The Regional Four-Day Competition or the West Indies Championship is the premier first-class cricket competition of West Indies. It is played between Carribbean teams who face each other in a double round-robin format.
Though the tournament has been contested since 1965, it’s current format is based on league cricket system. This format was introduced in the 2014-15 season. Teams are now represented by their franchise names. The number of points they accumulate at the end of the season following the league matches playeds decisive in determining the winner.
Teams are awarded points based on the eventual outcome of the match and the bonus points that they earned in each match. A win gets a team 12 points, 3 points for a loss, and zero for a draw. Bonus points are awarded for batting, bowling, and pace bowling. If a batting side crosses the score of 200 runs, then for every 50 runs scored till the next 110 overs, a team will get 1 point. No more than 5 such points can be awarded. If bowlers get 3 wickets or more in the first 110 overs, then after every 2 wickets taken they get one bonus points. No more than 3 such points can be awarded. This includes 0.2 additional bonus points if these wickets are taken by designated pace bowlers.
The current competing teams include Guyana, Barbados, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and Windward Islands. The most successful team is Barbados with 23 titles. Devon Smith is the most successful batter with over 11,000 runs to his name. Veerasammy Permaul is the most successful bowler with 526 wickets.
