Former West Indies captain Kieron Pollard has expressed disappointment with the team’s unceremonious exit rom the T20 World Cup but believes it adds some perspective to criticism directed at the unit he led one year ago.
Pollard was captain of the team at the previous edition of the tournament, which ended in a similarly disastrous fashion. On that occasion, however, the team, which consisted of veteran 30-somethings Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Lendl Simmons, Andre Russell, and 40-something-year-old Chris Gayle, was criticized for being too old.
Pollard, who retired from international cricket earlier this year, however, believes the sub-par display at this year’s tournament should also serve as a cautionary tale for selecting teams with too little experience.
“We have a young captain, we have young players, guys who have played only a handful of T20 cricket and now they are in the World Cup. When I look back at it, I sit back and I have a smile on my face because I remember some of the things that we said around last year this time when some individuals weren’t selected,” Pollard told Trinidad and Tobago radio.
“I just had to remind these people that there was a World Cup we were going to and another bilateral series. Now some of these individuals get a chance to play in the World Cup and again look what has happened. It's no fault of theirs,” Pollard added.
"When we tried to protect them and let people understand they were not ready and for that we were lambasted. There were a lot of things that were said that we are very derogatory at times. It’s a sad day for West Indies cricket and all of us.”
Cricket West Indies (CWI) has confirmed that as reported by Sportsmax.TV earlier Monday, Phil Simmons will be stepping down from his role as Head Coach of the West Indies Men’s team following the team’s exit from the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup being played in Australia.
His last assignment will be the upcoming two-Test series against Australia from 30 November to 12 December.
“I acknowledge that it’s not just the team that is hurting but the proud nations we represent as well," said Simmons on his resignation.
"It’s disappointing and heart wrenching but we just didn’t turn up. We weren’t good enough and we now have to watch a tournament play-out without our involvement. It's unfathomable and for that I deeply apologize to our fans and followers.
“From a personal perspective this is not a knee jerk reaction, but a move I have been considering for some time and now is the time to make public that I will step down as West Indies Head Coach at the end of the Test series against Australia. It is earlier than hoped for, but I will now focus my energies in Australia on continuing to build on the excellent progress the Test team has made. Of course, as the President has pointed out, we will also carry out the necessary review into our World Cup campaign.
“I must say I have enjoyed aspects of the unique challenge that being West Indies Head Coach provides and the unwavering support of my Management Team. There remain some exceptional individuals within CWI who I firmly believe will continue to work in the best interests of West Indies cricket.”
CWI President Ricky Skerritt thanked Simmons for his service.
“On behalf of CWI I want to thank Phil for his hard work and dedication to West Indies cricket, most recently in his role as head coach," the CWI president said.
"Phil is a proud West Indian, with high ideals and has never lacked motivation in guiding our younger players on and off the field of play. He brought valuable experience and stability at a very important period of transformation, including the most challenging environment of the COVID-19 pandemic. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”
Simmons was at the helm in 2016 when West Indies won their second ICC Men’s T20 World Cup title defeating England at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Earlier this year he guided the team’s fortunes in their hard-fought 1-0 Test series win over England on home soil to capture the Richards-Botham Trophy and in June a Test series victory against Bangladesh in their last outing.
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As the fallout begins regarding the West Indies’ disastrous performance at the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup in Australia, Phil Simmons, head coach of the two-time world champions, has reportedly tendered his resignation, Sportsmax.TV sources have indicated. Members of the CWI board are said to have convened an emergency meeting over the matter.
Simmons tendered his resignation on Saturday, sources said, and it is expected to take effect in January 2023 as his contract requires that he give his employers 12 weeks’ notice.
The timing of the resignation comes at an inopportune time as the West Indies are scheduled to Australia for two Tests in late November. The team begins with a four-day pink-ball match from November 23-26. The first Test bowls off on November 30.
Simmons was appointed head coach in 2019 shortly after Ricky Skerritt and Dr Kishore Shallow came to power at Cricket West Indies Annual General Meeting in Kingston. Since then, West Indies have fared poorly in international competition.
The team is currently ranked eighth in Tests, ninth in ODIs and seventh in T20I.
At the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, the West Indies won one match before bowing out of the competition. Then just last week, at the 2022 competition, the West Indies put in an even more disappointing performance, failing to get to the Super 12 round for the first time ever having lost their opening match by 42 runs to Scotland before being dumped out of the competition following a humiliating nine-wicket loss to Ireland in the qualifying round.
Following the nine-wicket drubbing, the CWI boss laid the blame squarely at the feet at the batsmen while promising to conduct a thorough investigation into the reasons behind the poor showing.
"Untimely shot selections seem to be deeply embedded in the T20 batting culture of our senior team," the CWI president said.
Australian captain and great Ricky Ponting called the showing “embarrassing”.
Forty shooters from across the Caribbean are in Jamaica for the 2022 West Indies Full Bore Shooting Council Championships set to run from October 24 - 29 at the Twickenham Park range in St Catherine following a two-year hiatus because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The best shooters from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Canada, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago will be vying to claim the title held by Trinidad and Tobago when the tournament was last held in 2019. However, there will likely be a new champion as the twin-island republic has sent only one shooter to the tournament this year. Barbados, too, has sent a single shooter.
The six-country championship will feature shooters aiming at targets from a minimum of 300 to a maximum of a 1000 yards.
Guyanese Lennox Braithwaite, Wogarth Cup champion, is back to defend his title having had the highest score in the short-range team match last time out. However, he admitted to Sportsmax.TV that his confidence is not where it should be going into competition.
“As a sportsman we try our best to prepare ourselves but there were two years of not shooting and so the kind of preparation that we would have liked we have not been able to on the outdoors but on the indoors, we would have done some of the exercises that would keep the muscle memory,” he said, but in terms of reading the weather conditions and so on for two years we would have been off.
“I am not so confident because I would guess that all the other teams maybe going through similar or had a better position in preparing. In Guyana, we hadn’t had the use of the ranges until about a month ago, so we had some challenges there.”
Notwithstanding the challenges, Brathwaite said he plans to offer a stern defense of his title.
“I would want to defend that position but at the same time I have to realistic because there are people who want to win also.”
He pointed out the shooters from Antigua and the host country as those he has to be wary of. “Nobody wants to lose at home,” he said laughingly.
Indeed, Jamaica would not want to lose at home and as such have fielded a strong team led by Phillip Scott and that includes national champion Dwayne Forde, who has been deemed a ‘definite contender’ for the individual title.
The team also comprises Karen Anderson, Denis John Nelson, David Rickman, Denis Lee, Claude Russell, Nicola Guy, Jose Nunez and Canute CC Coley.
Hayden Walsh scored a timely unbeaten half-century to lead the Leeward Islands Hurricanes to a two-wicket victory over the CWI Emerging Players Academy in the Super50 warm-up match at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua on Sunday.
Walsh struck a 67-ball 53 that included five fours as the Hurricanes, chasing 239, reached 242-8 from 49 hours. The leg-spinner featured in a 54-run seventh-wicket partnership with Jahmar Hamilton, who scored 36 from 37 balls as the Leewards recovered from 93-6.
After Hamilton was dismissed, Walsh and Jeremiah Louis added a further 38 for the eighth-wicket before the latter was dismissed for 24 and the Leewards still 53 runs shy of the target. However, Walsh found a more than useful partner in Colin Archibald, who remained unbeaten on 27 at the end.
Johan Layne took 2-29 and Kevin Wickham 2-47 for the CWI Emerging Players.
Earlier, Teddy Bishop scored a mature 77 in the Emerging Players 238 all out. Wickham contributed 47 with Ackeem Auguste and Leonardo Julien chipping in with 20 apiece.
Bishop and Julien shared in a 78-run second-wicket partnership after Louis had dismissed Kirk McKenzie for eight. He followed up with a third-wicket stand of 68 with Wickham that was broken for Kofi James, who also took the wickets of Auguste and Joshua Bishop to return figures of 4-26.
Terrence Warde took 3-42 while Karima Gore took 2-40.
Jamaica Reggae Girls coach Lorne Donaldson has been left excited by the prospect of once again facing up to top team Brazil at next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The draw, which was made in Auckland, New Zealand, on Saturday, has seen the Jamaicans drawn in Group F where they will face France, Brazil and the winner of Group C of the inter-continental play-offs.
For the Reggae Girlz, who made history by qualifying for the World Cup for a second consecutive tournament earlier this year, facing Brazil will be a rematch of the 2019 edition where they were also pitted against each other in the first round.
On that occasion, the South Americans, who were World Cup runners up in 2007, won the match 3-0. Four years later the Jamaicans will face a much-changed unit and will hope for a better result.
“It’s a much different Brazil team, it’s a younger team and a different coach. Their old coach passed away but Pia (Sundhage) is a very good coach so we will have our work cut out for us,” Donaldson said of the prospect of once again facing the South Americans.
“It’s a young fast skillful Brazilian team, so we just have to be ready,” he added.
“The draw itself, we have been placed with some exciting teams that play good football, so, we have to come out and try to match them.”
The Jamaicans will play against Paraguay in two practice matches on the 10th and 12th of November,
Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls ended the Americas Netball World Cup Qualifiers with a perfect record, following a 69-47 victory over previously unbeaten Trinidad and Tobago, at the National Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday.
Both teams had already secured their spot in next year’s tournament but ended the tournament with a lively affair. The inexperienced Jamaica squad, led by star goal shooter and captain Jhaniele Fowler, still had enough firepower to dominate.
Led by Fowler’s overall 56 from 60, the Jamaicans led from start to finish, pulling out to a 21-11 lead in the first quarter and never really looking back. Despite losing the encounter, Trinidad and Tobago captain Shaquanda Greene-Noel was proud of the team’s performance.
“I’m very proud of the work the girls put in today. We know it’s a battle going up against the number three team in the world but we said to ourselves ‘this is the start of our World Cup campaign’ and I think you learn more from a loss than a win,” Greene-Noel said following the encounter.
In the days other matches, Barbados secured their spot at Netball World Cup with a dominant 68-29 win over Antigua and Barbuda. St Vincent and the Grenadines also secured a victory after beating Grenada 69-50 earlier in the day.
Trinidad & Tobago’s Calypso Girls defeated the Barbados Gems 50-40 in a top-of-the-table clash on day five of the Netball Americas World Cup Qualifiers at the national Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston on Thursday.
Entering the game, the Calypso Girls had already booked their spot in next year’s World Cup on the back of a perfect record after six games while the Gems were also unbeaten after five games and would’ve sealed their trip to Cape Town next year with a win.
The end of the first quarter saw Trinidad & Tobago build a 12-7 lead before Barbados outscored them 14-10 in the second to trail 21-22 at half-time. T&T then outscored them by four in the third quarter to lead 35-30 before eventually winning 50-40.
T&T was led by goal shooter Afeisha Noel’s 33 goals from 35 attempts while goal attack Joelisa Cooper had 17 goals from 21 attempts. Bajan goal shooters Faye Agard and Shonica Wharton had 14 goals from 16 attempts and 15 goals from 20 attempts, respectively.
“I am ecstatic about that performance. I think we went out there and executed exactly what the coach wanted and I can’t ask for anything else from the girls,” said Trinidad & Tobago captain Shaquanda Greene-Noel.
Barbados captain Shonette Azore-Bruce praised her team’s fighting spirit despite the result not going their way.
“It’s not the outcome that we wanted but I must say that I am proud of my girls for fighting to the end. We did not score the goals we should have but I’m still proud of my girls for fighting. At least we had that fight in us.”
The Gems will have another chance to confirm their spot at the World Cup when they take on Antigua and Barbuda on Saturday’s seventh and final day.
Other Thursday results saw Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls get by St. Lucia 85-30, St. Vincent beat Antigua & Barbuda 66-30 and the USA getting a 44-35 win over the Cayman Islands.
On Friday, Antigua and Barbuda will play St. Lucia, the USA will battle Grenada, Jamaica will play Barbados and St. Vincent & the Grenadines will play the Cayman Islands.
Cricket West Indies President Ricky Skerritt promised a “thorough post-mortem” after the West Indies elimination from the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia on Thursday.
The team entered their final game in the qualifying round needing a win against Ireland to advance to the super 12s but were handily beaten by nine-wickets.
“I am deeply disappointed with the performance results of our team in Australia and I appreciate the sense of utter frustration that is being experienced by many,” Skerritt said in a statement on Friday.
The team, once again, showed an inability to play spin bowling, with Ireland’s spin duo of Gareth Delany and Simi Singh combining to bowl six overs for just 27 runs, grabbing four wickets in the process.
“The ongoing inability of our batsmen to prevail over opposing slow bowling continued to be an obvious weakness in Australia, and untimely shoe selection seems to be deeply embedded in the batting culture of our senior team,” Skerritt said.
The statement continues: “However, I want to ensure stakeholders that a thorough post-mortem will be carried out on all aspects of our World Cup preparation and performance, and that solutions will be found in keeping with CWI’s strategy to improve the quality and sustainability of cricket on all fronts, and in all formats. West Indies cricket is bigger than any one individual or event, and continues to need the input and support of all stakeholders.”
Cristian Arango fired home a dramatic 93rd-minute winner as LAFC won their Battle of the LA Conference Semifinal 3-2 over LA Galaxy in the MLS Cup on Thursday.
Arango's goal capped a wild final 15 minutes where three goals were scored in the clash at Banc of California Stadium, with Galaxy substitute Devan Joveljic having curled in an 85th-minute equalizer.
The win means Western Conference top seed LAFC progressed to the Conference Finals where they will host either Dallas or Austin.
LAFC had taken a 23rd-minute lead when Carlos Vela slipped in a pass for Denis Bouanga to clinically score, but Galaxy leveled before the break when Samuel Grandsir lashed home a bouncing shot.
Bouanga restored LAFC's advantage in the 80th minute when he tapped in Ryan Hollingshead's low ball across goal.
But Joveljic scored barely a minute after entering the game as a substitute, curling in from the edge of the box.
LAFC would find a winner in the third of six additional minutes in stoppage time, when Kellyn Acosta's corner found Bouanga whose volley was parried by Galaxy goalkeeper Jonathan Bond into Arango's path and he lashed in the rebound.
Eastern Conference top seed Philadelphia Union also advanced into the last four, winning 1-0 over Cincinnati at Subaru Park.
Leon Flach scored the winner in the 59th minute with a left-foot strike, marking his first goal since October last year.
Union goalkeeper Andre Blake made several key saves, including an 83rd-minute block to deny Brandon Vasquez's chance to ensure Philadelphia hosted the Eastern Conference Final for the second straight year. They will welcome either 2021 MLS Cup winners New York City or Montreal.
Cristian Arango fired home a dramatic 93rd-minute winner as LAFC won their Battle of the LA Conference Semifinal 3-2 over LA Galaxy in the MLS Cup on Thursday.
Arango's goal capped a wild final 15 minutes where three goals were scored in the clash at Banc of California Stadium, with Galaxy substitute Devan Joveljic having curled in an 85th-minute equalizer.
The win means Western Conference top seed LAFC progressed to the Conference Finals where they will host either Dallas or Austin.
LAFC had taken a 23rd-minute lead when Carlos Vela slipped in a pass for Denis Bouanga to clinically score, but Galaxy leveled before the break when Samuel Grandsir lashed home a bouncing shot.
Bouanga restored LAFC's advantage in the 80th minute when he tapped in Ryan Hollingshead's low ball across goal.
But Joveljic scored barely a minute after entering the game as a substitute, curling in from the edge of the box.
LAFC would find a winner in the third of six additional minutes in stoppage time, when Kellyn Acosta's corner found Bouanga whose volley was parried by Galaxy goalkeeper Jonathan Bond into Arango's path and he lashed in the rebound.
Eastern Conference top seed Philadelphia Union also advanced into the last four, winning 1-0 over Cincinnati at Subaru Park.
Leon Flach scored the winner in the 59th minute with a left-foot strike, marking his first goal since October last year.
Union goalkeeper Andre Blake made several key saves, including an 83rd-minute block to deny Brandon Vasquez's chance to ensure Philadelphia hosted the Eastern Conference Final for the second straight year. They will welcome either 2021 MLS Cup winners New York City or Montreal.
Trinidad & Tobago confirmed their spot in the 2023 Netball World Cup in Cape Town with a 43-27 win over the USA at the Netball Americas World Cup Qualifiers at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston on Wednesday.
The Trinidadians went into the game with five wins from five knowing another win would confirm their spot in the World Cup next year.
They came out swinging, opening a 10-point gap by the end of the first quarter to lead 18-8. That gap swelled to 14 by halftime as they held the Americans to only five baskets in the second quarter to lead 27-13. Trinidad & Tobago doubled the USA’s score as it was 38-19 by the end of the third quarter. The Americans won the fourth quarter 8-5 but the damage was already done.
Goal attack Joelisa Cooper’s 20 goals from 24 attempts and goal shooter Afeisha Noel’s 15 goals from 16 attempts means T&T will join Jamaica, who have already qualified based on rankings, in next year’s World Cup, with one more Americas spot yet to be confirmed.
“We did what we came to do,” said Trinidad & Tobago head coach Kemba Duncan.
Even with a spot in the World Cup sealed, Duncan says a goal of the team is to finish the qualifiers undefeated. Their remaining games are against Barbados on Thursday and Jamaica on Saturday.
“We have to remain disciplined, execute our game plans and support each other on the court.”
T&T beat the Cayman Islands 60-21 earlier on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, goal shooter Faye Agard’s 44 goals from 47 attempts helped Barbados get past St. Vincent & the Grenadines 57-36 for their fifth win in as many games. They also beat Grenada 60-38 earlier on Wednesday.
The Bajans were behind 10-12 after the first quarter before making a remarkable 15-point turnaround in the next two to lead 43-26 heading into the fourth, eventually winning 57-36.
“After the first quarter, I realized that what I wanted wasn’t happening so I introduced wing attack Brianna Holder into the game because I wanted to add more speed,” was the response of Barbados head coach Margaret Cutting when asked how they were able to turn it around.
They are within striking distance of confirming their spot in next year’s World Cup alongside Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago and will look to cement their place when they meet the Trinis on Thursday.
“We had two games today so we’re going to go back to our hotel, have some ice baths, have our dinner then go back to the drawing board and plan for tomorrow’s game,” she added.
Wednesday’s other games saw Jamaica beat Grenada 74-48 and the Cayman Islands get a 47-42 win over Antigua & Barbuda.
Thursday’s other games will see St. Lucia tackling Jamaica, St. Vincent playing Antigua & Barbuda and USA playing the Cayman Islands.
Jamaica Reggae Boy Andre Blake made history by becoming the first man to win the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year honours on three occasions.
After an outstanding season for the Philadelphia Union, it came as little surprise when Blake easily saw off rivals for the award by claiming 64 percent of the vote. New England Revolution’s Djordje Petrović finished second with 5 percent, while Inter Miami’s Drake Callender took 4 percent of the vote.
With Blake in between the sticks, the Union conceded a mere 26 goals in the 2022 season, the least ever conceded by an MLS team in a 34-game season. Philadelphia finished at the top of the Eastern Conference with 67 points.
Blake's awards added to his previous wins of the award in the 2016 and 2020 seasons. The 31-year-old shot-stopper and former number-one pick has played every minute of the season so far for the Union who will play Cincinnati in the Conference semi-finals on Thursday.
Trinidad & Tobago head coach Kemba Duncan gave her players all the credit after their 66-42 victory over Grenada at the Netball Americas World Cup Qualifiers at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston on Tuesday.
Both teams entered the game with three wins from three games and begun the top-of-the-table clash in a competitive manner, battling throughout the first quarter which T&T eventually won 17-12. The leaders then held Grenada to just eight points in the second quarter, entering the half with a 32-20 lead. The Trinis then enjoyed a spectacular third quarter, contrary to the one they had against St. Vincent & the Grenadines on Monday. They forced the Grenadians into several turnovers and capitalized on those mistakes to enter the fourth quarter up 49-29 before eventually sealing a 66-42 win, their fourth in as many games.
Goal shooter Afeisha Noel and goal attack Joelisa Cooper dominated the Grenada defence with 45 goals from 49 attempts and 12 goals from 16 attempts, respectively.
“I think it was all about the players,” said Duncan.
“They had their goals and stayed focused. They worked together and maintained discipline to achieve the score we wanted.”
Even with a massive lead in the fourth quarter, Duncan’s team maintained a high level of intensity on both ends, something she says they’ve emphasized with big goals in mind.
“We have been training to maintain intensity. I think it’s the level of the game that is played in the higher tournaments so we want to push towards that.”
Grenadian captain Shakira Collymore blamed said injuries were a factor in their performance.
“We have a lot of injuries so we weren’t able to enjoy the entire match but I think we put up a good fight. We were able to stay with them for the first two quarters but couldn’t stick it out. We have more matches to play.”
In Tuesday’s other results, Jamaica got their highest point total of the tournament with an 81-27 win over the Cayman Islands, Barbados beat the USA 47-26 and St. Vincent & the Grenadines beat St. Lucia 49-36.
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