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THE VINCENTIAN. FRIDAY, JULY 25, 2014. 5.
Regional
Antiguan women condemn Chris Gayle THE MAN ON WHOSE behalf Dr. Ralph Gonsalves. Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, intervened with the West Indies Cricket Board during an impasse that had seen the man removed from West Indies cricket duty, is playing himself again. Christopher Gayle, the man with whom West Indies cricket fans have a love-hate relationship, has found himself embroiled in controversy, yet again. This time, he has fallen afoul of a women’ rights group in Antigua, for a comment he made in response to a female reporter, during a press conference in the lead-up to the Jamaica TallawahsAntgiua Hawksbill Caribbean Premier League (CPL) game in Antigua. Gayle, a former West Indies Test skipper, was asked by the journalist: “How does the pitch feel so far in terms of the
training (and) the weather?” The Jamaican, responded: “Well, I haven’t touched yours yet, so I don’t know how it feels,” before adding, “I like your smile; that’s nice.” That comment has evoked the ire of the Antigua- based Women Against Rape (WAR), headed by gender equity advocate Alexandrina Wong. Not only has the group condemned Gayle’s comments as “sexist”, but it also criticised the response by the CPL to the incident. The Antigua Observer reported CPL as saying that Gayle was sharing a light moment with the female journalist. “Chris is excited for the tournament and was having a laugh with a journalist, who had a laugh back; there was no malice intended,” the Antigua Observer quoted a CPL spokesman as saying. “The lady in question had a
jovial goodbye chat with him and we don’t believe this was the action of someone who was offended.” Wong slammed Gayle’s statement, and also called on the CPL to elicit an apology from the Twenty20 star. “What it’s implying is one person’s power over another in the use of the language, and so we can either say it’s sexist and hegemonic,” Wong said, adding that the response from the reporter, “indicates that she obviously doesn’t know her right to autonomy.” “She obviously doesn’t know Alexandrina Wong, of the her right when it comes to agency of body so that she can Women’s Against Rape group in Antigua, has called identify certain types of for an apology from language, how they allude to Christopher Gayle and the her biology and what it’s saying about her as a person,” CPL. (Photo Credit: Photo Shack Antigua) Wong continued. “CPL should demand [an when it comes to gender apology] from him because, as equality.” senior officials, they ought to Up to press time, the CPL know and to behave better
One again, Christopher Gayle is having a laugh at the expense of West Indies people. had made no further comment on the matter. Yet again, it seems Christopher Gayle will escape with what seems to be ‘his right’ to stamp on the pride and personages of Caribbean people. What can we expect when both the highest decisionmaking body of West Indies cricket and Caribbean prime ministers by their support for him, condone his continuing attitude of ‘I’ll-do-as-I-please’ attitude. (Source: Caribbean 360)
St. Lucia Police on the attack
AS SPECULATION RUNS rife about a Venezuela drug cartel presence in St. Vincent and the Grenadines as being responsible for recent fatal shootings here, in neighbouring St. Lucia, Commissioner of Police Vernon Francois says intelligence obtained by that country’s police suggests that the recent spate of violence and shootings in that country’s capital over the past two weeks, is a result of the activities of criminal gangs. Addressing a news conference last week Thursday, Francois is said to have declared that his men will spare no effort in going after the criminals, and ensuring that they are brought to justice. Police have been investigating five murders and several other shootings within city limits over the past weeks, and this week announced that a number of
arrests had been made. Francois told journalists that the police force has added the new strategy of using intelligence to target specific, instead of conducting regular patrols. The Commissioner reported that the police force was able through intelligence-led policing to deal with a spate of violence in an area known as Morne Du Don. He assured that the same strategies will be used to rid (the currently affaected) communities of the individuals responsible for
the recent shootings. “We will not back down…we have achieved some degree of success,” he added. And in a no holds barred warning, François declared, “I want to warn the criminals in those areas that we are out to get them, and there is not going to be any back down on our part. We are going to do everything it takes, within the laws of St. Lucia, to deal with the criminal elements in our midst.”
Armed police patrols will be lessened in St. Lucia in favour of the use of police intelligence.
ÂBring back the fire,Ê says Curtly
ANTIGUAN-BORN Sir Curtly Ambrose, one of the most menacing fast bowlers to have ever played the game of cricket, says the game’s rulers need to make test matches more exciting, by creating quicker pitches and removing restrictions on short-pitched bowling. The former West Indies pacer made the comments while speaking with ‘Standard Sport’ news, just before the start of the test series between England and India, currently underway. Sir Curtly warned that if changes are not made to make test cricket more exciting, the level of interest in the format will continue to decline. “The two-bouncers-per-over rule [restricting the number of short-pitched balls a fast bowler can deliver] has also taken away a lot of the flair from cricket,” said Ambrose. “The International Cricket Council needs to look at it again.” Vernon Francois, St. Lucia’s The former fast bowler’s comments Police Commissioner, has come against a backdrop of decreasing warned the criminals in his attendance at test matches around the country that the police are out to world, not least being in the West get them. (Photo: St. Lucia Star)
Sir Curtly Ambrose made many a batsman take evasive action. Indies. “If a fast bowler can bowl only a limited number of short balls, you’re taking away a weapon from him,” he said to Standard Sport. “If a batsman is playing the hook shot, the fast bowler needs to be able to see whether that was a fluke, or whether he is serious. Of course, the umpire should step in if the bowler is overdoing it, but don’t take away the excitement. It’s so difficult for a fast bowler today.”
One of the 405 test wickets that Sir Curtly Ambrose took in his 98 test matches for the West Indies. He lamented that today’s cricket is too one-sided; that it is all about the batsman. “If you go to a Test match and there is no excitement, it is going to turn people off. If there is a good fast bowler who can rattle the batsman, people enjoy that. When a batsman takes on a fast bowler, people love that competition, regardless of which teams are playing. That is certainly the case in the Caribbean.” (Source: Standard Sport, UK)