAL preview the continent’s stars expected to feature for their respective clubs around the world this weekend

GettyAfricans to watch in Europe

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s seven goals in 10 games in all competitions puts him in a good place before Sunday’s El Clasico at Real Madrid.

In Serie A, the top three all play on Saturday with Kalidou Koulibaly and Andre Zambo Anguissa looking to put pressure on Ismael Bennacer and Franck Kessie in the Scudetto race.

AdvertisementGetty.Thomas Partey

Arsenal’s five-game winning run was halted on Wednesday as Liverpool secured a 2-0 win at the Emirates Stadium.

Partey and his colleagues will look to avoid successive losses when they travel to Aston Villa and keep their Top Four aspirations on track.

Mikel Arteta’s team have lost on their last two visits to Villa Park and Gerard's team will back themselves to make it three wins on the trot against the Gunners on their own turf.

Getty ImagesThe FA Cup

There is plenty of African interest in the quarter-finals with several interesting ties in the last eight.

Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha, Jordan Ayew, Cheick Kouyate and Jeffrey Schlupp look to get the better of Alex Iwobi's Everton, while Mohammed Salisu and Riyad Mahrez face off when Southampton host Manchester City.

In the other two ties, giant-killing Middlesbrough chase a third straight scalp when Hakim Ziyech and Edouard Mendy come to town, while Liverpool’s African contingent hope to avoid defeat at Nottingham Forest and keep their quadruple hopes alive.

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Getty ImagesKoulibaly & Anguissa

Napoli’s 2-1 win over Cagliari last week meant they kept pace with AC Milan at the top of Serie A and they host Udinese on Saturday looking for their ninth win at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

Kalidou Koulibaly and Andre Zambo Anguissa are expected to feature for the whose home record has been rather hit and miss this term.

Luciano Spalletti’s team are winless in their last two home games, so a return to winning ways will be timely with Milan only three points ahead.

The Portuguese has enjoyed a fine debut campaign in Turin but has any other player ever made such an instantaneous impact on Italian football?

GettyCristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo has enjoyed a successful start to his Italian adventure.

The Portuguese's first season in Turin wasn't without its disappointments, chief among them Juventus' shock elimination at the quarter-final stage of the Champions League by Ajax.

However, Ronaldo could hardly be held accountable in that regard, given they wouldn't have even made it that far without him, with the forward netting a hat-trick in Juve's stirring second-leg comeback against Atletico Madrid in the last 16.

Indeed, the fact that no other Bianconero scored in the knockout stage underlined just how important CR7 has already become to the Old Lady.

Of course, an eighth consecutive Scudetto was always likely, even before Ronaldo's arrival, but he played a pivotal role in their triumph, racking up 21 goals and eight assists.

Those numbers may not have been enough to finish as Capocannoniere but they did result in him being voted Player of the Season, thus making him the first man to win the accolade in Serie A, La Liga and the Premier League.

So, with that in mind, Goal has decided to back through the history books to see if any overseas superstar has ever made such an instantaneous impact on the Italian game…AdvertisementGettyGabriel Batistuta

After successful spells with both River Plate and Boca Juniors, Gabriel Batistuta secured a move to Fiorentina in 1991 after firing Argentina to Copa America glory with six goals. 

The striker initially found goals hard to come by at the Artemio Franchi, netting only three times by the end of December, but he ended his first season in Serie A with a creditable 13, as a weak Viola side finished 12th.

'Batigol', as he came to be known, struck 16 times during his second campaign but that was not enough to save Fiorentina from the drop. 

However, even though Batistuta had established himself as one of the top strikers in Serie A, he resisted offers from elsewhere to help the club secure an immediate return to the top flight, thus earning himself iconic status in Florence.

Batistuta continued to score freely for Fiorentina but despite some near misses, it was only after leaving to join Roma in 2000 that he won a long overdue Scudetto.

GettyRuud Gullit

AC Milan broke the transfer fee world record in 1987 by signing Ruud Gullit from PSV for approximately £6 million but the Dutchman took time to settle at San Siro, struggling with the Italian language and only scoring two goals during the first half of the season.

However, the forward improved from January onwards, and ended up with nine goals to his name as the Rossoneri claimed their first Scudetto since 1979.

Despite some injury issues, Gullit would go on to become a legend at Milan, whom he helped win back to back European Cups, even scoring twice in the 1989 final against Steaua Bucharest.

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GettyKaka

Despite widespread interest in Kaka's services, AC Milan managed to snap up the Sao Paulo star for just €8.5m (£7.5m/$9.5m), which president Silvio Berlusconi rather prophetically described as "peanuts"!

The attacking midfielder was the revelation of the 2003-04 Serie A season. Kaka had only scored twice by the winter break but he was proving a wonderful creative force, replacing Rui Costa in the starting line-up, and the goals began to flow in the New Year.

Indeed, he ended his debut campaign with 10 in total and was named Serie A Player of the Year for playing such a pivotal role in Milan's title triumph. 

Kaka would go on to become one of the finest players ever to grace Italy's top flight, capping a sensational first spell at San Siro by winning the Ballon d'Or after inspiring the Rossoneri to Champions League glory in 2007.

Jose Mourinho has joked Manchester United might be handed the 2017-18 Premier League title if Manchester City are found guilty of breaching FFP rules.

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United finished 19 points behind City in 2017-18Mourinho still insists it's one of his best achievementsJokes City could be docked points after trialGettyWHAT HAPPENED?

Mourinho was initially appointed United boss in 2016, and delivered a Europa League and Carabao Cup double in his first campaign before guiding the team to second in the Premier League table the following season – their best finish since Sir Alex Ferguson's departure. Results took a turn for the worse in the first half of the 2018-19 season and Mourinho was sacked, but the former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss has since insisted that he ranks finishing second in the Premier League with United among his best achievements, a statement he stands by to this day.

AdvertisementGettyWHAT MOURINHO SAID

Mourinho reiterated that stance during a sit-down with Rio Ferdinand and Stephen Howson for , despite the fact United were still 19 points behind eventual champions City at the end of the season in question. Incredibly, the Portuguese then joked Pep Guardiola's side could see their total reduced as he referenced the fact City are set to go on trial for allegedly breaching 115 FFP rules.

"Maybe there is a chance we win that league, no?" Mourinho, Football.com global ambassador, said when Ferdinand challenged him on his remarks. "Because if Manchester City is caught in financial fair play breaking the rules, maybe they lose a few points and we win that title."

THE BIGGER PICTURE

By the end of his spell at Old Trafford, Mourinho had lost the faith of a large section of the fanbase and alienated several players by criticising them in public, and there were some who suggested his pragmatic style of play was never a good fit for United. However, the 61-year-old looks back on his time in Manchester fondly, and still feels a connection with supporters.

"I loved my time there," he said. "I was so proud of going there, and even prouder a couple of years later going back as a Sky commentator and when I felt the reaction of the crowd I was like 'wow'. I always felt we were together and that reaction touched me. To be a coach in the same club as Sir Alex, you have to feel the pride and responsibility. Historical club, legendary players, I was very happy and proud to be there. Not easy, I don't think media helped me, including yourself maybe, I felt that was not with an intention of hurting, it was more people didn't understand the dimension of the job and potential difficulties. The structure was not very fluid."

Mourinho went on to defend United's much-maligned former executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, instead pointing the finger of blame at the Glazer family for the chaotic state of the club behind the scenes. "I don't like when people criticise Ed Woodward's job, because he's a good man, very intelligent, very polite, very correct, but probably not prepared for the sports side of it," he added. "For a coach not to have a direct communication with the ownership, and not have a structure that shares the same principle and ideas was not easy, with consequences at many levels. But I did my best."

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WHAT NEXT FOR UNITED AND CITY?

Some six years on from Mourinho's departure, United are still in disarray, and currently sit sixth in the Premier League table. City are 11 points ahead of them with a game in hand, and favourites to lift the title for a fourth successive year, though the upcoming FFP trial is still casting a shadow over Etihad Stadium. According to the , the trial is set to begin in Autumn this year, and will be settled by an independent panel.

Former BCCI President Shashank Manohar has said he was “disillusioned” by the happenings at the BCCI’s emergent working committee meeting on Sunday

Sharda Ugra21-Apr-2014Former BCCI President Shashank Manohar has said he was “disillusioned” by the happenings at the BCCI’s emergent working committee meeting on Sunday, which picked a three-member panel to investigate the IPL corruption scandal as directed by India’s Supreme Court. Manohar, who served as BCCI president from to 2008-2011, attended the meeting as a special nominee of the Vidarbha Cricket Association, which is a member of the BCCI working committee.Manohar told ESPNcricinfo he had gone to the meeting “with a particular purpose, to help handle this crisis. The Board’s reputation is the lowest that it has been in the 80 years since it was founded. The situation needed to be cleaned up.”Manohar would say no more about the meeting, at which the names of RK Raghavan, JN Patel and Ravi Shastri were picked for the BCCI panel to be presented to the Supreme Court for its next hearing on Tuesday. The BCCI is yet to officially announce the names, however, with BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel saying they could not be revealed “considering the sanctity of the court.”Manohar has been critical of how the BCCI has handled the IPL case, saying on Friday that “nothing has moved in the last one year” because the Board lacked leaders to take on Srinivasan “who is shamelessly and stubbornly sticking to his chair.”It is understood that in addition to Raghavan, Patel and Shastri, four more names were discussed: former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Justice Mukul Mudgal, who headed the Court-appointed committee to look into the IPL 2013 corruption scandal, L Nageshwar Rao, the additional solicitor general of India who was also part of the Mudgal committee and BCCI interim president Shivlal Yadav. While the names of Patel, Shastri and Raghavan were brought to vote, those of Mudgal and/or Rao and Chatterjee were not. There is some discrepancy over the number of people – either 11 or 14 – who supported Raghavan’s name at the meeting, where all proceedings were recorded in audio.The selection of both Raghavan and Shastri can be questioned for separate reasons. Raghavan, who headed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) during the match-fixing inquiry in 2000, was one of the 52 people who deposed before the Mudgal committee. Should he be a part of the BCCI-nominated panel to look into the case, he will have gone from being witness to judge in the same case. Shastri is a paid employee of the BCCI, in his capacity as commentator. He is also a member of the governing council and – according to the website on Monday morning – part of two of the IPL’s four committees, and will personally know most of the individuals who are to be investigated, including BCCI president N Srinivasan.In order to explain Shastri’s contentious inclusion, Patel had said that the Bombay High Court, in an order in 2013, had said any BCCI probe committee needed to include one member from the Code of Behaviour committee under the IPL Operational Rules. The last BCCI-appointed panel to look into the IPL corruption scandal was declared illegal by the Bombay High Court, with differing explanations about its formation.Last week, the two-judge Supreme Court bench consisting of Justice AK Patnaik and FM Ibrahim Kalifullah, asked the BCCI to revert with “constructive, corrective” measures with regard to how it can ensure a free and fair probe. The court said it did not want to infringe on the “institutional autonomy” of the BCCI by ordering an independent probe and said: “We are not inclined to do it [hand the case over to the CBI]… But if we are compelled we will do it.”The case dates back to June 2013 when the Cricket Association of Bihar secretary Aditya Verma raised charges of conflict of interest in the formation of BCCI’s two-member inquiry panel into the IPL corruption issue. After the Bombay High Court declared the panel illegal, the BCCI and the CAB filed petitions in the Supreme Court against this order; with the CAB contending that the Bombay High Court could have suggested a fresh mechanism to look into the corruption allegations.The Supreme Court then appointed a three-member committee, headed by former High Court judge Mukul Mudgal, and comprising additional solicitor general L Nageswara Rao and Nilay Dutta, in October 2013, to conduct an independent inquiry into the allegations of corruption against Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, India Cements, and Rajasthan Royals team owner Jaipur IPL Cricket Private Ltd, as well as with the larger mandate of allegations around betting and spot-fixing in IPL matches and the involvement of players. The committee had submitted its findings to the court on February 10.

New Zealand’s batsmen are on notice after one bad session in Trinidad, but the captain Brendon McCullum still believes his men can achieve “something special” and take the series decider in Barbados

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jun-20143:28

‘A chance of something special’ – McCullum

New Zealand’s batsmen are on notice after one bad session in Trinidad, but the captain Brendon McCullum still believes his men can achieve “something special” and take the series decider in Barbados. West Indies and New Zealand enter the third and final match with the series tied at 1-1 and it is the hosts who have the momentum after their strong 10-wicket victory in Trinidad.That result was set up by the success of the West Indies bowlers on the first day, when New Zealand collapsed from 120 for 1 to be all out for 221. McCullum said he expected more from the batting group in Barbados, where the likelihood of a quicker surface has not only meant the inclusion of Neil Wagner for Ish Sodhi, but should mean that once a batsman has got himself in, runs are there for the taking.”It looks like it’s pretty good batting surface with some bounce and it should have some decent carry even though there’s not a lot of grass,” McCullum said on the eve of the match. “Hopefully it holds throughout the game and should be able to aid the fast bowlers.”Either way there looks a little bit in it for the bowlers but also it looks like the kind of surface that if you get in on, because it’s got good pace bounce and the outfield is fast, you can score some runs as well.”There was no shortage of runs from New Zealand in the first Test in Jamaica, where centuries from Kane Williamson and Jimmy Neesham pushed the total to 508 before McCullum’s declaration came. In Trinidad, though, it was the West Indies batsmen who showed the patience to graft out a big total and emerged victorious.”We’ve batted really well over the last 12 to 18 months and posted those scores in excess of 400 and every time we’ve done so we’ve either won or drawn a Test match,” McCullum said. “So we know that’s a key stat for us and we’ve got to make sure we try and execute that again. Sometimes you have bad days as a batting group.”We talked about that after that last Test match, we had one bad session where West Indies bowlers to their credit bowled well and we didn’t apply ourselves as well as we should have done. We’re on notice too. We’ve got to make sure we stick to our key fundamentals and get ourselves a big first-innings score.”Brendon McCullum knows the New Zealand batsmen need to lift after their Trinidad failure•WICB Media/Randy Brooks PhotoShould New Zealand manage to win in Barbados, it would mark their first series win away from home since they toured Bangladesh in 2008, excluding the one-off Test against Zimbabwe in 2011. Only once this century have they beaten anyone but Zimbabwe or Bangladesh in a series away from home – when Stephen Fleming’s men took a 1-0 result over two Tests in the Caribbean in 2002.”It certainly sets it up well and gives us a real chance of achieving something special,” McCullum said. “A series win, if we are able to achieve it, would be something that everyone in this squad, players and management included, would hold dearly for the rest of their lives. Certainly for all of us it’s a huge opportunity.”However, the West Indies captain Denesh Ramdin is confident that his men will take the momentum from Trinidad, where they posted 460 in the first innings and then cruised to their target of 93 in the second innings without losing a wicket.”It was important that we won in Trinidad, but what was also important was that we put in an impressive display,” Ramdin said. “We dominated … we got good runs on the board and then our bowlers got 20 wickets, which was also very good. It was a hard fought Test match and we will bring that with us.”The occasion also marks the 50th Test match played at the Kensington Oval in Barbados, a venue that has brought West Indies only 10 defeats – although seven of those 10 have come in the past 11 matches.”Kensington Oval is one of those special grounds … a place where you always look forward to coming and playing,” Ramdin said. “It is one of the top grounds around the West Indies and in the world and we will be looking to do something special to mark the landmark of 50 Test matches here.”I have done well here – I made my highest score Test score here against England and my highest first-class score for Trinidad and Tobago here as well. So personally, I always look forward to coming to Barbados and playing here. It is a good hunting ground for me and once I get that opportunity I will look to bat time and get the runs on the board for my team.”