Leeward Island Hurricanes batsman Devon Thomas has earmarked the upcoming West Indies President’s XI match as another opportunity to showcase his ability with improved consistency.
The 32-year-old top-order batsman has been one of the outstanding players in the West Indies Championship so far. After two rounds, the player’s 242 runs scored at an average of 80.66 puts him second behind West Indies red ball captain Kraigg Brathwaite, who has scored 341 so far.
The Leeward Hurricanes have won one match and lost one match so far, his highest score of 112 critical in a fightback against Barbados. Despite his exploits, he was not named to the West Indies squad to face England in the first Test but did find his name among those taking part in a 12-man President’s XI squad.
“I’m just looking at it as getting the opportunity to play some cricket, so I give thanks for that. I was motivated since last year during the 2020/21 season and I just (took) it over into 2022 and try to do a lot better and be a bit more consistent. I am trying to stay in the moment and trying to be more consistent,” Thomas told the Antigua Observer.
“I had a goal before the match where I was looking for 150 runs, but I got a bit close to that. It could have been more, but I was pleased at the end of the day. I think we had good performances in both games but we were short of a player in the first game when Jerimiah Louis came down with a sickness and we played with 10 men throughout the whole game.”
The CWI President’s XI squad will play England in a four-day warm-up match at the Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG) starting March 1.
Jhaniele Fowler scored 37 goals as the West Coast Fever defeated GIANTS 47-41 in the Suncorp Team Girls Cup at the Parkville Stadium in Melbourne on Friday.
West Indies pace bowler Shannon Gabriel remains very much a part of the plans of the new Desmond Haynes-led selection panel despite not being selected in the squad for the first Test against England.
The 33-year-old pace bowler, who has been playing for Trinidad and Tobago Red Force in the West Indies Championship, was not named among the 15-man squad for the first Test or Presidents XI. His omission is, however, due to sustaining a hamstring injury.
“Shannon was injured in the game that he played in Trinidad. We were told by the medical panel that he is having a bit of a problem with his hamstring and would not be fit for selection,” Haynes told members of the media on Wednesday.
“Shannon did very well against England the last tour here. He’s probably our fastest bowler and we are hoping to get him fit so that he can be on the park."
Overall Gabriel has taken 37 wickets against England in 11 matches and took 5 for 25 and overall figures of 9 for 137 when he face England in 2020. The English went on to win the series 2-1. Concerns have been raised over the player’s workload in recent times after the fast bowler has found himself sidelined by a few injuries.
An unspecified number of fully vaccinated supporters will be allowed to enter the Boy’s and Girl’s Championships this year, meet organisers the Inter-Secondary School Sports Association (ISSA) have confirmed.
In addition, the organization is also expected to add a number of school sports back to its yearly calendar after an extended absence for some due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
“Over the next two weeks, competitions will begin for U-19 Girls Netball, U-19 Boys Basketball, U-19 Cricket as well as U-16 Boys Football,” a release from ISSA said.
The release went on to add that other sports will be added to the calendar later in the year.
“Competitions in Volleyball, Table Tennis, Hockey, and Girls Football will also be staged later during the Easter Term and are to be completed by April 30, 2022,” it added.
In addition to spectators, ISSA also requires that all athletes taking part in its competitions this season be fully vaccinated.
On August 1, 2021, Britany Anderson lined up in lane seven of the final of the Tokyo Olympics 100m hurdles. Having run 12.40, a personal best and the second-fastest time going into the final, only Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, who set an Olympic record of 12.26 in her semi-final, was faster.
Expectations of a medal were high for the 20-year-old Jamaican but it was not to be. She hit the sixth hurdle, managed to clear the seventh but then stumbled, lost her momentum and with it any chance of a place on the podium and making history as the first woman from the Caribbean to win an Olympic medal in the event.
That honour went to her compatriot, Megan Tapper, who finished third behind world record holder Kendra Harrison of the United States, who won silver and Camacho-Quinn, who created history of her own becoming the first Puerto Rican woman to win an Olympic gold medal.
During a recent sit-down with Sportsmax.TV where she talks about her improvement this season, how her training group and her faith in God, have helped her successfully transition to senior competition, Anderson revealed that running her personal best in the semi-final impacted her in a way that she did not expect.
“My emotions were all over the place. I was crying. I was excited, I was overwhelmed,” she said about what caused her to lose her focus after running her lifetime best in the semi-final.
“In the final, I don’t know what…it was like, something went wrong, not just with the hurdles, but because I was so overwhelmed and it was my first senior games, everything was just all over the place.”
Nevertheless, she said she was not disappointed at the eventual outcome saying that she felt like she had won just to make the finals at the Olympic Games.
It is with that mindset that Anderson has approached the start of the new season wherein the span of three weeks she ran three-lifetime bests in the indoors 60m hurdles. Starting at the Millrose Games on January 29, Anderson, who turned 21 in January, ran a lifetime best of 7.91 to defeat a field that included Kendra Harrison.
Just about a week later, she lowered that time to 7.88 while finishing second to Danielle Williams, who ran a then-personal best 7.83 at the New Balance Grand Prix in New York.
Six days later, at the American Track League Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, Anderson would go even faster clocking 7.82, the fourth-fastest time in the world. Only Williams (7.75), Harrison (7.81) and Alia Armstrong of the USA (7.81) have been faster.
According to the former Vere and Camperdown athlete, her success this season comes down to the change in mindset bolstered by improving confidence.
“I feel like it was just the mindset that changed from last season to this season. Last season was just something to show me what I could do this season and I bring all of that to this season, worked on what I had to work on in practice and just bring it out there on the track,” she said.
It wasn’t that long ago that Anderson set the World U20 record in the 100m hurdles, 12.71, in July 2019 in Finland. She is the World U18 champion and the silver medallist at the World U20 Championships in Finland in 2018.
Since that time, her transition to the senior ranks has been relatively painless as evidenced by her qualifying for her first Olympic final eight months after she turned 20.
She credits her training partners at Tumbleweed, the training group she joined in 2019, for helping her make the transition to the senior ranks.
“Most parts of it was the people I had around me, like my training partners, they helped me throughout everything, off the track and on the track so the transition from a junior to a senior wasn’t really hard,” she said, adding that having fellow Jamaicans Christopher Taylor, Christania Williams and fellow hurdler Omar McLeod, played their part in helping her make a smooth transition.
Transitioning to the senior ranks comes with its own challenges because before she can conquer the world, she has to first overcome perhaps the deepest pool of talent currently at Jamaica's disposal with the likes of Danielle Williams, Tapper, Ackera Nugent, perhaps Janeek Brown and Yanique Thompson among others. Asked about where she sees herself among Jamaica's world-class hurdlers, Anderson confidently indicated that she knows what she is capable of.
"I know what I can do. I know what I am going to do. At the trials, I know what I am going there for, so I will just let all of that play out in God's way," she said.
As for this year, Anderson is focused on the World Championships in Oregon in July but as it relates to World Indoors next month and the Commonwealth Games, no decision has yet been made. Her agent Mario Bassani said those decisions will be made at a later date and will be as a result of discussions with her coach Rana Reider, whom she describes as a really great coach.
“The lesson I take from him is I can do whatever I can put my mind to,” she said.
So far, that advice seems to be working well for Britany Anderson.
As Bassani tells it, whichever championships she decides to compete at this year, she will be ready.
Jamaica’s Olympic gold medallist Briana Williams will be made available to represent Jamaica at the 2022 World Indoor Championships in Belgrade from March 18-20.
Out-of-favour West Indies opening batsman Kieran Powell has admitted it was a disappointment to not at least be considered for the CWI President’s XI squad ahead of the upcoming four-match Test series against England.
The 31-year-old left-hander missed out on a chance under the new selection panel, after being skipped over in favour of Jamaica batsman John Campbell. Powell, who last played for the West Indies last August against Pakistan, has scored 144 runs in two matches for the Leeward Islands in the West Indies Championship, the seventh-best so far.
Campbell has in the meantime scored 213. With performances, the batsman believes there could also have been some consideration for Leewards no. 3 Devon Thomas who has scored 242, the second most behind West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite, who has 341.
“I definitely thought that if I didn’t make the Test squad I would make the President’s XI based on the performances, but I saw Devon Thomas batting the way that nobody else in the Caribbean batted in those two games and if the team is going to be selected on performances, the way that he has played is second to none so you would like to think that he would have gotten into this squad,” Powell told the Mason and Guest radio show.
Despite not making the squad, however, Powell was pleased with his start to the season and expressed disappointment at the competition going on a break during the England tour.
“I’m pretty happy with where I was able to get to. I’m very disappointed the season was halted after two matches because you would have seen cricket not being played for two years and guys were so excited to get back out there and the level of cricket the Leewards played in those games, we had some tough decisions against Barbados and a few things could have gone our way.”
The Hero Caribbean Premier League has delivered outstanding exposure and generated a significant economic impact to the 2021 host countries, St Kitts & Nevis. The tournament took place in the Federation of St Kitts between 26 August and 15 September with all 33 matches being held at Warner Park, Basseterre.
The total value delivered to St Kitts & Nevis from the 2021 Hero CPL was US$88,698,200.
This figure comes from organizer spend, visitor spend and sponsorship value. The report detailing all the deliverables was compiled by an independent and world-leading research company, YouGov Sport.
The total economic impact value for St Kitts & Nevis was US$8,990,210, with the direct spend being US$3,329,707. This figure takes into account the total spent by Hero CPL to put on the 2021 event as well as the money spent with local business by those who travelled into St Kitts & Nevis for the tournament, either independently or as part of CPL’s franchise teams.
The total spent to organize the Hero CPL in St Kitts & Nevis during the tournament was US$2,250,725 with local suppliers and businesses being the beneficiaries. In addition to the organizer spend, St Kitts & Nevis also benefitted from franchise owners and fans from across the region and the world coming to watch the games – an extra USD$1,078,982 of direct spend being attributed to this group.
St Kitts and Nevis also enjoyed huge exposure from the global broadcast of the tournament, a sponsorship value of US$79,707,790 being generated – the most any host country has ever received. A combination of innovative and engaging advertising throughout the Hero CPL broadcast, including branding and tourism vignettes, ensured St Kitts & Nevis was given the opportunity to promote itself to a vast global audience.
The total viewership figure for Hero CPL 2021 was 517.4million, with the tournament passing half a billion viewers for the second successive year. This massive TV and digital viewership helping to drive the fantastic sponsorship valuation.
“We are hugely grateful to everyone in St Kitts & Nevis who made the 2021 tournament possible, especially the Government who backed CPL to deliver another World Class event,” said Pete Russell, CPL Hero CEO.
“Special thanks to the Minister for Education, Youth Empowerment, Culture and Sport, the Hon. Jonel Powell and his team who left no stone unturned in ensuring we had a safe and successful tournament. We are delighted that St Kitts & Nevis were rewarded with these fantastic numbers and of course a winner’s trophy.”
The minister, meanwhile, was delighted at the news.
“I am very pleased with the data, in particular, the direct spend into our economy and the local employment at what has been a very difficult time financially. The exposure that our Federation has received to over 500 million viewers is of tremendous value, it is our hope that the world now knows St. Kitts and Nevis as not just a fantastic destination for R and R but also a great destination for sports tourism. We truly value our partnership with the CPL and look forward to developing new opportunities that we can share together,” he said.
Former West Indies batsman, Carlisle Best, insists he does not understand the reluctance by Cricket West Indies (CWI) to part ways with team captain Kieron Pollard and coach Phil Simmons given the team’s recent poor run of performances.
Simmons, who was appointed a coach of the team in 2019, and Pollard, who was appointed West Indies white-ball captain that same year, have come under immense pressure in recent months, following a string of bad results and poor performances.
An aging Windies squad put in a poorly, lackluster showing at last year’s T20 World Cup, where they exited meekly, and followed that up with a historical One Day International series loss to Ireland and 3-0 T20 series sweep at the hands of Pakistan.
The team rallied to beat England 3-2 in a T20 series against England last month but were defeated 6-0 overall, 3-0 (ODI), 3-0 (T20I), in their most recent tour of India. In particular, the batting form of the team has been lambasted with many believing there to be an overall lack of concentration or engagement. Best believes given the results the leaders of the squad have to be judged on what they have accomplished to date.
“What kind of leader is not going to be accountable for the results that occur under his stewardship,” Best told the Mason and Guest radio show.
“If we are going forward, we have to focus primarily on performances and those performances have to be result oriented…Do we want a winning team and can we find that winning formula, certainly we do not have that formula now with either captain Pollard or coach Simmons. It’s as simple as that,” he added.
“The writing was on the wall a long time ago when he made the comment publicly that IPL and Trinidad came before West Indies cricket that is well documented and yet he finds himself as a Putin of West Indies cricket.”
James Anderson insists he still has "a lot left to offer" after speaking for the first time since being surprisingly left out of England's squad for the upcoming Test series against West Indies, from which Stuart Broad is also absent.
Both have been left out of the squad for next month's tour after a dismal Ashes series led to the departure of head coach Chris Silverwood.
Interim managing director of cricket Andrew Strauss – who replaced the outgoing Ashley Giles – as well as interim coach Paul Collingwood and head scout James Taylor made up a three-man selection committee ahead of the series, which begins in Antigua on March 8.
Strauss insists there remains a way back for both bowlers, who have taken 1,177 Test wickets between them.
However, Anderson – who turns 40 in July – said on the Tailenders podcast: "I'm praying this isn't the end.
"But if I never play for England again, I know I've got amazing people around me to support me and that's really important."
He confirmed his intention to perform for Lancashire when the County Championship starts in April, with the aim of working his way back into England reckoning.
"I've got one more go at digging deep," Anderson added. "I've got a lot left to offer – I've still got the hunger and passion to play.
"It was a shock and a disappointment to get that call but having processed it, it's important I try to focus on stuff I can control and that's showing people what I can do with the ball in my hand."
Anderson is England's record Test wicket-taker with 640 to his name in 169 matches at an average of 26.58, and has taken five wickets in an innings 31 times, more than any other England bowler.
Broad had previously hit out at his own omission, writing in the Daily Mail earlier this month: "I am waking up more confused and angrier with each passing day. I feel gutted.
"Do I need to prove myself again? In my mind, I've nothing to prove. I am a proven performer, so it is now about the English cricketing summer and targeting the home series against New Zealand in June."
Gonzalo Higuain is hopeful his former Argentina team-mate Lionel Messi will one day join him in Major League Soccer.
Higuain is preparing for his second full season in MLS with Inter Miami, having joined from Juventus in September 2020.
Although the striker's goalscoring exploits had regressed slightly towards the end of his time in Europe, Higuain was still regarded as a major coup for both Inter and MLS, where his older brother Federico has plied his trade since 2012.
MLS has previously been considered a competition where fading stars from Europe went to see out the remainder of their careers, with the likes of Thierry Henry, Andrea Pirlo, David Villa and Steven Gerrard all doing just that.
But the perception is changing slightly – it is becoming a proving ground for young talent, a viable stepping stone to Europe for South American players and even a place for established European stars who are still at the height of their powers.
Napoli forward Lorenzo Insigne highlighted the shift last month by agreeing an end-of-season move to Toronto despite being virtually in his prime. While any MLS switch for Messi, already 34, would look a little more like a final pre-retirement move, Higuain reckons he would enjoy himself.
"It is a very important league and it is growing a lot," Higuain told Stats Perform.
"Important players are coming and I think that in the future it will continue to grow much more.
"I hope [Messi goes to MLS] because it would be a benefit for MLS and for the country, and if he so wishes he would have fun and be happy here."
Inter begin their 2022 MLS campaign at home to Chicago Fire on Saturday, with the David Beckham-backed franchise hoping to enjoy a major improvement from last season.
Phil Neville's side finished 11th in the 14-team Eastern Conference in 2021, a place above Saturday's opponents, while their points total of 41 was better than only six teams across the two MLS divisions.
It would seem Inter may have struggled even more were it not for Higuain, who scored 12 times. His haul of nine non-penalty (np) goals matched up well with his np-xG (expected goals) of 8.7, suggesting the team could really profit from dependable finishing if the service to him improves.
And bettering that return in front of goal is high on Higuain's list of priorities.
"We are fine, looking forward to [the start of the season] and very excited," he said. "It's so close now, let's hope it goes better than last year and we learn from the mistakes made so that this year it doesn't happen again. We are excited to have a good year.
"I want to improve my numbers, which I did my whole career, improve year after year. I hope that this year I can do better to help the team qualify [for the playoffs] and be able to compete for MLS.
"I hope I can improve my numbers, that's my goal and that's what I've prepared this pre-season."
West Indies women’s team head coach Courtney Walsh is convinced the team heading to ICC Women’s World next month is a well-balanced one.
On Monday, Cricket West Indies announced the naming of a 15-man squad, which as expected will be led by Windies Women captain Stephanie Taylor and feature several other experienced players. Joining the likes of Taylor will be the experienced Deandra Dottin, Shemaine Campbell, and Anisa Mohammed who will be headed to her fourth World Cup.
The team, however, will also feature a host of younger players and two uncapped players Kaysia Schultz and Jannellia Glasgow in the reserves. Walsh believes the team’s combination is suited to performing well in all areas.
“We were just trying to get the best combination we thought for the World Cup, so all the tours we had, the camps and thing. All those things were taken into consideration in trying to get as balance an attack as we can in terms of batting, bowling, and fielding as well,” Walsh said.
“We wanted the complete package with regards to batting, bowling, and fielding. The 18 players that we have here is what we as the selectors thought was the best balanced 18, we could take. We have an adequate backup should there be any injuries.”
West Indies lead selector, Desmond Haynes, insists fixing the squad’s issues at the top of the order will be a priority for the new panel.
The team’s struggles, particularly at the top of the order, have been well documented in recent times. The issue of finding a consistent partner for team captain Kraigg Brathwaite is one of the primary concerns.
Over the last five years, Brathwaite, who has scored 2188 in 40 matches during that time, has been consistent but it has proven to be somewhat of a carousel in terms of finding an opening pairing with Kieron Powell, John Campbell, and Shai Hope all being trailed for the spot at various times.
In November, Jeremy Solozano was also set to be trialed in the position, against Sri Lanka, but did not get the opportunity after being struck on the helmet while fielding. Ahead of the England series, Haynes and the selectors have decided to turn back to Campbell who was dropped from the team in June of last year.
The batsman has had a strong start to the West Indies Championship after scoring 213 runs in two matches so far. Since 2019, Campbell has played 15 matches for the West Indies scoring 640 runs.
“There was good discussion regarding the opening. That in itself is something we want to resolve shortly. I think in all the good teams you find they have good opening batsmen so we are hoping to get our opening batsmen some confidence and make sure they can do the job for us,” Haynes told members of the media on Tuesday.
“I think we went with Campbell not just because he got the 100 but talking to the captain and him batting with Campbell in the games that he has played, we had a bit of success there,” he added.
“It was a bit unfortunate for Jeremy but we decided we would put him in the president’s XI’s game where the selectors could have another look at him because it was a bit unfortunate because after being struck on the head he didn’t get a chance to play in Sri Lanka.
The Cricket West Indies (CWI) Selection Panel on Tuesday named the West Indies Men’s squad for the first Apex Test match against England, as well as the CWI President’s XI squad for the four-day warm-up match.
The first Apex Test will be played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium from March 8-12, following the warm-up match at the Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG) from March 1-4.
In the West Indies Test squad, there is a maiden call-up for fast bowler Anderson Phillip and a recall for opener John Campbell. Both players were impressive in the first two rounds of the current West Indies Championship, with 25-year-old Phillip from Trinidad & Tobago Red Force, taking 12 wickets at an average of 14.25 per wicket, with best figures of 5-82 against Jamaica Scorpions and 28-year-old Campbell from Jamaica Scorpions hitting 213 runs at an average of 53.25, including 127 against Barbados Pride.
The West Indies squad will assemble in Antigua from February 25 for a training camp ahead of the Apex Test Series.
Shane Dowrich, the experienced wicketkeeper/batsman has been named as captain of the CWI President’s XI with Raymon Reifer, the left-handed allrounder as the vice-captain.
“Anderson Phillip bowled extremely well and was very impressive in the first two rounds of the West Indies Championship and we decided to give him an opportunity in the Test squad to face England. He has been around the squad before in white-ball cricket, so he has some experience at the international level,” lead selector Desmond Haynes said.
“I expect us to be very competitive against England. This should be a very exciting series, with a lot of players who are out to make their mark. We have a squad that has some experienced players, as well as some exciting young players and we expect them to equip themselves well and do the job,” he added.
West Indies Test Squad: Kraigg Brathwaite (Captain), Jermaine Blackwood (Vice-Captain), Nkrumah Bonner, Shamarh Brooks, John Campbell, Joshua Da Silva, Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Veerasammy Permaul, Anderson Phillip, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales
CWI President’s XI Squad: Shane Dowrich (Captain), Raymon Reifer (Vice-Captain), Colin Archibald, Alick Athanaze, Keacy Carty, Bryan Charles, Shermon Lewis, Preston McSween, Shayne Moseley, Jeremy Solozano, Shamar Springer, Devon Thomas
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