[note 1] Although matches were played in the islands from the late 19th century,[1] a combined team was not formed until the early 1950s, when semi-annual matches against a representative Leeward Islands team commenced.
[2] The Windwards played its first match at first-class level in December 1959, against a touring English side.
[3] For the inaugural 1965–66 season of the Shell Shield, the Leewards and Windwards associations together entered a "Combined Islands" team, an arrangement which persisted on and off until the 1981–82 season, when the associations began to consistently enter separate teams.
[7] Of these, 183 matches were played in the main West Indian domestic competition.
[8] A total of 185 players have played at least one first-class match for the team since its debut.