TURKS AND CAICOS SUN
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JANUARY 27TH - FEBRUARY 3RD, 2012
EXPECTATIONS RUN HIGH FOR CHRIS GAYLE "He was at his destructive best in IPL 2011, and one can safely assume that we will see a lot more fireworks emanate from his blade in the forthcoming IPL seasons." - INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE CHAIRMAN
Gayle signs two-year deal with Royal Challengers Bangalore MUMBAI, India — Estranged West Indies batsman Chris Gayle inked a new deal yesterday with Bangalore Royal Challengers (RCB) for the next two seasons of the Indian Premier League. Media reports indicated that Gayle is set to earn US$500,000 (J$43 million) under the deal. Gayle was part of the Kolkata Knight Riders for the first three seasons of the lucrative tournament, but he went unsold in last year's players' auction. This proved to be a slice of good fortune for RCB and Gayle. He later joined the franchise as an injury replacement player for Australian leftarm fast bowler Dirk Nannes. Gayle went on to become the highest scorer in last year's IPL and won the Orange Cap as well. He also
played for Royal Challengers in the Champions League Twenty20, leading the side to the final, where they lost to the Mumbai Indians. "We are delighted to make Chris Gayle a permanent member of our IPL squad," said Siddhartha Mallya, director of Royal Challengers Sports Pvt Ltd, in a media release. "He is one of the best batsmen in the world. His form helped us qualify for the final of the 2011 edition of the tournament." "We are confident that with players like him in our side, we will take the extra step this season, and win our maiden IPL title." Gayle said he was happy to be back at his home away from home. "I had a great time representing RCB last year," he said. "It is a terrific outfit. The players are brilliant.
"They are complemented by the support-staff and administrators, all of whom have gone out of their way to make the players comfortable, and give them the freedom to express themselves on the field. To me, Bangalore has been a home away from home." IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla said Gayle adds a lot of value to the tournament with his explosive batting. "Chris Gayle is one of those cricketers who was born to excel in all formats of the sport," he said. "He was at his destructive best in IPL 2011, and one can safely assume that we will see a lot more fireworks emanate from his blade in the forthcoming IPL seasons." Gayle has not played for West Indies since last year's World Cup on the Asian sub-continent, following a
Chris Gayle
long-running dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board over controversial remakes he made in an interview with a radio station in his native Jamaica. Meantime, a leading Indian firm announced that Gayle will be brand ambassador for its line of whiskey. Gayle also signed a deal to be brand ambassador for Whyte & Mackay whiskey of Vijay Mallya's UB Group, which also owns RCB.
Explosive Trinidad and Olympic gold medalist in Tobago batting demolishes 400metre hurdles doubtful Jamaica about running the flat 400metre IF you can run and jump 10 barriers while competing in the 400m hurdles in 52.42 seconds, can you imagine how fast that person can go if he'she runs the flat 400m without any obstacles? The general thought is that person would do extremely well, but track and field isn't that straightforward. Olympic 400m hurdles champion Melaine Walker decimated a world-class field at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in 52.64secs and a year later, miraculously went faster, adding the Berlin World Championship in 52.42, the second fastest time ever over the distance. The world record of 52.34 (SET IN 2003) is held by Russian Yuliya Pechonkina. Quizzed by the Observer if she would consider running the flat 400, Walker smiled, bit her lips and replied: "I'm not sure. I'm not a lover of the flat 400, neither the 400 hurdles, but it's working for me and I'm grateful for the 400m hurdles, but I don't think I'll be a great 400 flat runner", she asserted. The 400 hurdles race is one of the most demanding of all events in the sprint-hurdle group. It requires speed, endurance, and hurdling technique, all along with unique awareness and special concentration throughout the race. Being one of, if not the best, in that gruelling event, Walker would find the flat event much easier. "Over the years I have run 4x400s and run really great, but that's when I was
a sprinter. Now it is different, I haven't run it in a while, so I don't know what my potential is. "But I'm thinking about doing a couple this year and see what it looks like, then I will know if I'm able to run 4x400 or not," said Walker. With Jamaica's 1600m relay team constantly falling short in getting the better of the powerful United States team and sometimes the Russians, some pundits believe that her inclusion in the relay squad would bolster Jamaica's chances of winning that elusive gold medal. "I'm always open to run a relay leg, but it's for the people who made their spots and vow not to give it up and I'm not going to bear the burden of knowing that someone wanted to compete and I actually didn't run a flat 400 and given a spot, then I'm been envied for that spot. "I always said if there is a spot I can take, please have that person who want me to take their spot tell me that it's OK, then I will run," she said. As for defending her Olympic title in London, Walker, who turned 29 on January 1, said everything is going according to plan so far. "I can say all things going well so far and I'm very pleased. I'm not having too much problems and I'm dealing with it and...training well," said the former St Jago star who in 1999 was second in the 200 metres at the World Youth Championship in Poland.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados — Explosive batting led by Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard followed by crippling bowling coasted Trinidad & Tobago to their second straight Caribbean Twenty20 title on Sunday with a crushing 63-run victory over Jamaica. Bravo smashed four fours and three sixes in the top-score of 49 from 43 balls and Pollard was just himself, slamming one four and four sixes, three in the final over from Krishmar Santokie, supporting with 39 not out from 13 balls, as T&T posted a challenging 168 for five from their allocation of 20 overs in the Grand Final at Kensington Oval. Before a near capacity crowd, T&T's bits-and-pieces bowling attack never allowed Jamaica's typically free-scoring batsmen room to shake the shackles free and restricted the double-crown regional champions to 105 for five in their 20 overs. It was the second time T&T defeated Jamaica in a regional T20 final and avenged their loss in the Regional Super50 final last October in Guyana, preventing Jamaica from becoming Triple Crown champions. This was also the first major tournament that T&T have won under new captain Denesh Ramdin, following the controversial resignation of the long-standing Daren Ganga. The biggest prize for T&T, however, is a third trip to the lucrative Champions League T20 later this year in India, where they will face the world's best T20 franchises. Meantime, Jamaica's senior head coach Junior Bennett said inconsistent batting and sub-par fielding in the final against Trinidad & Tobago cost the nation its first hold on the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Caribbean Twenty20 (CT20) title. He bemoaned the fact that despite team talks and careful planning, poor execution played a significant role in the resounding and profoundly embarrassing 63-run loss to Trinidad & Tobago in Sunday evening's final played under artificial lights. "We dropped chances and they were crucial catches at crucial stages of the game. Having Trinidad 86-4 in the 15th over we couldn't have asked for better than that. We discussed the players for Trinidad that could really hurt us and they were the ones we dropped and it cost us dearly. We let two of them off the hook. "I don't think our batting was consistent throughout the tournament. We didn't get the starts at the top of the order. Aside from that, we bowled exceptionally well and our fielding was okay, but in the final it let us down," he said.