The West Indies Women started their 2023 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup campaign with a seven-wicket loss at the hands of England Women at Boland Park in Paarl on Saturday.
The 2016 World T20 champions made 135-7 from their 20 overs, their highest total since December 2022, after winning the toss and electing to bat first.
Captain Hayley Matthews was the top run getter for the Windies with a 32-ball 42 including eight fours while Shemaine Campbelle chipped in with 34 off 37 deliveries including four fours.
Left arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone, the number one ranked T20I bowler in the world, led the way with the ball with 3-23 from her four overs.
The English then made quick work of the modest total, needing only 14.3 overs to reach 138-3.
Nat Sciver-Brunt exercised her usual dominance with 40* off 30 balls while skipper Heather Knight ended 32* as the pair guided the 2009 champion home.
Sciver-Brunt’s knock included six fours and a six while Knight’s innings came off 22 balls and included four fours and a six.
Sophia Dunkley had earlier made an 18-ball 34 including four fours and a six.
Chinelle Henry took two of the three wickets to fall while conceding 30 runs off three and a half overs.
The West Indies will next play India on February 15 while England will next face Ireland on February 13.
Scores: West Indies Women 135-7 off 20 overs (Hayley Matthews 42, Shemaine Campbelle 37, Sophie Ecclestone 3-23)
England Women 138-3 off 14.3 overs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 40*, Sophia Dunkley 34, Heather Knight 32*, Chinelle Henry 2-30)
A maiden First-class five-wicket haul from pacer Shamar Joseph gave the Guyana Harpy Eagles a fighting chance going into day four against the Windward Islands Volcanoes at the Grenada National Stadium.
The Windwards began day three 48-2 off 17 overs in their second innings, leading the Harpy Eagles by 173 runs with Kavem Hodge (3) and Sunil Ambris (18) at the crease.
The second ball of the day saw Hodge fall to Ronsford Beaton after failing to add to his overnight total.
Justin Greaves joined Ambris at the crease and the pair put on a further 37 runs for the fourth wicket before Ambris fell caught behind off the bowling of Shamar Joseph for 26 in the 30th over.
Not long after, with the score on 101, Greaves went in the exact same way as Ambris for 27 in the 34th over.
Ryan John and Tevyn Walcott added only two runs before John was dismissed by Joseph for one in the 36th over.
Walcott was joined at the crease by Kimani Melius and the pair added 15 runs before Walcott became the seventh man to fall, going for 23 to leave the Volcanoes 118-7 in the 40th over.
Regular opener Melius, who made a career-best 192 in round one, batted at eight after being off the field with a groin injury and could only manage six runs before falling to Joseph with the score on 129 in the 42nd over.
Preston McSween and Kenneth Dember then put on the second highest partnership of the innings with 33 for the ninth wicket before McSween fell to Beaton for 25 with the score on 162 in the 54th over.
Dember was the last man to fall, going leg before wicket to Verrasammy Permaul for 15 as the Volcanoes were bowled out for 168 in 56.3 overs, meaning the Harpy Eagles would need 294 runs to record their second outright win of the season.
Shamar Joseph took a career-best 5-41 from 12 overs while Ronsford Beaton took 3-35 from 15 overs.
Rain then brought an end to the day’s proceedings with the Harpy Eagles on 35-0 off 14.3 overs requiring a further 259 runs on the final day for victory.
Matthew Nandu (18) and Tevin Imlach (13) are the batsmen at the crease. Chandrapaul Hemraj earlier retired hurt while on three.
Scores: Windward Islands Volcanoes 294 off 80.5 overs (Alick Athanaze 141, Ryan John 51*, Sunil Ambris 47, Veerasammy Permaul 4-70, Ronsford Beaton 2-50, Kevin Sinclair 2-66) and 168 off 56.3 overs (Justin Greaves 27, Sunil Ambris 26, Preston McSween 25, Shamar Joseph 5-41, Ronsford Beaton 3-35)
Guyana Harpy Eagles 169 off 63.1 overs (Veerasammy Permaul 53, Kevin Sinclair 23, Justin Greaves 5-24, Ryan John 2-52) and 35-0 off 14.3 overs (Matthew Nandu 18*, Tevin Imlach 13*)
Imran Khan and Keacy Carty each scored 90s for their respective teams as Trinidad and Tobago Red Force and Leeward Islands Hurricanes seems head for a draw at North Sound in Antigua.
At stumps on day three of their second-round West Indies Championships encounter, Trinidad and Tobago declared on 418-9 with the Leewards responding with 243-7.
Resuming from their overnight score of 369-8 with Imran Khan on 68 and Khary Pierre on nine, the Red Force declared after Colin Archibald dismissed Khan for 92.
His was the only wicket to fall after Archibald claimed his third wicket of the match to end with figures of 3-111.
Pierre remained unbeaten on 33 at the other end.
Jeremiah Lewis ended with figures of 3-78 while Sheeno Berridge picked up 2-72.
Carty was head and shoulders above his teammates when the Leewards replied, scoring 95 before he dismissed caught and bowled by Khary Pierre.
The Leewards were in some trouble then at 196-6 as several top order batters got starts but failed to carry on. Monctin Hodge scored 21, Kofi James 23 and Terrance Ward 21 were the only scorers of note.
However, Rahkeem Cornwall once again showed his worth with the bat and was unbeaten on 33 when stumps were drawn.
Hayden Walsh was at the crease with him on 18.
Pierre has so far taken 2-51. Bryan Charles 2-65 and Yannic Cariah 2-24 did the damage for the Red Force.
Defending champions Barbados Pride secured a six-wicket win against the Jamaica Scorpions with a day to spare at Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua on Friday
The Scorpions started the day 6-0 after four overs, trailing the Pride by 69 runs.
The day started terribly for the Jamaicans as the second ball of the day saw Akeem Jordan bowl Leroy Lugg for two.
Debutant Tevin Gilzene was next to go for nine, caught by Shayne Moseley off the bowling of Jordan in the seventh over.
Captain Paul Palmer Jr then joined Kirk McKenzie at the crease but didn’t last long, becoming Jordan’s third victim of the day for one to leave the Scorpions in a spot of bother at 21-3 after 11 overs.
Two and a half overs later, Jamaica lost their fourth wicket when Aldane Thomas was dismissed by Shamar Springer for three.
Not long after, Abhijai Mansingh became wicket number four for Jordan on the day after nicking off for a duck to leave the Scorpions 25-5 in the 15th over.
Jamie Merchant was next in and added 12 for the seventh wicket with McKenzie before he fell for 10 in the 19th over with the score on just 36.
It was then Marquino Mindley’s turn to face the music alongside McKenzie. The pacer reached one off seven balls before he became Springer’s second wicket to leave Jamaica reeling at 56-7 off in the 22nd over, with debutant Ojay Shields joining McKenzie in the middle.
In the midst of the carnage at the other end, McKenzie brought up his maiden First-class fifty off 67 balls in the 28th over.
McKenzie (54) and Ojay Shields (17) were the not out batsmen as the Scorpions entered the lunch break 101-7 from 29 overs, holding a slim 26-run lead over the Bajans.
After bringing up their 50 partnership shortly after lunch, McKenzie finally fell for a top score of 56 off 78 balls to leave the Scorpions 106-8.
Gordon Bryan joined Shields at the wicket and the pair put on 17 before Shields was next to go for 22 in the 37th over with the score on 123.
Bryan, playing only his second First-class game, then provided some handy runs at the end, putting on 28 for the final wicket with Patrick Harty before being the last man dismissed for 42 off 64 balls.
In the end, the Scorpions limped to 151 all out in 45.5 overs, leaving the Pride needing just 77 to win.
Pace did the job for Barbados as Akeem Jordan continued his excellent form with the ball with 4-65 off 17 overs while Jair McAllister finished with 3-35 from 11 overs and Shamar Springer picked up two wickets.
The defending champions then needed just 29.2 overs to get to their target, reaching 78-4 to complete a six-wicket win.
Zachary McCaskie scored 26 against Patrick Harty’s 3-26 from 9.2 overs.
Scores: Jamaica Scorpions 140 off 54.5 overs (Jamie Merchant 35, Tevin Gilzene 32, Abhijai Mansingh 27, Shamar Springer 3-11, Camarie Boyce 3-26, Akeem Jordan 3-48) and 151 off 45.5 overs. (Kirk McKenzie 56, Gordon Bryan 42, Akeem Jordan 4-65, Jair McAllister 3-35, Shamar Springer 2-38)
Barbados Pride 215 off 69.5 overs (Shayne Moseley 82, Shane Dowrich 64*, Patrick Harty 4-23, Marquino Mindley 2-25, Abhijai Mansingh 2-30) and 78-4 off 29.2 overs (Zachary McCaskie 26, Jonathan Drakes 19, Shemar Springer 11*, Shane Dowrich 5*, Patrick Harty 3-26)
Jamaica's reigning 800m champion Chrisann Gordon-Powell is pregnant.
International cricket commentator and SportsMax correspondent Nikhil Uttamchandani has questioned Rahkeem Cornwall’s continued omission from the West Indies Test team in light of his consistent performances at the regional level.
During a recent edition of the Sportsmax Zone, Uttamchandani, while reviewing the first round of the 2023 West Indies Championship, was asked about Cornwall’s performance against Jamaica.
Cornwall starred with bat and ball, registering scores of 29 and 85, and finished with ten wickets for just 95 runs against the Jamaica Scorpions.
The burly Antiguan also took a tournament-best 23 first-class wickets in the five matches last year but has not played a Test for the West Indies since November 2021.
There has not been much from Cricket West Indies with regards to Cornwall’s continued omission from the Test squad but Uttamchandani opined that fitness should not be a concern.
“If fitness is a problem, how is he able to play four days of cricket consistently?” he questioned.
“Why are there [fitness] concerns when we go to Test cricket, which is just one additional day to the four-day cricket he is used to playing and is excelling with both bat and ball?”
Uttamchandani is hopeful that if Cornwall continues to do well this season, he will get that deserved return to the West Indies team.
The 30-year-old took 34 test wickets in nine matches, including a 10-wicket haul against Afghanistan in 2019.
He has scored two Test fifties in his career and is known for his powerful hitting in T20 cricket and boasts a strike rate of 147.49, which is among the highest in the world.
This, according to Uttamchandani, could make him a valuable asset to the Windies.
“He brings a unique style of play with the bat as we saw in that game [against Jamaica]. He scored 85 from 95 deliveries. He is destructive as we have seen in the CPL for years,” he added.
“[When] you look at England and Australia, the [Test] game is going in the direction of having that flexibility of aggressive players in your middle to lower order.”
Ultimately for Uttamchandani, “Rahkeem Cornwall ticks all the boxes.”
Only Versammy Permaul has taken more wickets than the 63 that Cornwall has taken in the last three domestic seasons.
If he can stay up top of the wickets column in 2023, it will be interesting to see if he does get his opportunity later in the year when the Indians tour the Caribbean in July.
Justin Greaves produced a five-wicket haul to put Windwards Islands Volcanoes in command against Guyana Harpy Eagles on day two of their second-round West Indies Championship match at St George’s on Thursday.
After being bowled out for 294, Windwards bowled Guyana out for 169. Batting a second time, Windwards were 48-2, a lead of 173 heading into the third day.
Resuming from their overnight score of 292-8, Windwards added only two runs before being bowled out for 294. Ryan John remained not out on 51.
Greaves, Darius Martin and Preston McSween then combined to reduce Guyana to 28-4 with Kemol Savory scoring 20 of those runs. It was a position from which Guyana never truly recovered.
Greaves ripped out the middle order dismissing the recalled Leon Johnson for five and Anthony Bramble for 21 to leave Guyana tottering on 69-6.
Kevin Sinclair and Veerasammy Permaul offered some resistance with a seventh-wicket partnership of 61 that ended when John dismissed Sinclair for 23.
Guyana added 39 more runs for the last four wickets with Permaul being last man out before he was caught and bowled by Kenneth Dember for 53.
Ronsford Beaton who shared in a last-wicket stand of 24 was unbeaten on 10 when the end came.
Greaves finished with the impressive figures of 5-24 from 18 overs while John picked up 2-52.
Batting a second time, Windwards lost the wickets of Jerlani Robinson for three and first-inning century maker Alick Athanaze for 11 before Sunil Ambris, on 18 and Kavem Hodge 13, ensured there was no further loss on the day.
Beaton and Nail Smith have a wicket each for Guyana.
Former West Indies Test batsman Darren Bravo scored an even 100 to lay the foundation for Trinidad and Tobago Red Force’s first innings total of 369-8 at stumps on the second day of the West Indies Championship second round match against the Leeward Islands Hurricanes at North Sound on Thursday.
The Red Force resumed from their overnight score of 151-3 with Bravo on 74 and Yannic Cariah at the other end on 32.
They extended their fourth-wicket stand of 69 to 101 when Colin Archibald trapped Cariah leg before wicket with the score at 186. Shortly after, Archibald dismissed Tion Webster for six as TT Red Force slipped to189-5.
Bravo and Jangoo set about repairing the damage but the score had reached 227, Bravo was bowled by Sheeno Berridge for exactly 100. He had faced 229 balls and hit 10 fours and two sixes.
Jangoo and Imran Khan began a lower-order rally adding 51 for the seventh wicket when Jeremiah Louis dismissed Jangoo for 52.
Khan assumed the role of senior batter and together with Terrance Hinds put on 81 for the eighth wicket as Trinidad progressed past 300 runs and began to push towards 400.
Hinds was eventually dismissed by Kofi James for a run-a-ball 51.
At stumps, Khan remains not out on 68. At the other end Khary Pierre is not on nine as the match heads into its third day.
Louis has so far taken 3-56 and Berridge 2-78. Archibald has 2-83.
Opener Shayne Moseley fell 18 runs shy of a fifth First-class hundred and Shane Dowrich scored his 30th First-class fifty as honors were shared in a rain-affected day two between the Barbados Pride and the Jamaica Scorpions at Coolidge on Thursday.
After a long rain delay, the defending champions Barbados began day two 89-2, replying to the Scorpions 140 all out, with Moseley on 41 and Shamarh Brooks on 16.
Brooks failed to add to his 16 before he was trapped in front by Marquino Mindley in the second over of the day with the score on 92.
His wicket brought debutant Kevin Wickham to the crease but he managed just two from seven balls before Mindley bowled him two overs later to leave the Pride 94-4.
Captain Shane Dowrich joined Moseley at the crease and, shortly after, Moseley brought up his 13th First-class fifty off 103 balls in the 37th over.
Dowrich and Moseley provided some much-needed stability to the innings, engaging in a 74-run fifth wicket partnership before Moseley fell off the bowling of Abhijai Mansingh for a well-made 82 in the 53rd over. Moseley’s knock lasted 149 balls and included 12 fours.
Three balls later, Mansingh got his second wicket, removing Shamar Springer for a duck to leave the Pride 168-6.
Dowrich and Akeem Jordan then put on 35 for the seventh wicket before Jordan was bowled by Patrick Harty for 13.
Chaim Holder, Camarie Boyce and Jair McAllister then all fell swiftly without troubling the scorers as the Pride were bowled out for 215 in 69.5 overs. Dowrich finished not out on 64 off 114 balls.
Patrick Harty ended with 4-23 off 12.5 overs while Marquino Mindley and Abhijai Mansingh took two wickets apiece for the Scorpions.
At stumps, the Jamaicans were 6-0 after four overs in their second innings, trailing the Pride by 69 runs.
Scores: Jamaica Scorpions 140 off 54.5 overs (Jamie Merchant 35, Tevin Gilzene 32, Abhijai Mansingh 27, Shamar Springer 3-11, Camarie Boyce 3-26, Akeem Jordan 3-48) and 6-0 off 4 overs.
Barbados Pride 215 off 69.5 overs (Shayne Moseley 82, Shane Dowrich 64*, Patrick Harty 4-23, Marquino Mindley 2-25, Abhijai Mansingh 2-30).
Jamaica’s Under-17 football team was scheduled to depart the island for Guatemala on Thursday to begin their quest to qualify for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup.
Unfortunately, this was not the case as, according to General Secretary of the Jamaica Football Federation Dennis Chung, 14 members of the squad were unable to get on the flight to Guatemala.
The reasoning given by Chung is because of a delay in receiving travel exemption letters for the players.
“An unfortunate incident happened today. The Under-17 boys who are on their way to Guatemala for the World Cup qualifiers. 14 of them did not make the flight today because, although they had received the exemption to travel, the exemption letter came in late so they did not get to make it on the flight,” Chung said.
The Concacaf Under-17 Championship gets underway on Saturday while Jamaica’s first match will be against Cuba on Sunday.
Jamaica is in Group G alongside Cuba, Costa Rica and Guadeloupe.
Chung noted that work is being done to ensure that the remaining players are on a plane to Guatemala on Friday.
“We are working assiduously along with our travel consultant and the airline to ensure that this is resolved. We are expecting most, if not all the players, on a flight tomorrow to get to Guatemala now that we have the exemption letters in hand so that we can begin our quest to qualify for the Under-17 world cup,” Chung said.
The young Reggae Boyz are aiming to qualify for the Under-17 World Cup for the first time since 2011. The World Cup will be held in Peru from November 10 – December 2.
Briana Williams will race over 60m at the Camperdown Classic at the National Stadium on Saturday in what will be her first official competition since she joined Titans International in September 2022.
Williams, who turns 21, next month boasts a personal best of 7.04 while finishing fifth in the 60m final at the World Indoor Championships in Serbia in March, 2022.
It was a significant improvement on the 7.18 she ran at the Armory in New York in February 2020. Her outdoor 60m best of 7.15 was set at the National Stadium in Kingston in January that year.
The Tokyo Olympics gold medallist had trained with Coach Ato Boldon for a decade before making the move to Titans International last year citing a need for a change.
“I’m excited about this new chapter and happy to be training in Jamaica,” Williams said following the move to the club where she now trains under the guidance of coaches Gregory Little and Olympian Michael Frater.
After the Camperdown Classic, Williams is set to compete next at the Gibson Relays set to the final Saturday, February 25.
Akeem Jordan, Shemar Springer and Camarie Boyce shared nine wickets between them and out Barbados Pride in a strong position against Jamaica Scorpions at the end of the first day of their second-round match at Coolidge Cricket Ground on Wednesday.
Jordan took 3-48, Springer 3-11 and Boyce 3-26 as Barbados routed Jamaica for 141 in just 54.5 overs.
At stumps, in reply Barbados were 89-2 with Sheyne Moseley unbeaten on 41. With him is Shamarh Brooks on 16.
Jamie Merchant was the top scorer for Jamaica with 35. Tevin Gilzene scored 31 while Abhijai Mansingh contributed 27 to the paltry total.
Meanwhile, over at North Sound, Trinidad and Tobago Red Force playing against the Leeward Islands Hurricanes, were 151-3 at stumps thanks to an unbeaten 74 from Darren Bravo.
Bravo came to the rescue after his team had lost two early wickets with only eight runs on the board. He and Jason Mohammed put on 74 for the third wicket to put the Red Force back on track.
By stumps, he and Yannic Cariah added a further 69 to the total.
Jeremiah Louis did the early damage for the Leewards taking 2-19.
Alick Athanaze scored his first century of the season as the Windward Islands Volcanoes ended Day 1 of their second-round match of the West Indies Championships on 292-8 in their match against Guyana Harpy Eagles at St George’s.
Athanaze scored 141 from 220 balls in an innings that included 16 fours.
Thanks mainly to Ronsford Beaton, the Windwards were in early trouble at 26-3 with Jerlani Robinson (4), Kimani Melius (2) and Kavem Hodge (14) all back in the hutch.
However, Athanaze, who was by then at the wicket, found himself a useful partner in Sunil Ambris.
Together, they put on 76 for the fourth wicket. After Ambris was bowled for 47 by Kevin Sinclair, Athanaze and Justin Greaves added 89 for the fifth wicket.
Greaves’ contribution was 21 when he was dismissed by Veerasammy Permaul. The biggest stand of the innings, 90, was to come between Athanaze and Ryan John before the former would eventually be dismissed by Permaul.
By then, the Windwards had recovered nicely to 290-7.
Ronsford Beaton has taken 2-50 was supported by Kevin Sinclair, who has figures pf 2-64 and Permaul 2-70
John was unbeaten on 50 when the rains came.
For more than a century there has been a Jamaican athlete that has impressed someone, somewhere across the world. The early days of cricket tours in and out of the West Indies, international boxing cards, football, netball and host of other sports, served a bit of a signal to the world that Jamaica was and continues to be a big part of any sport conversation.
Ask any track and field fan, cricket (yes, believe it or not); netball, football, basketball fan and a Jamaican athlete’s name can come up.
Over time, sport has been funded by private and public means. What has been consistent though, is the first-class performance that has been maintained, sustained and enhanced by the athletes.
In 1995, the game changed somewhat, the Government of the day approved a plan to start the Sports Development Foundation. The SDF was established as an independent body to contribute to the development of the nation through sports.
With sport emerging (at the time) as a major contributor to the island’s economic activities, there was a thought that sport needed more. The agency in its early days focused on infrastructure and capacity building. The Mona Hockey Field (astro turf); several football fields, National Indoor Sport Centre were among some of the venues that were renovated, upgraded and built from scratch. The capacity building focused on administrative development of officials from at least 40 sporting disciplines.
As you read along, and you are in the business of sport, you can clearly identify the gaps for a country that has produced so many world-class athletes. So whilethe track and field performances have been outstanding to date, to gain and maintain the competitive edge and move ahead, there needs to be a re-thinking of how sport is:
Funded
Managed
Researched
Marketed
Re-Developed
It is with those five key areas, that my recommendations for Sport for Jamaica going forward include:
Boost the work of the SDF
Remove the S from CHASE (they can determine what to do with C-H-A-E)
Increase the staff numbers to include a:
Planner
Researcher
Marketer
Developer
It is clear that Jamaica’s technical talent is at a great level - coaches and athletes continue to break the ceiling of performance. Most of the major sporting events have consistent work being done with their technical staff.
The next level is needed and in another decade, if we are not careful, we will be chasing dreams in the key areas that will ensure that the next generation has access to the same enabling environment.
GC Foster, UTECH, UWI and Mico continue to train Sport Officials in education, management and preventative care; but an elite athlete cannot in 2023 & beyond, compete without the support of branding and marketing to take them to the top of their games.
In redefining how Jamaica as a nation treats this industry, there are also some policy decisions which should be happening simultaneously. SPORT should have its own Ministry.
This is what I envisage the team should look like from the policy and operational side
Ministry of Sport
Minister
Minister of State
Permanent Secretary
Director of Sport + 5
Sport Development Foundation (agency)
Managing Director
Directors of Marketing, Research, Finance
Corporate Planner (to deal with bilaterals, administration, academic development, infrastructure
Event Manager (incoming and outgoing delegations, permits, venue updates)
Change is inevitable if we want to be successful.
The research element of the business cannot be overstated, as it is the data we collect and how we use it to inform our next set of moves on and off the field that will determine our capacity to handle, manage and deliver a world class sporting industry run by those who are capable.
In the next column, I will pick the team who can and should be asked to deliver on this plan. Until then…
Carole
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
