Volcanoes players during a training session at the Sion Hill Playing Field (photo by Robertson S Henry)
The Windward Islands Volcanoes cricket team is scheduled to leave St. Vincent and the Grenadines for Antigua and Barbuda today,Friday, April 9, 2026 to compete in the Regional 4-Day Cricket Championships with the aim of lifting themselves from the cellar position they occupied in the 2025 edition of the championships.
The Volcanoes franchise has been based in St. Vincent and the Grenadines for the past two years, and head coach Kenroy Peters, believes “…just like every other team, we have a chance of winning”.
“It’s just a matter of each team playing their best cricket, sticking to their plans, and executing. For us this year, I don’t think that would change,” Peters told SEARCHLIGHT from the team’s training ground at the Sion Hill Playing Field.
He acknowledged that the 2025 season was not Volcanoes’ best but expressed confidence that the planning and preparations done over the last 12 months would place the team in a much better position this year.
“ We have put a lot of things in place and we identified some of the areas that we were really short in….Our chances are even greater now that we have three West Indies players in the line-up. We also have a quality bowling attack which has been our strength over the last three or four seasons…” since he has been there as head coach, “…so I’m still confident”.
Pointing out that his goals in 2026 remain unchanged from the previous year, Peters noted that, “What has changed is maybe our planning and this time we’re going to add a bit more patience towards our plans so that we can at least compete and be successful not only as players, but as a franchise as a whole.”
He said the team is a well balanced outfit.
“We actually picked two frontline fast bowlers and two frontline spinners, and then we have some spinning all -rounders.”
Peters drew attention to test player Kavem Hodge, as one of the spinning all-rounders , as well quality all-rounders in Shadrack Descartes and Darren Nedd.
“We have the new and exciting Darren Nedd,” a fast bowler who also can bat.
“…he is quite the talent, and I have no doubt that he will do well in this upcoming tournament,” Peters stated.
Speaking on the team’s performance in the 2025 regional season, Peters said they planned well but did not execute as the players were not sufficiently patient.
“This time around, we’re going to spend a bit more time allowing our plans to work. Being patient is going to be the key for us this year as a group, whether we are batting or bowling…”, a confident Peters said.
“Everybody knows the quality and the talent that the Windward Islands volcanoes have, but what we never really did in the past is be patient. We were not patient enough. So this time we’re going to add a bit of patience in our approach, especially when we are looking to execute our plans.”
Alick Athanaze returns as captain of the Windwards Volcanoes squad for the 2026 first class season, and the rest of the squad is as follows: Sunil Ambris, Ackeem Auguste, Teddy Bishop, Daryl Cyrus, Kenneth Dembar, Shadrack Descartes, Noelle Leo, Kaveen Hodge, Ryan John, Darren Nedd, Stephan Pascal, and Gilon Tyson. The management unit comprises Kenroy Peters head coach, assistant coach Shane Shillingford, Physiotherapist Shian Ollivierre, and manager Liam Sebastien.
Cricket West Indies has revised this year’s 4-Day Championship to three concurrent three-match series (based on 2025 seedings) at the group stage, with the top two teams across the region then competing in the final. The Windward Volcanoes has been paired against the Guyana Harpy Eagles, and their first match bowls off on April 1,2026 at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua and Barbuda. Barbados Pride won the 2024/25 Championships which involved seven teams.
