Writing on the same WhatsApp chat as his erstwhile captain, Valentino Singh, former QRC opener Zafar Khan opts not to focus on the tiebreaker and the seemingly unfair outcome. He does not say so explicitly but it is clear that he agrees with Singh about how unsatisfactory the eventual outcome …
Read More »W/Cup addict comments: Rain reigns but ICC can’t rain on Holding’s parade
West Indies versus England in Southampton today. Carlos Brathwaite swings at Jofra Archer and England appeal for a catch at the wicket. Up goes the dreaded finger from Kumar Dharmasena. Michael Holding, on commentary with Nasser Hussain, remains silent. The replay seems to suggest that the nick was off the batsman’s …
Read More »Root of the matter: Shannon Gabriel apologises, reveals what he told England captain
“The pressure was on and England’s captain Joe Root was looking at me intensely as I prepared to bowl, which may have been the usual psychological strategy with which all Test cricketers are familiar. “I recognise now that I was attempting to break through my own tension when I said …
Read More »Gabriel, Belfon and homophobia: why T&T must improve, but international media can stuff their condescension
The West Indies Cricket Team’s Test series win over England, secured earlier this month, was their first triumph over any team above Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in seven years. The West Indies had not defeated England since 2009 while, to find a similar margin of victory over our former ‘colonial masters’, …
Read More »From West Indies to Windies (Pt II): Fourth Rising? Where has the ‘natural talent’ got us?
The following is the second part of the text of a speech delivered by Charles Wilkin on the occasion of the launch of the latest book by Professor Hilary Beckles towards the end of last year. The book carries the title “Cricket Without a Cause—Fall and Rise of the Mighty …
Read More »How to spot a poorly run sporting body: CIES’ Cornu calls out CFU, TTFA points fingers at self
If FIFA and the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) were practising good governance, including fair and transparent electoral processes, would Mohammed bin Hammam realistically have expected to get away with trying to bribe 25 CFU officials for their votes during his bid for the FIFA presidency in 2012? That rhetorical question …
Read More »Is TTPS “extorting” public with exaggerated figures at events?! Ex-MoNS blows whistle
“Nowhere in the world, in any business, [does] the provider of a service demand how [many officials] should be hired and the host cannot verify if the officials he hired even arrived. “The host also cannot advise the provider of what they should be doing [at the venue] as the …
Read More »PITT STOP: The long and short of it all; West Indies’ T20 cricketers deserve a fair shake
The West Indies is the region which is the chief victim of old-fashioned thinking about the game of cricket. It has always baffled me why in the 21st Century influential cricket people in the region have been unable to recognize how invidious distinctions between the long and shorter versions have been …
Read More »Transparency Int’nal slams ICC: Cricket needs comprehensive reforms
Transparency International (TI) chapters from nine cricket-playing countries, including Australia, India and United Kingdom, express serious concern at proposed reform of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and call on the ICC to publish a formal response to the Woolf Report and meanwhile halt any other significant governance reforms. A joint …
Read More »Bravo’s thoughtful Windies captaincy undone by Trini traits
7.45pm, June 14, 2013, The Kennington Oval. It is drizzling steadily but West Indian ODI captain Dwayne Bravo and his immediate predecessor Darren Sammy decline to leave the field. AB de Villiers and his South Africans, who looked hard-pressed to salvage a much-needed win, have long since disappeared into the …
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