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Sammy says Windies players still best at shorter formats
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, CMC – Two-time World Cup-winning captain, Darren Sammy, says the plethora of West Indies picked up in the T10 League draft is an indication of the Caribbean’s strength in the game’s shorter forms. The former West Indies Test captain, who now plies his trade exclusively on the global Twenty20 circuit, will lead the Northern Warriors comprising players like Khary Pierre, Lendl Simmons, Obed McCoy, Rovman Powell and Kennar Lewis. West Indies players, including Twenty20 captain Carlos Brathwaite and superstar Chris Gayle, are otherwise scattered across the eight teams for the November 23 to December tournament set for the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. “It’s just so good to know so many West Indians are being picked up in the draft, especially from the recently concluded Caribbean Premier League – Khary Pierre, Sherfane Rutherford Bengal Tigers), Fabian Allen (Kerala Kings) and young Obed McCoy getting a look in in this format,” Sammy said following Monday’s draft. “I think the shorter format over the last two decades we’ve always done better. In the last three T20 World Cups we’ve been in at least the semi-finals, and won it twice (2012 and 2016). [In] one day cricket we were last in the final in 2006 in the Champions Trophy in Asia.” West Indies once dominated world cricket, especially during the late 1970s
Darren Sammy and 1980s, but have languished in the doldrums over the past two decades. In fact, West Indies have not won a Test series against top tier side since they beat New Zealand six years ago in the Caribbean and were also forced to play a qualifying tournament last March in order to reach next year’s World Cup in England, after finishing outside the top eight in the rankings at the September 30, 2017 cut-off date. Sammy believes, however, that the shorter formats can produce the type of development required for West Indies to flourish again in the longer formats. “If we can produce young cricketers coming through [from the CPL] like we’ve seen since the inclusion of the IPL – the youngsters India have produced, also Pakistan and Bangladesh – and now you see Afghani-
stan and the way they are rising,” the all-rounder pointed out. “It shows there is development that could happen through the shorter format of the game and hopefully for West Indies we could continue that and transfer that form to one-day first and then Test cricket.” The T10 League, similar to the popular Twenty20 formats, is a fast-paced version of the game which came on stream last year with much success. Sammy said he expected the second season to be just as entertaining, “T10 last year it was an amazing tournament and I’m looking forward to this. It’s just excitement,” he noted. “I call it like highlights cricket. It’s like you’re watching the highlights package from a game. It’s just sixes and fours and the wickets coming.”
FIFA moves closer to restricting loans, limiting agents fees Zurich (Reuters) - FIFA has moved closer to a reform of the transfer system after a key committee backed proposals to restrict loans and limit agents’ fees, the global soccer body said on Tuesday. The stakeholders committee, featuring representatives from clubs, leagues, players and national associations, also approved a plan to create a clearing house to process transfers, following a meeting in London. However, it did not mention a proposal in a white paper produced by its transfer system task force — which was seen by Reuters earlier this month — to create an algorithm to calculate transfer fees.FIFA said it was agreed that loans should be used for the “purpose of youth devel-
Thursday September 27, 2018
Kaieteur News
opment as opposed to commercial exploitation” and there should be a limit on the number of loans each club could make in a given season. The committee also supported “new and stronger regulations for agents” including limits on how much they could earn and on how many different parties they could represent in a given transaction. FIFA said the clearing house would be to “process transfers with the aim of protecting the integrity of foot-
ball and avoiding fraudulent conduct.”“We have brought everyone to the table and all key actors of the industry have understood that we need to take action, leading today to this reform proposal,” said FIFA president Gianni Infantino in the statement. “This is a significant first step toward achieving greater transparency... and developing a consensus on how to tackle the issue of agents, loans and other key aspects of the transfer system.”
2019 Road World Championships
Yorkshire to host first team time trial mixed relay Men and women will race together for their nations for the first time in the 2019 Road World Championships in Yorkshire. The team time-trial mixed relay is being introduced as part of a drive to “encourage gender equality”. UCI president David Lappartient said the new event was designed to “increase the attractiveness” of cycling. The Worlds, including Para-cycling for the first time, are on 21-29 September with races finishing in Harrogate.The new mixed relay race will feature three men and three women competing for national teams. “We have pledged to deliver an inclusive, innovative and inspiring World Championships,” Yorkshire 2019 chairman Chris Pilling said. “We are therefore enormously excited to be the first host to integrate Para-cycling into the programme.” The team time trial mixed relay will see the men compete a 14km lap around Harrogate with the women’s trio setting off on the same circuit once the second rider in the men’s team has crossed the line. The final time is taken when the second women’s rider crosses the finish line with the overall quickest time winning.Lappartient added: “The race, a UCI [cycling’s
Britain is hosting the Road World Championships for the fourth time the previous was in Goodwood in 1982. governing body] initiative, will replace the trade team time trial and will see men and women competing together for their nation.“I cannot wait to witness this first-ever race, which is part of the UCI’s drive to further increase the attractiveness of our Road World Championships, encourage gender equality, and showcase National Federations and their riders. “After the Tour de France Grand Depart in 2014 and the consequent creation of the legacy Tour de Yorkshire, this magnificent region has left us in no doubt that the World Championships will be a memorable occasion.” That 14km lap around Harrogate, which features an undulating, rather than hilly route, will also provide the finale to the men’s and women’s
elite road races. The men set off from Leeds and will tackle seven laps of the Harrogate circuit after almost 200km of racing through the Yorkshire Dales, taking in climbs such as Buttertubs and Grinton Moor, which attracted thousands of spectators when the Tour de France passed through the region. The women’s race, which sets off in Bradford, heads north through Nidderdale to Masham before heading back to Harrogate for three laps of the spa town.“The Championships will be taking place less than a year out from the Olympic Games, with riders seeking to earn precious qualification points for Tokyo 2020. This will add to the excitement of the racing on the roads of Yorkshire,” concluded Lappartient.
Championships bring cash windfall for Bermuda Hamilton, Bermuda, CMC – The Masters World Ball Hockey Championships have brought 600 visitors to the island which will reap nearly US$1 million in economic benefit, according to the Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA). The championships, which got under way on Tuesday night, involve 12 men’s and five women’s teams from the United States, Canada, Greece, Italy, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Portugal and Bermuda. All the players are over 40 with a few exceptions. “There are 600 people here for this event this week,” said Kevin Dallas, chief executive officer of the BTA, who said the Hamilton Princess Hotel had booked more than 1,200 room nights spanning the five-day championships. Dallas added: “This is a very different kind of event than the triathlon, but it’s similar in that these events bring players’ families.” The island hosted a World Triathlon Series (WTS) event in April – the women’s race was won by Bermudian Flora Duffy – and is set to stage the WTS grand final here in 2021. Dallas said additional value came from the social media exposure for the island. “It sounds like we have 600 new promoters for Bermuda,” he said. Dallas said he believed that hosting this week’s ball hockey tournament – which began with Bermuda upsetting the Czech Republic 3-2 – would begin “a lasting partnership” with the international teams.
Kevin Dallas
Pat Phillip-Fairn, the BTA’s chief product and experiences development officer, said the championships marked “another way for Bermuda to demonstrate that we’re able to host wonderful events in the fall through the winter”. Ball hockey is a team sport and a variation of ice hockey and a specific variation of the game of street hockey. It is patterned after and closely related to ice hockey, except the game is played on foot on a non-ice surface, player equipment is different, and a ball is used instead of a puck.