West Indies Test captain Jason Holder and One-Day International captain Kieron Pollard are among 10 cricketers who rejected call-ups for next month’s tour of Bangladesh due to ‘Covid-19 related concerns or personal fears’. The other players who ‘declined the opportunity to tour’ for similar reasons are: Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, Roston …
Read More »Best: Holder has to go but is captaincy really WI cricket’s problem?
A cricket match, a very wise man once wrote, is played in the minds of the opposing captains. The leader’s performance between the two sets of stumps may well contribute to the eventual outcome of any given match. But if he fails to perform consistently between the ears, his team …
Read More »Dear Editor: My dad, Sheldon Gomes, epitomised grace, humility, and generosity…
“[…] His departure was both sudden and unexpected. One could say it was in his nature. The only person who could truly say they knew Dad’s movements […] was his travel agent…” The following Letter to the Editor on the passing of former Trinidad and Tobago cricketer Sheldon Gomes—a former …
Read More »Sport and the Budget: More attention on stadia, less on sportsmen and women
Minister of Finance Colm Imbert outlined the Trinidad and Tobago Government’s Budget for 2020-2021 today, as a bid to ‘ensure that our economic recovery is as strong as possible’ and with ‘diversification of the economy [as] our highest priority’. Sport earned two mentions in Imbert’s 142-page Budget statement, although it …
Read More »Little difference between Gomes and games; Best remembers Sheldon—his QRC teammate
When I told Sheldon Anthony Gomes that Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards had reminded me of him, his response was immediate. “He as good as you?” I had asked in jest. “Nah, skip,” he responded, “ten times better—at least!” Richards had singlehandedly run out three Australian batsmen in the 1975 World …
Read More »Ex-Mayor: Arima was always so proud of Sheldon Gomes—rest in peace
“[…] Arima was always proud of this versatile son of the soil who hailed from a sporting family that also produced West Indies cricketer Larry Gomes, his younger brother, while his elder brother, the late Lester Gomes, who was well known in lawn tennis circles…” The following is a tribute …
Read More »Best: Warne fiddles with T20 bowling rules while Gower burns; how will ICC respond?
The beauty of art, it has been said, is the concealment of art; England’s right-handed middle-order batsman Mike Gatting and left-handed opener Andrew Strauss are certain to agree. Neither saw the threat Australia’s artful Shane Warne posed to his continued survival until it was too late. The first lost his …
Read More »Lyndersay: Where’s Brian? A review of 501 Not Out
“[501 Not Out is] a romantic reminiscence of the closing of a golden era in West Indies cricket, a sparkling reminder of the power of the region’s cricketers and the stunning individual achievement of [Brian] Lara at the wicket. “It’s also an odd little film, one that focuses almost determinedly …
Read More »West Indies T20 star Pollard not good enough? England’s David Gower fails QED test
“A Worrell innings knows no dawn. It begins at high noon!” “He never played an ungrammatical stroke.” Those two sentences describing the batting of the West Indies greatest ever captain Sir Frank Worrell were penned by Neville Cardus, the doyen of English cricket writers. “Clive Lloyd.” That, so the story …
Read More »Champs again! TKR firepower too much for game Zouks; sorry-for-self Sammy to soldier on?
Champions know that the time to be in front is at the end; three-time CPL winners the Trinbago Knight Riders arguably know it better than most. And therefore today went on to become four-time title-holders. The victory means that they did not lose a single one of their 12 games …
Read More »CPL 2020: Will Zouks fire and team spirit suffice to stop speeding Trinbago train?
Rahkeem Cornwall flings, using the term loosely, his 305-lb frame low to his right at gully to grab and smother an Imran Tahir edge. It’s all over—the Guyana Amazon Warriors innings, not the frame!—for a mere 55. For the first time ever, the St Lucia Zouks are into the CPL …
Read More »CPL 2020: TKR thump Tallawahs, ready to trample Zouks in Thursday’s final
“Dive, dive nah, boy!” I think I also heard an explosive expletive. The yeller is Dwayne Bravo, the bowler; the yellee is his younger brother Darren, who is at mid-off. The occasion? Tuesday’s first semi-final of CPL 2020 at the Brian Lara Academy in Tarouba between Kieron Pollard’s TKR and …
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