An excited Michail Antonio has begun the process of applying for his Jamaican passport and is eager to represent the country of his parents’ birth, Jamaica Football Federation President Michael Ricketts told Sportsmax.TV this morning.

 The Reggae Boyz are set to face the United States in Austria in an international friendly on March 25, as the team ramps up preparations for the CONCACAF Gold Cup in July and the World Cup qualifiers later in the year.

JFF President Michael Ricketts made the announcement during a virtual press conference earlier today.

Due to the current conditions related to the global pandemic, the match will be conducted under the UEFA Return to Play Protocol and will be played without fans at the Stadion Wiener Neustadt in Wiener Neustadt.

Ricketts said the JFF will be attempting to have a camp leading up to the match in Australia. They are to apply to the government for an exemption to the ongoing Covid-19 protocols. If not, they will try to leave for Austria on March 20, so the team will be able to spend a few days preparing in that country.

The meeting between the two teams will be the first since they clashed in the semi-finals of the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup in Nashville, Tennessee on July 3, 2019. The USA won that encounter 3-1 courtesy of two goals from Christian Pulisic and another from Weston McKennie.

Shamar Nicholson netted for Jamaica.

Jamaica had won a previous encounter 1-0 when the teams met in a friendly on June 5, 2019, in Washington D.C.

Since 1988, the teams have met 26 times with the USA holding a 16-3-8 overall record.

Barbadian umpire Gregory Brathwaite is likely to stand in a Test between the West Indies and Sri Lanka later this month, media reports say.

Joella Lloyd and Carey McLeod shone brightly for the University at Tennessee at the SEC Championships at the Randal Tyson Indoor Track Centre in Arkansas on the weekend.

The West Indies have named 26 players to participate in a “Best v Best” four-day practice match in preparation for the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka.

When Joshua Da Silva dedicated his 92-run match-winning knock in Bangladesh to Andrea Bharratt, Ashanti Riley and other Trinidadian women who have been victims of violence, he did so in part because a recent horrifying incident made the matter personal.

Usain Bolt's one-time great rival Yohan Blake has declared he will refuse all COVID-19 vaccines, and would rather miss the Tokyo 2020 Olympics than be immunised.

The Jamaican sprinter won silver in the 100 metres and 200m at London 2012, as Bolt landed gold in both races. Only Bolt has ever run faster than Blake over those distances.

Speaking on Saturday, Blake expressed his opposition to being given a vaccine.

The International Olympic Committee has indicated athletes will not need to be vaccinated before taking part in the Tokyo Games, but vice-president John Coates recently said it was "certainly being encouraged".

The Olympics, postponed from last year due to the coronavirus crisis, is due to run from July 23 to August 8.

Quoted by the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper, Blake said: "My mind still stays strong, I don't want any vaccine, I'd rather miss the Olympics than take the vaccine, I am not taking it.

"I don't really want to get into it now, but I have my reasons."

Blake, who won 100m gold at the 2011 World Championships, is now 31 and Tokyo may be his last chance to shine on the Olympic stage.

He said in a video posted late on Saturday night: "Love me or dislike me, but I am here for a reason, to serve God, and at the same time be a servant for God to help each and every one.

"I am a righteous man, I am a man of God, and I believe that everybody do have a choice in life, no matter what. And I want to tell someone, don't let anyone take away that choice from you.

"At the end of the day if anything should happen, nobody's going to be by your side apart from God. No one is going to be there to hold your hand, it's going to be you.

"Follow your mind, don't follow the crowd. At the same time, be respectful to each and every one. Don't let no one take away your choice."

Jamaica has had 422 confirmed deaths from COVID-19, and 23,263 cases, the country's government announced on Saturday.

The country has yet to receive first shipments of a vaccine, but health minister Dr Christopher Tufton said on Friday they would "soon" arrive.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) Director of Cricket, Jimmy Adams, has reiterated the fact that special consideration is given to players who could have physiological limitations or chronic conditions when fitness assessment tests or conducted, as is often the case in standard international practice.

In the light of the omission of batsman Shimron Hetmyer from the West Indies squad, ahead of the tour of Sri Lanka, based on the player failing to meet the requisite fitness standards, critics have pointed fingers towards other members of the team they doubt are able to meet the requirements.

While a few expressed doubts about legendary batsman Chris Gayle’s fitness level, the majority pointed to the continued inclusion of Rahkeem Cornwall.  The off-spinner is listed as 6’ 7” and 308 pounds but has performed creditably for the West Indies on a few occasions, most recently against Bangladesh.

“As is best practice around the world, there are going to be times when players for different reasons might be unable or incapable of achieving minimum standards either across the whole battery of tests or certain aspects of it,” Adams told members of the media via a Zoom press conference call.

“There are exemptions that are given to these players and the four main areas that are considered for these exemptions would be the player’s age, individual physiological limitations, their injury history, and also their training history.  This is standard across many high-performance environments and we are no different,” he added.

“There are quite a few players that have been exempted under one of these four headings and it is something that I think maintains robustness about the situation.  If I go back and look at an Indian spinner in the 70s who had a withered arm, if he were to have an upper-body strength test he would not be able to complete that test and therefore in that area he would have to have an exemption,” Adams said.

“It is there ensuring that we do not discriminate against players that have issues, injuries, long-standing chronic things that might prevent them from completing some of these tests.”

Lendl Simmons played a dream innings to provide the perfect platform for Trinidad and Tobago Red Force to outplay Guyana Jaguars in the final of the CG Insurance Super50.

On a warm and calm Saturday night, captain Kieron Pollard had the honour of lifting the Sir Clive Lloyd trophy as his team accomplished the stated mission and showcased their dominance – winning all seven matches.

Simmons made a monumental 146 as the Red Force made a whopping 362-5 off their 50 overs. He hit 15 fours and seven sixes off 145 balls to register the highest score of this year’s tournament, as well as the highest score by a Trinidadian in the 46 years of the event – surpassing the 134 made by Denesh Ramdin in 2013. It was his second century of this year’s tournament and lifted the Trinis to their second-highest score of all time. He was named the CG Insurance Man-of-the-Match.

Such heroics left the Jaguars with a mammoth target and they fell well short, being bowled out for 210 off 43.5 overs. Left-hander Raymon Reifer played brilliantly to end on 97 not out, to follow up his 90 in the semi-final against the Windwards Volcanoes on Thursday night. Fast bowler Ravi Rampaul was again on song with 4-52 off his 10 overs, his second four-for in as many matches, and took him to his 100th List A wicket for Trinidad and Tobago.

Jayden Seales, the 19-year-old pacer brought into the match specifically unsettle the Guyanese, bowled with sustained pace and hostility to end with three wickets – two of which were caught on the leg-side as batsmen attempted hook shots.

Captain Pollard was full of praise for his team and said they were delighted to win all seven matches and take the title.

When Trinidad and Tobago batted, Simmons shared several big partnerships. He added 121 in just 19.1 overs with Evin Lewis (57) and 100 with Darren Bravo (47). After they fell, Simmons shared a third-wicket of 57 in four overs with Nicholas Pooran who entertained with 39 off 15 balls, including four sixes.

In Guyana Jaguars turn at the crease, they were totally blown away by Rampaul and Seales and were tottering at 55-6 at the end of the powerplay. Reifer offered strong rearguard action as he faced 112 balls and hit seven fours and three sixes. He shared a ninth-wicket stand of 71 with Gudakesh Motie (28) which took the score over the 200-mark.

But he was left just short of his maiden century when he exposed last man Nial Smith to a rampaging Seales who cleaned him up with the perfect Yorker, which capped off the perfect match in a perfect campaign.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) chief of selectors, Roger Harper, hopes the selection of veteran players like Chris Gayle and Fidel Edwards gives young players a good idea of the kind of standard required for selection heading into the team's World Cup title defense later this year.

The talismanic batsman, Gayle, who is 41-years-old, and Edwards, who is 39, were both selected as part of the T20I squad ahead of the team’s upcoming series against Sri Lanka.

 Despite being past the age many other players have retired from the sport, both men have expressed an interest in representing the team at the T20 World Cup, in India, in October.  On the back of an impressive IPL campaign, for Kings XI Punjab, few would have issues with Gayle suiting up.  Edwards would have been more of a question mark, however, as he was not available for selection, due to a Kolpak contract, for the last eight years.  The bowler recently showed he is still more than capable of hostile bowling at express pace.  In the recent Abu Dhabi T10 league final, Edwards was seen hurrying young in-form compatriot Nicholas Pooran.  According to Harper, despite the player’s age, he still brings exceptional quality to the team.

“I would hope it (selection) sends a message to the young players of the standards they need to attain,” Harper told members of the media via an online Zoom press conference.

“You would recall in some of the T20 games, for example in New Zealand, us losing some games and where we were deficient,” he added.

“I would hope the message that is sent is that these are the standards we need to attain and the sort of players that we need to have in these sort of teams; guys who will work harder at developing their skills to get to that level.”

Cricket West Indies (CWI) Director of Cricket, Jimmy Adams, has insisted players are well aware of the minimum fitness requirements needed to be considered for selection before even individual form is considered.

Based on an agreement between CWI and the West Indies Player Association (WIPA), players must achieve a rating of 40 during the evaluative yoyo fitness test to be considered for selection. 

Adams comments come on the back of the recent non-selection of talented batsman Shimron Hetmyer for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka.  The 24-year-old had looked in splendid form based on a scoring a majestic 112 in the semi-finals of the CG Insurance Super50 competition, which lifted Guyana to the final.  Hetmyer, however, clearly fell below the 40 percent stipulation.

“The policy asks for a minimum standard in certain aspects of the fitness testing.  So on the yoyo intermittent test, that minimum standard is 40 and for a couple of years we have had selection tied to the achievement of that minimum standard,” Adams told members of the media via an online press conference chat on Saturday.

“It’s pretty simple and all the players are aware of it.  Failure to get to 40 makes them unavailable for selection.  So when the panel sits, the first thing that they will consider,before looking at the teams and the squads they want to put together, is who are the players that are available through achieving that minimum standard,” he added.

The occasion was the second that Hetmyer missed out on making the minimum fitness standard, after failing a fitness ahead of a tour against Sri Lanka in February of last year.  The player last represented the team in the New Zealand series in November and was called up but opted out of the tour to Bangladesh earlier this month.  The test is conducted twice per year.

Trinidad and Tobago Red Force captain, Kieron Pollard, believes the team’s all-round balance should be enough to deliver a 13^th regional 50-over title, with a win over Guyana Jaguars, in the final of the CG Insurance Super50, on Saturday.

A dominant Red Force squad has certainly set the marker as the team to beat this season, and a seventh straight win will cap a flawless performance.  In advancing to the final, the Red Force coasted to a comfortable 6 wicket win over the Jamaica Scorpions with 47 balls remaining.

In fact, it is the Red Force who handed today’s opponents, the Guyana Jaguars, their only loss of the season so far, on that occasion also a comfortable win.  Pollard believes the team’s dominance so far has been down to getting the personnel just right.

“In terms of personnel, I think we have the right mix – in terms of experience, in terms of youth, in terms of wicket-taking ability, in terms of flexibility in the batting order and stuff like that,” Pollard said.

“We tried to cover all bases and it has shown that each and every individual that has come into the team has done well despite their varying roles. We’re very flexible in what we’re doing and we take everything on a game-by-game sort of basis.”

Guyana Jaguars captain, Leon Johnson, believes the team’s performance in the field will be critical if they are to secure an upset win over the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force in the final of CG Insurance Super50 final, on Saturday.

Although the Red Force has clearly been the team of the tournament so far, with six straight wins, The Jaguars not been too far behind with five wins.  In fact, the team’s lone loss came against the T&T Red Force in the 13^th match of the season, a six-wicket defeat at Coolidge.

On that occasion, on the back of an unbeaten 82 from Jason Mohammed and 58 from Darren Bravo, the Red Force cruised to a comfortable win.  Johnson is confident of turning the tables this time around.

“The mood is good in the camp. Obviously, Trinidad are unbeaten and have played good cricket but I think once we execute our plans well, it will be a good game of cricket,” Mohammed said.

“I don’t see why the Jaguars shouldn’t come out on top. I think fielding will be a major aspect; obviously, to win a championship against a quality Red Force we need to be exceptional in the field.”