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GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, August 25, 2016
CARICOM lauds ‘impressive’ Caribbean athletes
CARIBBEAN Community (CARICOM) Secretary-General, Ambassador Irwin La Rocque, has lauded the exemplary performance of the athletes of CARICOM Member States, stating that the Community was “immensely proud.” In a congratulatory message to them on the just concluded Rio Olympics, the Secretary-General said the “phenomenal Usain Bolt’s completion of the trio of gold medals for the third consecutive Olympic places him among the pantheon of great Olympians.” His colleagues, Asafa Powell, Nickel Ashmeade
and Yohan Blake assisted in ensuring the third gold medal was well earned in the sprint relay, he added. The CARICOM Secretary-General commended the significant victories of Elaine Thompson whose triumphs in the women’s 100 and 200 metres were the first in those events since 1988. He said Jamaican Omar McLeod scaled great heights in capturing the 110 metres hurdle crown, a first for Jamaica, while the Bahamian Shaunae Miller completed a sweep of the women’s sprint events for the Community, with her dramatic victory in
Usain Bolt
the 400 metres. Congratulations are in order for all our medallists and other finalists in this hugely competitive global event. The performance at these Games underlined the tremendous skills and talent that reside in the Community’s youth and demonstrates that we have the capacity to lead the world in any sphere providing that we apply the necessary discipline, commitment and focus. Well done to all our competitors and may you continue to strive to achieve even greater feats!, the statement concluded.
Kingsmead and Queen’s Park Oval outfields rated poor
… Boards have 14 days to respond THE outfields at Kingsmead and Queen’s Park Oval have been rated poor by the ICC match referees who oversaw the washed-out Tests between South Africa and New Zealand in Durban, and West Indies and India in Trinidad. The ICC said the officials - Andy Pycroft in Durban and Ranjan Madugalle in Trinidad - had expressed concerns in accordance with clause three of the Pitch and Outfield
Monitoring Process. The match referees’ reports have been forwarded to the concerned home boards, the WICB and Cricket South Africa, which now have 14 days to respond. CSA’s response, the ICC said, will be reviewed by ICC general manager, cricket, Geoff Allardice, while match referee David Boon will assess the WICB’s reply. Then, as per the rules, the grounds will either receive a warning or a fine not exceeding US$15 000, along
with “a directive for appropriate corrective action”. A repeat offence over the next five years would draw a fine not exceeding US$30 000. In all, 11 sessions out of 15 were lost to a wet and soft outfield at Kingsmead, while in Port of Spain, West Indies and India were able to play only one session across five days. It was the first Test played in Trinidad in August, which is the wet season there, and rain had hampered preparations
in the days leading up to the match but during the game itself there was largely sunshine. However, with there not being enough covers at the ground to protect the bowlers’ run-ups or the outfield, and no super sopper available either, the outfield did not recover enough to allow play. The draw meant that India, who needed to win the Test to retain their No.1 Test ranking, lost the top spot to Pakistan. The Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board had already said it would investigate the reasons
behind the washout. T h e D u r b a n Te s t was also scheduled in what is traditionally the off-season in South Africa, during the winter. Rain forced the players off the field around lunch on day two, and the big damage was done to the outfield that night, when the ground took 65mm of water. Here, too, the covers did not protect large parts of the field, and the super sopper was made to stop operating for fear it would do further damage to the soft patches that persisted into day five despite no more rainfall. There were concerns
over the Kingsmead outfield being underprepared even before the match began, as it had been relaid in June following complaints from South Africa and New Zealand that the surface was too hard during the limited-overs games played there last year. Similar comments were levelled at Centurion, the venue of the upcoming second Test, but the SuperSport Park outfield was relaid in April once the season ended; work could not get underway at Kingsmead till the Comrades Marathon - for which it is the ending point - was completed on May 29.
Fixtures for Today’s Charity Shield Soccer Classic matches
Ground staff at Queen’s Park Oval dug up the outfield in a bid to get it to dry out. (AFP)
IN today’s u-17 matches, Zone A action will see Grove High Tech playing Creek from 10:00hrs, Pele will play Fruta conquerors from 12:00hrs, Cosmos will play Grove Hi Tech at 14:00hrs and East Veldt will play Conquerors at 16:00hrs In Zone B, Black Waters take on Santos from 09:00, Alpha take on Paradise from11:00, Gall hill oppose Black Waters at 13:0 and Paradise play Morvant at 15:00hrs In the open class, ‘A’ Zone action will see Gairy John will take on Morvant from 10:00hrs, Victoria Kings oppose Den Amstel from 12:00hrs, Wales are set to play Morvant from 14:00hrs and Gall hill takes on Gairy John from 16:00hrs. In Zone B RP warriors lace up to face Elcock at 09:00hrs, Empire faces Grove Hi Tech at 11:00,hrs Paradise play Elcock from 13:00hrs and Warriors take on Waterford Comptown at 15:00.hrs