Bradley Jacks

Bradley Jacks

Bradley Jacks is a budding journalist and an avid sports fan. His love of research and sports has led him to SportsMax.tv, a place where those passions work hand in hand to allow him to produce content.

Defending champions Clarendon College and last year’s semi-finalists Manchester High maintained their perfect win records in this season’s ISSA/Wata DaCosta Cup with wins over Mile Gully High and first-time qualifiers Tacky High, respectively, to kick off the Round of 16 on Saturday.

Clarendon College are the early leaders in Group 1 on goal-difference after beating a stubborn Mile Gully High 2-0 at Glenmuir High for their 11th consecutive win of the season.

St Elizabeth Technical edged 10-man Cornwall College 3-2 at Jarrett Park in the day’s other Group 1 game.

Manchester High gave Tacky High a warm welcome to the Round of 16, beating them 4-1 in Group 2 and took their perfect run to 13 games.

The other Group 2 game saw Happy Grove suffer their first loss of the season, going down 2-4 to B.B. Coke after leading 2-1 at halftime.

Christiana High are the early leaders in Group 3 after a 3-2 win over William Knibb while Dinthill Technical and McGrath played out a goalless draw. Interestingly, Dinthill had already beaten McGrath twice this season.

In Group 4, a Demar Williams’ 20th minute goal was good enough for Frome Technical to beat Port Antonio High 1-0 at Carder Park while Garvey Maceo and Glenmuir played out a 1-1 draw.

 

Reggae Boyz winger Demarai Gray scored the winner as Al-Ettifaq secured a 3-2 victory over Al-Wehda in the Saudi Pro League on Saturday.

Dutch former Liverpool and Newcastle midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum gave Al-Ettifaq the lead in the 18th minute before Craig Goodwin equalized for Al-Wehda in the 37th minute to ensure the teams went into halftime locked at 1-1.

Six minutes after the restart, Goodwin got his second to give Al-Wehda a 2-1 lead. With nine minutes left, Wijnaldum got Al-Ettifaq’s equalizer.

The game seemed to be heading for a draw before, in the eighth minute of added time, Gray cut inside on his right foot and unleashed a fierce strike from just outside the box into the bottom left corner of the goal to give Al-Ettifaq the 3-2 win.

Al-Ettifaq are now seventh in the league standings with 20 points from 11 games.

Carissa Robinson led the way with a double-double as the Lady Eagles secured a seven-point win over the Lady Panthers in Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) action at the National Stadium on Thursday.

A tense first quarter saw the Eagles close with a narrow 8-6 lead before each team seemed to get more comfortable in the second. The Eagles took that one 12-9 to lead 20-15 at halftime.

An 11-11 tie in the third quarter set up an exciting finish with the eagles taking the final stanza 9-7 to secure a 40-33 victory.

Robinson led all scorers with 17 points and an impressive 17 rebounds while also dishing out six assists.  Jovianne Donaldson had eight points, three rebounds and four steals while Asia Williams had seven points and eight rebounds.

Tissia Parker had nine points for the Panthers while Sasha Dixon had eight points, 17 rebounds, four blocks, seven steals and six assists.

The UWI Runnin Rebels secured a blowout win over the Rae Town Raptors in 2023 National Basketball League action at the National Stadium on Thursday.

The Rebels won the first quarter 14-8 before the Raptors turned things around with a 14-8 second quarter of their own to leave the teams tied at 22 going into halftime.

A strong third quarter for the Rebels, however, meant they led 39-30 going into the final quarter. Their dominance continued, winning the fourth 19-7 to complete a 59-37 victory.

Matthew McGowan led the way for the Rebels with 18 points and seven rebounds while also adding three steals and two assists. Omari Greene provided good support with 16 points and 11 rebounds while Jacquaine Freeman had 14 points.

Tijonny Forbes had 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Raptors.

Action will continue on Saturday with the Raptors facing the Falmouth Saints before the Upper Room Eagles take on the Central Celtics.

West Indies “A” Women suffered an eight-run defeat at the hands of Pakistan “A” Women in the opening 50-over game of their white ball tour in Lahore on Tuesday.

The hosts batted first after winning the toss and were bowled out for 174 in 49.3 overs.

Gull Feroza made the bulk of the runs for Pakistan with 62 off 101 balls including four fours.

Pacer Cherry Ann Fraser grabbed 3-38 from 6.3 overs and Zaida James took 2-29 from her 10 overs.

The tourists then fell just eight runs short, being bowled out for 166 in 45.3 overs.

A number of batters were able to get starts including Shabika Gajnabi (29), captain Rashada Williams (27) Shunelle Sawh (22) and Sheneta Grimmond (20) but none were able to kick on and get a big score.

Anosha Nasir led Pakistan with the ball with 2-29 from 10 overs while Saima Malik and Rameen Shamim also took a pair of wickets each.

The West Indians will look to rebound in the second game on Thursday.

A maiden List A hundred from Sherfane Rutherford propelled the Guyana Harpy Eagles to a four-wicket win over the Leeward Islands Hurricanes in the CG United Super50 Cup at the Queen’s Park Oval on Monday.

The Leewards first posted 244-6 from their 50 overs after winning the toss and batting first.

Karima Gore and Jahmar Hamilton both hit 54 to lead the Hurricanes while Hayden Walsh Jr followed up a 60* in their last game with a well-played 49.

The Guyana bowling was led by Romario Shepherd and captain Veerasammy Permaul who each took a pair of wickets.

The Harpy Eagles then needed only 47.3 overs to get their second win of the season on the back of a brilliant 71-ball 105 from Rutherford. His knock included seven fours and eight sixes.

Tevin Imlach (32) and Kevlon Anderson (32) both provided good support for Rutherford.

Kofi James tried his best for the Hurricanes with 3-30 from his ten overs.

 

The Melbourne Renegades got their first win of the 2023 Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) campaign by dismantling the Adelaide Strikers by 86 runs at the Junction Oval in Melbourne on Monday.

The Renegades, who tasted defeat in their season opener against the Brisbane Heat, posted 167-3 from their 20 overs after being put in to bat by the Strikers.

The opening pair of Tammy Beaumont and captain Hayley Matthews put on just 19 before the West Indian went for 12 in the third over.

Beaumont and number three batter Josephine Dooley added 51 for the second wicket before Beaumont went for 30 in the ninth over.

One over later, Dooley fell for 23 to leave the Renegades 74-3.

An unbroken 93-run fourth wicket stand between Harmanpreet Kaur and Courtney Webb then propelled the Renegades to their total.

Webb led the way with a 34-ball 49* while Kaur ended 43* off 33 balls.

Zimbabwean Anesu Mushangwe was the Strikers most economical bowler with 1-21 in her four overs.

The Strikers then lasted just 14.5 overs before they were bowled out for 86.

Only skipper Talia McGrath (31), Laura Woldvaart (14) and Danielle Gibson (10) were able to reach double-figures.

Hayley Matthews (2-20 from three overs), Ella Hayward (2-18 from four overs), Georgia Wareham (2-23 from three overs) and Harmanpreet Kaur (2-11 from 1.5 overs) all played a part in the bowling effort.

 

Citizens of the Waterhouse community were treated to an exciting day of football as the SFP Pocket Rocket Foundation Community 6-a-side tournament made its return to after a three-year absence on Saturday at the Fesco Football Field.

Five-time World 100m Champion, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who grew up in Waterhouse, is putting on the event through her Pocket Rocket Foundation.

“I’m overjoyed because we’ve been absent for three years and to be able to come back this time around to a clean field and new sponsors is such a blessing. I’m grateful for the outpour of support that we’ve had for the competition and we’re looking forward to more support,” Fraser-Pryce told SportsMax.tv.

“We know how many persons in the community have missed the competition so to be able to be back and see the joy from everybody is really wonderful,” she added.

In relation to the turnout on Saturday, Fraser-Pryce couldn’t have been more pleased.

“I feel so good. As you can see, there are so many persons here. I’m grateful to GraceKennedy for bringing the hot-dogs and vita malt because you can’t have a crowd and not have food!”

“I’ve been blessed to have seen the growth of this competition and seen the faces of the kids when they come and watch the football. Otherwise, they’d probably be pre-occupied with other things but I’m glad that I’m able to add another exciting thing to their lives,” added the three-time Olympic champion.

Fraser-Pryce also noted that this year’s competition is extra special due to 2023 being the tenth anniversary of her Pocket Rocket Foundation.

“It’s amazing! Ten years. A decade of difference. I’ve been able to do so much and invest in lives and communities across Jamaica in such a major way. We’ve been able to implement a breakfast program, we’ve given 73 student-athlete scholarships, we’ve seen these student-athletes transition from high school to college and from college to being pilots,” she said.

“It’s incredible for me to see the growth of the foundation and we’re looking forward to continue to fuel more student athletes toward their dreams. We look forward to hosting out gala on November 4 at the AC Hotel and persons who are interested in purchasing tickets can go to our website,” she added.

Petroleum giants Fesco are the title sponsors of this year’s event and they were also able to give out free cooking gas to some members of the community.

“We have established a presence here in Waterhouse and, as again we’re a proudly Jamaican company. Who can you be more proud of in Jamaica than Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and the Pocket Rocket Foundation,” said Fesco Managing Director, Jeremy Barnes.

“I think it’s a marriage made in heaven. Again, we’re a part of this community and we want to reach out to the residents and business community in this area. They have supported us and helped us along our journey as a company and, as such, we have decided to give back to the community,” he added.

As for the action on the field, the first game saw defending champions Legacy being beaten 1-0 by Legend while Trendsetter and Miles United played out a tense 0-0 draw in the second game.

Sunday’s matches saw Medley Mixers defeat Black Strikers 1-0 while Real City beat St. Aubyn 1-0 in the day’s second game.

Monday's games saw Ashoka beat Ballspot 2-1 while Eurotrend vs Dupont Stikers and Moscow vs Lion Den both ended in draws.

 

For more than two decades, Chris Gayle entertained cricket fans around the world with his phenomenal big-hitting ability.

His hitting prowess has made him widely regarded as the greatest T20 batsman ever, with his numbers dwarfing his closest competitors.

Since 2020, however, the “Universe Boss” has shifted his focus from cricket to another passion of his: music.

Gayle says his desire to pursue a career in music began during the COVID-19 pandemic when UK based artist, Stylo G, approached him to record a remix to his song titled “Too Hot.”

“When I listened back to it I was pleased with the outcome and that’s how it all started,” Gayle told SportsMax.tv.

From there, I recorded more songs until I started my own label named Triple Century Records and built my own recording studio in my house,” he added.

Fast forward to 2023 and Gayle’s album titled ‘Tropical House Cruises to Jamaica-The Asian Edition’ has entered the 2024 Grammy’s under the Reggae Album of the Year category.

“My entire music career has been surreal and being chosen as the headliner and face of the album was a great feeling. Being in the Grammy race for best Reggae Album is exciting because it’s a dream of mine to win a Grammy,” Gayle said.

The album features a number of musical giants such as Lauryn Hill, Morgan Heritage, Capleton and Sizzla to name a few.

The project, as the name suggests, was marketed mainly to Asia, specifically India, which Gayle describes as his second home. The 44-year-old had a phenomenal career in the Indian Premier League (IPL), first representing the Kolkata Knight Riders before donning the colors of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and finally the Punjab Kings. He was inducted into the RCB hall of fame earlier this year.

“India is my second home and cricket is the national sport there. I have many great cricket memories there and I am loved by the Indian people. I have two songs with Indian artists that did really well there with Emiway Bantai and Arko,” he said.

“So, with India being such a huge market and with my popularity there, we decided to merge sports and music fans and market the music there,” Gayle added.

The Jamaican has not limited his sights to just music, however, as he also mentioned a desire to one day be on the big screen in Bollywood.

“I recently came in an Ad campaign for the Cricket World Cup with a major Bollywood actor for Zomato which is a food delivery giant in India. So, I hope to have more roles with Bollywood actors and even act in a Bollywood film soon as well as have my music featured in Bollywood soundtracks,” Gayle said.

Defending champions Jamaica College closed the gap between themselves and Group B leaders Tivoli High to one point thanks to a 7-0 win over Spanish Town High in the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup on Thursday.

Kingston Technical made things even more interesting in the group with a 3-1 win over the leaders to also move within a point of top spot, trailing JC by 12 on goal difference.

The day’s other group game saw Cumberland beat Meadowbrook 4-0 for their first win of the season.

Elsewhere, Jonathan Grant hammered Greater Portmore 8-0 to move to second in Group C with 17 points, two points behind leaders Haile Selassie and two ahead of third placed Eltham.

“Unbelievable” was the word used by Charlton Athletic midfielder Karoy Anderson to describe his maiden Reggae Boyz call-up for the upcoming CONCACAF Nations League fixtures against Grenada and Haiti.

The 19-year-old London-born midfielder, in an interview with JFF Live on YouTube, described the experience of finding out he’d been called up to the squad.

“It’s something I can’t really describe honestly. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and now that I’m here, it’s unbelievable,” Anderson said.

“At first, I couldn’t really believe it because I knew I was in the provisional squad but when I got the news I was just shocked. I was staring for a long time trying to take it all in and I told my mom and she started crying,” he added.

Anderson qualifies to play for the Reggae Boyz through his mother who was born in Clarendon and his grandmother who was born in Trelawny.

“I’m very busy,” was Anderson’s response to what fans can expect from his play style.

“I get around a lot and I like going forward and defending so I just try to do everything,” he said.

Anderson’s club teammate Michael Hector will also make a return to the Reggae Boyz set up after a two-year absence and he says the defender has been instrumental to his development as a player.

“It’s good because when I made the step up I knew he played for Jamaica and that was something that I looked to do so, being able to play with him, also with his experience in club football, is good. He’s a good person to look up to as well,” Anderson said.

Finally, the midfielder had nothing but good things to say about his experience with the squad, so far, as well as their chances in the upcoming games.

“Everyone’s nice. It’s a good energy around so I’m looking forward to getting involved with the games,” he said.

“When you look at the squad we have, we know we’ve got enough quality to win these games so I just want to come in and add to that and see what areas I can help in,” Anderson added.

Jamaica will first take on Grenada on Thursday before facing Haiti on Sunday.

They currently lead their CONCACAF Nations League A group with four points.

The Jamaica Defence Force successfully defended their Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) All Island Limited Overs (AILO) 50 Overs Tournament title with a narrow five-run win over Melbourne Cricket Club via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method in the final played at Sabina Park on Saturday.

Melbourne, who entered Saturday’s final unbeaten, batted first and posted 245-9 from their 50 overs thanks to a 109-ball 99 from Jamaica Scorpions batsman Andre McCarthy and 47 from all-rounder Shalome Parnell.

National pacer Gordon Bryan took 4-29 from his 10 overs for the soldiers. Rather than chasing 246 for victory, JDF’s slow over-rate meant 15 penalty runs were added to Melbourne’s total, meaning they would need 261 to retain their title.

JDF’s reply got off to the worst possible start with the wickets of Tevin Gilzene (6), Marlon Saunders (14) and Oneil Weir (0) to be struggling at 34-3 in the eight over.

The ship was steadied, however, by a 104-run fourth wicket partnership between Deethmar Anderson and captain Kevin Daley.

Anderson made a top-score of 77 while Daley added 44.

Even when both their wickets fell, JDF were able to keep ahead of the DLS par score, eventually reaching 235-8 off 40 overs, five runs ahead of the par score when the umpires determined the light was no longer suitable for play.

Leg-spinner Matthew Comerie took 3-41 from six overs while Parnell ended with 2-44 from eight for Melbourne.

 

The Charlton Athletic pair Karoy Anderson and Michael Hector have both been included in the Reggae Boyz squad for their upcoming CONCACAF Nations League away fixtures against Grenada and Haiti set for October 12 and 15, respectively.

The squad was announced during a press conference at the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) headquarters on Friday.

Anderson, a 19-year-old London-born midfielder, got his first call-up while Hector, 31, has earned 35 caps for the Reggae Boyz with his last appearance coming in 2021.

Midfielder Kasey Palmer and defender Amari’i Bell are both missing from the last squad due to injuries while Dujuan Richards, Ethan Pinnock and Coniah Boyce-Clarke also miss out.

Jamaica’s last game against Grenada was a 5-1 Friendly win in 2018. Their last tussle with Haiti saw them erase a 0-2 deficit to pull out a 2-2 draw at the National Stadium last month.

The Reggae Boyz are currently at the top of Group B of League A of the Nations League with four points. The top two teams from that group will advance to the quarterfinals and this will mean the teams are one step closer to qualifying for the Copa America.

Finishing at the top of the group would put the Reggae Boyz up against either Canada or Costa Rica in the quarterfinals in November while finishing second will mean a tie against the USA or Mexico.

The full squad is as follows:

Goalkeepers: Andre Blake, Kemar Foster, Jahmali Waite

Defenders: Javain Brown, Tayvon Gray, Di’Shon Bernard, Michael Hector, Greg Leigh, Adrian Mariappa, Damion Lowe, Dexter Lembikisa

Midfielders: Bobby Decordova Reid, Daniel Johnson, Joel Latibeaudiere, Kevon Lambert, Karoy Anderson, Demario Phillips

Forwards: Michail Antonio, Leon Bailey, Demarai Gray, Shamar Nicholson, Romario Williams, Renaldo Cephas

Hayley Matthews continued her spectacular form this year with a brilliant knock to help her West Indies Women pull off a world record run chase against world champions, Australia, to tie up their three-match T20I series at the North Sydney Oval on Monday.

Matthews smashed a 64-ball 132 including 20 fours and five sixes to help the West Indies successfully chase their target of 213.

In a post-match interview, the all-rounder said this win will give her team a much-needed confidence boost ahead of the third and final T20I on Thursday.

“A win like this at a time like this definitely means a whole lot to the team. Obviously, we’ve come down here with a lot of young girls in a learning, growing squad and to get a win like this against the best team in the world the way that we were able to do it is really going to boost our confidence and give us a lot of belief within the team,” Matthews said.

The Barbadian shared in a spectacular 174-run second wicket partnership with former captain Stafanie Taylor who made 59 off 41 balls including 11 fours. Matthews heaped praise on the Jamaican for helping take the pressure off her at the crease.

“I think when we needed 100 runs from about 50 balls, we looked at each other in the middle and said we could really get this if we keep going with the momentum. Kudos to the way she batted as well, getting boundaries on a regular basis and taking a lot of pressure off me so I’m really happy to have shared that partnership with a legend like her,” she said.

Matthews, so far, has made 213 runs in two innings in the series after her unbeaten 99 in the first T20I. She was asked what has made her so productive this year.

“Just working hard. I’ve played a lot of T20 and franchise cricket around the world and I’ve had the opportunity, at such a young age, to learn a lot about my game and the biggest thing for me has been my understanding and my technical work has been working really well,” she said.

Matthews also insisted that there is no pressure on her side ahead of the decisive third T20I.

“When we came to Australia we had nothing to lose at all. After the first game, what we did individually was look within ourselves and saw what we could’ve done better. That’s exactly what we’re going to do ahead of the next game. Yes, we won but we have so many areas we can improve in and so much learning that could take place as well,” she said.

The third T20I begins at 3:05 am Jamaica time and can be seen live on SportsMax.

Former Captain Stafanie Taylor says the West Indies Women will need to emphasize spending time in the middle to have any chance of competing with Australia when the pair lock horns in three T20Is and three ODIs beginning on Sunday at North Sydney Oval.

The team is coming off a pair of home series wins against Ireland in July (2-0 in the ODIs and 3-0 in the T20Is) and will look to take that momentum into Australia.

A big reason for those series wins was the team’s batting. The first ODI saw the hosts bat the full 50 overs to post their second highest ODI score ever, 297-6, before successfully defending it.

The third ODI also saw an impressive performance with the bat, losing only four wickets and needing only 41.3 overs to chase down 203.

The T20s were no different with the West Indians securing a pair of eight wicket wins as well as a tense two wicket victory.

From an individual standpoint, after a rough few years due to a persistent back injury, Taylor enjoyed a welcome return to form during the ODI series.

She made scores of 55 and 79* in her two innings and is looking to continue that form against the current World Champions.

“I’ve been feeling really good for some time. The injury would’ve definitely slowed me down a little bit but it’s nice that I’ve been working hard to get my body back up and it’s been really good,” she said in a press conference ahead of Sunday’s series opener.

“For me, it’s trying to get myself back to the top and spending some time at the crease is going to be crucial because I find that once I’m able to do that, I know runs will come. I just have to believe in myself,” she added.

Just like in the Ireland series, the team will be a good mixture of youth and experience with some players who took part in the most recent ICC Under-19 Women’s World Cup as well as the CWI Regional Under-19 Women’s Tournament.

The 32-year-old complimented the youngsters before emphasizing that it is up to veterans like herself to help them achieve their full potential.

“I think we have a good crop of young players coming through. We’ve seen them in the Under-19 World Cup and it’s been really good so far where we have our Under-19 tournament that recently concluded in Trinidad and a lot of those U19s have been integrating with the senior team. You saw that in the recently concluded Ireland series,” Taylor said.

“Having them in the system, it’s for us to try an impart that knowledge that we have onto them and this series is going to be crucial for them but also it’s a learning experience and you don’t want to burden them too much,” she added.

As the most experienced member of the team, Taylor also provided insight relating to conversations she has had with the younger players in the team or players who haven’t yet played in Australia.

“Well I haven’t played here in a long time to be fair but, from what I’ve known is that Australian wickets tend to be a bit bouncy. It might be worth playing a bit late especially with the pace of the fast bowlers. I’ve played a few times at North Sydney and it’s a good wicket. I think the wickets here are going to be really good for batting. Spending time at the crease will be crucial if we want to score runs,” Taylor said.

This series will also be the first opportunity for new head coach Shane Deitz to take charge of the regional side.

In his own introductory press conference a few weeks ago, Deitz proclaimed that he wanted to bring a new attacking brand of cricket to the West Indies Women.

Taylor says that discussion hasn’t taken place quite yet.

“We’ve only had one practice session so far. We haven’t really had a meeting to discuss how we’re going to play or what it’s going to look like for this series. The first game is Sunday and we just had a meeting to welcome everyone and had a light practice session just to have a feel of things,” she said.

 

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