Businessman Chris Dehring believes the lack of professionalism among West Indies cricketers is hurting the region’s chances of becoming a force in world cricket once more.
Dehring, who was CEO of the ICC World Cup held in the Caribbean in 2007, visually and performance-wise the current West Indies teams, just don’t look the part.
“There is no West Indies team that when they step out onto the field, they don’t look like the athlete of the day,” Dehring argued while speaking on the popular Mason and Guest sports talk show in Barbados on Tuesday.
“That is from a visual aesthetic perspective. We were the athletes, we were the thing people would pay to come and see. And when you look at the West Indies team now at the Test level or even at the recent T20 World Cup, it’s shocking, a jarring visual to see how athletic the Bangladeshis are, the Indians, the Australians, the Pakistanis; we are rotund, overweight, looking unfit.”
Dehring called into question the much-ballyhooed fitness tests that the West Indies selectors often use as criteria for selecting players for international duty.
“I don’t care what fitness test they tell me some of these guys pass, I don’t believe it. I’m sorry. Can you imagine a Viv Richards in his day walking out with a paunch?”
Dehring said it was very disheartening to see how low the West Indies have fallen notwithstanding the talent that some of the players possess.
“Of course, they have some talent and every once in a while they will perform but it can’t be sustained because they are not professional. They are not even professionals as individuals much less to try and have a professional cricket team.”
Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.
Barbadian sensation Chelsea Tuach cop silver at Pro World Surf League (WSL) 3000 Series
Highly decorated Barbadian surfer Chelsea Tuach added more silverware to her collection as she produced an impressive performance to secure second position at the inaugural 2024 La Marginal Surfing Pro World Surf League (WSL) 3000 Series in Puerto Rico on Sunday.
Tuach, who locked horns with Costa Rica’s Leilani McGonagle in the final round of comptition, recovered from a slow start to get the better of her opponent in the opening exchanges.
After trading the lead on a number of occasions, Tuach maintained a slight edge over McGonagle, with a score of 5.67, heading into the back half of the final.
However, another massive exchange unfolded in the closing five minutes, as McGonagle unleashed her forehand attack to overtake the lead from Tuach with a heat-best score of 7.83.
Tuach found an opportunity and tried her best to rally, but fell just shy of topping the podium with a total score of 11.04. McGonagle won with a total of 12.76.
It was Tuach’s third podium finish in the 3000 Series in the Caribbean, having won the Martinique Surf Pro in 2019 and the Barbados Surf Pro in 2022. Her second-place finish propelled her up to eighth place on the North American Qualifying Series ranking.
Tuach, who comes from a surfing family and started surfing at age 8, is one of Barbados' Sports Tourism Ambassadors.
Dottin among nominees for ICC Women’s Player of the Month for October
West Indies all-rounder Deandra Dottin has been named among the three nominees for the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award for the month of October.
Dottin made her comeback for the national side at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in the UAE, and was a driving force as the islanders reached their first semi-final at the event since 2018.
She was instrumental in victories over Scotland and Bangladesh, but saved her most valuable contributions for the latter stages, where she shone with the bat, ball and in the field in their group stage win over England, before producing a memorable individual display with 33 runs and four wickets in the thrilling semi-final defeat to eventual champions New Zealand.
Dottin will be going up against New Zealand’s Amelia Kerr and South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt for the award.
The nominees for the Men’s award are New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner, Pakistan’s Noman Ali and South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada.
Kevin Sinclair replaced by Junior Sinclair in Harpy Eagles Super50 squad after internal report to GCB
All-rounder Kevin Sinclair will take no further part in the Guyana Harpy Eagles CG United Super50 Cup campaign in Trinidad and Tobago. The decision made by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) followed the submission of an internal report by the Harpy Eagles' management team that it was necessary to replace the player.
The GCB, in making the revelation, also announced that Kevin Sinclair will be replaced by Junior Sinclair in the squad at the tournament.
Though the GCB’s statement did not clarify if sub-standard performance is the reason behind Kevin Sinclair’s ejection from the squad, it pointed out that it was a “necessary squad adjustment.”
“Following an internal report from the Guyana Harpy Eagles management, it has been decided that Kevin Sinclair will no longer be participating in this year’s competition,” the statement read.
In the three matches played in the Super50 Cup, Kevin Sinclair tallied 14 runs and snared three wickets.
He made 14 from 16 balls against Windward Volcanoes and took 2-66 from 10 overs in the same match.
However, he did not bat in the rained-out contest against Combined Campuses and Colleges Marooners and was dismissed without a score against Barbados Pride and only took 1-26 from 10 overs in that same match.
The Guyana Harpy Eagles are winless after three matches.
A similar situation arose last year during the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 tournament when organisers announced Kevin left the Guyana Amazon Warriors squad for “personal reasons.”
Kevin Sinclair’s departure opens the door for Junior Sinclair to take up a spot in the Harpy Eagles squad ahead of Tuesday’s contest against Leeward Islands Hurricanes at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.
Guyana Harpy Eagles Squad: Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Matthew Nandu, Tevin Imlach (captain), Kevlon Anderson, Kemol Savory, Junior Sinclair, Keemo Paul (vice-captain), Ronaldo Aimohamed, Veerasammy Permaul, Isai Thorne, Ashmead Nedd, Nial Smith, Sylus Tyndall, Rampertab Ramnauth.
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