April 9 - 15, 2011
Sports International
TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS
2015 CWC is reduced to 10 teams THE INTERNATIONAL Cricket Council has confirmed its decision to cut team numbers for the World Cup from 14 to 10 starting with the 2015 tournament. It means there is no place for Ireland, who beat England in the 2011 World Cup. Only full ICC members - India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, England, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, West Indies, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe - will compete in four years time. For the 2019 event, the 10 teams will be decided by qualification. The possibility of a 12-team
tournament was also discussed by the ICC’s executive board at a meeting in Mumbai, but it opted to approve its previous decision to exclude all associate and affiliate member nations from the next edition of the competition. Apart from Ireland, who also beat Pakistan at the 2007 World Cup, the other nations outside the ICC’s full members to take part in the 2011 event were Kenya, Canada and the Netherlands. Associate members had opposed the change, and Ireland bowler Boyd Rankin apparently described Ireland’s exclusion as a “shambles” on Twitter. (BBC)
Phil Mickelson will be defending his Masters’ title
Mickelson looking to defend Masters’ title PHIL MICKELSON started as hot favourite to defend his title at the 75th Masters which began on Thursday. The 40-year-old three-time champion won last week and has 13 top-10 finishes in his 18 appearances at Augusta. Before Mickelson’s win in Houston, the year’s first major was being billed as one of the most open in recent years. Europe has six players in the world’s top 10, including the top-two ranked players - Germany’s Martin Kaymer and Lee Westwood of England. The last European to win at Augusta was Jose Maria Olazabal in 1999 but in Kaymer and Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell, the continent has the reigning USPGA and US Open champion respectively. England’s Luke Donald has an impressive record at Augusta with a best of third place in 2005, and has won in the United States this season - while countryman Justin Rose has led at some stage on all four days of the tournament and also brings some confidence from recent third and fifth places in PGA Tour events. Former world number one Tiger
Woods, now ranked seventh, is seeking a fifth Green Jacket but has been struggling for form after last year’s divorce and programme of swing changes under new coach Sean Foley. Woods, though, was fourth on his reappearance last year following a spell out of the game after a sex scandal and there are some, including former coach Hank Haney, who think he will feature prominently this week because of his knowledge and liking for the course. Woods’s last victory at Augusta was in 2005 and he won the last of his 14 major titles in 2008. A new breed of young Americans are also capturing the headlines for their big-hitting, putting prowess and confident approach. Nick Watney was seventh last year and is the form player on the PGA Tour, while Dustin Johnson went close in both the USPGA and US Open last year and has also had some good results this season. Bubba Watson lost in a play-off to Kaymer in the 2010 USPGA but left-handers are thought to have an advantage on certain holes at Augusta and could also feature. (BBC)
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New-look West Indies team named
WEST INDIES have announced a new-look squad for their oneoff Twenty20 international against Pakistan in St Lucia on April 21, featuring four new caps and recalls for Lendl Simmons and Marlon Samuels, who is once again eligible for selection after serving a two-year ban for his alleged involvement with illegal bookmakers. The match will be West Indies’ first since Pakistan eliminated them at the quarter-final stage of the World Cup, and true to the intentions of their coach, Ottis Gibson, the team is the first step towards a new era for Caribbean cricket, as it features few of the elder statesmen who were sent packing from the tournament with a humiliating ten-wicket defeat in Dhaka. Though Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard are not eligible for selection because they did
Barcelona crush Shakhtar Donetsk BARCELONA produced a Champions League masterclass as they took a giant stride towards the semifinals by crushing Shakhtar Donetsk 5-1 at the Camp Nou. The superb Andres Iniesta slotted them ahead before his majestic pass enabled Dani Alves to take a touch and prod in. Gerard Pique’s shot deflected in off Yaroslav Rakitskiy but Rakitskiy turned a cross in as Shakhtar pulled one back. However, Barca were rampant and Seydou Keita hit an unstoppable fourth before Xavi tapped in late on to wrap it up. Barca must still survive the second leg in Ukraine on Tuesday to complete their passage into the last four and if they do, they will almost certainly meet their great rivals Real Madrid, who dismantled Spurs 4-0 in their first leg. That would set up the mouth-watering prospect of four El Clasicos in the space of little more than two weeks, with the clubs also due to meet in La Liga on Saturday 16 April and in the Spanish Cup final on Wednesday 20 April. (BBC)
Marlon Samuels returns to the West Indies team.
not play in the Caribbean T20 earlier this year, there is no place either for Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan or Sulieman Benn. Darren Sammy retains his place as captain, with Devendra Bishoo and Andre Russell, two young players who made good impressions at the World Cup, both included. The uncapped inclusions are Danza Hyatt, a powerful Jamaican righthander; Christopher Barnwell, an allrounder from Guyana; Ashley Nurse, an off-spinner from Barbados, and left-arm seamer Krishmar Santokie, also from Jamaica. Simmons, the nephew of the Ireland coach, Phil, is back in the squad for the first time since the tour of Australia in 2010.
Clyde Butts, the chairman of selectors, said: “The squad includes players who have performed well in the Caribbean T20. We are looking to expose players as he build towards the next ICC World T20 Tournament next year. Samuels and Simmons have both played at this level before and performed consistently in the Caribbean T20. We believe they will be key members of this team. “Hyatt, Santokie and Nurse played in the West Indies A Team against Pakistan A and they did well. We have decided to give them the opportunity in the senior West Indies team and we believe they will make the transition to the higher level. Barnwell also did well in the Caribbean T20 and he also had exposure for Guyana in the Champions League last year. He is a lively and enthusiastic cricketer and we expect good things from him as well. “Hyatt is a hard-hitting batsman who has demonstrated his ability to be a match-winner when he played against Pakistan A. Santokie has been exceptional in the Caribbean T20 using the new ball for Jamaica. Nurse is a clever bowler, a hard worker and has the ability to make vital runs in the lower order as well.” West Indies squad Darren Sammy (capt), Christopher Barnwell, Devendra Bishoo, Darren Bravo, Andre Fletcher, Danza Hyatt, Ashley Nurse, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Krishmar Santokie, Lendl Simmons. (cricinfo)
Mahela Jayawardene and Sri Lanka selectors resign SRI LANKA vice-captain Mahela Jayawardene and the country’s four selectors have resigned following the World Cup final defeat by India. They follow Kumar Sangakkara, who quit as one-day and Twenty20 captain on Tuesday, but remains as Test captain. Ex-captain Jayawardene said the time was right to “move on”. The selectors, headed by former national skipper Aravinda de Silva, handed their resignations to Sri Lanka’s sports minister on Wednesday. The quartet’s term was due to end at the end of the month but De Silva, alongside Ranjith Fernando, Amal Silva and Azwer Ali chose to leave early in the wake of the sixwicket defeat by India in Mumbai on Saturday. (BBC)
Mahela Jayawardene resigns