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The Regional Four Day Competition, formerly known as Shell Shield and Carib Beer Cup, is the first-class
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
competition in the
West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
. It is administered by the
Cricket West Indies Cricket West Indies (CWI) is the governing body for cricket in the West Indies (a sporting confederation of over a dozen mainly English-speaking Caribbean countries and dependencies that once formed the British West Indies). It was originally ...
. In the 2013-2014 season the winner of the tournament was awarded the WICB President's Trophy while the winners of the knockout competition were awarded the
George Headley George Alphonso Headley OD, MBE (30 May 1909 – 30 November 1983) was a West Indian cricketer who played 22 Test matches, mostly before World War II. Considered one of the best batsmen to play for the West Indies and one of the greatest crick ...
/
Everton Weekes Sir Everton DeCourcy Weekes, KCMG, GCM, OBE (26 February 19251 July 2020) was a cricketer from Barbados. A right-handed batsman, he was known as one of the hardest hitters in world cricket. Weekes holds the record for consecutive Test hundre ...
trophy. In a few previous seasons the winners of the tournament were awarded the Headley/Weekes trophy. From the 2017–18, the Competition had been sponsored by
Digicel Digicel is a Jamaican and Caribbean mobile phone network and home entertainment provider operating in 33 markets worldwide. Digicel has operated in several countries, including Guyana, Fiji, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia, Suriname, and Ja ...
and was known as the Digicel Four Day Championship. In 2019-20, the competition has been known as the West Indies Championship. The competition is contested between seven Caribbean teams and, on occasion, touring sides from other countries. Four of the Caribbean teams,
Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...
,
Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...
,
Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
and
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
, come from individual countries while two teams, the
Leeward Islands french: Îles-Sous-le-Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Leeward Islands. Clockwise: Antigua and Barbuda, Guadeloupe, Saint kitts and Nevis. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean SeaNorth Atlantic Ocean , coor ...
and the
Windward Islands french: Îles du Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Windward Islands. Clockwise: Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean SeaNorth ...
, which previously competed together as the Combined Islands, are each from multiple countries and territories. Beginning with the 2007–08 season the
Combined Campuses and Colleges cricket team Combined may refer to: * Alpine combined (skiing), the combination of slalom and downhill skiing as a single event ** Super combined (skiing) * Nordic combined (skiing), the combination of cross country skiing and ski jumping as a single event * ...
(CCC cricket team) were included in the competition, but in July 2014 the WICB announced that the CCC cricket team was to be excluded from the upcoming 2014-15 Regional Four Day competition as part of a series of changes adopted based on the recommendations made in a report presented by
Richard Pybus Richard Alexander Pybus (born 5 July 1964), is an English-born cricket coach. He coached the Pakistan and Bangladesh national teams, and currently serves as the Director of Cricket for the West Indies Cricket Board. He has held this post sinc ...
, WICB's director of cricket, in March 2014. The current structure of the tournament is a double round-robin league system with the team earning the most points being declared the winner. Prior to the 2014-15 season the tournament consisted of only a single round-robin league followed by semi-finals and a final. In the past there was no knock-out stage and it was possible for the winners to share the trophy. The current champions are Guyana. Barbados have won the most titles, with twenty (and one shared), while Jamaica have won the most consecutive titles (five).


Competing teams

The following teams have competed in every tournament since the 2007–08 season: *
Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...
(now going by the franchise name Barbados Pride) *
Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...
(now going by the franchise name Guyana Jaguars) *
Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
(called the Jamaica Franchise until the franchise name Jamaica Scorpions was chosen) *
Leeward Islands french: Îles-Sous-le-Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Leeward Islands. Clockwise: Antigua and Barbuda, Guadeloupe, Saint kitts and Nevis. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean SeaNorth Atlantic Ocean , coor ...
(now going by the franchise name Leeward Islands Hurricanes) *
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
(now going by the franchise name Trinidad and Tobago Red Force) *
Windward Islands french: Îles du Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Windward Islands. Clockwise: Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean SeaNorth ...
(now going by the franchise name Windward Islands Volcanoes) The following teams have also made appearances in the competition: * Combined Islands – 1965–66 to 1980–81 * England Lions – 2000–01 (as England A), 2010–11 * West Indies B – 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04 * Bangladesh A – 2001–02 *
India A The India A cricket team is a national cricket team representing India. It is the second-tier of Indian international cricket, below the full India national cricket team. The team is currently captained by Priyank Panchal in first-class cricket a ...
– 2002–03 *
Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...
– 2003–04 *
Combined Campuses and Colleges Combined may refer to: * Alpine combined (skiing), the combination of slalom and downhill skiing as a single event ** Super combined (skiing) * Nordic combined (skiing), the combination of cross country skiing and ski jumping as a single event * T ...
- 2007-08 to 2013-14


Origins

First-class cricket has been played in the West Indies since 1865, when Barbados beat Demerara (in what is now Guyana) at
Bridgetown Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the capital and largest city of Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Island ...
. Matches were played intermittently in the 1860s, 1870s and 1880s, with Demerara being the centre – Jamaica did not play first class games until 1895, while the first Barbados v Trinidad match took place in 1891. Because of the distances involved and travelling costs, there were only three teams in the
Inter-Colonial Tournament The Inter-Colonial Tournament was the main first class cricket competition in the West Indies held between 1892-93 and 1938-39. Competing teams * Barbados * British Guiana * Trinidad In the early tournaments British Guiana were sometimes r ...
, which began in 1891 and had 28 installments until it was finally discontinued in 1939. All three teams, Barbados, British Guiana (now Guyana) and Trinidad won more than five times. Jamaica had first-class status, but played few games (22 in their first 30 years), though they usually played touring teams from England, and when the West Indies got
Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...
status in 1928 that increased the number of games played by Jamaica as well. In the
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
years, there was no official Inter-Colonial tournament, but matches were still played between the three teams who had competed for it, and this continued after the war – but now with Jamaica joining in, too. In 1956, British Guiana hosted a four-team knock-out tournament, and this was repeated five years later but now with the Combined Islands joining in. The final unofficial tournament (which does not appear on records in
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...
or
Cricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a d ...
) was held in 1964, with Barbados, British Guiana, Jamaica and Trinidad competing in a league, which British Guiana won.


History of the competition

The regular competition began in the 1965–66 season, named the Shell Shield (after sponsors
Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yo ...
), and the five teams that had contested the 1961 knock-out competed in a round-robin league, with two home matches and two away matches for each team. This format and name remained until 1981–82, when the Combined Islands were split by the West Indies Cricket Board, but that only meant that the season was lengthened to five games a team. Barbados won most of the early tournaments, with nine titles of a possible 14 from 1965–66 to 1979–80, before the Combined Islands won their first title in 1980–81 after four runners-up spots in the preceding six seasons – becoming the last of the five teams to win a title. Barbados won three more titles before the tournament was restricted in the 1986–87 season – instead of a round-robin league, there were now two round-robin groups, determined by geography. The league was back for the next season, however, renamed to Red Stripe Cup (from the beer brand
Red Stripe Red Stripe is a 4.7% ABV pale lager brewed by Desnoes & Geddes in Jamaica. It was first introduced in 1928 from a recipe developed by Paul H. Geddes and Bill Martindale. It is also brewed in the Netherlands by Heineken. In 1993, Guinness Brewing ...
). Leeward Islands won their first title in 1989–90, winning all five games in the league, but Barbados were back on top for the following season. No team managed to win for two seasons in a row for the next fourteen seasons, though the Leeward Islands and Barbados exchanged the trophy for six seasons between 1993–94 and 1998–99. The WICB experimented with the format in these seasons – the 1995–96 saw a final match being played, while 1996–97 had a home-and-away round-robin format (so ten matches in total). The following season, the Red Stripe withdrew as a sponsor, and the tournament had to be renamed the President's Cup – and cut down to five matches a team once again. For 1998–99, the soft drink Busta came in as the tournament became the Busta Cup, and the tournament now got a semi-final and a final appended after the round-robin. Barbados and Jamaica dominated the 2000s, as they have shared the first six titles of the millennium – Barbados becoming the first team to defend their title since Jamaica did it in 1989 and in total have shared fourteen out of the fifteen titles of the millennium (excluding the first-class knockout titles). The 2000s also saw attempts to include teams from other nations, as England A, Bangladesh A,
India A The India A cricket team is a national cricket team representing India. It is the second-tier of Indian international cricket, below the full India national cricket team. The team is currently captained by Priyank Panchal in first-class cricket a ...
and
Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...
all competed (in chronological order, one team each season), along with a university side known as West Indies B. In 2002
Carib Brewery The Carib Brewery is headquartered in Trinidad and Tobago. It produces ''Carib'' and ''Stag'' beers and a range of Shandy ''Carib'' products (''Ginger Shandy'', ''Lime Shandy'' and ''Sorrel Shandy''). The main brewery is located in Champs Fleur ...
, became the title sponsor and the competition was known as the Carib Beer Cup for the next six years until Carib's sponsorship ended in 2008/09. The semi-finals were removed for the 2004–05 as was the West Indies B team and the tournament returned to a six-team league – this time with home and away matches, so a ten-game league with a final match between the top two teams. In the 2005–06 season, the league returned to one round-robin series so teams play five games before the top two play the Final. For 2008-09 season, it was known as the Headley-Weekes Trophy, named after
George Headley George Alphonso Headley OD, MBE (30 May 1909 – 30 November 1983) was a West Indian cricketer who played 22 Test matches, mostly before World War II. Considered one of the best batsmen to play for the West Indies and one of the greatest crick ...
and
Everton Weekes Sir Everton DeCourcy Weekes, KCMG, GCM, OBE (26 February 19251 July 2020) was a cricketer from Barbados. A right-handed batsman, he was known as one of the hardest hitters in world cricket. Weekes holds the record for consecutive Test hundre ...
. Since 2009 it has been known as the Regional Four Day Competition. Between 2008 and 2012, Jamaica won the competition for a record five times in a row. The only previous time a team had won the record five times in a row was between 1976 and 1980 when Barbados won the title; however, for that streak, the first title in 1976 was shared between Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago whereas for Jamaica's 2008-2012 streak the title was never shared with any other team. In 2014, the WICB announced major structural changes to the first-class cricket competition starting with the exclusion of the Combined Campuses and Colleges team from the competition (in which it had participated since 2007-08). Additionally, it was announced that a franchise system was to be introduced for first-class cricket, similar to that of the
Caribbean Premier League The Caribbean Premier League (abbreviated to CPL or CPLT20) is an annual Twenty20 cricket tournament held in the Caribbean. It was founded by Cricket West Indies in 2013 to replace the Caribbean Twenty20 as the premier Twenty20 competition in ...
, with the six territorial teams being able to select players from all over the region and possibly from overseas. The new franchises would be owned by the territorial boards themselves and the teams would still retain their traditional territorial names. A draft system was also introduced, under which each of the territorial boards will be allowed to retain and contract 10 players, with the rest of the region's player pool going into a player draft for the teams to complete their 15-player squads. The regional four-day competition itself was extended to a double round-robin format and also became part of the WICB's new Professional Cricket League, which also included the NAGICO Super50. The newly extended Regional Four Day Competition will be played on a home and away basis over ten rounds from 14 November 2014 to 23 March 2015.


Structure

From the 2010–11 season until the start of the Professional Cricket League the teams have played each other once in a double round-robin format followed by semi-finals which are contested between the top four teams of the league stage. Points were awarded as follows: * Outright win – 12 * Loser if 1st Innings lead obtained – 4 * Loser if tie on 1st Innings – 3 * Loser if 1st Innings also lost – 0 * Tie – 8 Incomplete Match * 1st Innings lead – 6 * 1st Innings loss – 3 * Tie on 1st innings – 4 Score Equal in a Drawn Match * Team batting on the 4th innings – 8 * Team fielding on the 4th innings if that team has lead on 1st inning – 6 * If scores tied on 1st innings – 4 * If team has lost on 1st innings – 3 Abandoned Match In the event of a match being abandoned without any play having taken place, or in the event of there being no 1st innings decision, three points each.


Professional Cricket League era

Since the 2014–15 season when Professional Cricket League started the teams have played each other twice in a round-robin with the team having the most points at the end of the League being awarded the Championship and the Headley/Weekes Trophy. Points are now awarded similarly to the 2010/11-2014/15 era except that now the concept for points for first innings lead has been abandoned and replaced with bonus points for batting (1 point being awarded in intervals of 50 runs for total scores over 200 for the first 110 overs and up to a maximum of 5 points), bowling (1 point being awarded in intervals of 2 wickets for 3 wickets or more taken in a team's innings for the first 110 overs and up to a maximum of 3 points) and for pace bowling (0.2 points for each wicket taken by designated pace bowlers). Tied matches are now awarded 6 points instead of 8 points and the range of points awarded for drawn matches has been replaced by each team getting 3 points plus the bonus points. For abandoned matches, the points awarded to each team has been reduced from 3 to 1, except where a match is abandoned due to a dangerous pitch, in which case the visiting team are awarded 12 points (as would happen with an outright win).


Winners

The above winners are of the league phase, since 2000/01 there has been a knock-out tournament (the Busta International Shield in 2000/01; the Busta International Shield/International Trophy in 2001/02; the Carib Beer International Trophy from 2002/03 to 2004/05; the Carib Beer International Challenge from 2005/06 to 2006/07 and the Carib Beer Challenge in 2007/08) with qualification based on league position. In 2000/01 four teams progressed to the knockout phase with Jamaica beating the league winner, Barbados in the first semi-final before going on to win the final against Guyana by first innings points in a drawn match. This form was reversed in the 2001/02 knockout competition when Guyana beat Jamaica in the final on first innings points in a drawn match. For the next three seasons (2002/03, 2003/04 and 2004/05) the league winners were also the winners of the knockout competitions, with Barbados beating Jamaica in the final by 7 wickets in 2002/03; Barbados beating Jamaica again in 2003/04 (by 84 runs) and Jamaica beating the Leeward Islands by 8 wickets in 2004/05. In 2004/05 however, only the top two teams from the league stage progressed to the knock-out competition. In 2005/06 four teams again progressed to the knock-out phase, where initial league winners Trinidad and Tobago won the final against Barbados. In 2006/07 only the top two teams qualified, Barbados (as league champions) and Trinidad and Tobago (as league runners-up). The league form was reversed as Trinidad and Tobago defended their title with a 49 run win. Trinidad and Tobago reached their third successive final in 2007/08, this time losing to Jamaica. In 2008/09 the knock-out Carib Beer Challenge was discontinued. In 2013/14 a knock-out tournament was reintroduced, with the top four teams from the league competition qualifying. Barbados' league form was reversed as Jamaica won the knock-out competition (and the Headley/Weekes trophy) against the Windward Islands in the final.


Number of wins by team (since 1965–66)


References


External links


A brief history of West Indies domestic cricket

CricketArchive

CaribbeanCricket

Competition Format of 2005–06 Carib Beer Series (pdf-file)
{{Regional Four Day Competition seasons West Indian domestic cricket competitions Sports leagues established in 1965 Professional cricket leagues First-class cricket competitions