Retired Jamaica international, Jobi McAnuff, has officially called time on his professional career, finally pulling the curtains on a journey that has spanned some 20 seasons.
The 31-year-old midfielder, who spent the final year of his career as player-coach for EFL League Two outfit Leyton Orient, played his final game against Carlise, on May 1, which ended in a 3-2 home defeat for Orient.
McAnuff, who also played 32 games for the Jamaica national team, believes the time had simply come to hang up his boots.
“After 20 seasons and nearly 800 career games, the time has finally come to announce my retirement,” McAnuff said via social media platform Instagram.
“It’s been a tough decision, but my body and mind have finally had enough of the rigours of day-to-day football and I definitely feel now is the right time to hang the boots up,” he added.
“I’ve put in a lot of work over the last few years to make sure I was as prepared as I could be for this day and I look forward confidently and excitedly to the next phase of my professional life.”
Despite having taken over as coach for Orient’s final 16 fixtures, while also playing in midfield, McAnuff will not be continuing on as the team’s coach. Orient finished in 11th position.
West Indies fast bowler, Alzarri Joseph, admits that getting used to conditions on a debut English County cricket season has been challenging, but that his only true focus remains continuing to improve as a player.
The 24-year-old Joseph, who signed with Worcestershire, for the first seven games of the 2021 County Championship season, has had a fairly solid debut spell so far.
In four games, Joseph has scored 128 runs, with a high score of 61, as a lower-order batsman, and taken 10 wickets. According to the player, things have, however, not been easy as conditions are very different to the Caribbean.
“I wouldn’t say it’s been the best or that I am extremely satisfied, but it’s improving as I go along. It’s a lot different to the Caribbean, it’s different conditions in terms of different grounds, different types of surfaces, and different types of players, so it’s also about adjusting to everything at once. It’s helping me to improve as a player in terms of adjusting to situations a bit quicker,” Alzarri told the Antigua Observer.
“Some days you turn up and it’s like three degrees and very cold in the mornings and then it goes from three to 12 degrees, to 15 and then back down to three. So, it’s just really difficult sometimes, but it’s all part of the job. All part of the learning experience,” he added.
Joseph signed up with the league last month, following the West Indies series against Sri Lanka.
For the second year running the CARIFTA Games have been cancelled.
The 49th edition of the games that were scheduled to be held in Bermuda in August, was cancelled because the host country was not willing to amend its Covid-19 regulations to accommodate athletes arriving for competition.
According to the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC), they arrived at the decision to cancel as the Government of Bermuda maintained that the 14-day quarantine for unvaccinated visitors is non-negotiable, making it highly impractical for there to be an Under-17 category as is the norm and for NACAC to stage the region’s premier junior track and field meet.
Carifta 2020 was not staged because of the global pandemic and Bermuda transferred its hosting responsibilities to 2021. Originally scheduled for Easter weekend, this year’s edition was first postponed to July 2-4 and then to August 13-15. Now, Carifta 2021 has been struck from the NACAC calendar.
“The NACAC Council regrets the decision to cancel Carifta 2021. For the second year running, young, hard-working athletes have been denied the opportunity to represent their respective territories at the world’s premier junior track and field competition,” said a statement from the association.
“To the region’s young athletes, keep training. For those who are eligible for the July 9-11 NACAC U18 & U23 Championships in San Jose, Costa Rica, we encourage you to maintain focus on this competition.”
Tyra Gittens believes things are falling into place for another great performance in the heptathlon at this weekend’s SEC Championships. Her confidence would have been further buoyed by encouraging performances at the Aggie Invitational at Bryan-College Station in Texas on Saturday.
Briana Williams is very satisfied with her outing at the USATF Golden Games in California yesterday.
Sir Curtly Ambrose said while he fully endorses regional players plying their trade across the world to secure their financial futures, he believes those players should equally make themselves available to play for the West Indies.
There have been several instances in the past few years where players have declined invitations to represent the West Indies but then jet off to destinations across the globe to play in T20 tournaments.
The issue was brought into sharp focus recently when several West Indies players declined to tour Bangladesh citing the pandemic and their related safety concerns. However, some of those players later went on to play for T20 franchises in countries that were also experiencing spikes in the number of Covid-19 infections.
During an interview on Talk Sports Live with Michael Bascombe on Saturday, the West Indies bowling icon, said the players need to do a better job of striking a balance between playing franchise cricket and representing the West Indies.
“The game has evolved. There is a lot more cricket being played now and many different T20 tournaments around the globe and there’s lots more money as well, so guys are going to go where the money is and I have no issues with that,” Ambrose said.
“A cricket career can be a very short one, once you have injury it could be all over for you so with guys going around plying their trade with different franchises making money to set themselves up financially, I have no issues with it.
“However, I think it needs to strike a balance somewhere because most of these guys who are playing their trade around the world, it’s because they played for the West Indies team why people saw them and gave them contracts. So for me, you need to find a balance somewhere where you can give back to West Indies cricket. You need to give back to West Indies cricket at some point as opposed to abandoning West Indies cricket.”
This is not the first time that Ambrose has expressed these sentiments.
In December 2020, he publicly criticized Andre Russell, who after declined an invitation to play for the West Indies against New Zealand but later went to play in the Sri Lanka Premier League T20 tournament.
Chief selector Roger Harper told media that Russell declined the West Indies invitation citing the need to clear his mind after being in quarantine lockdown for both the Caribbean Premier League in Trinidad and Tobago where he played for the Jamaica Tallawahs franchise and then, the Indian Premier League in Abu Dhabi where he played for the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Ambrose poured cold water on the explanation.
“Because he wants to clear his head for a while to get his mind together, I have no problem with that because cricket is a high-pressure game,” he said.
“So if you want to clear your head for a while, take your mind off cricket I have no issues with that, but if you are going to reject playing for your nation, your country, and then two weeks later you’re playing for somebody else, that to me is a no-no.”
Seattle Sounders continued their strong start to the MLS season by edging Portland Timbers as former Manchester United team-mates Phil Neville and Gabriel Heinze oversaw the Inter Miami-Atlanta United draw.
Raul Ruidiaz and Fredy Montero scored second-half goals to lead in-form Seattle past hosts Portland 2-1 at Providence Park on Sunday.
After a goalless opening half, the Timbers had a golden chance to open the scoring from the spot within 10 minutes of the restart when Shane O'Neill was penalised for a foul on Jeremy Ebobisse.
Diego Valeri's first attempt was saved by Stefan Frei but a retake was needed after the Sounders goalkeeper came off his line too early, though the former's second effort glanced off the post.
As the penalty hit the woodwork without Frei touching it, the rebound did not count in Portland.
Seattle star Ruidiaz then broke the deadlock with a penalty of his own just past the hour-mark, having been fouled by Timbers goalkeeper Jeff Attinella.
Montero doubled the lead with 11 minutes remaining before a stunning Bill Tuiloma free-kick in the 94th minute proved nothing more than a consolation for Portland.
The Sounders top the Western Conference by a point as the Timbers sit second bottom with three points from four matches.
Inter Miami and Atlanta played out a 1-1 draw as Neville and Heinze reunited at DRV PNK Stadium.
Neville and Heinze spent a season together at Premier League giants United in 2004-05.
Now head coaches of Inter Miami and Atlanta respectively, Neville and Heinze shared the touchline as the two teams split the points.
Josef Martinez's ninth-minuter opener for Atlanta was cancelled out by Inter Miami's Lewis Morgan 13 minutes from the end.
In the day's other match, Sporting Kansas City scored two goals in the final eight minutes to rally past expansion side Austin 2-1.
Jamaica looks set to qualify a men’s 4x100m relay team for the Tokyo Olympics this summer after running the second-fastest time in the world this year at a time trials meet at GC Foster yesterday.
Baylor University’s Ackera Nugent continued her impressive freshman season on Saturday with a pair of wins at the Aggie Invitational at Bryan-College Station in Texas.
Fast bowling icon Sir Curtly Ambrose believes it will be difficult for the West Indies to unearth players with similar talents to those from the team’s glory days of the 70s and early 90s because the current crop of players has not grasped what cricket means to the people from the region.
Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez scored and set up another as LA Galaxy earned bragging rights against Los Angeles FC in El Trafico.
In the first Los Angeles derby fixture of the MLS season, former Manchester United and Real Madrid star Chicharito guided the Galaxy to a 2-1 victory on Saturday.
Chicharito, who attempted just one shot in the loss to Seattle Sounders last time out, the sixth time in 10 MLS starts he has taken fewer than two shots (60 per cent) – he attempted fewer than two shots in just 36.7 per cent of his starts in the five major European leagues – improved his league-best tally to six goals with the 11th-minute opener at Dignity Health Sports Park, where he tucked the ball past Pablo Sisniega.
LAFC restored parity 28 minutes from the end when Diego Rossi equalised following some combination play between team-mates Latif Blessing and Corey Baird.
But the Galaxy walked away with maximum points after Chicharito teed up Jonathan dos Santos for the 79th-minute winner.
The Galaxy are second in the Western Conference, level on points with leaders San Jose Earthquakes, while LAFC are four points off the pace in eighth position.
Orlando City captain Nani stayed hot with another goal in the club's 1-1 draw against New York City.
Ex-United winger and Premier League champion Nani scored another memorable goal seven minutes into the second half, finding the back of the net with a stunning effort from the edge of the penalty area.
Nani's third goal in three games had Orlando on track for maximum points until a 77th-minute penalty via Valentin Castellanos salvaged a draw for the visitors.
"I've been working so hard and been focused on my games," Nani said post-match. "I think this is a reward [for] what you do during the week, the preparation into the games."
New York top the Eastern Conference on seven points, level with New England Revolution but a point clear of Orlando, New York Red Bulls and Nashville.
The Revolution lost 2-0 against Nashville, while the Red Bulls ran out 2-0 winners over Toronto.
Elsewhere, defending champions Columbus Crew defeated DC United 3-1, last season's Supporters' Shield winners Philadelphia Union topped Chicago Fire 2-0, Vancouver Whitecaps beat Montreal Impact by the same scoreline, Dallas and Houston Dynamo drew 1-1, while Colorado Rapids edged Minnesota United 3-2.
Substitute Chris Wondolowski stunned Real Salt Lake with two late goals as the San Jose Earthquakes rallied for a 2-1 victory.
The MLS career scoring leader entered after 72 minutes and soon erased the Rubio Rubin tally that had put Salt Lake ahead just before the half.
Wondolowski's first goal came from three yards out as he knocked home a rebound from a Carlos Fierro shot that had been parried away by David Ochoa to equalise in the 83rd minute.
The 38-year-old former USA international completed the brace four minutes later, heading home a cross from Fierro to put San Jose on top for good.
Wondolowski now has 168 goals in his MLS career, 23 more than the next man on the league scoring list, Landon Donovan.
The striker had signalled his intent to retire following the 2020 season but had a change of heart and re-signed with San Jose on Christmas Day.
The Earthquakes now sit atop the Western Conference table with nine points from four matches.
The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) has written to Cricket West Indies requesting a copy of the criteria used to award international retainer contracts and the report submitted by the selection panel on which the decision was made not to award international retainer contracts to Shimron Hetmyer, Keemo Paul and Romario Shepherd as well as Veerasammy Permaul.
The missive to the CWI comes on the heels of the recent announcement by CWI of 18 players who were offered retainer contracts for the year July 1, 2021-June 30, 2022. Among those who were awarded were newcomers Kyle Mayers, Joshua Da Silva and Nkrumah Bonner, who had standout performances against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
However, there were no contracts for the four Guyanese players, a troubling development for the GCB.
“The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) notes with great concern the information that Shimron Hetmyer, Keemo Paul and Romario Shepherd were not awarded International Retainer Contracts by the Cricket West Indies (CWI),” the board said in a statement Friday.
“The GCB is also concerned with the non-award of an International Retainer Contract to Veerasammy Permaul.”
The GCB said it is not aware and was not informed of the criteria used for the award of international retainer contracts nor were any reasons given for the non-award contracts to the four players.
“The non-award of International Retainer Contracts to these players by CWI is a matter of extreme concern to the GCB and to the Guyanese public and the GCB intends to fully investigate this matter,” the GCB said.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) chief of selectors, Roger Harper, believes it is an absolute necessity for players to get used to the idea of having to perform at the very top of their games in order to secure top-class retainer contracts.
The omission of the likes of Roston Chase, Shimron Hetmyer, Shamarh Brooks, Shane Dowrich, Sheldon Cottrell, Rovman Powell, and Oshane Thomas from the international retainer contracts lists, for the upcoming year, has rubbed a few supporters the wrong way. Particularly, based on the fact that fewer contracts were handed out this year.
However, according to Harper, some players did not meet the minimum criteria for selection or simply did not display the quality need.
“We have to accept that these are performance-based contracts. So, the contracts are awarded based on performance during the evaluation period, as well as the selection panel must feel that the players must play a major role or form the nucleus of the team going forward,” Harper told members of the media on Thursday.
“The players who were not awarded contracts their performances over the period did not meet the necessary criteria as well as you had new players who came to fore and performed, so they were offered contracts,” he added.
“Going forward as a culture, if we want to see our team progress, if we want to see our team compete with the best in the world. We have to be more conscious of the fact that we have to earn our stripes and we have to perform consistently. I think our retainer contracts are given on that basis.”
In addition to playing at least 50 percent of the games during the evaluation period, to be considered, batsmen must average at least 30 in Test and ODI cricket. For T20Is players the player’s batting average and strike rate combined must be a minimum 150.
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