Boos, jeers, racist taunts, and insults are the most despicable traits of spectators at sporting events. Yet, universally they remain as prevalent as cheers and bonhomie. A charitable excuse would be that it expresses the passions stirred up by rivalries, or might be triggered by unsporting behaviour and reprehensible conduct …
Read More »Vaneisa: A CPL season to remember—but who will nurture WI ‘sparklers’?
A decision had to be made. Should I reflect on the 2025 edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) before it had ended? It wasn’t difficult because what I wanted to talk about really had little to do with the outcome. The final match is on Sunday (yesterday), and I …
Read More »Sammy picks Chanderpaul, Athanaze after 27 run fiasco; insists WI Test team “have shown what we are capable of”
The West Indies Test team have turned to Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Alick Athanaze to boost their batting in a two-Test series against India, as they seek to rebound from their embarrassing innings of 27 all out against Australia. The “Maroon Men” lost all three tests against Australia between 3 June …
Read More »Vaneisa: Chronicling our heritage—what President Irfaan can do for WI cricket
Last Sunday, Mohamed Irfaan Ali was sworn in for another term as president of Guyana. That night, he attended the second of the CPL home matches for the Guyana Amazon Warriors, who had beaten the Trinbago Knight Riders the night before. They were playing the Saint Kitts and Nevis Patriots, …
Read More »Vaneisa: Is CPL a public good? And will Caricom pursue legal options to address that?
We invoke the concept of the public in different contexts. Broadly speaking, we are referring to people in general, but there are several common appendages to the word public: nuisance, pressure, opinion, intellectual, and good, are a few. These aspects came to mind within the domain of cricket with the …
Read More »Vaneisa: Fractured and foolish—will Caribbean leaders ever demonstrate spirit of CPL?
The late Austin Clarke published A Passage Back Home as a tribute to his friend, Samuel Selvon in 1994 (the year Selvon died). He wrote about them attending what he called Carifesta I in Georgetown, British Guiana. “All of us from the various diasporas into which we had drifted, Europe …
Read More »Vaneisa: They have us standing tall—from Viv to Rudder and back
I don’t know about you, but for years I have listened to David Rudder’s music on an almost daily basis—some song calls me just out of the blue. Sometimes it’s from YouTube, often from my collection of CDs which remind me of when I bought them: soundtracks of those times. …
Read More »Vaneisa: A shot of Kamla might be what West Indies cricket needs
Last Monday, Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister threatened her ministers and party officials that she would “buss” their heads if they did not walk away from behaviour she considered to be leading down the road to corruption. Although she said she knew who they were, she did not name them. …
Read More »Vaneisa: Can West Indies cricket escape cycle of toxicity?
I’ve been going through files from the West Indies Cricket Board of Control from the 1950s. I was fortunate to get access to these rare documents which go back 75 years, and I am revisiting them because I feel a sense of responsibility to put the information surrounding the career …
Read More »Best: Lost in the rubble? Why West Indies Test cricket can’t avoid relegation to the second tier
If David Rudder had had his way, there would be no scary future awaiting West Indies Test cricket. “Pretty soon the runs are gonna flow again like water,” he declared, “bringing so much joy to each and every son and daughter.” Easy as it is to get the wrong impression, …
Read More »King, Jangoo among WI ODI inclusions; Sammy wants to “continue momentum” against Pakistan
Fast bowler Alzarri Joseph remains on “extended rest to continue workload management” as he was not named in the West Indies’ 15-member squad to face Pakistan in three CG United One-Day Internationals (ODIs) on 8, 10 and 12 August at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, Trinidad. Batsman Brandon …
Read More »Vaneisa: How number 27 blew away West Indies cricket; the answer, my friend…
There didn’t seem to be much point in writing about the ignominious end to the Test series between West Indies and Australia. Like rain flies swarming about after heavy showers, indignant cricket spectators have rained harshly abusive comments about the performances over the three matches. There have been some useful …
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