St. Kitts and Nevis Football Association (SKNFA) and La Liga club Cádiz C.F. announced a partnership on Thursday that will see young players from St. Kitts and Nevis getting professional and developmental opportunities at the Spanish club.
Cádiz (Cádiz Club de Fútbol, S.A.D.) is a Spanish professional football club based in Cádiz, Andalusia. Founded in 1910, the club competes in the La Liga, the Spanish top flight league where it hosts matches at Nuevo Mirandilla.
The announcement of the potentially game-changing partnership was made at the Royal St. Kitts Hotel Conference Room where the President of the SKNFA Atiba Harris and the International Director of Football at Cádiz C.F., Enrique Martinez Perez, signed the agreement.
Also present at the signing was the First Vice President of the SKNFA Sean White, who is also the head of the SKNFA Marketing Committee.
Mr Harris said this opportunity will benefit both male and female youth players. He described the partnership as being significant as it will provide opportunities for local players pursuing pathways to professional careers.
“I think the dream for many of our players is to go to college or become professional footballers, so to formulate this agreement with Cadiz Football Club, a La Liga Club, it’s a realistic opportunity for our young players to have a realistic, standardized pathway to chase their dreams and become the next professional footballer or the many professional footballers in years to come,” said Mr. Harris, who incidentally signed his first professional contract with Cadiz almost two decades ago.
“Cadiz happened to be my first professional club. When I was 18 years old, I left the Federation to embark on a journey and today, 19 years later, we have an agreement that we are about to formulate with Cádiz Football Club and the SKNFA to make a standardized pathway for our youth players, to have a professional career possible.”
He added that the agreement would also help to raise the standard of football in St. Kitts and Nevis.
Meanwhile, Mr Martinez-Perez explained that under the agreement, Cadiz will take players from St Kitts and Nevis to Spain to provide them with opportunities.
“We will try to develop the talent we have here and they will have the opportunity in our club, Cadiz, to develop all their skills,” Martinez-Perez said.
Edwin Allen standout, Bryan Levell, continued his fine start to the high school track and field season with a victory in the Class One Boys 200m at the Central Track and Field Championships at the GC Foster College on Wednesday.
20.71 was enough for Levell to cruise comfortably home ahead of St. Catherine High’s Sandrey Davison (21.30) and Manchester’s Shemar Palmer (21.37).
Steer Town’s Omarion Barrett completed an impressive sprint double by winning the Class Two Boys 200m in 21.81 ahead of Edwin Allen’s Antonio Powell (21.99) and Clarendon College’s Tremaine Hamilton (22.44).
Ajae Brown of Ferncourt High ran 23.29 to win the Class Three Boys 200m ahead of the St. Jago pair of Detarje Morgan (23.30) and 100m champion and record holder Ray J Reece (23.33).
Manchester High ran 3:17.41 to win the Boys 4x400m ahead of St. Jago (3:18.32) and St. Catherine High (3:19.82) while in the Girls section, Holmwood Technical and Edwin Allen were separated by one-hundredth of a second with Holmwood taking the win in 3:41.81 ahead of Edwin Allen (3:41.82). St. Catherine High were third in 3:46.48.
Edwin Allen and Holmwood swapped places in the Girls Sprint Medley with Edwin Allen running 4:00.52 to win ahead of Holmwood (4:13.50) and Dinthill Technical (4:19.88).
St. Jago were equally dominant in the Boys section running 3:39.98 to win ahead of Clarendon College (3:53.10) and Bustamante High (3:58.75)
The Monk Street-based St. Jago ended up comfortably winning the Boys team title, finishing with 404.50 points. Edwin Allen finished a distant second 175 points, while the top five was rounded out by Clarendon College (120), St. Catherine High (98), and Manchester High (83).
Hydel High School’s Kerrica Hill set a new sprint-hurdles record on her way to two individual gold medals on Day 2 of the Central Championships at the G.C. Foster College on Wednesday as their rivals Edwin Allen comfortably won the girls’ title.
England captain Joe Root hit a masterful century on day one of the second Test against the West Indies at Bridgetown.
Having won the toss and chosen to bat, Root was at the crease early on after Zak Crawley was dismissed for a duck, but was not flustered as he set about giving his team a solid foundation on a flat pitch.
The visitors ended the day on 244-3 with Dan Lawrence contributing an excellent 91, as West Indies struggled to get anything out of the pitch, though things could have been different but for a dropped catch.
England handed debuts to bowlers Saqib Mahmood and Matthew Fisher in place of Mark Wood and Craig Overton, and got off to a shocking start as Crawley was out without scoring after he failed to leave a Jayden Seales delivery, nicking it through to Joshua Da Silva.
Root and Alex Lees steadied the innings as they slowly put together a partnership of 76, though Root was somewhat fortunate to see Da Silva drop him on 34, even if it was a difficult opportunity for the West Indies wicketkeeper down the leg side.
The Yorkshireman reached his 50, only to see Lees fall next ball for 30 to lbw off the bowling of Veerasammy Permaul.
Lawrence was next in and though he started slowly, soon settled in as he began hitting boundaries, including a six off Permaul.
The 24-year-old reached the fourth 50 of his career just before Root sealed his ton, which is the 25th time he has raised his bat to three figures in Test cricket.
After tea, it was all too comfortable for England as Root (119 not out) and Lawrence (91) continued to build on a partnership of 164, before Lawrence hit a Jason Holder delivery straight to Kraigg Brathwaite off the last ball of the day to give the hosts a rare occasion to celebrate.
Root in the form of his life
It must be said that it was a very batsman-friendly pitch on day one at Bridgetown, but Root took full advantage as he put together a very useful knock to surely ensure a big first-innings total for his team.
After scoring 1,708 Test runs in 15 matches in 2021, he has already managed 310 in three and a half in 2022.
This was the fourth Test 100 Root has scored in the West Indies, more than he has managed in any other country apart from England.
Lawrence offers ideal support role
One continuing theme of the recent Ashes series was England players coming in to bat, seemingly trying to settle slowly into their innings, and then getting themselves out before they started scoring any runs.
Lawrence looked to be doing the same here, but once he got his first boundary, looked calm and composed at the crease as he set about assisting Root in building a big total, and managed to reach the highest score of his Test career so far before a disappointing dismissal.
Christopher Young of Edwin Allen High established a new meet record in the Class I shot put on Day 2 of the 2022 Central Championships at the G.C. Foster College in Spanish Town, St Catherine in Jamaica on Wednesday.
West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite hopes to see a more efficient performance from the bowling line-up as the team eyes pulling ahead of England when the three-match Test series resumes on Monday.
In the opening match, a total of 1,182 runs were scored over five days in a stern examination of bowlers from both teams. Things did not start out that way, however, as the Windies took four wickets at the top of the first innings only for Jonny Bairstow to lead England’s recovery in the middle overs.
“I think we just have to be a bit more disciplined in the middle periods, probably a little tighter, under three runs an over, I think. Creating that pressure will help to get more wickets in the middle overs,” Brathwaite told members of the media on Tuesday.
The West Indies will have fond recent memories of facing the English in Barbados having secured a massive 381 run win when the teams last met at the venue in 2019. Brathwaite was quick to point out, however, that the team would not be preoccupied with history.
“I think it’s history, to be honest, and we really have to look more to the future and be more disciplined. I think we can draw from some things we did well, so of the players for sure, but I think we have to buckle down and start fresh.”
Hydel’s 17-year-old sprint star Brianna Lyston sizzled at the Central Track and Field Championships at the GC Foster College on Tuesday.
Despite only running in the heats of the Girls Class One 100m, Lyston stole the show with a spectacular 11.14, a personal best and world-leading time.
The former St. Jago athlete didn’t turn up for the final, which was won by Edwin Allen’s Tina Clayton in 11.26 ahead of her sister Tia who ran 11.37 for second. Janela Spencer of Manchester High was third in 11.79.
Lyston’s Hydel teammate Alana Reid won the Girls Class Two event in 11.37, while Edwin Allen’s Theianna-Lee Terrelonge won the Class Three event in 11.88.
St. Jago’s Odaine Crooks was in record-breaking form in the Boys Class One 100m, running 10.46 to win. Steer Town's Omarion Barrett ran 10.83 to win the Class Two event, while St. Jago's Ray J Reece won the Class Three event in 11.31 after running a new record 11.29 in the preliminaries.
Saqib Mahmood will make his Test debut in England's only change for their second match against West Indies, starting on Wednesday at Kensington Oval.
The Lancashire seamer is a like-for-like replacement for the injured Mark Wood, who has been ruled out due to an elbow problem sustained in the first Test.
Joe Root's side played out a draw in that opening contest against Kraigg Brathwaite's hosts in Antigua and have moved on to Barbados for the second of three tussles for the Richards-Botham Trophy.
Centuries for captain Root, Jonny Bairstow and Zak Crawley were stymied by a superb display from Nkrumah Bonner and Wood's injury, on the back of Ollie Robinson being ruled out for the opener.
Root admitted that while Durham bowler Wood would be a loss, he had little doubts about 25-year-old Mahmood's potential.
"He's very mature for a guy who hasn't played a huge amount of international cricket, and he has an understanding of how he wants to operate," Root said.
"He's been very impressive. He's got a slightly different trajectory and will give us a point of difference. He has done that when he's played in other formats.
"Clearly he has good control, especially if the ball moves with reverse swing."
West Indies batsman Bonner, whose recent emergence as a Test player has followed a false start in international cricket in the T20I format 10 years ago, is relishing another battle after his man-of-the-match performance.
"During that 10-year period when I was out, there was a lot of work I put in mentally, physically and technically, and I'm really happy to be reaping the rewards now," Bonner said, quoted by BBC Sport.
"I'm more experienced now, I understand my game a lot better. I always had that belief I could play international cricket.
"Obviously sometimes the belief goes down a little bit, but I kept working and I'm really happy to have come back."
Stokes closes in on select England landmark
England all-rounder Ben Stokes has been relatively quiet with bat and ball since returning to the international fold, but he could reach a notable landmark this week.
He needs 84 more to reach 5,000 runs in Test cricket for England; in doing so, he would become just the 23rd player to achieve this feat for the team.
West Indies are one of the three teams against whom he has scored over 1,000 runs.
Roach poised to move up WI rankings
Kemar Roach needs only one more wicket to become the outright seventh-highest wicket taker for West Indies in men's Test cricket.
Roach is level with Garry Sobers on 235 wickets, and the paceman has more wickets against England (54) than against any other team in this format.
Once he moves ahead, he will have sixth-placed Michael Holding in his sights, with 249.
Kingston College’s Jaydon Hibbert produced personal best and world-junior leading 16.56m to win the Boys Under-20 Triple Jump at Jamaica’s Carifta Trials at the National Stadium in Kingston on Sunday.
Hibbert’s 16.56m is also the third-longest jump outdoors this season among seniors and juniors.
The silver medallist at the 2021 World Junior Championships in Nairobi will be joined on the CARIFTA team by Petersfield High’s Royan Walters who jumped 15.22 for second place.
The Jamaica College pair of Chavez Penn (14.02) and Euan Young (13.74) were the top two finishers in the Under-17 section.
Moving away from the sand and into the sprint hurdles, St. Jago’s Bryana Davidson won the U-17 Girls 100m Hurdles in 13.52 ahead of Hydel’s Jody-Ann Daley (13.62) and St. Jago’s Briana Campbell (13.74).
Petersfield’s Alexis James ensured it wasn’t a clean sweep for Hydel by winning the U-20 Girls event in 13.16 ahead of the Hydel pair of Oneka Wilson (13.22) and Kerrica Hill (13.25).
Kingston College’s Jadan Campbell won the U-17 Boys 110m Hurdles in 13.57. Calabar’s Shaquane Gordon was second in 13.68 while Campbell’s KC teammate Daniel Clarke was third in 13.94.
St. Jago secured the top two spits in the U-20 Boys race with Jahvel Granville winning in 13.65 ahead of Demario Prince (13.77). Shamer Blake of STETHS was third in 13.91.
The Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and Cricket West Indies (CWI) have confirmed that this year’s CPL event will feature a women’s tournament with three franchise teams competing for the first Women’s CPL (WCPL) title. The three teams will showcase the best women’s cricketers from across the Caribbean with overseas stars rounding out the teams.
The three teams who will compete in the inaugural WCPL will be Barbados Royals, Guyana Amazon Warriors and Trinbago Knight Riders.
The women’s tournament will take place during the men’s event inside the Hero CPL tournament window which this year will run from 30 August and 30 September.
The 2022 tournament will be celebrating 10 years of the Biggest Party in Sport and enters its 10th season off the back of a highly successful 2021, with over half a billion viewers tuning in for the second successive year.
“Increasing the opportunities for West Indian women and girls to get involved in cricket is one of CWI’s strategic priorities, and we are delighted that we have been able to partner with CPL to further the expansion plans that we had first unveiled in 2019 prior to the arrival of the COVID Pandemic. We are confident that all CPL women’s games will be highly competitive and will add quality entertainment to our fans in the region and around the world,” said CWI President Ricky Skerritt.
Hero CPL will be played across more countries this year, with three Caribbean countries being selected for the group stages and fourth venue being chosen for the finals. CPL anticipates that this four-venue structure could become the norm for future seasons.
“The addition of a women’s event to the CPL is something that has been an ambition for a long time and we are very pleased that it has become a reality. We would like to thank CWI for working with us to make this happen. The Women’s T10 Challenge which took place during the 2019 CPL was a huge success and we are looking forward to the next step forward,” said Hero CPL CEO Pete Russell.
“We are very pleased to confirm the dates for the 2022 tournament and with travel around the world and region becoming easier CPL will be able to visit more than one country this year, so fans can enjoy CPL in person once again,” he added.
CWI has confirmed that a window has been created in an otherwise very busy international schedule so that all selected West Indies players will be available for this year’s Men’s and Women’s CPL tournaments.
Atlanta United completed a 2-1 win over Charlotte FC in dramatic circumstances on Sunday, while the New York Red Bulls suffered a first defeat of the season at home to Minnesota United.
Josef Martinez put Atlanta in front with an hour played, converting from the spot for his first goal of the campaign – the Venezuelan having failed to score in his first two starts of a season for the first time prior to matchday three.
Adam Armour nodded Charlotte level from a Benjamin Bender delivery just six minutes later and that looked set to deprive Atlanta of the three points.
But in the sixth minute of stoppage time, a raking Marcelino Moreno pass found Jake Mulraney on the right and his left-footed effort was deflected out of Kristijan Kahlina's reach to spark bedlam in the stands.
There was no such late rescue for the Red Bulls, however.
Gerhard Struber's men were the dominant force, managing 18 shots to Minnesota's five, but they could not find a way past the inspired Dayne St. Clair in the visitors' net.
Patryk Klimala spurned the best chance of all after just 14 minutes, with his feeble penalty kept out by St. Clair, who was only starting due to first-choice Tyler Miller being ruled out with an illness.
That was one of eight saves made by St. Clair, the most made by any goalkeeper in a single game this season.
Minnesota were more clinical, with Luis Amarilla converting with a well-taken volley from 10 yards early in the second half.
The Red Bulls were unfortunate not to get a late penalty after John Tolkin's pass appeared to be handled in the box, but Minnesota survived that scare to claim their first win of the season and prevent the home side from becoming the only side in MLS to have a 100 per cent record after three matches.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) Men’s Selection Panel has named an unchanged squad for the second Apex Test match against England. The match will be played at Kensington Oval from March 16-20.
The three-match Apex Series is level 0-0 following a draw in the first Apex Test match, which was played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.
Nkrumah Bonner was named Player-of-the-Match. He scored a career-best 123 in the first innings and 38 not out in the second innings on the final day.
“It was a hard-fought first match in Antigua and we decided to stick with the same 13 players for the second match in Barbados,” said lead selector Desmond Haynes in explaining the decision not to make any changes ahead of the second Test.
“Bonner demonstrated the way you should play, and we were very pleased with the way he played in the first innings and again in the second innings. It was hard work for all the bowlers, and we were very happy with the way they stuck to the task.”
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 and Jayden Seales.
Edwin Allen’s Bryan Levell and Hydel’s Brianna Lyston won their respective U20 200m races in impressive fashion on Sunday’s final day at Jamaica’s Carifta Trials at the National Stadium in Kingston on Sunday.
Rayon Campbell threw the gauntlet down to his rivals locally and regionally on Sunday when he ran a blistering 49.52 to win the U20 Boys, 400m hurdles at Jamaica’s Carifta Trials at the National Stadium in Kingston. By the looks of it, Jamaica will field a formidable duo in the event set for April 16-18 in Kingston as Roshawn Clarke of Camperdown High was close behind in a time of 49.85.
Campbell’s Kingston College schoolmate Antonio Forbes ran 50.48 for third place.
Jordan Mowatt, also of Kingston College, won the U17 final in 52.53 over Martin Princewell of Jamaica College, who stopped the clock at 53.01. Daniel Wright of Excelsior High School was third in 54.77.
The Girls U20 final was won by Safhia Hinds of St. Jago who ran 58.06. She was a comfortable winner over Hydel High School’s Oneika McAnnuff, who took second place in 59.35. Shackelia Green of St Elizabeth Technical High was third in 59.77.
Deandra Harris of Spot Valley won the U17 event in 61.78. She finished miles ahead of Edwin Allen High’s Kelly Ann Carr, who completed the race in 65.22, just ahead of St Jago’s Olivia St. John (65.30).
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