With the formation of his record label Triple Century Records, Chris Gayle is promising to deliver hits of a different kind in the near future.
The man who has hit more than a thousand sixes in T20 cricket has plans to perhaps as many hits as his love for music grows. The Universe Boss reveals that through his record label formed in late 2020, he has many songs in the pipeline and he is already getting calls from artistes in India and from across the globe.
What started in early 2020 as a joke with Jamaican entertainer Stylo-G, has been transformed into a serious business opportunity for Gayle, who is close to winding down a stellar career as one of the world’s best batsmen in all three formats.
“I did the first song with Stylo-G and it was a joke I was running,” Gayle said, explaining that Stylo-G had done a song and he joked with the artiste about doing a remix for a song called Too Hot Celebrity.
“I said Stylo-G I should be on that remix and eventually he turned up at my house and said he was ready. I said ‘what, it was a joke,’ Gayle recalled. “So anyway, we went to the movie theatre room (at his house) and he started to show me the ropes and eventually I delivered the music and it turned out to be a hit.”
From there, Gayle said people started to reach out to him. He subsequently did We Come out to Party with Tanto Blacks and Groove with UK-based Indian singer Avina Shaw. According to Gayle, there is a lot more to come.
“I have a lot more songs in the pipeline and I did the single Living the, Life so I decided to start my record label Triple Century Records,” he said. “I am going into production and voice myself as well. It’s fun and I am beginning to enjoy it. Actually have a collaboration (and) quite a few songs that haven’t been released as yet.”
Asked whether India will be the main market for his music given his almost god-like status in that country, Gayle replied saying not necessarily.
“A lot more artistes have reached out to me, big artistes in India. The Asian market is huge. Its global thing but people in Australia, South Africa have reached out saying they have listened to my songs and that they love it. I am the Universe Boss, it’s my world. You can look out for some big things.”
Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.
Naggo Head up by 28.5 points heading into final day of INSPORTS/Devon Biscuits Primary Schools Athletics National Championship
Naggo Head of St. Catherine ended the penultimate day of the INSPORTS/Devon Biscuits Primary Schools Athletics National Championship with a 28.5-point lead over defending champions Lyssons of St. Thomas after 21 of the 40 finals at the National Stadium on Tuesday.
Naggo Head, who are the Central champions, have amassed 117 points, well clear of Lyssons on 88.5 points. Greater Portmore are sitting in third spot with 68 points while Half-Way-Tree Primary are fourth on 49 points. St Richards completed the top five on 45 points.
Five records were broken on the second day. In the day’s first final, Yasheka Lewis of Gregory Park broke the Girls’ Cricket Ball Open record, throwing 49.22m, well over the previous mark of 44.45m held by Taheisha Brown of Lyssons Primary since 2023. Santana Brown of Brompton Primary was second with 46.31m.
Nickholet Brown of St John’s Primary erased the Girls Lump Jump Open mark with a leap of 4.61m while her schoolmate Odainna Creary broke the 70m hurdles record clocking 11.52 seconds.
The outstanding Waivany Walker of Naggo Head won the Girls’ Class One 400m in 1:01.10 and was just outside the record of 59.27 held by Andrenette Knight of Morant Bay Primary since 2009.
The boys’ equivalent saw Lawrence Tavern Primary grab the top two spots courtesy of Joshua McWilliams in 58.52 ahead of his teammate Jahaija Griffiths in 59.05. The outstanding record of 53.46 is held by Christopher Taylor of Ewarton Primary since 2012.
The promising Keneisha Robinson of Naggo Head broke the Girls’ Class Two 300m record stopping the clock at 43.32 erasing Teixiera Johnson of Exchange Primary’s mark of 43.43 set in 2022.
Johnson is now at Hydel High and won the Class Three sprint double at the recent Boys and Girls High School Championship.
Zidane Morgan of Ascot Primary captured the Class Two Boys 400m ahead of Ramon Young of Yallahs Primary in a very close battle. Both were timed at 42.28 seconds.
The 100m sprints were exciting and the promising Kashmir Gunther of Southborough Primary won the Boys’ Class One 100m in 12.47 holding off Deandre Parker of Rousseau Primary in 12.52. Joshua McWilliams of Lawrence Tavern was third in 12.81.
Lyssons made up some ground picking up first and third in the Girls Class One 100m courtesy of Khalia Raymond (13.20) and Kahlia Senior (13.48). Asha-Lee Montique of Red Hills Road finished second in 13.39.
Allia Royal of Davis Primary won the Girls Class Three 100m in 14.12 seconds, the same time as second-placed Arianna Lewis of Half-Way-Tree Primary who clocked the same time. Jadah-Kay Pitt of Rock Hall was third in 14.22.
In one of the most anticipated clashes of the championship, Shaquan Reid of Glen Stuart won the Boys’ Class Two 100m in 13.16 just ahead of Davere Walker of Lyssons in 13.29. Jaden Reid of Southborough was third in 13.39.
Shamara Chin of Greater Portmore took the Girls Class two 100m in 13.45, edging Sarah McDonald of Naggo head into second spot with 13.46. De-Asia Segree finished a close third also in 13.46.
Shemika Dobbs of Windward Road won the Girls’ Class Four 60m in 9.06 seconds ahead of Earthania Wray in 9.17 and Amanda Allen of Corinaldi Avenue with 9.21.
Conjay Scarlett of Corinaldi took the Boys’ Class Four 60m in 8.87 ahead of Jaquan Smith of Harbour View in 9.00 with third going to Demario Lewis of Rock Hall in 9.11 seconds.
By the end of the relays, Naggo Head had opened up a significant lead after winning two events and showed consistent running in all classes.
IPL: KKR ease past SRH into IPL final
Kolkata Knight Riders are through to the Indian Premier League final after cruising to victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday.
A dominant KKR eased to an eight-wicket win with 38 balls remaining, with Mitchell Starc inspiring the victory.
The Sunrisers chose to bat first but were in unfamiliar territory at 13-2 inside two overs as Starc bowled Travis Head, who did not get a single run, before Andre Russell caught Abhishek Sharma.
Starc took two more wickets in his second over, finishing with 3-34 as the pick of KKR’s bowlers.
Pat Cummings ensured SRH did not finish with a sub-140 total, knocking 30 before being caught by Rahmanullah Gurbaz, as they set a target of 160.
Cummings then conceded 20 runs in his first over but eventually bounced out Sunil Narine for 21 after Gurbaz was caught for 23.
Venkatesh Iyer finished with an unbeaten 51 alongside Shreyas Iyer, who top-scored with a 24-ball 58 to comfortably help KKR reach 164-2.
SRH will have another chance to make it to the final in the second qualifier where they will face either the Rajasthan Royals or Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Friday.
Data Debrief: Playoff partners
The Iyers' 97 not out off 44 balls is the second-highest scoring partnership for KKR in the playoffs.
Cummins and Vijayakanth Viyaskanth's 33-run partnership is SRH's highest for the 10th wicket in IPL, breaking the record of 22 between Dale Steyn and Praveen Kumar, but it was not enough to trouble KKR.
"Couldn’t be scripted better": King honoured to lead West Indies for the first time
Opener Brandon King will captain the West Indies for the first time when they take on South Africa in three T20Is from May 23-26 at Sabina Park in Kingston.
The 29-year-old has scored 1150 runs in 47 T20Is at an average of 28.04 since his debut against Afghanistan in Lucknow in 2019.
Captaincy is not new for King as he most recently captained the Jamaica Scorpions in the West Indies Championship after leading the Jamaica Tallawahs in last season’s Caribbean Premier League.
“Definitely,” was King’s response when asked about whether or not it is an honor to lead the regional side for the first time.
“It couldn’t be scripted better. It’s an honour to lead the West Indies in any capacity and even more to do it at home so I’m very happy,” he added.
In addition to leading the Windies for the first time, King also expressed joy at getting to do it in his home country Jamaica.
“Obviously, extremely happy. I’m always excited to play at home. It’s good that we get some cricket in especially leading up to the world cup. It brings some excitement to the fans so I’m happy about it,” he said.
The squad recently had a training camp and King is looking forward to the squad getting an opportunity to get some match practice ahead of the world cup set for June 1-29.
“Match practice is something that you can’t replicate in training. We’re coming from a training camp and this is our opportunity to put those plans and skills in place so we’re very much looking forward to it,” he said.
Despite some regular squad members being missing from the squad due to the IPL playoffs, King says the players present are looking to implement some of the plans that many hope will lead to West Indian success at the world cup.
“A few of the guys aren’t here as yet but I think the communication has been clear with the whole group. We know how we want to play and the guys that are here, we’re looking to implement that in this series and see how it goes,” he said.
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