Mona High recorded a come-from-behind 4-3 win over Camperdown High at Excelsior on Thursday to remain undefeated in the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup.

Mona took the lead through Kshaine Gordon in the 22^nd minute before Camperdown would reply only a minute later through a header from striker Devante McCrea.

Mona re-took the lead in the 31^st minute though Zhaine Pinnock after some questionable goalkeeping by Camperdown’s Howain Jones. It was all square again after the 34^th minute when McCrea got his second of the game after slotting the ball into an empty net.

In the 47^th minute, Camperdown found themselves ahead for the first time through a left-footed strike from Shelton Ricketts. Pinnock got his second of the game in the 75^th minute to make it 3-3 before centre-back Donhue Mitchell came up with Mona’s winner in the 88^th minute.

With their seventh win in as many games, Mona leads Group E comfortably with 21 points. Wolmer’s Boys rebounded from back-to-back losses to Mona and Camperdown with a 5-1 win over Papine High at home to remain second on 15 points while Hydel trail them by two points in third after a 2-1 win over Kingston High at Breezy Castle.

Jamaica College got their fourth win in a row to remain at the top of Group B. The 30-time champions went to Cedar Grove and got a convincing 4-0 win to move to 16 points from six games. St. Catherine are second with 13 points from five outings and will look to go level on points with JC when they oppose St. Mary’s College at the Owen Palmer Oval on Friday. St. Jago are four points behind St. Catherine in third after a 5-2 win over Holy Trinity at Excelsior.

In the lone Group D encounter, Jonathan Grant beat Spanish Town 1-0 at the Spanish Town Prison Oval to move to 16 points, one behind leaders STATHS.

The top two teams in Group F, Excelsior and Campion College, played out a 0-0 draw at the latter. Excelsior now has 17 points after seven games while Campion has 14. Jose Marti is third with 11 after a 2-0 home win over Clan Carthy.

David Warner made a blistering half-century and Mitchell Starc starred as Australia beat West Indies by 31 runs at The Gabba to seal a 2-0 Twenty20 International series whitewash.

Holders Australia continued their preparations for the T20 World Cup on home soil with another victory in Brisbane on Friday, Warner making 75 off 41 balls and Tim David 42 from just 20 deliveries in their total of 178-7.

The Windies could only muster 147-8 in reply, Starc the pick of the bowlers with 4-20 and Pat Cummins (2-32) taking his 50th Twenty20 International wicket.

Australia will now travel to Perth for the start of a three-match T20I series against England on Sunday, while West Indies will have to come through their first-round group to qualify for a World Cup Super 12 spot.

The excellent Alzarri Joseph (3-21) dismissed Cameron Green in the second over, but Warner and Aaron Finch got Australia up to 45-1 at the end of the powerplay.

Warner raced to his half-century in 30 balls, but was caught and bowled by Odean Smith in the 12th over after captain Finch fell for a scratchy 15.

Glenn Maxwell was run out for only one and Steve Smith (17) was bowled by Joseph, but David cleared the rope three times in a swashbuckling knock to give Australia some impetus before he was trapped lbw by Obed McCoy (2-33).

Kyle Mayers was brilliantly caught and bowled by Starc in the first over of the Windies' run chase, but Johnson Charles and Brandon King steadied the ship with a stand of 50.

Adam Zampa redeemed himself for dropping Charles on two by getting King (23) stumped and Starc returned to see the back of Nicholas Pooran.

An unconvincing knock from Charles (29) was ended by Green as the wickets continued to tumble, Starc doing the bulk of the damage as Akeal Hosein's knock of 25 came with the Windies never really looking like squaring the series.

Warner sets the tone

Opener Warner was outstanding at the top of the order, laying the foundations for a total that proved to be too big for the Windies to chase down.

He demonstrated his great power and sweet timing, striking three sixes and hitting another 10 boundaries as he registered a brilliant 23rd half-century for his country in the shortest format.

Starc fires, Cummins brings up half-century

Australia will be relying on Starc to be firing on all cylinders when they attempt to retain the World Cup and he bowled beautifully in Brisbane, with a mixture of control and variety.

Cummins was more expensive, but the Test captain reached the 50 T20I wickets landmark in his 44th match.

West Indies all-rounder Rahkeem Cornwall treated spectators to an incomparable display of power-hitting after smashing 22 sixes and piling up 205 runs in the USA-based T20 league, Atlanta Open on Thursday.

Representing the Atlanta Fire, the batsman ended unbeaten, as the team racked up a massive 326 for the loss of just a single wicket.  The victims were Square Drive who were defeated by 172 runs after they were restricted to 154 for the loss of eight wickets.

Cornwall’s knock also included 17 fours and came from just 77 deliveries.  The all-rounder recently showed good form in the CPL scoring 242 runs in 9 matches for the Barbados Royals at the top of the order. 

The towering ball-hitter, however, missed out on selection for the West Indies team and headed to the tournament soon after leaving the CPL.  The massive numbers will, however, not go on the record as the Atlanta Open is not an officially sanctioned league.

2003 champions Frome Technical went to Merlene Ottey and won 8-0 to remain unbeaten atop Zone B of the ISSA/Digicel DaCosta Cup on Wednesday.

Frome, who also beat Green Island 5-1 on Monday, lead the zone with 15 points from their five games and have scored 32 goals while conceding only one. 11-time champions Rusea’s also have 15 points but have played one more match than Frome. They secured a 3-0 home win against Hopewell.

Zone A leaders Irwin High got their third consecutive draw, 1-1 with Maldon at home to move to 15 points from their seven outings, five points more than Green Pond in second. 12-time champions Cornwall College got a vital 2-1 win over Green Pond at Green Pond on Tuesday to close the gap between the two to just one point. Wednesday’s other zone clash saw St. James High record a 3-2 victory over Anchovy at Jarrett Park.

William Knibb now has four wins from four games to lead Zone C after a 3-0 win over Spot Valley at Spot Valley. Wednesday’s other zone game saw Herbert Morrison secure a 1-0 home win over Muschett. Cedric Titus is second in the zone and also have four wins out of four after a 5-0 win over Muschett on Monday.

Lacovia beat Munro College 1-0 at home in Zone E. Lacovia now have nine points from eight games for fourth in the zone while Munro are still second with 11 points but are now ten adrift of leaders STETHS who won their seventh match out of seven, 2-0 over Maggotty at Maggotty on Tuesday. B.B Coke also beat Sydney Pagon 3-1 at home on Tuesday and are now a single point behind Munro in third.

Belair High took over the lead in Zone F thanks to a 1-0 home win over Manchester to move to 15 points from six games, two points ahead of their opponents in second. DeCarteret College are now just one point behind Manchester in third after a 2-0 win over Bellefield at Bellefield while Mt. St. Joseph beat May Day 3-0 at home in the other zone game.

Clarendon College beat Kellits 5-1 at home for their fifth win in as many games to stretch their lead in Zone H. Edwin Allen and Lennon High played out a 0-0 draw at Lennon and are currently second and third in the zone on eight and seven points, respectively.

Vere Technical hammered Winston Jones 10-0 to move to the top of Zone N with 10 points after four games. Defending champions Garvey Maceo also have 10 points thanks to a 4-1 away win against Kemps Hill. They also beat Foga Road 3-1 at home on Monday.

In Zone O, Happy Grove hammered Fair Prospect 6-0 at Hector’s River to move to lead with eight points from four games. Titchfield also have eight points from four thanks to a 1-1 draw with Port Antonio at Carder Park.

In Zone J, Tacky moved to 15 points from seven games after a 1-1 draw with St. Mary Tech at Richmond Farm, maintaining a five-point lead over St. Mary High who beat Horace Clarke 1-0 at Horace Clarke on Tuesday. Wednesday’s other zone game saw Wycliffe Martin lose 2-3 at home to Annotto Bay High.

Central High moved to the top of Zone M with a 5-0 win over Tacius Golding at the Port Esquivel Sports Club. They now have 12 points from five games, three more than Glenmuir who have also played two less games. Glenmuir beat Old Harbour 2-0 at home on Monday.

In more Tuesday results, Manning’s dropped their first points of the season with a 0-0 draw at Godfrey Stewart in Zone D. With 19 points from seven games, they now lead Petersfield, who drew 1-1 with Black River at Black River, by seven points. Godfrey Stewart sits third with nine points while Belmont Academy are now a point behind them in fourth after a 1-0 win over Grange Hill at the Llandilo Sports Complex.

Holmwood secured a 2-1 win over Alphansus Davis High at Brooks Park to maintain their lead in Zone G. They now have 13 points from five games, six points more than Christiana High who beat Alston 5-0 at Kirkvine. Christiana have played two games less than Holmwood.

York Castle took over the lead in Zone I thanks to a 2-0 win over Browns Town at the Mount Pleasant Academy. They now have 13 points in five games to lead Oracabessa, who played out a 1-1 draw with Ocho Rios at Drax Hall, by three points.

Dinthill Technical got their eighth win in as many games to maintain top spot in Zone K. They secured a 5-1 win over Enid Bennett at the Bybrook Sports Club to move to 24 points. McGrath High remain second on 18 points from eight games after a 1-0 win over Charlemont, who are third with 15 points. Ewarton beat Guys Hill 1-0 at the Ewarton Sports Complex in the other zone game on Tuesday.

West Indies Women’s team captain Hayley Matthews believes the ongoing series against New Zealand presents a real opportunity for younger members of the squad to gain valuable experience playing against a quality team.

On Wednesday, the Kiwis took an unassailable 3-1 series lead after beating the West Indies via a tense Super Over.  In the regular innings, the Caribbean team successfully chased down but could not overhaul New Zealand's score of 111.

In the Super Over, Matthews and Natasha McLean put on 15 runs but New Zealand captain Sophie Devine put on a savage display of power hitting, which ended with a last-ball six off Matthew to plunder 17-runs from the over and the series win.

With the likes of Anisa Mohammed, former captain Stafanie Taylor, and the recently retired Deandra Dottin all missing from the squad the team included several developing players and a few returning ones. 

“This is very good for the girls getting the opportunity to go out there and play the highest level of cricket.  To play against an experienced team like New Zealand with a lot of veterans and known campaigners,” Matthews said.

“We do have a lot of injuries but it’s a great opportunity for the girls to get out there be in the deep end, have a good go at international cricket, and hopefully learn a lot,” she added.

With Matthews only recently having taken over the captaincy from Taylor she admits the situation also presents her with a personal opportunity to develop in the role.

“The team has been supporting me really well.  It’s definitely thrown me in the deep end a bit with a lot of the injuries that we have had and not having as much experience on the team but at the same time, I think it’s only going to help me to learn faster and be better as well.  So, I’m just embracing the challenge.”

Defending champions Kingston College maintained their spot atop Group A of the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup with a comfortable 7-0 win over Meadowbrook High at the Constant Spring Field on Tuesday.

KC now leads the group with a perfect 15 points from five games, three points more than their North Street neighbours St. George’s College who avenged their shock loss to Waterford earlier in the season with a 3-0 win at Winchester Park. The other group game saw Calabar beat Ardenne 2-0 at Ardenne.

Charlie Smith leads Group C by three points after a 3-0 win over Bridgeport at Dunbeholden. After three wins in a row, Charlie Smith now has 17 points from seven outings. Haile Selassie remain second with 14 points after a 2-2 draw with Vauxhall at Vauxhall while Tivoli have 10 points in third after a 4-2 home win over Edith Dalton James.

STATHS now have a four-point lead in Group D thanks to a 5-0 win over Dunoon Technical at Excelsior. They now have 17 points from seven games, four more then Jonathan Grant, who beat Spanish Town 4-1 at home, in second. Norman Manley is third with 10 points after a 4-1 win over Tarrant at Tarrant.

Excelsior got their fifth win in a row, 1-0 away at Cumberland, to move to 16 points from six games and lead Group F. Campion College trail them by four points in second after a 0-0 draw with Jose Marti at Jose Marti. There were also no goals between Kingston Technical and Clan Carthy at Kingston Technical in the day’s other group game.

With the T20 World Cup on the horizon, West Indies fast bowler Alzarri Joseph has vowed to keep putting in the hard yards, following a narrow 3-wicket loss to Australia in a practice match on Wednesday.

In an encounter marred by messy fielding from the Caribbean team, Matthew Wade and Mitchell Starc got the Aussies over the line, with a ball remaining, but the last over, bowled by paCer Sheldon Cottrell, was one filled with drama.  Needing just 11 from the last 6, Wade was dropped in the deep by Raymon Reifer off the second ball and an opportunity to stump Starc on his way back for the winning run was also missed out on.

As a result, the Aussies got home at 146 for 7, surpassing the West Indies' first innings tally of 145 for 9.  Aussie captain Aaron Finch batted in the unfamiliar position of 4 but top-scored with a valuable 58.  A visibly disgruntled Cottrell ended with figures of 2 for 49, while Joseph ended with a tidy 2 for 17 and 7 runs with the bat.  The bowler would admittedly have preferred a win but took some solace in a decent outing with the ball.

“For me, it’s always about trying to add that one percent every day.  Keep on trusting the process, keep on training hard and keep doing what I need to do to get the success,” Joseph said following the match.

“It wasn’t the result we wanted but we really fought hard.  We pushed Australia down to the last over, so all in all it was a fairly good performance we just have to go back and see what we can improve for the next game,” he added.

In their turn at the crease, all-rounder Kyle-Mayers led the way for the West Indies at the top of the order, scoring 39 from 36 deliveries before his innings was ended by Pat Cummings.  Reifer contributed a 23-ball 19 from the middle order but no other batsman really got going until Odean Smith’s useful 27 from 17 at the back of the innings.  He was run out by Wade.

It was, however, Josh Hazelwood who did the most damage with the ball for the Aussies as he ended with 3 for 35, while Starc and Cummings each claimed two wickets.

Leg-break bowler Afy Fletcher has been named vice-captain of the West Indies Women’s team for the fourth and fifth T20IS against New Zealand.

West Indies lost their opening T20 International against Australia in Queensland on Wednesday by three wickets with a ball to spare to go 0-1 down in the two-match series.

Veteran coaches Glen Mills, Fitz Coleman, Michael Carr and Wayne Long will receive Lifetime Achievement Awards for long and distinguished service during a ceremony set for Thursday, October 6, which is celebrated as National Coaches Day.

Legendary West Indies fast bowler Curtly Ambrose has expressed surprise at the unusual circumstances that have led to the dropping of explosive batsman Shimron Hetmyer ahead of the team’s campaign for the upcoming T20 World Cup.

According to a release issued by Cricket West Indies (CWI), which roiled the cricketing world on Monday, the body opted to replace Hetmyer with Shamarh Brooks after the player missed a rescheduled flight, having been advised of the consequences of doing so.

The release stated that the player's original flight was changed from Saturday to Monday due to family reasons but did not mention if Hetmyer had given a reason for being unable to catch the second flight.

“I must say I am a bit surprised because who wouldn’t want to play in the World Cup tournament and who wouldn’t want to represent their country,” Ambrose told the Mason and Guest radio program.

“What I heard in the media is that he had some family issues.  So, I take it that if you are going to miss playing for your country, or playing at the World Cup then he has some serious issues to deal with.  I reckon that if that’s the case, you want to ensure that whatever issues he has with his family are being sorted, so he has to miss the World Cup.  I wish him well.”

West Indies white-ball Captain Nicholas Pooran on Tuesday gave his first reaction to the absence of left-hander Shimron Hetmyer from the squad preparing for their series against Australia and the subsequent ICC T20 World Cup.

Hetmyer was originally named in the 15-man squad for the Australia series and the World Cup before being replaced by Shamarh Brooks on Monday.

The Guyanese batsman, who recently captained the Guyana Amazon Warriors to a playoff appearance in the Caribbean Premier League, was scheduled to travel to Australia to join the squad on Saturday before informing CWI that he would be unable to make the flight.

He was then rebooked for a flight on Monday before, once again, informing the CWI that he wouldn’t be able to make it. CWI’s selection panel then unanimously voted to replace him with Brooks. Before scheduling the Monday flight, he was informed that failure to make the flight would leave CWI no choice but to replace him in the squad.

“To be honest, that’s not my focus at the moment,” Pooran said in a press conference on Tuesday.

“The decision has been made, there are consequences for your actions. At the moment, I just want to focus on why we’re here and how we’re going to achieve our goals. Obviously, we planned with him but, unfortunately, he’s not here and we have to plan differently now,” he added.

“He’s definitely an experienced cricketer,” was Pooran’s reaction when Australian journalists questioned him about Hetmyer’s replacement in the squad, Shamarh Brooks.

“He’s been in our white-ball set up for the last year and has been doing fantastic. He had a really good CPL as well. He has a vital role to play for us,” he added.

Brooks is fresh off a fantastic CPL playoffs where he had scores of 47, 109* and 47 to help the Jamaica Tallawahs win their third CPL title.

Shamarh Brooks has replaced Shimron Hetmyer in the West Indies squad for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup in Australia, Cricket West Indies announced on Monday. CWI has advised the International Cricket Council (ICC) of the change after Hetmyer missed his re-scheduled flight to Australia.

The flight was rescheduled at the request of the player, who cited family reasons.

According to CWI, with flight availability a real challenge, a seat was found for him to leave Guyana today, Monday, October 3, meaning he would miss the first T20 International (T20I) against Australia on Wednesday, October 5 at the Metricon Stadium.

“This morning, Mr Hetmyer, informed the Director of Cricket that he would not be able to get to the airport in time for his flight this afternoon to New York,” CWI said.

“This afternoon we informed the CWI Board of Directors that the Selection Panel had unanimously decided to replace Shimron Hetmyer with Shamarh Brooks in our T20 World Cup squad,” said CWI Director of Cricket Jimmy Adams.

“​ Whilst we changed Shimron’s flight from Saturday to Monday due to family reasons, it was made clear to him that if there were any further delays and issues with his travel to Australia then we would have no choice but to replace him in the squad, as we are not prepared to compromise the team’s ability to prepare for this extremely important global event.

“Shamarh has been a part of our recent T20 International squads and delivered strong performances in the latter stages of the recently concluded CPL. ​ He will fly out as soon as possible this week to Australia and I wish him and all the squad all the very best for the tournament.”

Brooks has been in good form scoring an unbeaten 109 from 52 balls against the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the semi-final of the 2022 Hero CPL. He scored 47 from 33 in the finals to help the Jamaica Tallawahs win their third title and their first since 2016 on Friday, September 30.

The squad will now be: Nicholas Pooran (Captain), Rovman Powell (Vice-captain), Shamarh Brooks, Yannic Cariah, Johnson Charles, Sheldon Cottrell, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Evin Lewis, Kyle Mayers, Obed McCoy, Raymon Reifer, Odean Smith