West Indies Test captain Kraigg Brathwaite admits he is looking forward to a potential partnership with new comer Tagenarine Chanderpaul, who could make his debut in the upcoming series against Australia.

Chanderpaul, the 26-year-old son of legendary Windies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul, was called into the team earlier this month and widely expected to get his first cap when the series gets under way in one week’s time.

The younger Chanderpaul is expected to become the 7^th batsman to join Brathwaite in an opening partnership for the West Indies in the last five years, joining the likes of Kieran Powell, Shai Hope, Devon Smith, Jermaine Blackwood and John Campbell.

Campbell, Brathwaite’s most recent partner at the crease received a four-year ban for a whereabouts doping violation earlier this year.  Despite the fact that the duo are yet to face a ball, Brathwaite believes there is potential for the partnership to do well.

"I think the partnership will work extremely well, to be honest," Brathwaite told members of the media on Monday.

"Tage is obviously a guy that could spend a lot of time. For me, my game, there's nothing that's going to change, just focusing on being in the right positions for each ball and… I look forward to the partnership. I've seen him play first-class for a little while, and he's always impressed with the time he has spent (batting). And I really look forward to seeing us do good things together."

Chanderpaul has scored 2669 runs in first class cricket so far and has 5 100s and 10 50s.

West Indies legend Sir Vivian Richards has insisted the cricket-loving fans of the region deserved more from the team in light of a disappointing World Cup campaign.

On Sunday, at the end of the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup final, either Pakistan or England will join the West Indies as two-time winners of the tournament.

The Caribbean team, however, once the standard bearers in the world’s shortest format, were nowhere close to hitting those heights in this edition as they crashed out of the tournament in the first round following losses to Scotland and Ireland.

Richards, who once thrilled as part of an all-conquering squad, insists such results are difficult for fans in the region to take, particularly given the team’s once proud legacy.

“There is a legacy where this whole thing is concerned and maybe that’s why some of these players are currently on show,” Richards told the Good Morning Jojo Radio program.

“So, there are a lot of things to represent and I just think that’s lacking. The West Indian fans deserve much more because we have had so many issues like the pandemic and we needed something to uplift us and there are times when we look to our sportsmen and women to do that and presently, the West Indies team is basically lacking where that is concerned.”

The former captain, however, also believes the issue of player availability must be addressed.

 Jamaica and Bournemouth forward Jamal Lowe believes a convincing defeat over Everton, in the third round of the EFL Cup earlier this week, should give the team a psychological advantage heading into Saturday’s Premier League rematch.

On Tuesday, Lowe scored the first of 4 goals in a 4-1 demolition of the Toffees at Vitality Stadium and is feeling confident with the teams set up for a quick repeat of the fixture in league competition.  With both teams struggling just above the relegation zone and Bournemouth winless in their last 5 games Lowe is eager to drive home any possible advantage.

"I think it will give us a slight physiological edge on Everton, I feel like they'll have a little bit of doubt in their mind, and we'll go into the game confidently,” Lowe said of the upcoming fixture.

The 26-year-old has made just one appearance, from the bench, so far this Premier League season but could be in contention for Saturday’s matchday squad after a creditable performance on Tuesday.

“I think it shows how hard we work during the week that players who haven't played that much were able to put out a performance like that today (Tuesday)."

A Leeds fan who was accused of racially abusing Jamaica and West Ham forward Michail Antonio has been banned from football events for 4 years.

The incident occurred during the teams defeat to West Ham at Elland Road in 2021.  On that occasion Antonio scored a 90^th minute winner to give the Hammers a 2-1 win.

Following the goal, Gary Hawkins, a 52-year-old male, was found to not have only abused Antonio from his seat but also threatened another fan who challenged him regarding the language. 

Hawkins was found guilty of two offences after a trial at Leeds Magistrates' Court and given an eight-week sentence, suspended for 12 months.

The West Yorkshire Police were quick to condemn the action.

"Race hate crime such as this is truly abhorrent and can never be tolerated,” said Supt Russ Hughes.

"As we have seen with this incident, other fans will rightly take exception to this type of behaviour.”

 India head coach Rahul Dravid has insisted the country does not want to end up in the same position as West Indies cricket following an unceremonious exit from the T20 World Cup, at the hands of England, on Wednesday.

The 2019 champions managed to muster very little resistance in the semi-final, where England cruised to a 10-wicket win after the East Asian team made 168 for 6.  The West Indies were themselves meekly dumped out of the tournament but after losing to two associate teams sotland and Ireland in the first round.

Performances at the tournament were not, however, what the former batting star was referring to, but instead the issue of India players potentially facing a disadvantage from not being allowed to play in other T20 league’s around the world.

For his part, the coach conceded that it might be a disadvantageous but believes it is a necessity to protect the quality of India’s cricket.

“There is no doubt that England players have come and played in this tournament(Big Bash T20).  It’s tough, it’s very difficult vor Indian cricket because a lot of these tournaments happen right at the peak of our season.  I think it’s a huge challenge for us.  A lot of our boys do miss out on the opportunity of playing in these leagues, but its up to the BCCI to make that decision,” Dravid said.

“And with the kind of demand there would be for Indian players… if you allowed them to play in these leagues, we won't have domestic cricket. Our domestic cricket, our Ranji Trophy would be finished, and that would mean Test cricket would be finished. We have to be very careful; we have to understand that Indian cricket faces or BCCI faces in a situation like this," he added.

“A lot of boys are asked to play leagues in the middle of our season, we have seen what it has done to West Indian cricket, and I definitely don't want Indian cricket to go that way. It would affect Ranji Trophy and Test cricket and Indian boys playing Test cricket is pretty important for the Test game as well, I would think,” Dravid said.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Jahmar Hamilton's run-a-ball half century lifted the Leewards Islands to a 4-wicket win over the West Indies Academy in the CG INSURANCE SUPER50 CUP at North Sound on Wednesday.

Batting first, resilient lower order batting from Joshua James, who scored an in innings high 73 from 77, led the Windies Academy to 211 all-out after a few problems at the top order.  Middle order batsman Ackeem Auguste also made an important contribution.  Auguste added 44 from 53 deliveries after coming to the crease with the team struggling at 78 for 5.

Importantly, together James and Auguste added 78 for the 8^th wicket.  Spinner Kofi James was the leading bowler for the Leewards, after claiming figures of 4 for 39.

In response, Kieran Powell and Keacey Carty put 44 on the board for the third wicket, as they looked to recover from the early loss of Ross Powell in the second over.  Neither really carried on from good starts though, and the team also lost Terance Ward, for 12, when he was dismissed lbw by Nyeem Young.  Hamilton’s appearance at the crease, however, settled things and Leewards coasted to 213 for 6 with 23 balls remaining.  The batsman was just 9 runs short o a 7th irst lass hundred.  Joshua Bishop led the way with the ball for the West Indies Academy after picking up 2 for 29.

Jamaica Reggae Boyz head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson has expressed satisfaction with the team’s overall performance in a hard-fought 1-1 draw against World Cup-bound Cameroon on Wednesday.

Neither team fielded full-strength units for the international friendly, but the competitive fixture, in front of a vociferous crowd at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, was a fiercely contested affair.

Despite looking less potent as an attacking unit, a defensively solid Jamaica took the lead through Justin McMaster in the 60^th minute.  The Cameroonians, however, managed to eventually get back on level footing after substitute Djawal Kaiba’s deflected long-range effort flew over the head of Jahmali Waite and into the net, in the 76th minute.

Despite losing the lead, Hallgrimsson believes the team, which consisted of many players based in Jamaica, put in a commendable performance, considering the limited preparation time.

“I think we are quite happy with the players. It was a good result for Jamaica; playing early in the season and a lot of players not having a lot of games under their belt and playing in a difficult environment, probably the biggest crowd most of the players have played in front of, with 40,000 people supporting the opponent.” Hallgrimsson said following the match.

“They were intimidating circumstances playing a World Cup team but I think we can be happy with the result.  I am happy with how professional the players were in the camp and how much they took in from what we were trying to teach them.  Overall, I think that we were really happy,” he added.

“For the game itself we need to improve a lot but that is understandable when these players haven’t played a lot together.”

Jamaica Reggae Boyz coach Heimir Hallgrímsson is expecting a highly competitive and difficult fixture against World Cup-bound Cameroon on Wednesday.

Both teams will field majority players from their individual country’s local leagues but with the global football showpiece on the horizon in the next two weeks, the Africans will have a strong incentive to put on a show for their home crowd.

In addition, Cameroon coach Rigobert Song has promised to fill the remaining World Cup squads with players from the encounter.

“We really don’t know much about Cameroon.  The national team that will be facing us, its local players it’s not the team that will be going to the World Cup but I can say for sure that league in Cameroon is really strong and I don’t have the calculations but I think it is much stronger than the league in Jamaica,” Hallgrímsson said ahead of the fixture.

“For the guys before the camp the Cameroon coach Rigobert Song said he would pick 3 players from this squad to go to the World Cup with him in Qatar.  So, they have a lot to fight for and a lot to show, so we will be facing a very motivated group of players tomorrow.”

The match will be the second in charge for Hallgrimson who made his debut in a 3-0 defeat to Argentina after taking charge of the team in October.

Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls ended the 2022 Fast5 Netball World Series without a win following second day losses to England, New Zealand and Uganda.

Overall, the inexperienced unit could only claim a last place finish after losing all five matches and being the only team at the tournament to fail to register a win.

The second and final day of the event began with a 27-32 loss to England, where the team started well but could not maintain its consistency and eventually paid for several costly turnovers.  Things were far less competitive against New Zealand who used the powerplay well to rack up 40 points in an 18-goal win over the Caribbean team.

The loss sent the Jamaicans to the 5^th and 6^th place play-offs against African team Uganda who they had already suffered a loss to on the previous day.  Things did not go better the second time around as the Jamaicans were once again unable to make any inroads against their lesser ranked opponents.  The surprise package of the tournament went to register an impressive 32-10 victory over the struggling Jamaicans and with it the 5^th place spot.  After dominating for most of the tournament Australia ended the event as champions, earning a first world title.

Young Windies fast bowler Jayden Seales is expected to join English cricket club Sussex for the start of the 2023 season.

The 21-year-old, who last played for the West Indies in July is expected to represent the English club for the first three months of the 2023 season, which is scheduled to get underway in April.

During the period the player will have the opportunity to take part in both the team’s Championship and T20 games.  The young bowler, who became the youngest player to take five wickets for the West Indies in Tests, last year against Pakistan, was understandably excited for the opportunity.

“As a young fast bowler, I like to find myself facing as many different situations and challenges as possible,” Seales said.

“I can’t wait to test myself in England and hopefully contribute to a winning start for Sussex in both Championship and T20 cricket.”

West Indies legend Sir Vivian Richards has been named as brand ambassador for the upcoming Lankan Premier League (LPL).

The tournament, which will take place from December 6-23 will be its third edition, having bowled off in 2020.  As such it remains one of the newest and smaller leagues in world cricket and hopes the high profile of the former swashbuckling West Indies, one of the most respected in the sport, will help elevate its profile.

“We are pleased to announce one of the finest batters of all time, Vivian Richards as Brand Ambassadors for the 2022 LPL. Having someone like Sir Vivian Richards will boost the league and attract more followers from the whole world, and help in our quest to make this tournament a global cricketing attraction. I am really excited to see great Sri Lankan talents on display in the league,” Anil Mohan, Chairman of IPG Group and founder of LPL.

The LPL will also have West Indies presence on the pitch with big-hitter Evin Lewis and Carlos Brathwaite expected to feature.

Former West Indies captain Darren Sammy believes regional body Cricket West Indies (CWI) and the smaller boards can be stuck between a rock and hard place when it comes to holding on to their top players, as they lack the financial clout to do so.

Since the advent of lucrative global T20 leagues, the team has on many occasions struggled to have its top players available, as they opt to take part in the competitions over scheduled international fixtures.

At the moment, the problem is less of an issue for some of the sport’s bigger for team who hold a much tighter rein on when and where their players play.  India for instance does not allow their player to take part in any other T20 league except the IPL, as Sammy points out, the issue comes down to money.

“India is strong because they can tell their players that you don’t play anywhere else. You have to understand that they have the money to back it up,” Sammy said in an interview with the Press Trust of India (PTI).

“An India A list contracted player could probably make a million dollars a year (match fees plus TV rights money) compared to a Windies A-lister, who would earn USD 150,000,” he added.

Successive West Indies administrations have tackled the issue with various approaches that have yielded little success, the former captain does not see things changing anytime soon.

“Gone are those days when you played for love. Love doesn’t buy you groceries from a supermarket,” he added.

The player believed the region could possibly think of adopting a similar model to the one used by New Zealand.

Jamaica goalkeeper Andre Blake finished third in Major League Soccer’s MVP voting as the player continues to be recognised among the best after an outstanding season to date.

The Jamaica was hoping to be the first goalkeeper to claim the award since legendary USA goalkeeper Tony Meola who won in 2000.  Blake, however, finished behind behind Nashville SC's Hany Mukhtar and Austin FC's Sebastián Driussi for the for the 2022 Landon Donovan MVP Award.

The 31-year-old has already claimed fair share of silverware.  Blake became the first player in history to win the Goalkeeper of the Year award on three occasions when he claimed the nomination last week and was also received the Wanamaker Athletic Award.  The Philadelphia Union has turned in a career-high in single-season shutouts this year.

On the back of an excellent season, Blake will also have the opportunity to lift the MLS Cup on Sunday, after leading the team to a 3-1 win over New York City FC 3-1 in the Eastern Conference Championship last week.  Philadephia will face Western Conference champions and 2022 Supporters Shield winners Los Angeles Football Club in Saturday’s final.

Jamaica Reggae Girlz head coach Lorne Donaldson is eager to see what the team’s new recruits and returning members will offer to the unit ahead of a pair of friendlies against Paraguay next month.

On Wednesday, the Jamaica Football Federation named a 26-player squad, which featured many of the usual suspects.  Also, among, however, was former national team captain Konya Plummer, Shania Hayles who are returning to the squad and young player Zoe Matthews.

With the FIFA Women’s World Cup on the horizon for next year Donaldson remains in the process of shifting through his options to find the best team.  The return of Plummer, a solid defender who returns to the team from maternity leave and Matthews a solid new prospect should give the coach plenty to think about.

“We have a couple players coming back in like Konya and Shaina who just came back off maternity.  Shaina is far ahead of Konya, we know most likely they’ll be a part of what we are trying to do in the future, so we just brought them in to get familiar with things,” Donaldson said.

“We also have Zoe Matthews a young player, an upcoming player, a Bunny Shaw type of player. I hate to mention that but she’s built like bunny and she has that kind of ability.  So, if we can get her in the fold that would be great,” he added.

Another promising young player that has been included is Shaneil Buckley who has dominated the country’s high school football league.

Jamaica goalkeeper Andre Blake continued to be showered with accolades on the back of an outstanding season for Major League Soccer (MLS) club Philadelphia Union after being presented with the John Wanamaker Athletic Award earlier this week.

Blake made history last week when he became the first player to win the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year honours on three separate occasions.  The Wanamaker award, which has been presented to Philadelphia’s top athletes since 1961, is given to a team or organization which has done the most to reflect credit upon Philadelphia and the team or sport in which they excel.

Behind Blake’s top-class performances in goal the Philadelphia Union have reached the conference final of the MLS Cup, where they will play New York City on Sunday.  The Jamaican custodian delighted in receiving the city’s recognition.

“I am grateful to be recognized by the Philadelphia sports community and honored to accept the Wanamaker Award on behalf of my family, teammates and the entire Philadelphia Union organization,” said Blake. “Throughout my career, I have strived to set an example on and off the field of what it means to be a strong leader and community advocate. I hope that I’ve inspired the future generation of young athletes to work hard and keep chasing their dreams.”