West Indies Academy defeated Headley XI by seven wickets on day three of the opening match of the Headley Weekes Tri-Series at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua on Friday.

Trailing by 64 on first innings, Headley XI’s second innings lasted only 49 overs in which they were bundled out for 122 for a lead of just 58. West Indies Academy then reached 59-3 to seal the victory.

It was the Headley XI bowlers who saved their team from complete embarrassment as Justin Greaves top-scored with 30 and Akeem Jordan, 28, that helped their past the 100-run mark after West Indies Academy bowlers had scythed through the top order to have them tottering at 61-6.

The pair put on 50 for the seventh wicket that helped extend the match after Nyeem Young 3-17 and Kelvin Pittman 3-27 did the early damage. Joshua Bishop (2-18) and Ashmead Nedd 1-20 combined to clean up the tail leaving their batters to chase 59 for victory.

They duly obliged but not without a few stumbles as Chaim Holder dismissed Kirk McKenzie and Teddy Bishop for ducks and first innings century maker for 16 to finish with 3-22. However, Keagan Simmonds kept his cool to score an unbeaten 31 while sharing in a match-winning stand of 20 with Tevin Imlach who was unbeaten on eight at the end.

Scores in the match: Headley XI 259 (Joshua da Silva 136) and 122; West Indies Academy 323 (Kevlon Anderson 153) and 59-3.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has withdrawn from the Botswana Golden Grand Prix in Gaborone on April 29. Thursday. According to a statement released by the organizers on Thursday, the five-time world 100m champion has been forced to withdraw from the meet because of a family emergency.

The two-time Olympic 100m gold medalist was expected to open her campaign on the African continent as she prepares to attempt to win a sixth 100m title at the World Championships in Budapest in August.

 “I was very excited to kick off my season on Botswana, and while it comes as a disappointment, I will unfortunately no longer be able to compete in the Golden Grand Prix due to a family emergency,” the superstar athlete was quoted as saying.

The organizers wished the global track star the best.

“(We) wish Mrs Fraser-Pryce and her family well, Whilst we were looking forward to having Mrs Fraser-Pryce kick off her season in Botswana, we are working on getting another athlete to fill the gap in the Women’s 100m race,” they said.

Fraser-Pryce kicked off her campaign in Nairobi, Kenya in 2022, running a world-leading 10.67. It was the first of seven times that she would run under 10.70s in the 100m for the season including at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon where she became the first running athlete to win five titles in the same event since the championships began in 1983.

Kevlon Anderson's superb hundred provided the foundation for West Indies Academy to take a 64-run lead on first innings over Headley XI's 259 on the second day of their Headley Weekes Tri-Series match at Coolidge on Thursday.

Anderson scored 153 and Kirk McKenzie, 50, as West Indies Academy made 323 all out. At stumps, Headley XI, batting a second time, reached 27-1, trailing by 37 runs. 

The 22-year-old Guyanese right-hand batsman who was on 12 overnight and with Kirk McKenzie (31 overnight) had steered West Indies Academy away from potential disaster of 0-2 to 49-2 at stumps. On Thursday, they had extended that third-wicket partnership to 84 when Justin Greaves dismissed McKenzie for 50.

Greaves then dismissed Tevin Imlach for four and Kevin Wickham for five as West Indies Academy slipped from 84-2 to 102-5. Anderson and Nyeem Young then set about repairing the damage a sixth-wicket stand of 80, which ended when Anderson Phillip dismissed Young for 27.

Joshua Bishop came and went for 12, bowled by Marquino Mindley, who then dismissed Ashmead Nedd for a duck as West Indies Academy slipped once again to 202-8 and seemingly about to fall short of Headley XI’s first innings score.

However, Anderson found a useful partner in Johan Layne. Together they posted a ninth-wicket partnership of 120 that took West Indies Academy past Headley XI’s first innings score and gave them a 64-run lead by the time Anderson was dismissed by Darren Bravo. He hit 22 fours in the innings in which he faced 281 balls.

Kelvin Pitman was trapped lbw for a duck as the innings closed on 323 from 94 overs with Layne unbeaten on 38.

Greaves took 3-46 while Mindley had figures of 2-47. Jordan, who took the first two wickets to fall on Wednesday, failed to add to his tally Thursday and ended with figures of 2-77

A century from Captain Joshua da Silva spared Headley XI blushes against West Indies Academy on Wednesday’s opening day of the Headley Weekes Tri-Series at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua. Having been restricted to 257-9, Headley XI have struck back to have West Indies Academy at 49-2 at stumps.

Da Silva’s unbeaten 136, rescued the team he leads from a precarious 59-5 after Johan Layne had ripped through the top order on his way to a five-wicket haul, dismissing Kieran Powell for a duck, Darren Bravo for five, Kavem Hodge for 10 and Tevyn Walcott for 15.

Headley XI’s problems were compounded when Sheyne Moseley retired hurt for nine.

The captain and Akeem Jordan managed to stem the slide with a sixth-wicket partnership of 105. Jordan’s contribution was 54 that included eight fours before he became Layne’s fifth victim as Headley XI recovered to 164-6.

Da Silva and Anderson Phillip added 38 for the seventh wicket before the latter lost his wicket to Kirk McKenzie for 16 and 22 with Chaim Holder, who had made 10 when he lost his wicket to Joshua Bishop.

Da Silva then scored all 35 runs in a ninth-wicket partnership with Marquino Mindley, who was eventually dismissed by Ashmead Nedd for 0 as the innings closed at 257-9.

Layne took his first first-class five-fer, finishing with figures of 5-43. Bishop took 2-98.

When play resumes on Thursday, Kirk McKenzie will continue from his overnight score of 31 while Kevlon Anderson is not out on 12. The pair are staging a recovery after Jordan had dismissed Keegan Simmonds and Teddy Bishop for ducks in his opening over.

Jordan’s two wickets have come at a cost of 15 runs from the five overs he bowled before close of play.

After five rounds of matches in the 2023 Suncorp Super Netball League, Jamaican players are dominating the elite netball league on both sides of the ball.

Many-time West Coast Fever MVP and 2022 champion Jhaniele Fowler leads all scorers with the most goals scored (280) and the most attempts (284). The towering Jamaican shooter has missed only four times since the start of the season for the unbeaten West Coast Fever.

Shimona Nelson who plays for the Collingwood Magpies is third in the standings with 217 goals and is also third in the number of attempts at 226.

Shamera Sterling of the Adelaide Thunderbirds has been just as impressive on the other side of the ball. The defender leads in the number of defensive rebounds (16) and deflections (40). She also leads in the number of Nissan Net Points (539).

Fowler lies fourth with 491.

Nissan Net Points are Suncorp Super Netball's first overarching player metric. They are a stats-based scoring system, run by Champion Data, that measures every player action on the court. Every time someone scores a goal, blocks a pass, gets a defensive rebound (and so on), they get points.

The bigger the impact, the bigger the points. If players make mistakes or cause turnovers, they lose points. At the end of the game, each player receives an individual Nissan Net Points score, which represents their contribution to the match.

Also on the defensive side, Jodi-Ann Ward of the Collingwood Magpies leads the league with 19 intercepts followed by Kadie-Ann Dehaney of Sunshine Coast Lightning with 15. Sterling is fourth with 12.

Romelda Aiken-George of New South Wales Swifts leads the league with 22 offensive rebounds while Nelson has 17 for third in the standings.

Jhanielle Fowler had another near perfect night but her West Coast Fever had to hold off a spirited comeback from the Queensland Firebirds to snatch their fifth-straight victory 73-71 in the Suncorp Super Netball League at the Nissan Arena on Saturday night.

The towering Jamaican goal shooter scored 60 of 61 shots as the defending champions outscored their opponents 25-15 and 18-15 over the first two quarters to take a 13-goal lead into the half-time break. Sasha Glasgow who was a perfect five for five and scored three of six super shots was also key to the victory as the Firebirds provided the champions with a genuine scare.

Whereas the Fever were dominant in the first half, the Firebirds showed that they too could play that game in the second.

Donnell Wallan, who scored 48 goals from 53 attempts and sunk seven of 10 super shots in the game, helped the Firebirds storm back to outscore the Fever 21-15 in the third and 25-20 in the final stanza. She got support from Emily Moore who was perfect inside the circle and who hit one of two super shots and Mia Mayer (2/2) and scored one of two super shots to come within two goals of the champions.

However, that was as close as they would get as the Fever desperately held on for the win.

Fowler has missed only four attempts on goal in five matches this season, scoring 280 goals from 284 attempts.

Meanwhile, Romelda Aiken-George scored 43 goals from 49 attempts to lead the New South Wales Swifts to a close 64-63 win over Sunshine Coast Lightning at the UniSC Arena.

Over at the Ken Rosewall Arena, Shimona Nelson scored 36 goals from 38 attempts but her Collingwood Magies lost 59-55 to GIANTS for whom Jo Harten scored 33 from 35 and Sophie Dwyer 20 from 22.

Hayley Matthews scored an magnificent hundred in an all-round performance to lead Warriors Women to victory and the title over Falcons Women in the Fairbreak Invitational Tournament in Kowloon on Sunday.

The West Indies Women’s captain was adjudged Player of the Match for her 123 and 2-14 that spurred her team to a 94-run win. Batting first, Warriors Women scored 230-4 from their 20 overs. In reply, Falcons Women could only muster 137-8.

Matthews, who was last out, smashed 11 fours and nine sixes during her knock that lasted 52 balls.

After Matthews’ dismissal in the 15^th over, Kathryn Bryce then lashed an unbeaten 52 and Captain Sindhu Sriharsha 25 in an unbroken stand of 75 that took Warriors Women to their imposing total. Price’s runs came from just 20 balls and included eight fours and two sixes.

Anju Gurung was the best of the Falcons Women bowlers taking 2-43 from her four overs.

Faced with a daunting task of scoring more than 11 runs an over, Falcons Women were steady in the chase but were always behind the required rate.

Chamari Athapaththu (29), Danni Hyatt (20), Captain Suzie Bates (25) and Theertha Satish (29), all got starts but were unable to carry on. No other batter got into double figures as Matthews and Bryce (3-16) did the damage to keep their side ahead of the game and eventually to a comprehensive victory.

Warriors Women lost only once during the tournament.

Julien Alfred took her incredible indoor form outdoors on Friday, running a world-leading 21.91 to win the College Women 200m at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational in Gainesville, Florida.

Alfred, the Texas Longhorn senior who ran a NCAA record 22.01, the second fastest time ever indoors to win the NCAA Indoor Nationals last month, also established a new national record in the event that was contested over two heats.

Lenae Thomas also of Texas was second overall in a wind-aided 22.30 (+3.1m/s) that won the second heat.

MacKenzie Long of Ole Miss, second in Alfred’s heat, was third overall in 22.31. Kevona Davis, who was third in Alfred’s heat ran 22.47 for fifth overall.

In the Women Olympic Development 200m, World Championship 100m bronze medallist Elaine Thompson-Herah, running her first 200m of the season, finished in second place in her heat in 23.23, a time good enough for second overall.

Melissa Jefferson of the USA, who won Thompson-Herah’s heat, was the fastest with a time of 23.02.

With some at least two of his star athletes matriculating to college this fall, Hydel High School Head Coach Corey Bennett will be hard-pressed to fill those massive shoes when the new high school track season rolls around.

 However, he is optimistic he can find his next set of starlets from within remaining members of team that won their first girls title at the ISSA GraceKennedy Boys and Girls Championships in Jamaica earlier this month.

Over the past few seasons, Hydel High School has seen a number of their top athletes matriculate to colleges in the United States or have gone pro. Athletes like Oneka Wilson, Shardia and Shadae Lawrence, Charokee Young and others have gone on to further their studies, testament to the school’s emphasis on finding balance between academics and athletics.

Meanwhile, others like Commonwealth Games silver medallist and NACAC Champion Shiann Salmon and Ashanti Moore have gone pro. Young subsequently chose to forego her college eligibility to sign a professional contract last summer.

In 2022, Hydel lost 2022 World U20 200m champion Brianna Lyston to Louisiana State University (LSU) on a scholarship and World U20 sprint hurdles champion and world record holder Kerrica Hill chose to go the professional route.

This coming fall, Alana Reid and Onieka McAnnuff will be the next to leave. Reid, who set a new championship and national junior record of 10.92 at Champs, will begin classes at the University of Oregon while McAnnuff, the talented 400m hurdler and team captain, will take up a scholarship to the University of Kentucky.

Losing them will undoubtedly have significant impact on Hydel’s ability to defend their historic Champs title but Bennett remains optimistic.

“When you have a world-record holder last year leaving prematurely and a record holder at Champs – Brianna and Kerrica leaving – it does set you back and that’s why we take the pressure of winning off the team,” he said.

“It’s just a matter of who else can we put out there that can excel. I thought we had some good performances (at Champs). I want to highlight Jody-Ann Daley, who won the 400m and the hurdles even when at one point she didn’t want to do the hurdles and I said ‘no, come on, you can do it’,” Bennett said.

“And Shemonique Hazle in the 200 when nobody gave her a chance, we believed. We are a small team about 34-members strong and we believe that no matter what, each one can go out there and give of their best and we delivered.

“Let’s hope that next year the girls will come inspired to give of themselves, train hard to be the best versions of themselves and with trust in God with the process.”

Bennett’s comments are in line with his over-arching philosophy of how to build strong teams with limited resources and personnel at Hydel. He revealed that with a four-member team in 2010, Hydel’s first year at Champs, they finished 11^th.

 For him, the focus has always been on quality than quantity.

“I am still going to build individuals. If I can make the individuals better, then ultimately the team will be better. I am not going to just go and throw persons into events just to win a championship. It is about being very individualistic and getting the best out of persons,” he said.

“Alliah Baker is our top high jumper. She high-jumped in Class IV and got a medal but she is a runner. We want to focus on where we think she will be better so we are not going to seek points, points will seek us. We want to maintain excellence in our girls.”

In front of a vociferous home crowd, Jamiah Nabbie completed the U17 sprint double on Monday’s final day of the 2023 Carifta Games in The Bahamas on Sunday.

Nabbie, who emerged victorious in a keen 100m battle with St Lucia’s Naomi London on Saturday, found herself in another stern test against London in the 200m. The two were even going into the final 50m of the race before Nabbie dug deep to find that little bit more to win in 23.67, while holding off London (23.72) who won her second silver medal of the games.

Jamaica’s Natrece East ran a brave race to claim the bronze in 23.85.

Nabbie’s compatriot Cayden Smith ran 21.70 to win the U17 Boys 200m ahead of Grenada, who clocked 21.96 for the silver medal. Andrew Brown won Bahamas’ second medal in the race, taking bronze in 22.02.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Sanaa Frederick stormed to victory in the U20 Girls 200m clocking 23.60. Kenyatta Grate of the British Virgin Islands won the silver in 24.11 while finishing just ahead of Amari Pratt of the Bahamas (24.17).

The U20 Boys 200m saw a Jamaican 1-2 as Malique Smith-Band benefitted from his 400m strength to surge past the field and win in 20.67. Javourne Dunkley took the silver in 20.88 with Adam Musgrove of the Bahamas taking bronze in 20.96.

The impressive Michelle Smith of the Virgin Islands and Nathan Cumberbatch of Trinidad and Tobago pulled off impressive victories in the U20 800m races on Monday’s final session of the 2023 Carifta Games in Nassau, Bahamas.

Jamaica picked up another gold medal in the U17 Girls event while Guyana secured their gold medal in the U17 Boys race.

Smith, who won the U17 800m in Jamaica in 2022, took the lead after 400m and never looked back. She widened her lead over the last 100m to win her second gold medal of the Games in 2:09.71. The battle for the other two medals was intense as Jamaica’s Kishay Rowe, Haiti’s Victoria Guerrier and Barbados’ Layla Haynes fought tooth and nail for a spot on the podium.

In the end, Haynes managed to grab silver in 2:11.91, just ahead of Guerrier who clocked 2:11.99 for take the bronze. Rowe was credited with the same time but was awarded fourth place.

Cumberbatch led from the front from start to finish and never looked threatened winning in 1:51.34. Favian Gollop of Barbados stormed home from fourth place with just over 100m to go to win the silver medal in 1:52.33. Stefan Camejo won Trinidad and Tobago’s second medal in the race, taking bronze in 1:52.92.

Alikay Reynolds of Jamaica timed her run perfectly in the final 80 metres to take gold in 2:14.67. Ashlyn Simmons of Barbados relinquished her lead late and was forced to settle for the silver medal with a time of 2:16.28 while her teammate Chamecia Bryan took the bronze in 2:16.81.

Guyana’s Javon Roberts won the U17 Boys two-lap race in 1:56.64 with a late surge to get by Delano Todd of Jamaica (1:57.44) and Trinidad and Tobago’s Brandon Leacock, who stopped the clock at 1:58.17.

Jamaica added four more gold, three silver and a bronze medal after the sprint hurdles finals at the 2023 Carifta Games at the Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas on Easter Monday. The Jamaicans had 1-2 finishes in three of the four finals.

Bryanna Davidson easily won the U17 Girls 100m finals in 13.31 over teammate Camoy Binger, who ran 13.51 for the silver medal. Curacao’s Zsa Zsa Franz ran 14.26 for the bronze medal. It was more of the same in the U20 Girls 100m hurdles where Alexis James, the World U20 silver medallist, showed her class winning in a new championship record of 13.06.

Her teammate Asharria Ultette claimed the silver with a strong run of 13.24 with Nya Browne of the Bahamas finishing third in 13.80.

Kahiem Carby raced away with the gold medal in the U17 Boys title winning in a fast 13.49s, well clear of his compatriot Shakir Lewis, who ran a time of 14.20m. Quinton Rolle of the Bahamas took the bronze medal after finishing third in 14.49.

The U20 boys from Jamaica would have been hoping to replicate the 1-2 performances of their teammates but Otto Laing of the Bahamas had other ideas. In a closely contested race, Demario Prince won the gold medal in a personal best 13.37s with Laing taking silver in 13.49 just ahead of Jamaica’s Shaquane Gordon, the 2022 U17 champion, who took the bronze medal having run 13.54.

Jamaica continued their march towards another Carifta title winning two of three finals contested on Monday’s final day of competition.

Also, new has emerged that Jamaica will not contest the re-run of the Boys U20 4x100m final that they won on Saturday night at the Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas. Jamaica won the relay in 39.68 with the Bahamas finishing second in 39.78.

Trinidad and Tobago finished third in 40.82.

On Monday, The Bahamas took gold and silver in the Girls U17 javelin as Kamera Strachan set a new championship record of 46.07m to win gold. Last year’s winner Dior-Rae Scott, who was the previous record holder, struggled to throw beyond 40m in her first two attempts, but was finally able to establish a mark of 45.13m to secure the silver medal.

It was her only throw beyond 40m.

St Lucia’s Naya Jules threw 42.92m to win the bronze medal in what was her only effort beyond the 40-metre mark.

Meanwhile, Jamaica’s Torian Cavien cleared 1.81m to win the U20 Girls high jump over teammate Deijanae Bruce, who cleared 1.78m. Keneisha Melbourne of Trinidad and Tobago won the bronze having sailed over the bar at 1.75m.

It was 1-3 for Jamaica in the U20 Girls Jade-Ann Dawkins who produced a season-best 6.14m on her fourth jump to take the crown.

Gannes Janae De of Trinidad and Tobago took the silver medal with her leap of 5.93m while Bruce followed up her silver in the high jump with bronze in the horizontal jump where she produced a leap of 5.78m.

Regarding to the relays, the judges in The Bahamas decided on a re-run of the relay after Barbados filed a protest claiming their lead-off runner was left at a disadvantage after the race was recalled when the Bahamian athlete claimed he did not hear the gun.

By then the lead off runners had sprinted about 50 metres.

However, reports said Jamaica’s head coach David Riley said Jamaica would not participate in the re-run because the officials had not declared the race null and void. Unconfirmed reports claimed that other countries who had teams in the final were planning to follow suit.

Two of Jamaica’s relay teams were disqualified last night at the 50^th Carifta Games in Nassau, Bahamas.

The U17 Boys 4x100m team that initially won the silver medal was deemed to have passed outside the change-over zone on the second handover. The silver medal was subsequently awarded to Grenada.

Meanwhile, Jamaica's gold-medal winning U17 Girls' team was also disqualified after Natrece East, while running the third leg, was deemed to have stepped on the inside line of her lane thus prompting the disqualification.

The Boys U20 4x100m that was won by Jamaica has also been called into question after teams protested that they did not have enough time to recover from a faulty start during which the home team Bahamas was left in the blocks.

The race was called back after the lead-off runners were half-way through the opening leg.

That race is now rescheduled to be re-run Monday afternoon.