50
Sport
WEEK ENDING August 17, 2014 | guyanatimeSinternational.com
“I hope to get West Saint Lucian-born footballer two-year deal with Indies cricket back signs English Premier League club on top” - Lloyd
C
onvenor of the new West Indies selection panel, Clive Lloyd, believes the thinking of batsmen will need to improve if the regional team is to regain its place in world cricket. Speaking days after it was officially announced that he would occupy the post of the six-member panel for the next two years, Lloyd said it's his belief that the region still has an abundance of talent. However, he says unless players can properly study and analyse batting situations then positive results will continue to prove elusive. "If you notice almost every time there is a close game we get beaten," said Lloyd. "Our thinking has got to be a lot better and we are hoping to inject this into our play and into the young players that are coming through. "We have some good bowlers around the place, but our batting has not been up to par, especially in Test cricket," said Lloyd.
Clive Lloyd
"I want to see people bat ugly. It's not every day that you are going to be able to drive it around. "You've got to be able to battle your way out of situations." Lloyd, who captained the West Indies to double-winning World Cup success in the late 1970s, also explained his mantra of getting batsmen to "love to bat" for long periods. "We should not be bowled out in two sessions in a Test match, or be beaten in two and half days in a Test match. I think we are much better than that," he said. The 69-year-old
Lloyd, who will have Courtney Walsh, Eldine Baptiste, Courtney Browne and West Indies coach, Ottis Gibson, as voting panel members, also hopes to leave a lasting impression in what could be his last role for the West Indies. "This is probably my last innings and I hope to get West Indies cricket back on top," said Lloyd. The selection panel is completed by captains of the respective West Indies Test, one-day and Twenty20 teams. Lloyd, whose first job was to select the recent West Indies one-day team for the upcoming Bangladesh home series, said he wanted "to thank the outgoing selectors for what they did". "It is not an easy job and I was chairman of cricket when they were selected," he said. The outgoing selectors are Clyde Butts and Robert Haynes. The two were part of the previous three-man panel, with Browne being the other member. (Jamaica Gleaner)
B
IRMINGHAM, ENGLAND: Saint Lucianborn footballer Janoi Donacien, who turns 21 in November 2014, signed a new two-year deal in July with the Premier League club Aston Villa that he joined in 2009. Donacien had moved to Luton in the United Kingdom with his parents in 2001 and, just two years ago, through the intervention of the Saint Lucian Overseas Mission in the UK, he was given the right to live and work in the country where he has grown up. He is a central defender, and having followed the likes of Gabriel Agbonlahor, Gareth Barry, and Gary Cahill through the AVFC’s highly acclaimed youth system at Bodymoor Heath, Janoi Donacien featured in Villa winning the Barclays Premier Reserve League South title in 2011-12. Twelve months later, he was an integral part of the team that triumphed in the NextGen
Saint Lucian-born footballer Janoi Donacien
Series European competition, alongside the likes of Callum Robinson, Jack Grealish and Samir Carruthers. He is now keen to follow the lead of Robinson, Grealish and Carruthers by earning a taste of first team football. In 2013-14, manager Paul Lambert named him on the bench for the FA Cup clash against Sheffield United, and the Barclays Premier League game against Sunderland. “I am so happy that the club has given me an opportunity to sign for another two years,” said Janoi. “This is the right club for me to keep
on progressing. I had a discussion with the manager at the end of the season and he said that hopefully I would be looking to progress at the club. “There are a lot of top players at this club who I am hoping to learn from. Hopefully I can get a good pre-season under my belt, get a good run-out and continue my progress. I have been on the fringes of the first team, which was good for my progression. All of the senior lads have been very helpful and it is good to have people encourage you.” (Caribbean News)
Jody Brown: The baby-faced assassin of ‘Young Girlz’
Jody Brown (#10) leaves the field after her team’s 9-0 demolition of Anguilla at the ongoing CONCACAF Female Under-15 Championship in the Cayman Islands
W
EST BAY, G R A N D CAYMAN: She is the darling of the CONCACAF Female Under-15 tournament here in the Cayman Islands. Despite being only 12 years old, she is a lethal goalscoring machine. Jody Brown has been deemed the baby face assassin from Ocho Rios. Standing at just five feet and weighing just 85 pounds, Jody's T-shirt can barely fit on her slender shoulders. She may be small in frame, but she sure has a big heart, speed to burn and a natural knack for scoring goals. Having hit four goals in Jamaica's 9-0 hammering of Anguilla, Jody told the Jamaica
Observer that she is enjoying every moment of her experience here. "I feel good. I am excited," said the shy 12-year-old Lime Hall Primary School student, who recently passed her G-Sat exams for Ocho Rios High School. Brown, who scored the most goals in the Under-15 Parish League, is a big follower of Brazilian star Neymar and forced her way into coach Xavier Gilbert's starting line-up for the crucial game against Costa Rica on Monday night. "Jody is a very promising player. She is very good in front of goal and just have a knack for finishing and is an important member of the team," Gilbert pointed
out. "That's how good she is... but she is so young that I have to try and mould her so I don't want to pressure her at this tender age because I want her to enjoy the game as much as possible," he added. Gilbert, the sports coordinator of Excelsior High School and coach of Waterhouse women's team, believes Jamaica has unearthed a gem. "She knows when to take one or two touches and is not a player that goes for power. She always tries to place the ball just wide of the goalkeeper. "When I saw her in the National Under-15 competition, I noticed that and she managed to score 20 goals and was the leading goalscorer," said Gilbert. Naturally, comparisons are drawn. Gilbert claims Jody reminds him of a young Venecia Reid, who is now one of Jamaica's top women footballers. "She is just a real good finisher. Once she gets the ball she will find the back of the net," Gilbert reiterated. (Jamaica Observer)