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Kaieteur News

Friday July 13, 2012

Coach Estwick confident Windies can RCB players in the win ICC Under-19 World Cup 2012 lurch over payments St. John’s, Antigua - The West Indies Under-19s are mentally and physically prepared for what will be a “tough tour of duty” at the International Cricket Council’s Under-19 World Cup in Australia next month. Head Coach Roddy Estwick knows his players well and backed them to win the tournament for the first time in West Indies history. “We have a very good group of young men and I’m very confident that they will do well for the West Indies in this tournament. The team has been together for more than a year now and they work well together,” Estwick said. “We did well in the tour of Dubai last year [against Australia], battled hard in India and were dominant when we played in the United States. We had a very good camp in Barbados over Easter at the Sagicor HPC and everyone has come back refreshed and ready for the big assignment in Australia.” Estwick added: “So far our preparations have been spot on and I’m happy with the level of development among the players. We will be flying out (to Australia) early to have another camp where we will get the opportunity to get into the nets again and have some games against local opposition. “This is a very good move as we will make maximum use of the time we have in Brisbane before the World Cup starts. As a team we have never played in Australia before, so it’s crucial that we make the most use of the time in the camp. A crucial part of

Roddy Estwick

Amir Khan

winning is preparation and we are going to Australia to win, so we must be well prepared. “In the bowling, we will be focusing on cutting down the ‘big’ overs. We will also have to work on scoring against the spinners — we realised our ‘dot’ ball count is quite high against the slow bowlers and we need to decrease that. We hit a lot of boundaries but we need to look at accumulating the ones and twos.” Test opener Kraigg Brathwaite has been named Captain of the team with his left-handed opening partner John Campbell as Vice Captain. The other opener in the squad is Keiron Joseph, a small right-hander. The middle-order is strong with left-handers Anthony Alleyne and Akeal Hosein; stylish right-hander Kavem Hodge; as well as reserve wicket-keeper Sunil Ambris and first-choice keeper Seven Katwaroo. The team includes two fast bowling all-rounders — the hard-hitting Kyle Mayers and the hardworking Justin

Greaves. There are also three specialist quick bowlers — Marquino Mindley, left-armer Jerome Jones, and Ronsford Beaton, the loose-limbed sixfooter. The squad is rounded off with two specialist spinners – Amir Khan, who bowls legbreaks and googlies; and the ambidextrous Derone Davis, who bowls left-arm orthodox. Estwick has worked at the developmental level in West Indies cricket for over a decade, and was Assistant Coach when the Windies placed third in the last World Cup in New Zealand two years ago. He expressed confidence that the batting will deliver and added that he is “excited” about the young fast-bowling prospects. “We have an experienced batting line-up, a number of players who have done well at the Regional Under-19 level. Kraigg has played Test cricket with some success and John is also a good player. They opened together in the last World Cup two years ago, so they will be able to share their knowledge with the others in the team,” said Estwick. “I’m really excited by our

pace bowling department, we have a good crop. Beaton had a good Regional Four-day Tournament for Guyana and Jones bowled really well for Barbados in the recent Under17 Tournament. Mindley swings the ball both ways and forced his way into the squad with his brilliant bowling in the camp. We also have Greaves and Mayers, who bowl well and can also provide valuable runs in the middle-order.” The West Indies team departs from Barbados on Tuesday, July 17. The ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup will be played in Townsville, Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast in Queensland from August 12 to 26. West Indies have been drawn in Group C alongside India, Zimbabwe and Papua New Guinea in the 16-team biennial event. FULL SQUAD: Kraigg Brathwaite - Captain (Barbados), John Campbell Vice Captain, Jamaica), Anthony Alleyne (Barbados), Justin Greaves (Barbados), Jerome Jones (Barbados), Kyle Mayers (Barbados), Kavem Hodge (Dominica/ Windwards), Ronsford Beaton (Guyana), Amir Khan (Guyana), Marquino Mindley (Jamaica), Sunil Ambris Wicket-keeper (St. Vincent/ Windwards), Derone Davis (Trinidad & Tobago), Steven Katwaroo - Wicket-keeper (Trinidad & Tobago), Akeal Hosein (Trinidad & Tobago), Keiron Joseph (Trinidad & Tobago). Team Management: Courtney Walsh (Team Manager), Roddy Estwick (Head Coach), Stuart Williams (Assistant Coach), Janel Springer (Physiotherapist), Ronald Rogers (Trainer).

Executives of the Guyana Association of Scrabble Players (GASP) remain resolute that emphasis must be placed on the nursery if the sport is to develop appreciably. It was with this belief in mind that they have planned a tournament for beginners at the Maltenoes Sports Club, Sunday July 15 next. This competition is sponsored by Auto Tech Car Rentals and persons that have played in no more than 5 rated competitions are eligible to participate. The tournament forms a part of the developmental and awareness programme of GASP officials as they attempt

to introduce the sport to the schools and communities. Officials of the GASP Executive committee are encouraging students from Primary and Secondary Schools to take advantage of this opportunity to enhance their vocabulary while participating in the tournament which is also enjoyable and fun filled. A special registration fee of $300 will be collected during registration period starting at 12:45hrs while the first tile will be moved at 13:00hrs sharp. The top three finishers will win trophies donated by the corporate community.

Stag Beer/WDFA Senior League...

Goed Fortuin clip Eagles Simon Pures on show as 3-0; Young Achievers upset Uitvlugt Warriors GASP stages Novice c/ships Four potentially exciting matches are expected to be played over the weekend when action in the West Demerara Football Association / Stag Beer Senior League continues at the Den Amstel Community Center Ground. In the first encounter slated for 14:00hrs tomorrow, Den Amstel will oppose Wales while Uitvlugt tackles Eagles starting at 16:00hrs. Activities continue on Sunday when Young Achievers and Nimes/ Bagotsville throw down the gauntlet at 14:00hrs while Seawalls and Beavers clash in the feature attraction two

hours later. Meanwhile, two matches were contested over the past weekend and Beavers of Goed Fortuin prevailed over Eagles of Stewartville 3-0. This was just before Dexroy Adams and Sherwin McIntyre breached the defense of Uitvulgt Warriors goalie in the 34th and 79th minute respectively, to lead Young Achievers to a 2-0 victory. The tournament commenced on June 3 last and fans have been entertained with several action packed matches that have served as the indicator of the impending thrilling encounters.

Several leading India and overseas players contracted to Royal Challengers Bangalore, including team captain Daniel Vettori, are awaiting the first instalment of their fees for the 2012 season. Australia allrounder Andrew McDonald is believed to be another player who has not been paid, along with some members of the support staff. Though this is the first season that Royal Challengers have delayed on payments on this scale, the players affected are concerned by the lack of response from franchise officials to their queries. The news comes at a time when the Bangladesh Premier League is in the headlines for non-payment of salaries to its overseas players. Franchise officials, including team director Siddhartha Mallya, did not respond to repeated requests over several days by ESPNcricinfo for comments on the issue. The development coincides with the welldocumented financial difficulties being faced by the UB group, the franchise owners. Royal Challengers Bangalore is owned by businessman Vijay Mallya through UB Sports Pvt Ltd, a group subsidiary. In recent months, Mallya’s airline, Kingfisher Airlines, has been found to be in debt of $1.3b. Recent rumours of the sale of the team’s stake have been denied by the UB Group, with a spokesman saying: “There is no question of a stake sale in the Royal Challengers Bangalore team.” The players affected include those from India, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. It is believed that Chris Gayle, though, has been paid his contracted amount. “Gayle is looked after separately,” a Royal Challengers player said. Under every identical tripartite IPL contract, signed between the player, the franchise and the IPL, clause

1.a.i (which covers the schedule of payments) spells out the payment break-up: the player receives 15% of his fee for the season by April 1 (before the IPL or early into it), 50% by May 1 (during the IPL or towards its end), 20% after the Champions League T20 and the remaining 15% by December 1. As of today, Royal Challengers has not met this schedule, with several players still owed 65% of the fee owed to them, nor has it provided any explanation for the delay. It is understood the players emailed the management after the season finished in May, but did not receive a straightforward response. Heath Mills, the chief of the New Zealand Players Cricket Association (NZPCA), said he’d heard about the delay from Vettori on Monday. “It’s disappointing that some of the players have not been paid to date. We hope they are paid before this issue becomes more serious. It really isn’t right that people are not paid for work they have already completed, and I can’t imagine anyone in any workplace environment being overly happy about that.” “Nobody has come back to us, to let us know what is going on,” a player said, under the condition of anonymity. “The people, at the moment, are in the dark. Normally there are one or two cases of delayed payments that we have seen in the previous seasons.” Some players are known to have written even to the Royal Challengers’ head coach Ray Jennings, who was unavailable for comment. The players just want to know what the problem is; a clear response will leave them much more comfortable. “There must be a problem. But I need to have awareness of the problem,” another player said. “We are adult enough to understand if there is a problem, that is fine, but we have to see how we resolve the issue from here.” (ESPN Cricinfo)