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www.caribbeantimesinternational.com | week ending August 22, 2013
Dant Sports Club grabs its ninth Caribbean championship title in seven years cricketers
feeling Limacol CPL excitement in Canada
Members of Dant Sports Club pose for a photo after winning the match against Sunshine Sports Club in the Canadian Soft Ball cricket league knock-out championship earlier this month
A
n inspired spell of fast bowling from former Canadian national player Aftab Shamsudeen propelled Dant Sports Club to a scorching 48-run win over rival Sunshine Sports Club in the Canadian Soft Ball cricket league knockout championship played on August 10, 2013 in Brampton Ontario. Despite being the club with best batting line up in Canada, Dant only mustered a mere 113 all out in 19.5 overs. After winning the toss, Sunshine’s skipper Wesley “Bobby” Parasnauth invited Dant to take first strike. Dant suffered a vital blow when they lost their skipper, Muniram Karan, in the second over of the inning.
Sunshine’s pace bowler Anil Mahadeo then picked up the wicket of Farook Hussain for 19. Wally Baccus was also instrumental in claiming the wicket of Yadram “Lara” Bogh for 15 and Looknaught Ramsuchit, who was caught out at deep mid-wicket for (6). Looknaught’s departure brought to the crease former Guyana under-nineteen player, Riaz Kasim, who was very effective in putting together a half century stand for the fifth wicket with Aftab Shamsudeen before Shamsudeen was run out. Opening the bowling for Dant was Damodar Dasrath, who created history by bowling Bernard Kartick first ball of Sunshine’s reply. This set the tone for a stimulat-
WICB happy with success... “The combination of some of the best regional and international T20 players with the amazing carnival, party-like atmosphere for which the Caribbean is renowned has turned the eyes and ears of the world to our shores, and we could not be more pleased about that exposure”. The Limacol CPL is being broadcast on television in India, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, the Caribbean and the USA, reaching millions of viewers through such networks as ESPN3, Fox Sports, BT Sports and Sony. ESPN Caribbean also produces a weekly highlights show of the Tournament which airs on the ESPN Caribbean television network and online at ESPN Play. In addition, the Line and Length Radio Network offers live ball-by-ball commentary of all the matches which airs on 22 radio stations in the Englishspeaking Caribbean and reaches over 850,000+ listeners. The Limacol CPL has also developed a strong presence on social media networks Facebook and Twitter, with thousands of fans and followers keeping up to date on the latest
President of the West Indies Cricket Board Whycliffe “Dave” Cameron
news and match information from the six franchise teams. Celebrities such as actor Mark Wahlberg– part owner of the Barbados Tridents–and Virgin Group Chairman Sir Richard Branson–sponsor of the Antigua Hawksbills team– who tweet about the Tournament, have added to the interest. Cameron said that he is impressed by the hidden talent that is emerging as a result of the League. “Players like young Nicholas Pooran (TT Red Steel) and the likes of Rayad Emrit (Barbados Tridents), Sheldon Cotterell (Antigua Hawksbills) and Steven
ed spell of fast bowling from Shamsudeen. His first victim was former Guyana national player, Wazim Haslim, brilliantly caught behind by former Guyana national footballer Orin Oneal. Shamsudeen went onto to clean up the next five batsmen, claiming figures of 6 for 9. Dasrath then came back for his second spell in which he claimed another 2 wickets to finish with tidy figures of 3-10, while Kasim had 1-15. In the end, Sunshine stumbled to 65 all out, with extras being the top score of 30. At the presentation, businessman and owner of Dant Sports Club, Andrew Persaud was full of praise for his manager Zanil Jumrali, along with his players.
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Jacobs (Guyana Amazon Warriors) to name a few, that may have flown under the radar or been overshadowed by the bigger names in the region, have now been given their time to shine, and they are indeed taking advantage of that opportunity. “I expect that the Limacol CPL will open many doors for these young men to play cricket all over the world and it’s satisfying to know that it all started with the LCPL.” Limacol CPL Chief Executive Officer Damien O’Donohoe agrees. “As the Governing Authority for cricket in the region, the WICB have shown great foresight and support in how they have partnered with us to develop the LCPL. While in our inaugural year of the Tournament we recognise we have a long way to go to build and achieve all our mutual goals, we are warmed by the reception that the WICB and all local territorial boards have provided throughout and the passion with which they have interacted with us concerning our future development programmes which we think will yield far reaching results for the sport in the region.” (WICB)
Travis Blyden walking off the field after scoring his century Photo and story by Ravendra Madholall
E
ven as they continue to dominate the sport in Canada, cricketers from the Caribbean have expressed great excitement with the ongoing Limacol Caribbean Premier League (CPL) tournament when when ends this weekend in Trinidad. “The tournament (is) fantastic so far and (although I am) not getting the opportunity to be at the ground in Guyana or Trinidad and Tobago, I am definitely enjoying it from North America, both on the Internet and television,” said Guyaneseborn Travis Blyden. Former West Indies player Keith Semple, who had been classified as an elegant batsman during his career for Guyana, was also sentimental and in strong support of the Amazon Warriors to win the tournament. “I think Guyana has a balanced team and they will do well. Yes, you have got four strong and good teams vying for the trophy but, I am confident my countrymen will come out on top,” Semple related to this newspaper, following the weekend matches of the Toronto and District Cricket Association Elite and Premier divisions at King City ground. Both cricketers were among several other Caribbean players who pulled off some impressive, individual performances during the matches in Toronto. Former Guyana under-19 captain Eugene Lafluer captured a five-wicket haul in the Premier League for Victoria Parks Cricket Club, while his compatriot Blyden chalked up another hundred (122*) for Civics Cricket Club. Trinidadian and former Canada off-spinner Abzal Dean and his fellow countryman Jason Patraj were in the wickets col-
umn for Brampton Masters Cricket Club and Vikings Cricket Club respectively in the Elite Division. Guyanese Soraine Durand also waltzed his way to an unbeaten 118 for Vikings while former Guyana and West Indies batsman Royston Crandon turned in with a fine all-round performance for Vikings, making 33 runs and picking up three wickets. The left-arm orthodox spinner Lafluer, spun web around Mississauga Ramblers batsmen to collect five wickets for four runs from his economical fourover spell. And in the other game, he snatched three wickets to help Victoria Park beat Lords by 17 runs. His team batted first and totalled up 179 all out with former Canada under-19 batsman Ryan Lall top-scoring with 61. Islanders Cricket Club had mixed fortunes on Saturday and Sunday. They lost to Brampton by a massive 182-run margin while they rebounded on Sunday to defeat Toronto Cricket Club by five wickets. Former Guyana and Canada fast bowler Eion katchay proved his batting capability by making a fighting 44 on Saturday while Shan Shadrose made 46 the following day. Meanwhile, Blyden, who has scored four centuries this year so far, expressed great delight with his form while he thanked the admirable support from former Guyana and West Indies batsman Semple, during his unforgettable innings. Semple, who captained Guyana at the highest level, was with him on 33, while fellow Guyanese Fredi Pestano chipped in with 30. Off-spinner Elton Baker, another Guyanese, grabbed four wickets for 19 runs from five overs when they bowled out the opposition.