West Indies lead selector Roger Harper is pleased with his and his selection panel’s handiwork. Good for him. Not I. “I expect the team to do very well,” he confidently declared during the media conference called to defend his and his fellow selectors’ work on Thursday. “I think we have …
Read More »T2021 W/C: Come again, Mr Selector! One rule for Gayle, one rule for Rutherford?
“[…] On what basis does one exclude a player from meeting an absolutely necessary standard that is required for the rigours of an international tournament, particularly one that is fast-paced, intense and is likely to demand 40 overs of sustained pressure—the kind which this tournament is more than likely to …
Read More »T2021 W/C: Tino Singh names nine batsmen, including Gayle and Hetmyer, in his dream WI XI
“[…] I strongly feel the under-rated off-spin of the ‘Universe Boss’ will be a back-up weapon and will work in WI’ favour. “I am bold enough to predict that [Obed] McCoy will emerge as one of the leading wicket-takers in the tournament. He is one of the most improved bowlers …
Read More »Farewell Lenny Kirton; tribute to ex-Harvard coach who once mentored Lara
“[Brian] Lara describes himself as ‘grateful for having had the opportunity to learn from Lenny Kirton,’ whom he remembers as ‘a good man’ but ‘very hard to please’. It was, he says, the coach’s way of ensuring that the talented teenager ‘keep a level head, be humble and keep working …
Read More »W/Cup addict comments: Why the Lord’s luck fell to the English lappe
Yeah, I take the piss out of it all the time. I think I’m one of the luckiest people on the planet. If any of my mates ask on the phone, “What are you up to?” I just say “I’m hanging around, waiting for a bit of luck, mate.” He …
Read More »‘Humble’, ‘gentleman’, ‘red Eric’, ‘complicit’, ‘likeable’, ‘victim’… T&T football remembers ‘Ollie’
Oliver Camps, Trinidad and Tobago’s longest serving football president, died this morning at the age of 87. Camps was president of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) and the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) from 1992 to 2012—almost always alongside his special advisor and then FIFA vice president …
Read More »Valentino Singh: Tite’s Seleçao to make all the noise in Russia
“Under former coach Dunga, the team lacked the samba rhythm for which the Brazilians had become known; the players seemed full of skill and ability but cohesion was non-existent. “What a transformation the current head coach has effected. “The man who guided Corinthians to the domestic, continental and world titles …
Read More »Media Monitor: The more thieves change in Australia cricket, the more they reverse the swing
“One seta friggin tief!” Amen, brother! More than 15 years ago in July 2001, Valentino Singh, former QRC cricket captain and later Guardian sports editor, headlined his regular Thinking Things Out column, “Best ‘cheats’ will continue to rule.” The “cheats” referred to were the Australian Test cricketers who, according to …
Read More »Where winners trump winning; celebrating quintessential QRC quality
The following account of the 45th Anniversary Celebration of the Intercol victory of the 1972 Queen’s Royal College cricket team was submitted to Wired868 by Valentino Singh, retired Trinidad Guardian sports editor. The function was held at the Harvard Club on Serpentine Road on Saturday 18 November. The surviving members …
Read More »QRC cricket remembers 1972 Intercol win; Justice Moosai to address anniversary celebration at Harvard
CIC alum Justice Prakash Moosai will deliver the feature address on 18 November when the members of a Queen’s Royal College team, who call themselves the Royal 72 Champions, remember a famous Intercol victory. The event, originally scheduled to come off from 7pm in the QRC Gymnasium, has now been …
Read More »Media monitor: Unimpressed by the Express… or the Guardian
I doh have no media tabanca. Some Wired868 readers think I do but I don’t; I swear. I abandoned the conventional media—well, more accurately, the conventional media amputated me—after I had spent four years at the Guardian followed immediately by six at the Express. I have no regrets. There hasn’t been …
Read More »Sing, Valentino, sing: Earl Best’s send off to departing Trinidad Guardian sport editor
I can see it still in my mind’s eye. “Life is a stage / and we are the actors; / Everybody have a part to play. / Like a never-ending movie / with all different characters, / each of us have a role to portray.” It is the mid-to-late 1970’s. …
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