GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday March 22, 2014
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Windies standing by aggressive approach for Bangladesh
DHAKA, Bangladesh (CMC) – Defending champions West Indies remained bullish ahead of today’s crucial World Twenty20 clash against hosts Bangladesh, refusing to be daunted by Sunday’s defeat to India that triggered criticism of their running between the wickets. Head coach Ottis Gibson told reporters here yesterday the Caribbean side were still in good spirits, and would not suddenly rearrange their entire approach to the tournament simply because of one loss. West Indies produced a lethargic performance in their opening game to go down by seven wickets to India and with their power-hitters shackled by accurate Indian bowling, new questions are being raised about the Caribbean side’s over-dependence on boundaries. “Some teams have players that can’t clear the rope easily so they hit the ball into spaces and run and some teams have guys that can clear the boundaries easily so it works both ways. Based on what happened (in the last game) people will start to make assumptions but the reality is that India bowled well and yes, we didn’t get a lot of singles but we don’t normally get a lot of singles, but that’s the way it goes sometimes,” Gibson contended. “It is about playing to your strengths. We are blessed with players who can hit the ball in the stands. I’m sure most people would love to see Chris (Gayle) standing there hitting the ball in the stands than trying to take a quick single and pull a ham-
Head coach Ottis Gibson string.” He continued: “When you look back at the game, most of our best players – Chris Gayle, Marlon (Samuels), Sunil Narine, (Dwayne) Bravo, (Darren) Sammy – they’ve all played a lot of IPL cricket and the Indians know them quite well and a lot of plans they had, worked for them. They seemed to come out of the IPL. “Bangladesh is a different opposition and we look forward to that challenge tomorrow. We know we have to begin to win from here on if we want to remain in the competition and that’s all we
are focusing on tomorrow.” West Indies struggled badly in the early overs against India’s seam attack and were then derailed by spin, as they limped to 129 for seven off their 20 overs. Gayle’s top score of 34 required 33 balls, proof of the difficulty in scoring which the Windies experienced. Gibson, however, argued that the Windies just needed to improve on how they read situations in the middle, instead of abandoning their aggressive batting style. “If we are aware of what an opposition is most likely to do, you need to adjust your mindset
Windwards beat Jamaica by three wickets KINGSTON, Jamaica, (CMC) – Windward Islands defeated Jamaica by three wickets on the final day of their fourth round encounter in the Regional Four-Day Championship at Sabina Park here yesterday. Scores: JAMAICA 194 all out
(Carlton Baugh Jr 56 not out, Nkrumah Bonner 38, Jermaine Blackwood 36; Shane Shillingford 4-61, Liam Sebastien 2-23, Delorn Johnson 2-41) and 275 (Carlton Baugh Jr 89 not out, Jermaine Blackwood 67, Nkrumah Bonner 34; Shane Shillingford 7-114) WINDWARD ISLANDS
216 for nine declared (Romel Currency 76 not out, Tyrone Theophile 73, Sunil Ambris 23; Jamie Merchant 2-21, Brian Buchanan 2-22, Nikita Miller 2-60) and 256 for seven (Sunil Ambris 81, Tyrone Theophile 30, Devon Smith 29, Romel Currency 22; Nikita Miller 3-59, Tamar Lambert 2-37)
CCC beat Guyana by seven wickets THE Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) inflicted a seven-wicket defeat over Guyana on the final day of their fourth round encounter in the Regional Four-Day championship at the 3Ws Oval last night. Guyana starting the day at 82 for 1 collapsed dramatically to be all out for 173, leaving the CCC just 46 for victory. Tagenarine Chanderpaul was Guyana’s top scorer with 43. Final scores: Guyana 265 and 173., CCC 391/9 declared and 51 for three.
to counteract that. We’re not going to go from a team that apparently don’t run singles – and we do sometimes – to hitting the ball and running singles,” he said. “We need to adjust our mindset, we need to be a little bit more situation-aware and take the singles that are there for us. I would rather see some of your best players not get run-out and be there. The runout with Chris (against India) sort of changed the game. If Chris had batted all the way to the end, we could have gotten another 30, 40 runs.” Like India, Bangladesh are expected to employ a spinbased attack, with the likes of left-armers Shakib al Hasan and Abdur Razzak, along with off-spinner Mahmudullah, expected to play leading roles. Gibson, who led the Windies to their T20 triumph two years ago in Sri Lanka, said West Indies did not have a problem with playing spin and expected his batsmen to approach the Bangladesh with their customary confidence.
“Our focus is one step at a time, one game at a time, one opposition at a time so our focus now is getting ready for Bangladesh. We know they’re going to come with spin and we just have to get ourselves in a position to play the spin perhaps better than we did (in the last game),” he explained. “And if it is hitting it in the stands, then that’s what we need to do and we just need to be a little bit more aware of the situation that is presented to us at the time in the middle. We have a lot of faith in the guys that we’ve brought here, the batsmen especially; all of them have got scores when we played against England. The batsmen are full of confidence and we’re not going to let one defeat dent that confidence.” He continued: “Spin in this format has not always been a problem for us. There have been some instances where we’ve played spin very well. The Indian spinners did bowl well, I think the whole Indian bowling attack bowled well and that proved to be the difference.
“Today gives us an opportunity to look at what happened last night (Sunday) and try and make whatever adjustments we need to make to our mindsets of playing the spin, whether it will be looking for more singles or being more diligent in trying to get the ball over the ropes.” SQUADS: WEST INDIES – Darren Sammy (captain), Samuel Badree, Dwayne Bravo, Johnson Charles, Sheldon Cotterell, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Krishmar Santokie, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith. BANGLADESH – Mushfiqur Rahim (capt.), Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Shamsur Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Mohammad Mahmudullah, Abdur Razzak, Sohag Gazi, Mashrafe Mortaza, Farhad Reza, Rubel Hossain, Al-Amin Hossain.
IBBF Pro-Bodybuilder Jeff Beckham thrills students and teachers of Chase Academy STUDENTS and teachers of Chase Academy were yesterday left in ‘awe’ after an impromptu visit by IBBF Pro-bodybuilder Jeff Beckham who arrived in Guyana ahead of the Hugh Ross Classic which is set for this Saturday at the National Cultural Centre. The visit was scheduled by Hugh Ross, in whose honour the ‘Hugh Ross Classic’ is held and, with Chase Academy coming on board as an official sponsor of the event, the students were schooled about living a healthy lifestyle and the importance of keeping their bodies in shape. A look of astonishment gripped the faces of the students who were mostly from Forms 3 – 5, when Beckham walked in. Displaying a front double-biceps pose and wearing a broad smile, Beckham received loud cheers from the teachers and students. He was the centre of attraction for the moment as they all hurried to get photographs with the bodybuilder. But before the flashes from the cell phones and cameras, Beckham pointed out that he’s thrilled to have an opportunity to be in Guyana – a place he’s visiting for the first time. “I’ve heard so much about this place and the people that I always wanted to come. So I’m very happy to be here and I’m hoping to make the best of it,” Beckham said. However, the bodybuilder said that “as much as I’m here and want to have as much fun as possible, I want to encourage everyone to come out to the show because it’s going to be fun. I know the local guys have
been training hard and I promise that you will not be disappointed when you get there”. The Hugh Ross Classic is in its fourth year and is said to be Guyana’s premier bodybuilding event, featuring the country’s top male and female bodybuilders competing for cash incentives and other prizes. The Miss Figure category will be for athletes who are
for the softer and more feminine eye pleasing type of figure. The male categories are: Bantamweight – up to 65kg (143lb), Lightweight – up to 70kg (144-154lb), Welterweight – up to 75kg (155165lb), Light Middleweight – up to 80kg (166-176lb), Heavyweight (176 and over). The respective category winners will then compete in the overall event when the winner
Even Hugh Ross himself is thrilled at seeing IFBB Pro Jeff Beckham after he makes a visit to Chase Academy yesterday. Beckham is in Guyana as a Guest Poser at the fourth Hugh Ross Classic set for this weekend. symmetrical and toned while will be crowned Mr Hugh the Miss Bikini contest will be Ross Classic 2014.