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 13th 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.”
Devon Thomas made a career-best 117 to guide Leeward Islands Hurricanes to a seven-wicket win over Barbados Pride in the CG Insurance Super50 Cup fifth-place playoff.
Top class West Indies talent, Shimron Hetmyer, has been left out of the squad for the upcoming Sri Lanka tour after failing to meet the required fitness standard for the second time in just around one year.
The exclusion due to falling short of the fitness requirement is a repeat such issue for Hetmyer, who also missed out on selection in February of last year for a tour match against the same opponents. The 24-year-old Guyanese batsman has been in splendid form of late, only yesterday, crafting a masterful century to push Guyana Jaguars to the semi-final of the Regional Super50 competition.
According to Cricket West Indies (CWI) stipulations, players must pass a battery of tests that measure stamina and endurance, called the Yoyo test, before being eligible for selection.
The test is, however, not without controversy as some players who do not make the 40 grade in the yoyo test are given exemptions, at times much to the annoyance of those players who fail to meet the grade.
Hetmyer will be joined on the sidelines by fast bowlers Sheldon Cottrell and Oshane Thomas, along with West Indies vice-captain and all-rounder Roston Chase. Cottrell and Hetmyer were among 12 players who declined to take part in the team’s tour of Bangladesh earlier this month, after citing health and safety concerns.
Chris Gayle and Fidel Edwards have been recalled to the West Indies squad for next month’s T20 Internationals against Sri Lanka.
Experienced fast bowler Fidel Edwards has been tipped to make a return to the West Indies squad, ahead of the Sri Lanka T20 series, which could mark his first appearance for the team in over eight years.
The 39-year-old pace bowler last suited up for the regional team against Sri Lanka, at Pallekele, in 2012. Edwards has been unavailable for selection after signing a Kolpak deal in 2015. However, the player became available again with the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union and the termination of such contracts.
Earlier this year, the player announced his availability for the West Indies and also took part in the IPL and Abu Dhabi T10 League. Despite being one of the oldest active players, in the sport, Edwards has lost none of the pace he has always been noted for and is cable of exceeding 90mph deliveries. His pace and guile were very much on display in a fiery over against in-form young compatriot Nicholas Pooran during the T10 league.
The Barbadian-born right-arm pacer has played 20 T20 internationals for the West Indies and claimed 16 wickets. He has also taken part in 55 Tests and 50 One-day Internationals. Edwards hopes to be part of the T20 World Cup squad, which will attempt to defend its title in October.
The Guyana Cricket Board elections scheduled for today have been postponed keeping the hopes of Guyana Cricket Board Secretary Anand Sanasie's hopes alive of challenging incumbent Ricky Skerritt for the presidency of Cricket West Indies.
Should the current board be swept from power, it would delegitimize Sanasie's run for the presidency.
According to reports emerging from Guyana, the elections, the first in more than a decade, was put off after reported mounting pressure to have it delayed, according to cricket commentator and talk show host Andrew Mason, who reported early this morning that there was an attempt at the highest level to stop the elections.
He reported that a lot of pressure was being put on the counties that would have been voting and that the Minister of Sport in Guyana Charles Ramson Jr was to meet with the president of Guyana on the matter.
A later report just after midday Jamaica time, said that the elections would not be held.
“The Ombudsman turned up just before 1 ‘0’ clock and said as the result of an email he received last night (Thursday) the elections could not be held today."
This was due mainly to the no show of the Essequibo Cricket Board, one of three counties that would have been voting in the elections.
“The Essequibo board said it was simply not ready,” according to Mason, who added that the boards of Berbice and Demerara are upset about the development.
Earlier this week, lawyers for Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Secretary Anand Sanasie wrote to Guyana’s Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Charles Ramson Jr and Attorney Kamal Ramkarran, objecting to the appointment of both a cricket Ombudsman as well as the seven-day time period given for the staging of elections, claiming they were illegal under the Guyana Cricket Administration Act.
In response, Ramson Jr said he was on firm legal ground and well within the powers of the Guyana Cricket Administration Act.
Texas A&M’s Charokee Young will miss out on the SEC Championships that began on Thursday because she has been exposed to someone infected by Covid-19.
It will be a battle of the Southern Caribbean for the Sir Clive Lloyd trophy, when Guyana Jaguars face-off with the unbeaten Trinidad & Tobago Red Force in the CG Insurance Super50 Final on Saturday, after the Guyanese comfortably defeated the Windward Islands Volcanoes in the second semi-final.
Playing on Thursday at the Coolidge Cricket Ground, Guyana’s victory was first set up by a magnificent century from Shimron Hetmyer, who was deservedly named the CG Insurance Man-of-the-Match. He scored his seventh List A century of 112 and it came off 80 balls with 11 fours and five sixes. He was well supported by Raymon Reifer who made a career-best 90 off 104 balls with eight fours and three sixes.
The left-handed pair boosted the Jaguars to 305 for 7 – the third 300-plus total in the tournament. Then, under the floodlights, leading wicket-taker Gudakesh Motie (53 for 4) led the charge with the ball as the Windwards were routed for 210 all out in 46.4 overs.
The Jaguars started poorly with the bat and were forced into errors courtesy of some outstanding bowling by the Volcanoes. They initially slumped to 63 for 4 in the 12th over as skipper Leon Johnson was out first ball after he top-edged an attempted hook off pacer Ray Jordan – who had an inspired first spell of 12 for 3. It was Kevin Stoute who took a stupendous catch. to dismiss Johnson, as he ran in from the fence at long-leg and dived full stretch.
One run later, Hetmyer (12) was dropped by wicket-keeper Emmanuel Stewart. This proved to be the game-changing moment as in partnership with Reifer, who was playing his first game of competition, Hetmyer procured a regional List A record fifth-wicket partnership of 194. The total eclipsed the previous mark of 159 unbroken between Devon Thomas and Jahmar Hamilton for the Leeward Islands against Combined Campuses & Colleges at Conaree, St Kitts in Super50 2019.
Although the Windwards kept the Jaguars from scoring an even bigger score by conceding only 49 scored in the final 10 overs, they never looked capable of chasing the target. No one supported top-scoring opener Alick Athanaze, who made a patient 58.
Former Cricket West Indies (CWI) president, Dave Cameron, insists the controversial eligibility rules put in place during his tenure were never meant to disenfranchise players.
The legislation, which was implemented as the region jostled with the cash-rich T20 leagues for the commitment of its top players, stated that players who did make themselves available for domestic competitions would be ineligible for international selection.
As a result, many of the region’s top players were often left out of the line-up, which left the Windies' Test and ODI sides shorn of some of their best talents. Cameron insists that the hope at the time was to encourage more balance between the West Indians taking part in cash-rich T20 leagues and representing the regional team.
“It was never about not wanting players to play around the world. We respected that, we accepted that, but, West Indies cricket doesn’t have a product if we don’t have our best players playing. So we needed to find a way to get our players to have the understanding that you can’t play everything,” Cameron told the Mason and Guest radio program.
“In the early days, I had a conversation with the players about telling us what they were going to play and when they would be available. So the selectors could understand where they want to go. After the strike occurred in India players decided that they weren’t going to play, and for the reduced salaries, so the West Indies first policy never actually got a chance,” he added.
“It was never intended to disenfranchise anybody, but look at what is happening in New Zealand, they still play in the leagues but they give their all to New Zealand when New Zealand is on the stage. That’s all we were saying, as our senior players, you can’t play everything.”
Cricket West Indies (CWI) today confirmed its third new multi-year broadcast rights agreement with SuperSport securing the rights to West Indies cricket until the end of 2024 in sub-Saharan Africa.
The four-year agreement will see SuperSport feature exclusive live coverage of all West Indies international home matches and regional tournaments played in the Caribbean on its television and digital platforms.
As part of the agreement, West Indies cricket will now be seen in over 54 African countries and islands, including South Africa, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Kenya. SuperSport’s coverage starts with the recently confirmed West Indies versus Sri Lanka series which commences on Wednesday, March 3 with three CG Insurance T20 International matches.
The agreement also includes the rescheduled visit by South Africa to the Caribbean in June 2021, a tour that had to be rescheduled from July 2020 due to COVID-19.
“This new long-term SuperSport agreement ensures that the much-loved West Indies teams will be accessible to an expanded number of African consumer markets with sub-Saharan Africa’s premier broadcaster,” said CWI President Ricky Skerritt.
“As CWI’s third major media rights agreement finalized in the past few weeks, we are excited that SuperSport will be featuring every international series and regional tournament from the Caribbean, including the upcoming Sri Lanka Series and the rescheduled tour of the West Indies by South Africa in June.”
Johnny Grave, CWI CEO said the agreement is another step of taking West Indies crickets into new markets.
“We are absolutely delighted to confirm this significant four-year agreement with SuperSport to ensure that millions of cricket fans in Sub-Saharan Africa can follow West Indies Cricket in the Caribbean,” Grave said.
“By partnering with Africa’s leading sports broadcaster, CWI continues to deliver against our strategic objective of increasing the worldwide audience for and access to one of the world’s most loved cricket teams and regions.”
This is the third major broadcast agreement announced by CWI following the recent ground-breaking agreements with ESPN+ for the United States market and with BT Sport for the United Kingdom and Ireland markets.
Of all the important partnerships that Joshua Da Silva featured in during the West Indies successful Test series against Bangladesh, there was one that the Trinidadian wicketkeeper-batsman said he enjoyed the most.
Thierry Henry has stepped down as Montreal head coach after one season in charge.
Former Arsenal and Barcelona forward Henry was appointed by the MLS side in November 2019 following his sacking by Ligue 1 outfit Monaco earlier in the year after just 20 games in charge.
He guided the club to the 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs in his solitary campaign, where they were eliminated in the first round by the New England Revolution.
Montreal had to relocate to the United States last year amid the coronavirus pandemic and would have to do so again when the new season starts in April.
Henry, who had been linked with the managerial position at Championship club Bournemouth before Jonathan Woodgate was appointed, cited the continued separation from his family as the motivating factor behind his decision.
"It is with a heavy heart that I've decided to take this decision," Henry said in a club statement. "The last year has been an extremely difficult one for me personally. Due to the worldwide pandemic, I was unable to see my children.
"Unfortunately, due to the ongoing restrictions and the fact that we will have to relocate to the US again for several months will be no different.
"The separation is too much of a strain for me and my kids. Therefore, it is with much sadness that I must take the decision to return to London and leave Montreal."
Sporting director Olivier Renard added: "Thierry's departure is unfortunate and premature because this was very promising, but he informed me of his desire to be back with his family because the situation was and remains very difficult for both him and his family.
"I want to thank him, first on a human level because he led the players by example last year by being away from his family, but also from a sporting level and for what we have built together since his arrival.
"We wanted to elevate this club and we are on the right track. The process of finding a new head coach is already underway and I will be looking for someone who is aligned with the philosophy we have implemented."
Top fashion designer Louis Vuitton has come under fire for a recently released 'Jamaica-inspired' line of clothing, which seems to have mixed up the colours of the country’s national flag.
The description for the pricey high-end fashion products, which include a $US1,366 sweater and jumper, initially described one item as a ‘Jamaican striped sweatshirt.’ Additionally, the other description read 'Jumper with a striped design inspired by the national flag of the Caribbean island.’
The only was problem was that instead of the island’s flag colours of black, green and gold, the design featured green, yellow, and red which are typically associated with the African country Ethiopia. The aforementioned colours do, however, feature prominently in an aspect of the country’s culture as those are the colours of the flag of the Rastafari movement. The religious movement, founded in Jamaica in the 1930s, adopted a version of the Ethiopian flag used by Emperor Haile Selassie during his reign.
The mistake was quickly seized upon and ridiculed by some with Cedella Marley, herself a fashion designer and daughter of late great Reggae king Bob Marley, pointing out the fashion designer’s mistake via an Instagram post.
"Bob says that's the Ethiopian flag @LouisVuitton,” she posted, along with a photograph of the late singer.
Some also criticised the company for cultural appropriation and exploiting the island's brand. Following the wave of criticism, the item was removed from the company’s website, with an apology and explanation later appearing in the UK Guardian newspaper.
“We are deeply sorry for the error made in the description of our website and we have corrected it. The sweater belongs to the spring-summer 2021 season of the men's collection, which is armed with the colors green, yellow and red, the colors of the Ethiopian flag, in honor of African independence, including the tribute to the culture of Ghana, where our designer Virgil Abloh comes from.”
Jamaica’s World Cup campaign is set to be bolstered by the addition of West Ham striker Michail Antonio, who reports say, is to accept an invitation from the Jamaica Football Federation to represent the Reggae Boyz.
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