West Ham striker Michail Antonio was eager to represent Jamaica’s national team almost a decade ago but was overlooked for players in England football’s lower leagues.
Earlier this year, the England-born player was approached by the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), regarding the prospect of representing the Caribbean nation, and agreed to switch nationalities. Antonio qualifies to represent Jamaica, as both his parents were born on the island.
The striker, now 31, has confirmed, however, that it was not the country’s first attempt to recruit him and that he had in fact been contacted by the JFF while playing for Sheffield Wednesday in 2012.
“When I was 22, the manager of the Reggae Boyz, I can’t remember the name of him, came to Sheffield Wednesday to speak to players saying, ‘would you want to play for Jamaica?’ I said yes, I will come and play 100 percent,” Antonio said during an interview with Sport Bible.
“He said ok, I’ll give you a call, give you some information, bla, bla, bla. He came and watched me play against Leeds that weekend. I’m a very honest person, I had a stinker and I’m not going to lie, but I was an established Championship player. I played in the Championship from 19 through to 25. The next international break they were calling up players from League One and League 2, wingers, over me, which I didn’t understand,” he added.
In 2012, then president of the JFF captain Horace Burrell travelled to England along with head coach Theodore Whitmore and assistant coach Alfredo Montesso on a scouting mission to recruit players of Jamaican heritage. Interestingly, Antonio played under Whitmore earlier this year, before the coach was fired in November.
The player also dismissed reports that he was approached by the federation three years later while playing for Nottingham Forrest. Insisting that neither he nor his agent ever received an offer at that point, despite claims to the contrary.
Antonio has been an instant hit since donning the country’s national colours, scoring twice in three games, which includes a 30-yard belter against the United States. Despite the move coming late on in his career and leaving the England national team selection pool, he insists there are no regrets.
“It got to a stage where I just thought, ‘I'm not going to get called up’. I didn’t believe I was going to get the call. There's loads of quality young strikers out there, he’s trying to build a team for the future. And that Tammy Abraham is young, Dominic Calvert-Lewin is young and Harry Kane is still quite young,” he added.
“My mum was born in Jamaica and my dad was born in Jamaica. I went to Jamaica all the time when I was younger. Why not try and see if we can get Jamaica to a World Cup after they’ve not been there for 20 years.
“No regrets whatsoever, I'm enjoying my football with them. And the difference with Jamaica, with England they got to the Euros final and stuff like that but with Jamaica, every achievement is a massive achievement.”
Left-arm spinner Jaden Carmichael claimed figures of 3 for 25 as the West Indies U-19s coasted to a comfortable 8-wicket win to level the series against South Africa U-19s on Tuesday.
Sent to bat first, the South Africans found very little answers at the crease as they were dismissed for just 103 off 31.3 overs. In response, the West Indies eased to 104-2 off 24.2 overs, to level the four-match series at 1-1. The South Africans had claimed the opening match of the series by 18 runs.
Carmichael had solid support from fellow left-arm spinner Anderson Mahase (2-34) and pace bowlers McKenny Clarke (2-12) and Johan Layne (2-14). During the West Indies' time at the crease, it was opener Matthew Nandu who anchored a routine run chase.
The left-hander struck a patient unbeaten 42 from 75 balls and added 58 for the second wicket with Teddy Bishop (25). He was then part of a 42-run unbeaten stand for the third wicket with captain Ackeem Auguste who made 28 not out.
For South Africa, it was Michael Copeland who top-scored with 24 from 52 balls, but he was one of only two top-order batsmen to reach double figures and the only one to pass 20 for South Africa.
Jamaica Reggae Boy defenders Alvas Powell and Damion Lowe are the only players to be included in the annual CONCACAF Team of the Year, announced by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS).
Based on the statistics accumulated for the period Powell, who spent the majority of the season with Major League Soccer (MLS) club Philadelphia Union, before moving to FC Cincinnati, was selected as as the region’s best right back.
Lowe, who plies his trade for the Egyptian club Al-Ittihad was named as part of the team’s reserves. Back in August, the defender was named as part of the CONCACAF Gold Cup Best XI.
The list was dominated by Mexican players, with four members of the El Tri squad named to the line-up. Club America goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa was named in goal, Edson Álvarez takes his place in the backline, Hector Herrera was put in midfield, and Hirving Lozano upfront. Three Canadians Cyle Larin, Jonathan Davis, and Bayern Munich’s Alphanso David have also been included in the XI. The list is completed by three players from the United States who are represented by Bruce Aaronson, Weston McKenie, and Miles Robinson.
Named among the substitutes, alongside Lowe, are Matt Turner (USA), Tajon Buchanan (Can), Rogelio Funes Murray (Mex), Ricardo Pepe (USA), Julia Araujo (USA), and Sebastien Vargas Mexico. Lowe and Powell have been crucial parts of Jamaica’s World Cup squad. The team, who would best be suited for a 4-3-3 formation, would be coached by Mexico’s Javier Aguirre.
Jamaican double-double Olympic sprint champion Elaine Thompson-Herah was named by Diamond League Most Consistent Athlete in the women’s sprints for the 2021 season on Monday.
Thompson-Herah won four races on the Diamond League circuit for the year, in addition to her three gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics in July.
She ran times of 10.54 and 10.72 to win the 100m at the Eugene and Paris Diamond League meets on August 21st and August 28th, respectively, before winning the event at the Diamond League Final in Zurich in 10.65 on September 9th.
The former Manchester High School student also finished second in the 100m, at the Lausanne Diamond League, in 10.64 on August 26th.
Her only 200m win on the Diamond League circuit this year came in Gateshead where she ran 22.43 on July 13th.
The honour follows the trend of a trophy-filled festive period for the sprinter as she has already been named World Female Athlete of the Year by World Athletics, Athletics Weekly’s Female Athlete of the Year, and the NACAC Female Athlete of the Year in the month of December.
She is also widely favored to be named the RJR Sportswoman of the Year for 2021.
The local Track & Field community is in collective mourning after the passing of John Messam.
Messam passed away at 61 on Sunday after a long battle with illness.
The Calabar High School Old Boy was an IT professional, working as an Oracle Database Administrator at the Porth Authority for 22 years.
At the same time, Messam was a respected Track & Field coach, specializing in hurdles events.
A former Florida International University and Seton Hall University student, Messam was also the founder of Hurdles Crew Jamaica, an organization, which was created to enhance the lives of at-risk youth by allowing them to engage in voluntary work at Track & Field meets each year.
Messam was often the man to who Track & Field coaches would send their hurdlers when they needed someone to fix their technique.
Funeral arrangements will be made at a later date.
West Indies U19s went down by 18 runs in the first of their four Youth One-Day-Internationals against South Africa U19s in St. Vincent.
Winning the toss and choosing to field first, the young Windies were excellent in their bowling effort, restricting the South Africans to 146 all out off 34.2 overs.
Opener Jade Smith top scored for South Africa U19s with 34 from 43 balls while his opening partner Ethan Cunningham got 30 from 44 balls.
They were the only two batsmen to pass 20 as left-arm spinner Anderson Mahase was the pick of the bowlers for the West Indies U19s with figures of 4 for 33 from his 10 overs, while off-spinner Onaje Amory and left-arm spinner Jaden Carmichael took three wickets each.
Despite a top score of 39 off 33 balls including four fours and three sixes from vice-captain Giovonte Depeiza, the West Indies U19s had a disappointing batting display in reply, only managing 128 all out from 34.3 overs.
Captain Ackeem Auguste was the second-highest scorer with 27 from 43 balls, while Teddy Bishop also supported with 24 from 44 balls against 3-36 from Dewald Brevis from his 7.3 overs and 2-5 from Andile Simelane off three overs.
The Windies U19s will be looking to rebound in the second match of the series on Tuesday.
Former cricket executive and businessman Christopher Dehring has admitted to being disheartened by the stark difference in the sport’s infrastructure between the West Indies and developed nations.
The Caribbean team dominated the sport for the better part of 20-years, during that time routinely beating some of the world’s top teams was commonplace. In recent times, however, the Windies have found it difficult to even remain competitive when facing the likes of Australia, England, and India. One major reason suggested for the decline is the level of investment in the sport, particularly as it relates to youth development and infrastructure. According to Dehring, the harsh reality was laid bare after working in South Africa during the cricket World Cup.
“I always knew the Australias, the Englands of this World had incredible facilities and such an incredible professional cricket structure that I knew the days were numbered. But when I went to South Africa and saw what they had in place, even their high schools, your heart sank,” Dehring said recently on the Mason and Guest radio program.
Currently, the West Indies are ranked 8th in the world in Test cricket, the same in One Day Internationals, and despite claiming two T20 World titles, are 9th in that format, on the back of a disastrous showing at this year’s World Cup.
“We have some talented youngsters in the Caribbean, but we just do not have the professional structure to develop it, own it and churn it out year after year,” he added.
“You see the fruit of that vine now, it’s very inconsistent…there’s no West Indies team that when they step out on the field they don’t look like the athletes of the day. That’s just from a visual aesthetic perspective, we were the athletes…We were the athletic reservoir people would pay to come and see.”
Despite, the introduction of the Yo-Yo Intermittent Test a few years ago, questions have constantly been asked regarding the team’s level of fitness, with some players notably overweight.
West Indies U19 head coach Floyd Reifer is happy with his team’s preparations ahead of the start of their four Youth One-Day-International series against South Africa U19s on Sunday in St. Vincent.
“The team has settled in very well. The last couple of net sessions we had were very good, especially yesterday’s session, where we had a very good gym session in the morning before we went into the nets in the afternoon. I thought the bowlers bowled aggressively, hitting their lines and lengths very hard. The batters are doing very well and we’re still making sure they get in their drills to practice the shots that they want to play in the game so all is going well,” Reifer said.
Reifer noted that the quality of the pitches they practiced on got better as time went on.
“The first day the pitches were a bit slow, obviously, because it was short notice and the guys didn’t have a lot of time to prepare the pitches but yesterday, they were very good for bowling and batting so the boys were happy,” Reifer added.
The former Barbados and West Indies batsman also spoke about how his players are coping with the pressure of playing in a home World Cup.
“These youngsters understand what and who they represent. They know they represent the millions of people in the Caribbean and the millions of people that follow West Indies cricket around the world as well so they know what they’re playing for…they know the importance of the World Cup,” he said.
Reifer says the players have shown a better understanding of what it takes to be elite athletes as time has gone on.
“They’ve been preparing very well mentally, physically, and skillfully. Even off the field, they’re eating better, they’re hydrating better so they understand the importance of being elite athletes. I think they’re on the right road and the right path in terms of understanding. They’ve come a long way in terms of where we started in January to where we are now.” Reifer said while going on to commend them on their noticeable maturity as youngsters.
“There’s vast improvement and vast development. It’s good to see that these youngsters have adapted and adjusted to the lifestyle of being a professional. The conversations that they’re having with each other are very mature conversations so I’m very happy to hear that as well. All in all, we’re doing well and continuing to prepare,” he said.
Reifer finally spoke about a focus on the tactical aspects of the game in the few weeks leading up to the World Cup.
“We’re focusing a lot more now on the tactical side of the game. Focusing a lot more on game awareness and guys understanding their roles. Even in the discussions that we’ve had over the last two days, they understand their roles and responsibilities within the team. They understand about having that killer instinct and positive mindset to go out there and do well,” Reifer said.
The West Indies U19s first match in the World Cup will be against Australia U19s at Providence in Guyana on January 14, 2022.
They will compete in Group D alongside Australia U19s, Scotland U19s, and Sri Lanka U19s.
Former West Indies wicketkeeper, Deryck Murray, believes drastic structural changes must be implemented in order for the team to have any hope of regaining its place among the elites of international cricket.
Earlier this week regional cricket governing body Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced the decision to replace lead selector Roger Harper and Miles Bascombe, following a disastrous showing at the ICC T20 World Cup earlier this year, and subsequent fruitless tours of Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
For Murray, however, the decisions may not run deep enough in tackling the substance of the issue.
“Yeah, they’re going to change the selectors, but are they going to exchange some for others or is it going to be a real radical change in the way West Indies cricket is run,” Murray queried on the Mason and Guest radio program.
“If our cricket is ever going to improve, the first thing to do is to get the board structure right. The way the board is constituted now, at least three reports have been absolutely clear, The Patterson report, the Caricom Report, and the Wehby report all have said exactly the same thing, the structure, and composition of the West Indies board has to change,” he added.
“The way it’s constructed at the moment, all you are going to get is people vying to get people picked who are their friends or come from the same territories and we’re not going anywhere.”
Fourteen years ago, former Jamaica Prime Minister PJ Patterson, Sir Alister McIntyre, and Dr. Ian McDonald produced a Governance Report, which listed 65 recommendations to improve West Indies cricket. At the time, the document was dismissed as not relevant by the then administration. In 2015, a Caricom Governance of Cricket report was submitted by a panel chaired by Professor V Eudine Barriteau, which included former President of the Caribbean Court of Justice Sir Denis Byron, Murray, Warren Smith, and Dwain Gill.
Two years ago, another report, conducted by an independent task force led by former Jamaica Senator Don Wehby, which also included Sir Hilary Beckles, O.K Melhado, Charles Wilkin QC, and Murray, produced 36-pages of recommedations that also pointed to the need for structural reforms. The majority of the recommendations from any of the three documents are yet to be implemented.
The communities of Paradise and Norwood, in Montego Bay, experienced some Christmas cheer as the destinations for Jamaican sprinter Briana Williams’ 2nd annual Christmas Treat on Thursday.
300 children in the communities were gifted toys and food items from her sponsors Digicel and Grace Foods.
Transportation for the gifts was provided by KIG Jamaica.
The 19-year-old was a member of Jamaica’s gold medal-winning Women’s 4x100 team at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, running a blistering first leg to help the team achieve a national record of 41.02.
Williams also won the sprint double at the 2018 World Junior Championships in Tampere, Finland with times of 11.16 in the 100m and 22.50 in the 200m, her current personal best.
Her 100m personal best stands at 10.97 done in Florida in June this year.
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has extended the time the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) will be run by a Normalisation Committee, which will now hold the reins of power for another year.
The Committee was put in charge of the day-to-day affairs of the country’s football in 2020 after FIFA claimed it had concerns over the organisation's ability to repay its debt. The move was initially contested at the nation’s High Court by the then William Wallace-run administration, which briefly led to T&T suspension from world football. The body was, however, later re-admitted after dropping the court case.
The interim body was initially scheduled to hand power back to the TTFA in March of next year, but the period will now be extended to March 2023. The decision, which was made by The Bureau of the Council, was communicated by FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura via a letter. The Normalisation Committee, headed by Robert Hadad, was tasked with establishing ‘a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA administration, to review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary), and ensure their compliance with the Fifa Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress, and to organise and conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.’ The Committee it appears will not complete the task list in time.
According to the document, however, The Bureau of the Council took note of delays that impacted the Normalisation’s Committees ability to complete its duties. One issue mentioned was the lawsuit brought before the courts by the former TTFA board and also the impact of the global pandemic, which has hampered its ability to freely go about its tasks. In addition, The Bureau also pointed to certain other issues ‘that led to the backlog in the normal operations of the TTFA, including finance.’
Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited today signed a historic agreement establishing themselves, along with Trinidad’s Arima Racetrack, as the first two Caribbean Track and Pool Operators to participate in The Caribbean Pool.
The Caribbean Pool is a Caribbean inter-island commingling platform that allows for Caribbean Tote operators to bet into each other, thereby creating bigger pools, bigger profits for its member partners, and most importantly, bigger payouts to its punters.
The Pool will also facilitate greater cooperation and participation between the Caribbean Pool Operators with the aim of growing local racing both regionally and internationally.
Chairman of SVL Gary Peart outlined what this agreement means for the company.
“As we have been able to do for many of our other SVL brands, our goal for SVREL in 2022 is to continue our revenue growth through local, regional and international expansion. The Caribbean Pool aligns perfectly with our vision for the company and as such we are happy to participate as lead partner,” he said.
With the two largest regional racetracks onboard and an expectation that the Barbados Turf Club will sign on as early as January 2022 and the Royal St Lucia Turf Club joining in as soon as they resume racing in 2022, the Caribbean Pool is set to delight Caribbean racing fans.
Founder of The Caribbean Pool Kimani Robinson of the Kisero Group also reacted to the agreement.
“Our vision was to create a new and exciting regional simulcast portal that would generate greater returns for the Caribbean track and pool operators as well as their punters,” Robinson added.
Robinson, who noted that he first discussed the idea with SVL’s Chairman Peart where both men hammered out the constructs of the legal and technical structure required to make the platform a reality, added that regional merging is the future of horse racing in the Caribbean.
“Regional commingling is the future of Caribbean horse racing. A regionally commingled platform will create greater relevance and awareness for the sport which means greater economic benefits for all. There is no reason why the Caribbean Pool shouldn’t replicate for horse racing what West Indies Cricket did for regional cricket,” he said.
In terms of awareness, The Caribbean Pool has formed an alliance with the perfect regional media partners, the Caribbean's Home of Champions, SportsMax, who have agreed to become the home of all things Caribbean Pool and Caribbean Horse Racing.
SportsMax CEO Nicolas Matthews confirmed that “racing fans will be in for a treat as SportsMax beefs up its Caribbean horse racing coverage via the Caribbean Pool. Given our regional strength, especially in the participating Caribbean Pool countries being contemplated and our ambition of providing our audiences with more of what they want, the Caribbean Pool is a perfect fit for us”.
Along with coverage on their linear channels SportsMax and SportsMax2, SportsMax will include a dedicated channel within the SportsMax App called "SportsMax Racing" that will provide most of the Caribbean Pool’s racing content.
“Our team has worked side by side with the Kisero Group for months in making the Caribbean Pool a reality,” commented SVREL CEO Lorna Gooden.
“We are aggressively on a growth path for 2022 and though we have made significant headway in simulcasting our content internationally, we believe that regional growth for us will be faster and more responsive due to existing familiarity,” Gooden added, before expanding further on what the agreement demonstrates.
“This agreement is a further demonstration of the commitment and drive of the Board and management at Caymanas Park to expand the product offering available to our punters, to promote and establish Caymanas Park as the horseracing mecca of the Caribbean,” she said.
The Caribbean Pool is set to start in short order and is hoping to get all clearances and approvals granted for a soft launch over the Christmas holidays.
Barbados and West Indies wicketkeeper-batsman Shane Dowrich has retained an attorney as he seeks redress over the process used by Cricket West Indies to deny him a renewal of his contract.
The matter came to light earlier this week when Barbados Cricket Association President Conde Riley revealed that he had received a letter from the player’s attorney on the Mason and Guest sports talk show.
In May 2021, Cricket West Indies announced the players who had been retained for the next cycle and Dowrich was not among them. Dowrich, 30, last played in a Test for the West Indies from December 2-5, 2020, against New Zealand.
In the early stages of that tour, Dowrich suffered a finger injury but later asked to be released from the tour citing personal reasons. However, according to his lawyer Philip Nichols, after being given leave from the West Indies, CWI then claims that he was not offered a new retainer contract because he had not played the requisite number of games to qualify for the said contract.
This is the bone of contention for the player, who at the time when he left New Zealand, was the first-choice wicketkeeper/batsman for the West Indies.
Dowrich was subsequently replaced by Trinidad and Tobago’s Joshua da Silva, who has, for the most part, acquitted himself well representing the West Indies as its wicketkeeper/batsman.
Following the New Zealand tour, CWI failed to follow up with the player to determine whether he had managed to put his ‘personal issues' behind him and was now ready to return to representing the regional side.
Nichols tells Sportsmax.TV that his client hopes to have the matter resolved amicably as it is not his intention for the matter to end up in court.
Dowrich has played 35 Tests for the West Indies scoring 1507 runs at an average of 29.07. He has scored three hundreds and nine fifties in that time.
Clarendon College became the fourth and final team to advance to the semi-finals of the 2021 DaCosta Cup football competition on Tuesday after recording a 3-1 win over McGrath High at St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) to finish with a perfect nine points from their three games in Zone 4.
Both DaCosta Cup semi-finals will be played at 3:00 pm on January 12 with Dinthill Technical taking on Mannings High School at the Montego Bay Sports Complex while Garvey Maceo will do battle with Clarendon College at STETHS.
Meanwhile, Manchester High beat Cornwall College 2-1 at Green Pond in Tuesday’s other Zone 4 encounter to finish second in the zone with six points and advance to the Ben Francis Cup Knockout.
Manchester High and Cornwall College join Edwin Allen, Christiana High, Munro College, Vere Technical, STETHS and Frome Technical in the Ben Francis Cup.
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