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Windies success not solely down to Cameron, argues Skerritt Bridgetown, Barbados, Mar 13, CMC – Cricket West Indies presidential candidate, Ricky Skerritt, has debunked the idea that West Indies’ recent success against England can be credited solely to President Dave Cameron’s leadership. One of the successes attributed to Cameron during his six years in office has been the men and women’s senior teams’ capture of the Twenty20 World Cups three years ago, and the Youth Windies’ title at the ICC Under-19 World Cup that very same year. And more recently, West Indies stunned touring England in the three-Test series last month to regain the Wisden Trophy for the first time in a decade. However, Skerritt argued that Cameron needed not only to own the successes but the Windies failures as well, pointing out that the Windies were losing more in all formats under the Jamaican’s tenure. “The question about performance of the team is a grossly exaggerating topic and I don’t even like to talk about it because the mistake Mr Cameron has made, especially recently, is to try to associate himself with the success of the team but then distance himself from the failures,” Skerritt contended. “I know better than to associate any one man with the success or failure of a team but he does it when they win. I would suggest to Cameron that he not claim victory in team performance as one of his strengths.
Ricky Skerritt “The team performance is a work in progress and has to continue with a tremendous amount of input, and we have to be better at preparing our young talent and building our young talent to a level of competitiveness on a sustainable basis and that is where we have to invest our resources more.” Skerritt, who along with running mate Dr Kishore Shallow was hosted by UWI Cave Hill Campus after being initially snubbed by the Barbados Cricket Association, said he was also concerned that CWI had now become a “Cameron-centric” body. He charged that under Cameron, CWI was now more about the aspirations of its president than fulfilling the mandate of cricket development. “Sadly it has been my experience that CWI is fast becoming more of a Cameroncentric organisation … and less of a cricket-centric organisation,” the former St Kitts and Nevis Cabinet minister told the audience. “It’s no disrespect to
Cameron himself; I simply am speaking the truth. In short, it means the needs and fancies of Cameron himself have become bigger and more important than our cricket. “Various indicators have shown me that the politics of Cameron’s survival in this office matter more to him in this time than the well-being of our cricketers.” He added: “The performance of the elite teams only matter when they win, and the answer to losing a series is to fire the coaches no matter what the financial or other implications.” Skerritt and Shallow are campaigning ahead of the March 24 CWI elections in Jamaica, which will see them up against Cameron and current vice-president, Emmanuel Nanthan. The challengers have gained the backing of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board and the Leeward Islands Cricket Association but need a majority of the twelve votes are up for grabs – two each from the six territorial boards – in order to topple Cameron.
USA eye historic result in first ever T20I ESPNcricinfo - Today, USA will become the 28th country to play a men’s T20I when they take on UAE at the ICC Academy in Dubai. Coming from a place where T20 has been touted as the only possible gateway to crack the broader domestic sports market, the build-up has been low-key for what on paper is a historic occasion. But that hasn’t kept USA coach Pubudu Dassanayake and his players from appreciating the significance of the new frontier ahead of them. Speaking to ESPNcricinfo on the eve of USA’s first T20I outing, Dassanayake is hoping the two-match series will provide the opportunity to lay solid
Friday March 15, 2019
Kaieteur News
groundwork for a successful T20 World Cup Qualifying campaign later in the year as well as a lead-in to their attempt at securing ODI status at WCL Division Two in Namibia next month. “Of course, it’s the first T20 International USA is playing, so we want to win, so winning is important,” Dassanayake said. “But having said that, at the end of this year there’s a big tournament coming up, the T20 global qualifier and regional qualifiers. So we want to see what is our best combination and best players for that version. We’re going to try a few combinations tomorrow (today) and the day after and see what’s best for us. “When we are talking about T20 into the 50-overs,
we want to improve our death bowling, we want to improve our power-hitting ability. So all of these training tours, today, tomorrow and even the T20 games going into 50overs, we’ve got to cover a few things for us to shape up in the 50 overs as well.” USA’s biggest obstacle might have less to do with the opponents on the field and more to do with the effects of jet-lag. The squad had staggered arrivals over the course of the previous day, while Roy Silva missed the team’s lone training session altogether after his flight didn’t come in late yesterday morning. However, captain Saurabh Netravalkar was upbeat about how the team has acclimatised to the 32-degree (Continued on page 34)
Jumbo Jet Triple Crown’s Second Leg
‘Vera’s Finally’ returns after injury The Jumbo Jet Thoroughbred Racing Committee’s Triple Crown’s Second Leg will gallop off next Sunday at the Rising Sun Turf Club in Port Mourant, Berbice and according to Chairman of the Organising Committee, Nasrudeen Mohamed Jr., Vera’s Finally of the Jumbo Jet Racing Stable, is set to make her return to the turf for this leg. “The animal had been recuperating since her injury at Port Mourant Turf Club last December and she will be returning with her first start of the year at the Rising Sun Turf Club where she has never lost a race”, Mohamed noted in his correspondence to Kaieteur Sport. Almost 70 entries have been registered and it was shared by Mohamed Jr. that the track is in good condition and it will maintain
its standard once good weather upholds. He hinted that, “Turfites can expect to be fully entertained with a few surprise entries in the feature race.” Over $20million in cash and prizes are up grabs over the three legs of the Triple Crown event with the grand finale slated for Easter Sunday, April 21, at the Port Mourant Turf Club. Next Sunday’s feature race will attract a total prize purse of almost $2million with the winner of that ‘C’ Class and Lower contest pocketing $1million. The winner of the three-year-old Guyana bred race will pocket $400,000, the ‘F’ Class winner; $350,000, ‘H’ Class; $300,000, ‘I’ Class; $250,000, ‘J’ class; $230,000, ‘K’ Class; $220,000, ‘L’ Class; $200,000, ‘L’Class and lower; $140,000.
Vera’s Finally in action at the Port Mourant Turf Club last year.
Lewis Hamilton and F1 drivers pay tribute following race director’s death
Whiting (bottom left) had been involved in Formula 1 across five decades. BBCsport - Lewis Hamilton has described Charlie Whiting as an “iconic figure” in Formula 1 following the race director’s sudden death at the age of 66. Whiting, one of the most influential people in the sport, suffered a pulmonary embolism on Thursday morning in Melbourne. He was due to officiate this weekend’s season-opening Australian GP. “What he did for the sport, his commitment, he really was a pillar,” five-time world champion Hamilton said. “I’ve known Charlie since I started in 2007. Obviously, I’m incredibly shocked this morning to hear the sad news. “My thoughts and prayers are with his family. “He was such an iconic figure within the sporting world, and he contributed so much to us. May he rest in peace.” Whiting was head of Formula 1 for motorsport’s governing body the FIA, the official race starter and he oversaw all rules matters in F1. The Englishman had worked for the FIA since 1988 having initially joined as technical director. He was previously chief mechanic and then chief engineer of former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone’s Brabham team, which won world
championships in 1981 and 1983. Whiting began his F1 career with the Hesketh team in 1977, moving to Brabham for 1978 and staying there until he joined the FIA, where he had been a central part of the organisation’s running of F1 ever since. Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel said he had spoken to Whiting at the track on Wednesday and described him as “the drivers’ man”. “I walked the track for the first couple of corners with him,” Vettel said. “It is difficult to grasp when someone is just not there anymore. “He has been our man, the drivers’ man. There’s the regulation and then us, and he was the middle man. Any time his door was always open. He was a racer, just a very nice guy.” British driver Jenson Button, who won the world championship in 2009, said “we’ve lost such a lovely kind human being today who will be sadly missed”. “He always had the drivers safety and concerns in hand and didn’t worry about putting us in our place when we acted out of line,” he added. “My heart goes out to his family at this very difficult time.”