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GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, September 23, 2016
West Indies not weakened by Gayle’s absence
PAKISTAN are not assuming the absence of batting superstar Chris Gayle to mean West Indies will be a weakened unit for their three-match Twenty20 International series starting Saturday. “I don’t think that there is much of an advantage when it comes to T20 cricket when players have changed,” captain Sarfraz Ahmed said. “True, they don’t have Chris Gayle but they do have some other good players. Our focus is to do well on the field. We finished on a good note in Manchester (against England earlier this month) and I hope we start on a good note here.” Gayle, one of the most
destructive batsmen in the game’s shortest formats, was not available for selection after also missing the two-match series against India in Fort Lauderdale, United States last month. He was joined by Lendl Simmons who was also unavailable because of medical reasons while dynamic all-rounder Andre Russell pulled out of the squad last week for ‘personal reasons’.” However, Sarfraz pointed out that regardless of the lineup, the key to winning T20s was execution. “In T20, you cannot win by names alone. You need to go out there and play well,” he contended.
Chris Gayle
“If you see, England are a good team and we have quite a few young and exciting players who have performed well. And I’m sure they will do well here too.” West Indies have been installed as heavy favourites, especially after lifting an unprecedented second T20 World Cup title in India last April. They are currently ranked number three with Pakistan four places lower in seventh. Despite the absence of Gayle, Simmons and Russell, West Indies boast the likes of all-rounders Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo, along with leg-spinner Samuel Badree and off-spinner Sunil Narine. But Sarfraz said while
there was no doubt about the quality of the Caribbean side, Pakistan would not be daunted. “They are the best T20 team in the world and won the Twenty20 World Cup,” he noted. “We are also a good team and when we played against England, we didn’t think that we were playing the T20 World Cup finalists and that they are one of the best T20 teams in the world. Our focus was mainly on that we should play well and play good cricket. “That is the same focus here. Our aim is to play good cricket and play a good brand of cricket and beat them.” (windiescricket.com)
UCCA U-19 cricket
Wins for Scottsburg, No. 72 Cut and Load
SCOTTSBURG United and No. 72 Cut and Load recorded contrasting wins in the first round of the TWINS (Bayo) Beer Garden/Upper Corentyne Cricket Association (UCCA) Under-19 cricket competitions, which bowled off last Saturday with two matches. Scottsburg United defeated No. 72 All Stars by 134 runs, while No. 64 Fighting Marines forfeited the game to No. 72 Cut and Load. Playing at home, Scottsburg United batted first and were bowled out for 160 in 31 overs. Alex Burnett 44, Stefon Mangal 21 and Saif Ghannie 15 were the top scorers. Bowling for No. 72
Sanjay Deochand and Gavin Chaterpal with 2 wickets each. In reply, No.72 All Stars were bundled out for a meagre 26 runs from 11 overs. Extras top-scored with 10.
Doing the damage for Scottsburg was Aeron Jamaludeen taking 5 wickets for 2 runs off 2 overs and he got good support from Rudy Jamaludeen with 3 wickets, while Stefon Mangal picked up 2.
At the No. 72 ground: No. 72 Cut and Load won by virtue of No. 64 Fighting Marines’ forfeiture of the game after the game was severely interrupted by rain with only 7 overs bowled. No. 64 had
reached 19 for 4. The UCCA has since launched an investigation into the matter since there was time for a reduced-overs match. The match was awarded to No. 72 Cut and Load.
RCMTC&SF race meet rescheduled to October 30 Aeron Jamaludeen All Stars, Taleshwar Baichan took 3 for 11 and received good support from Khameshwar Chaterpal,
ORGANISERS of the Ryan Crawford Memorial Turf Club and Sports Facilities (RCMTC&SF) have rescheduled the club’s horse race meet to October 30. The meet was originally planned for this Sunday at the club’s track Alness, Corentyne Berbice. However, chief organiser
Marcel Crawford Jr indicated that the race meet has been postponed due to a number of unforeseen circumstances. Crawford Jr further indicated that the original programme remains the same, but with the club moving to regulate the level of racing in Guyana, a number of new initiatives will be
introduced by the new date. Eight races are planned, where over $3M in cash, trophies and other incentives are up for grabs. The feature race is the classified Alness Classic over 1600 metres for a first prize of $600 000. Other races planned for the day are: G and Low-
er, Two-year-olds race for Guyana-bred horses, H and Lower, K and Lower, J’1’, L ‘1’, and there is an event for unclassified horses. Interested persons can make contact with Marcel Crawford Jr on 678-5342 or Compton Sancho on 602-1567 for any clarifications.
T&T Football
SSFL to review safety measures in wake of Manning Cup tragedy (SPORTSMAX) - The Trinidad and Tobago Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) has pledged support for its Jamaican counterparts in the wake of the tragic death of St George’s College Manning Cup team Dominic James.
James, the captain of the George’s team, collapsed on the pitch during a schoolboy football match on Tuesday and was later pronounced dead at the hospital. “As a league we empathise with the situation. We want to send condo-
lences to the parents of the young man and I hope that the league would look at ways of probably making sure things like this don’t happen in the future,” first vice-president of the SSFL William Wallace told Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.
The official admits that while the situation is difficult to access at the moment the SSFL is already considering adjustments to safeguard the health of students. Concerns have been raised since the incident regarding the availability of
sufficient medical care at games. “The thing is the person collapsed and died so I am not sure whether how much safety we could have put in place or anybody could put in place to deal with that. However, it is something that
we would have to definitely take into consideration whether it is we get persons doing medicals before they embark on playing for their schools,” Wallace added. At present medical testing for the teams is not compulsory.