The Jamaica Track and Field Coaches Association (JATAFCA) believes the absence of track and field competitions because of the Covid-19 pandemic is proving to be destructive.
In light of this claim, they have called upon the relevant authorities to immediately authorize the resumption of track and field that will allow the country to maintain its standing in global athletics.
The last track meet was held on March 20, 2021, and with the ISSA Boys and Girls Championships and the World Relays in Poland looming, Jamaica’s athletes will be at a significant disadvantage.
“The current delay is destructive. The psychological and mental damage to our athletes and coaches is almost irreparable. As a nation, we cannot afford a cancellation of ISSA Champs 2021, which the delay will cause. Not only is the competition a major pillar for our world-renowned track and field prowess, it provides the platform for student-athletes to earn athletics scholarships to overseas colleges and universities.”
JATAFCA said that the available data indicates that Jamaica’s student-athletes earn scholarships valued at over J$2 billion. This is a stark contrast to the J$85.791 million allocated in the 2019-20 Estimates of Expenditures for the Ministry of Sports for Athlete’s insurance. No other line item was identified as applicable.
“We, therefore, call upon the authorities to recognize the importance of track and field to the overall national development, the psyche and contribution to the young people of our nation. We implore them to partner with the JAAA, ISSA and their sponsors, to stage these competitions safely and successfully,” they said.
The inactivity, JATAFCA said, is due to the absence of approval by the authorities for the additional competitions organized and managed by the governing body the Jamaica Athletic Administrative Association (JAAA).
“We are made to understand that the authorities are concerned about the spike in COVID-19 cases and the stress on the public health system,” the JATAFCA said in a statement Thursday.
“Let it be clear that we too are equally concerned. We are, however, of the opinion that concern for public health is not diametrically opposed to the staging of COVID-19 safe track and field competitions. It is all about striking a balance, minimize the fallouts, and pursue the things we are best at.”
The coaches’ association said that over a three-week period from February 27 to March 20th, the JAAA staged 20 competitions that saw 39 junior athletes - 27 boys and 12 girls - making the very rigorous qualifying standards for the World Under-20 Championships in Nairobi Kenya.
In addition, there was at least one world-leading performance from a senior athlete.
“With some 1500 juniors and close to 300 senior athletes competing in the Qualification Trial Series (QTS), there was no reported positive COVID-19 case(s) among athletes, officials or athlete support personnel,” the coaches said.
“The JAAA executed well and established a blueprint that several countries across the NACAC region, including USA and Canada, have now adopted.
“We also make the call for authorities to provide clear and immediate responses, within 24 hours, to the applications for permits now in their possession. Further delay would be tantamount to assisting our global competitors in making light of our efforts when we meet on the track or in the field later this year.
“As an association, we will continue to play our part in encouraging our members to practice all the COVID-19 protocols for mask-wearing, social distancing and hand hygiene. They know we hold them to a high standard of compliance, a similar standard that has resulted in us being ranked third in World Athletics.”
Five Jamaican referees have been selected to officiate at the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup starting July 10 in the United States.
The Jamaica Football Federation is said to be close to a resolution in the wage impasse with the Reggae Boyz.
West Indies chief of selectors, Roger Harper, has revealed that the panel remains in the dark regarding the future of spinner Sunil Narine who remains unavailable for selection.
The 32-year-old Narine is widely regarded as one of the best spinners in the world but has not appeared for the West Indies since 2019. In total, Narine has played 6 Test matches, where he claimed 21 wickets, 65 One Day Internationals, where he has claimed 92 wickets, and 51 T20 Internationals where he has taken 52.
The player has, however, throughout his career been plagued by questions surrounding his bowling action. In 2015, Narine was suspended from bowling in international cricket, after his action was deemed to be illegal. He was reported during the ODI series against Sri Lanka. He was cleared a year later after doing remedial work on his action. Narine was reported again during the 2018 Pakistan Super League but was cleared soon after. Again, in October 2020, the spinner was reported by on-field umpires for his bowling action in the 2020 Indian Premier League, which was cleared by IPL Suspect Bowling Action Committee in September.
According to Harper, at this point, the bowler does not seem comfortable enough with his technique to return to international cricket.
“Sunil Narine has indicated to us that he is not yet ready for the international scene,”
Harper told the Mason and Guest radio program.
“He was still in the process of fine-tuning his action. He had some issues with that so he is in the process of fine-tuning it,” he added.
“So, when he makes himself available and thinks that he is ready for international cricket, we will then have to make a determination at that point.”
Jamaica’s Kemba Nelson has designs on being in Tokyo for the Olympic Games this summer and based on what she has done so far at the University of Oregon she believes she has a good shot at it.
Legendary West Indies fast bowler, Curtly Ambrose, believes the team could have been more aggressive in going for the win against Sri Lanka in the second and final Test but admitted to being pleased with the strides the team had made.
In the end, West Indies and Sri Lanka played to a 0-0 Test series draw with neither team really able to press home advantages at various stages in both matches. In a reversal of fortunes, it was the West Indies who had headed into the final day of the final Test with a big lead and looking to put the pressure on the visitors. The team, however, managed to take two wickets as Sri Lanka closed the day on 193 for 2. Ambrose, however, believes the West Indies did not give themselves enough time to win the game.
“I think that we didn’t show enough intent to try and win that game. We batted too long in my opinion, we took too long to score the runs which means we didn’t have enough time to bowl out Sri Lanka on a very placid surface and I thought that the urgency in getting those quick runs wasn’t there. We batted too long,” Ambrose told the Antigua Observer.
During the second innings, with team captain Kraigg Brathwaite anchoring the unit on the third day, Ambrose believes the batting line-up should have been re-tooled in an attempt to score more quickly.
“We know the captain Kraigg Brathwaite isn’t going to take an attacker path. He is one of those guys who are going to bat for long and accumulate his runs and nothing is wrong with that,” Ambrose added.
“Kyle Mayers we know will go on the attack but I thought that later on after Kyle Mayers got out, we should have at least sent Jimbo [Rahkeem Cornwall] or Alzarri Joseph ahead of Da Silva to get some quicker runs so we could have enough time after the declaration to try and bowl out Sir Lanka. Sending Da Silva to me wasn’t a good move at that particular stage.”
Ambrose insisted, however, that there were several positives to be taken from the display.
“You can see that the guys are putting a lot more thought into the cricket which is very good to see. They have been patient, they try to construct their innings in terms of the batting and even in the bowling department, you could see they were really trying to bowl in good areas and not just trying to get a wicket every ball."
Reggae Boy Damion Lowe believes some of his compatriots should consider playing their professional football in the Middle East.
Windies middle-order batsman, Joshua Da Silva, believes there is plenty to be proud of when it comes to his performances so far for the regional team.
Since making his debut against New Zealand, in December of last year, the batsman has averaged 37.62 in five Test matches, with a high score of 92. The half-century was one of two scored by the player during the period.
Da Silva has scored 301 runs so far, his innings often providing much-needed stability at crucial times in the team’s batting line-up. Despite narrowly missing out on a triple-figure and a few half centuries, the player admitted he was pleased with his work to date.
“I don’t think I could have been more proud of what I have done so far in Test cricket. I definitely would have wanted to convert some of those forties into fifties and that 90 into a 100, but hopefully there are going to be a lot more opportunities to do that,” Da Silva told Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.
Da Silva recently played a crucial part in the Test series draw with Sri Lanka, which saw batsmen with the upper hand for most of the series, partly due to a flat surface.
“I don’t think we could fault any bowler or batsman according to the conditions. It was quite challenging for the bowlers. Overall, I thought we had a very positive series, a lot of good things came out of it.”
Jamaica Premier League (JPL) clubs Portmore United and Waterhouse have opted to withdraw from the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championships, scheduled for Santa Domingo, Dominica Republic, next month, citing a lack of preparation due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The group stage of the Concacaf Caribbean Club Championship kicked off on January 29 in Kingston, Jamaica last year. However, the island's top league has not been played on the island since last May as the country struggles to get COVID-19 cases under control.
According to the release issued by Professional Football Jamaica Limited (PFJL), the clubs have also been unable to train consistently in recent months, due to changes in the country’s Disaster Risk Management Act. Despite ongoing talks with the government regarding the staging of a league that could take place in a controlled environment, the PFJL admitted it was unlikely to take place before the start of the Caribbean Club Championships.
Chairman of the PFJL Chris Williams, expressed sympathy with the clubs but believed it could be a sign of things to come.
“...this decision by two of our clubs saddens the PFJL but we remain 100% in support of their decision given the circumstances that have occasioned their pulling out of the most important regional tournament that has realised much success for many of our clubs in years past,” Williams noted in the release.
“It is also inescapable for me not to point to the fact that this is the first of many dominoes that will befall the sport and our players locally, if we not able to restart the Jamaica Premier League before the end of the 2021 season.”
English Football League (EFL) club Swansea has called for social media companies to do more to combat racial abuse on their platforms after Jamaica international Jamal Lowe was abused on Instagram following defeat at Birmingham City on Friday night.
Lowe posted the now removed message to his personal page, with the caption “some serious idiots out there.” The issue of players being abused online has again come to the fore in recent weeks with legendary Arsenal forward Thierry Henry quitting social media to highlight the issue.
Lowe was the third Swansea player, since February, to be subjected to racist abuse on social media.
"This is the third time in space of seven weeks where one of our players has been subjected to such abhorrent messages, and we continue to call on social media companies to go above and beyond to eradicate this appalling level of behaviour from their platforms," a Swansea spokesperson said.
"Jamal has the full and unwavering support of everyone at the football club,” he added.
Lowe, 26, has scored nine goals in 41 Swansea appearances since joining the Welsh club from Wigan in August 2020. The player also recently scored on debut for Jamaica in a 4-1 loss to the United States in Austria.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) has announced a new deal with India sports platform Fan Code, which will see the Dream Sports-owned product become the exclusive broadcasters of West Indies cricket in the Asian country.
The four-year partnership is expected to see fans of West Indies cricket in India given access to close to 150 international and 250 domestic cricket matches from the Caribbean. The list will include 16 International West Indies Men’s Series, CG Insurance Super50 Cup matches, West Indies Women’s Home Series, and Under-19 International Cricket matches.
In addition to a list of upcoming international tour matches, the agreement will see the platform gain exclusive rights for the next India tour of West Indies in July 2022 (three ODIs and three T20 Internationals) and any subsequent India tours within the period.
President of CWI, Ricky Skerritt, hailed the deal as having the potential to bring West Indies cricket to millions of fans in India.
“We are delighted to announce this new partnership with FanCode,” Skerritt said.
“India is one of our close allies in the cricket world and a key player in the global sporting landscape so this new agreement will enhance our presence there and also bring millions of fans closer to our team and to the magnificence of West Indies cricket,” he added.
Commenting on the association, Yannick Colaco, co-founder of FanCode, admitted the company was excited to be associated with West Indies cricket.
“The Caribbean is home to some of the most entertaining cricket played in the world. We are excited to partner with Cricket West Indies and bring close to 400 matches from the Caribbean featuring some of world cricket's biggest and brightest stars, to Indian cricket fans. This partnership will give millions of cricket fans in India the opportunity to experience FanCode and the many digital innovations we are bringing to improve the sports fan consumption experience.”
West Indies head coach Phil Simmons believes a change of approach by his team’s batsmen is largely responsible for five of them averaging over 50 for the just-concluded series against Sri Lanka. Kraigg Brathwaite, Nkrumah Bonner, Kyle Mayers, Jason Holder and Rahkeem Cornwall hit that significant milestone during the series that ended in a stalemate between the two cricketing nations.
It was the first time since 2012, that West Indies batsmen have been able to achieve that feat and only the second time since 1995.
Brathwaite, who started off the series with scores of three and 23 in the first Test, finished strong with his ninth Test century, 126, and a second innings score of 85 that spiralled his average in the series to an excellent 59.25.
Kyle Mayers, perhaps the most consistent of the West Indies batsmen had scores of 49, 55, 45 and 52 for an overall average of 50.25.
Incidentally, these were the two lowest averages of the five batsmen. Nkrumah Bonner, who scored his first Test century in the series, 113 not out, averaged 72 while Jason Holder averaged 69 after scoring 71 not out, 30, 19 and 18 not out.
Rahkeem Cornwall had only two turns at-bat and he made them count. His 61 and 73 gave him an average of 67, to round out an impressive all-round performance from the West Indies despite the fact that they were unable to force a win in any of the two Tests.
Simmons, though, was pleased with what he observed.
“Everybody is looking to occupy the crease. People are working to bat for long periods and our depth goes deeper because Alzarri Joseph and Rahkeem Cornwall have shown within the last three series that they can bat and they can provide that 50-100-run partnerships that later down can take us to 350 to 400s,” said the West Indies head coach.
He was particularly pleased with Cornwall’s performance with the bat. Already, a crucial member of the bowling attack, Cornwall enhanced his reputation as a genuine allrounder.
“It was great to see Rahkeem’s batting coming to the fore, and in all, the batting has shown up in the last four Test matches and this is a great thing because, before that, the bowling was carrying us,” Simmons said.
The last time the West Indies had five batsmen averaging over 50 in a Test series was back in 2012, when Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Kieran Powell and Denesh Ramdin all surpassed the milestone. Chanderpaul averaged over 300 for the series.
Before that, six West Indies batsmen - Chanderpaul, Junior Murray, Winston Benjamin, Jimmy Adams, Brian Lara and Sherwin Campbell - all averaged over 50 runs an innings against New Zealand in 1995.
Two-time Olympic 200m champion Veronica Campbell Brown continued her comeback on Saturday, winning the half-lap sprint at the 2021 Colonial Relays at the College of William and Mary Zalde Stadium in Virginia on Saturday.
The 2004 and 2008 Olympic champion, who has a personal best of 21.74 from 2008, clocked 23.73 into a headwind of -1.1m/s but finished well clear of Amanda Stead and Amaya Johnson, who were second and third in 24.40 and 24.71, respectively.
This was Campbell-Brown’s first outdoor meet this season. She ran a 7.34 60m dash indoors at Virginia Beach in February.
Her last time under 23 seconds, 22.60 was done in Gainesville, Florida in March 2017.
Campbell-Brown, 38, was out of competition for more than two years recovering from injury and giving birth to her daughter Avianna Amora Brown, who was born in February 2019.
The Guyana cricket fraternity is in mourning following the death of Guyana Cricket Board and Demerara Cricket Board treasurer Pretipaul Jaigobin. Jaigobin perished in a motor vehicle accident on April 1.
According to a statement from the GCB, Pretipaul, an economic and financial analyst of the European Union Task Force Unit in Guyana’s Ministry of Finance, was travelling from Mahdia to the ministry when the accident occurred.
Jai, as he was popularly known, was well-liked and respected. His congeniality, humility and sense of humour endeared him to many,” the GCB said in its statement.
“Pretipaul had been an active and trusted cricket administrator for over 20 years with a vast knowledge of the game, especially in relation to cricket records and statistics. His contributions to the deliberations and decisions at cricket meetings especially on financial issues and effective governance were invaluable.
“Jai had a special affinity for youth cricket. His professional approach helped in the stimulation of affirmative action in cricket administration. He was constantly looking at ways to improve the accounting and marketing procedures.”
From 2009-2011 Jaigobin served the GCB as the assistant treasurer during the period 2009 to 2011.
In February of this year, he was elected treasurer of the DCB at the court-supervised elections of that board. On March 29, 2021, he was elected Treasurer of the GCB at the elections convened by the Cricket Ombudsman in accordance with the Guyana Cricket Administration Act, No. 14 of 2014.
“Pretipaul’s passing is a tremendous loss to the wider cricket fraternity. It is with heartfelt grief that the Executives of the GCB and the DCB and the staff members extend sincere sympathy to his family, relatives and friends,” the GCB said.
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