sport
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WEEK ENDING JULY 9, 2015 | www.caribbeantimesinternational.com
TT women fly out Patriots win their 3rd to Pan Am games game behind a sturdy Hero CPL…
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ORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD: Minister of Sport Brent Sancho says the threat by some TT senior women’s team players not to board a flight bound for Canada on Monday would have been realised had it not been for his intervention. In a telephone interview, Sancho said he convinced the players to take the flight after giving them the assurance that he would look into issues, some of which were made public by one of the players, Kennya Cordner, who took to social media over the weekend in a critical post directed to the TT Football Association (TTFA). On Saturday, Cordner posted the following on Facebook: “So on Monday 6th of July I would not be going to Canada without any stipend this is ridiculous now I would let ppl know wat alyuh about TTFA because this is not fair to us, why must the men be in comfort while we suffer not any more I'm so fed up of you all treating us like this no more.” With these concerns, some players threatened to boycott the event. Sancho said he received a call the night before from one of the players, which brought some of the issues to his attention. He said he wants the TTFA to be “transparent and open.” “They have to let us know what happened.” Sancho said he could not understand what the issues were in terms of match fees and preparation for the
Pan Am Games since the TTFA recently received “Gold Cup money” from Concacaf. “The federation got money from Concacaf for preparation for the Gold Cup and airfare but we (Government) are paying for airfare,” Sancho said. However, in a subsequent interview, TTFA general secretary Sheldon Phillips said the Minister may have been mistaken when it came to the figures. “We did not receive TT$100,000 from Concacaf (for the Gold Cup). We received around TT$33,000, which did go towards the two Pan Am teams.” He said the association “received an advance” from Concacaf in the absence of Ministry subventions which would have gone toward the Pan American Games. In terms of the women team’s preparation for the Games, Phillips noted that the ongoing Women’s Premier League (WPL) featured all national women players and allowed them to prepare through a number of friendly matches, including one against a WPL XI. The women’s team is scheduled to kick off the account at the Pan American Games on Saturday with a clash against Argentina and will play Colombia and Mexico on July 14 and 18, respectively, at the preliminary stage. The men will face Uruguay (July 13), Paraguay (July 17) and Mexico (July 21). (TT Guardian)
Lara to stage clinic on eve of CPL final
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ORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD: -Batting legend Brian Lara will host a clinic in Trinidad for thousands of children ahead of the Caribbean Premier League final later this month. The former West Indies captain, a CPL Twenty20 ambassador, will stage the event on July 25 - the eve of the grand final at Queen's Park Oval. "Passing on my skills and experience to youngsters is something that has always been really important to me and I'm excited about this chance to work with all these talented kids in my hometown," said Lara. "CPL is all about inspiring West Indians of all ages to get excited about cricket again, and I hope events like this will help us find our next generation of cricketing legends." Lara is considered by many as the finest batsman of the contemporary era, gathering 11,953 runs from 131 Tests at an average of 52. His career aggregate is the most by a West Indies batsman. He scored 34 centuries and still holds the world records for the highest ever score in
Batting legend Brian Lara
first-class cricket and the highest individual Test score in a Test innings. Damien O'Donohoe, the CPL's chief executive, said he was thrilled by the idea. "Brian is a living legend and it's going to be amazing to see the positive impact his masterclass will have on the local kids who will attend," O'Donohoe said. "This year's CPL has seen thousands of children [being] entertained and inspired by the best cricketers from the West Indies and across the world. The
CPL players have attended schools across the region, speaking to the children about what it takes to make it to the top of whatever profession they choose. "Brian's masterclass will be the perfect way to sign off this programme of events with the children of Trinidad and, fingers crossed, we may even identify the next Brian Lara while bringing the biggest party in sport to the Queen's Park Oval." The CPL bowled off on June 20 in Barbados and is currently ongoing.(CMC)
bowling perfromance
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Tabraiz Shamsi celebrates the wicket of Jason Holder to the dismay of Tridents Captain Kieron Pollard in the background
EORGETOWN, GUYANA: A second consecutive superb bowling performance from the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots saw them register their third win of the 2015 Hero Caribbean Premier League season and consolidate their position at third in the league table, while the Barbados Tridents have now lost two in a row. Tabraiz Shamsi followed his 4-23 against Jamaica Tallawahs with an even more impressive 4-10 as the Patriots restricted the Tridents to just 135-8 from their 20 overs, a target that the Patriots chased in 17.1 overs for the loss of only two wickets with Marlon Samuels scoring 71 not out off 54 balls. Chinaman bowler Shamsi dismissed Dwayne Smith, Shai
Hope, Jason Holder and Jonathan Carter in a superb four over spell that tore the heart from the Tridents’ innings. His most recent eight overs in the CPL have reaped 8-33 – it is safe to say a star has been born. Shamsi was assisted well by Shahid Afridi who also followed his strong performance against the Tallawahs of 2-10 with 3-34. The Tridents have Kieron Pollard to thank that they posted as many as they did. Pollard’s 33ball 49, which helped the table-toppers blitz 47 from their last 18 balls was the only score of more than 20 in the innings. The Patriots lost Evin Lewis for just 10 in the third over of their innings but never once looked as if they would be troubled chas-
ing what was certainly a below-par total. Given the Patriots success with their spin bowlers it was surprising that Robin Peterson was not introduced into the attack until the fifteenth over. Martin Guptill and Samuels played sensible innings lined with moments of panache to carry the Patriots to a deeply impressive eight wicket victory in front of a passionate home crowd. As the pitches continue to wear the Patriots will be hopeful that spin-duo Shamsi and Afridi can continue to set up similar victories. The Patriots are back in action on Wednesday against the Guyana Amazon Warriors. The Tridents play next on Saturday in the heavyweight clash against the Tallawahs. (CPL.com)