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61
Cricket Anyone / Patrick Patterson: an unquiet mind
« on: July 24, 2017, 09:55:22 AM »
http://indianexpress.com/article/sports/cricket/patrick-patterson-an-unquiet-mind-4762590/


The most fearsome of Caribbean pacers disappeared into oblivion in the 1990s. Patrick Patterson is still around, though he does not quite remember the man he was, or his bowling spells which went down in history. But he is grateful for the dogged fan who travelled half-way around the world to his door — to hear his story.
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Written by Bharat Sundaresan | Updated: July 23, 2017 11:29 am
 

This is not easy for me. Believe you me…believe you me…” Those are the words I hear before the door opens. After six years and three trips to the Caribbean, searching and scouring the entire Jamaican island for Patrick Patterson, the moment has finally arrived. I’m outside his residence and he’s just about to step out. But somehow, I’m not sure of what to expect.

For years now, I’ve only heard grave and dire speculations about Patterson’s present state — that he’s lost in the bush or is in an asylum; maybe, even roaming the streets as a destitute. Patterson has only added to the ambiguity. Earlier in the day, he had sounded rather cryptic over the phone. “I find moving around tough and I struggle with my daily functioning,” he had said. At some point, Patterson also mentioned not having his own shelter. And, as I stand near the gate of this rather spacious but slightly unkempt one-storey house, which I later realise has been home the former fastest-bowler-in-the-world-turned-recluse for nearly 25 years, it’s difficult not to fear the worst.

Those fears are put to rest, though, as soon as I see him walk out. Patterson, 55, is tall as ever, but a lot frailer than before — almost gaunt. He walks out wearing a loose, long shirt, khaki shorts, a cap and a disarming smile. The eyes still have the twinkle of yesteryears and the middle tooth is still conspicuously absent.
He agrees to pose for a picture outside the house in Kingston that he’s confined himself to ever since he disappeared from the scene in the late 1990s. But he politely refuses to let you in. “I wish I can call you in, but I can’t. I simply can’t,” he says.

In a cab, en route to the waterfront bar close to the airport that he frequents, the 55-year-old tells you about the area we are in and how it went from being a once-posh locality to a lower middle-class suburb, before slowing regaining its social status. There’s barely a hint of what the world has been saying has happened to Patrick Patterson. If anything, I’m taken aback by how normal it all seems.
The next four hours are spent by the Marina, sipping beer — Patterson insists on having a milder, imported one — and sharing a massive snapper with some fried bammy. It is over these four hours, as we talk about everything from the heady heights of his cricketing career to the “dark days that were as dark as midnight” as he calls them, that you realise why the Caribbean and the cricketing universe doesn’t quite know what really happened to Patterson. For, even he has been struggling to make sense of it.
Finding Patrick Patterson: The Menacing West Indian Bowler Who Disappeared 25 Years Ago
 
As the evening progresses, I get a sense of why that might be the case. While Patterson is, at times, lucid, his mind seems to be in a state of flux, swinging between reality and imagination, between what happened and what he presumes had happened. One moment, Patterson says he doesn’t know women played cricket at the highest level, the next moment he asks why the Indian Prime Minister has visited Israel after so many years. He insists that he wants to take me on a drive to show me Kingston the next time we meet, but then he reveals that he has a car that hasn’t been used for 10 years and is rotting like everything else inside his home, including its sole occupant.

Last year, during a “legendary wicket-keepers dinner” organised by the Lord’s Taverners in London, Jeffrey Dujon made a revealing statement. Asked who among the plethora of outrageously quick bowlers that he kept wickets to was the fastest, his answer surprised everyone present. “Patrick Patterson was the quickest of the lot,” said Dujon, who had the unwelcome job of facing up to everyone from Andy Roberts and Michael Holding to Malcolm Marshall and Curtly Ambrose from behind the stumps. But Dujon, even if the most qualified, isn’t the only one to say so. Former English cricket captain Graham Gooch once spoke about the mortal fear and concern for one’s physical well-being while facing Patterson. There is no dearth of YouTube videos that testify to that fact, where batsman after batsman are seen having their stumps shattered or edging deliveries while clearly not looking keen to get their bodies in line with the ball. There’s one video in which South African batsman Andrew Hudson’s bat flies out of his hand after it’s struck by a seemingly harmless length delivery from Patterson. The ball is just too quick for both the batsman and his bat.
Many other such anecdotes have turned into fast-bowling folklore in the Caribbean. The day I finally meet Patterson, I hear about the one time when Jamaica and Barbados faced up to each other in the late 1980s in what was referred to as a mini-Test. The game is supposed to have been the cricketing version of a demolition derby, a face-off between the fastest bowlers in the Caribbean. Barbados had Joel Garner and Malcolm Marshall. Jamaica had Michael Holding, Courtney Walsh and Patterson. The one memory that stands out for many who were at the Kensington Oval that day, is of a Patterson delivery that slammed into Gordon Greenidge’s chest. They recall a puff of the starch on Greenidge’s shirt flying up and the rare instance of the legendary opener being staggered by the blow. There’s a consensus that the country boy from Portland had won that test of pace single-handedly.

In Jamaica, locals recall Sabina Park turning into a cauldron every time their beloved “Rambo”, as they called him here, would come galloping down from the George Headley Stand. As part of that same lecture last year, Dujon talks about the one time an enraged Patterson walked up to the Australian dressing-room after being sledged while batting at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and pointed at some of their batsmen saying, “You, you, you, you. I’ll kill you all tomorrow.” Needless to say, Patterson finished them off for 114 with a five-wicket haul.

Unfortunately, none of these incidents ring a bell for Patterson. He looks at you, nodding, like he’s hearing about his own feats for the first time. “I’m just so far from all of that, nothing around me to remind me really of the whole journey. It’s been like that for 20-odd years. I’ve just been at that address,” he says, almost apologetically. “I can remember the atmosphere at that match you talk about. It was electrifying. Like a Test atmosphere. But that’s all I remember. I hope you understand,” he repeats.
For India, he was the menace who arrived with the West Indies team in 1987. He blew them away in Delhi, his foot intimidatingly pointing at the batsman as he exploded into his delivery stride, ball after ball, as if to say, “you’re next”. Patterson nods and giggles when he hears about the fear that he had generated with his spells, like he is hearing about it for the first time. But then, out of nowhere, he tells you that his highest score in Test matches came at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium — 21 not out — during that tour. And, all of a sudden, it’s like someone has switched on the recall button in his mind.


He starts rattling off about the memorable time he had in India on and off the field. “I remember Arun Lal — I got him out. Kris Srikkanth, what a dangerous fellow he was! If you didn’t get him out early, he would punish you. He and David Boon bothered me the most as batsmen. And I also developed a great friendship with Azharuddin. What is he up to now? Coaching?” he asks. When informed about the turn of events in the former Indian captain’s life since the last time they met, Patterson shakes his head in disbelief.
I press him about his bowling action — his unique footwork, in particular — and he just laughs. “It was natural. But after a point, only the foot was going higher and higher. Everything in my life was going the other way,” he says.

I first started looking for Patterson in 2011 when India toured the Caribbean for 45 days. Jamaica was the third stop and hosted the final ODI and the first Test. That left me with 10 days to find him. But few believed that he was still in the country or that he was of a sane mind. It was like the West Indies had not just given up on, but forgotten, one of their superstars of yore. And, of course, there was no sign of him.
I returned to the Caribbean in 2013 for a tri-series, and, this time, I decided to expand my search beyond Kingston. Patterson grew up in the village of Hector’s River in the Portland region in central Jamaica. It takes three hours to get there if you take the ragged roads winding through the hills. The roads are lined with shacks where locals play dominoes. I would stop at each one of them, asking whether they had any information about Patrick Patterson. The answer was generally either a “no” or “oh, me thought him lose it”. It was almost at the 15th or 16th stop that I accidentally bumped into his cousin, who led me to his parents’ house. However, they, too, insisted not knowing exactly where he was or what he was up to.
Finding him had become such an obsession that it was the first thing I mentioned to my bed-and-breakfast owner, Courtney, a former US marine who gave up watching cricket after Garry Sobers retired. The name was unfamiliar to him, but he insisted that he was also in the business of “finding people”. I laughed it off. But, by the next afternoon, Courtney not only had a number but also an address for the man who the rest of the Caribbean insists had gone AWOL for good. It was serendipity.

Courtney would later reveal that he had contacted one of his friends, Fred Locks. A 67-year-old reggae star from the 1970s, Locks continues to record music and is a dedicated Rasta with locks that stretch well beyond his feet. He lives in the same area where Patterson was assumed to be living. It was Locks who would inform the former pacer about an Indian cricket writer who had been on his lookout for years. “He told me he has been mentally disturbed for 20 years. Why do you want to meet him so badly?” Locks asks, when I meet him.
Patterson doesn’t sound too keen on giving an audience when I call him first, insisting that he will need some time to sort himself out. Eventually, upon incessant prodding, he agrees to meet after two days. When I call him on the appointed day, though, he has gone back to being reluctant about the meeting, telling me how difficult it is for him to do this. It takes 45 minutes to convince him to tell the world his story. This is the day of the fifth ODI in the India-West Indies series and Patterson changes the topic to inquire about the score, insisting that he barely knows anyone who plays for West Indies these days. He hangs up, requesting to be given an update about the match later.

When I call him later and reveal that Virat Kohli — who he has heard of and speaks of in the same breath as Sachin Tendulkar (who he bowled to in Sharjah, he says) — has scored yet another ODI ton, he agrees to meet me that evening. At 6 pm, I am outside his gate. This time, he is waiting for me. “The only reason I agreed to meet you was because I was touched when you said you went all the way to Portland to look for me the last time,” he tells me.

Patterson’s recollection of his early days in cricket is rather vivid. He recalls having caught a fancy for cricket by watching villagers in Portland play the sport during weekends. Though he always wanted to bowl, he also fancied himself as a batsman, even opening in one game for his high school. The bowling action, too, was natural. “I suppose when I grew, the leg also grew a bit too much,” he says, as an explanation of his high leg-lift. His talent with the ball got him attention even as a country boy, but it reached new heights when he moved to Kingston.

It’s here that he met a fellow fast bowler and long-term friend, Courtney Walsh. After two years at the local Wolmer’s High School, Patterson and Walsh teamed up at Excelsior High School for a year, forming a fearsome new-ball pair — a duty they would share for West Indies in the years to come. Patterson was getting faster and his leg was starting to go higher, and, before long he was debuting for Jamaica.
But it’s at this point, just after his first-class debut, that, he says, he underwent a life-altering experience. He was roped in to play in the Saddleworth League in England, a lower-tier league based in Lancashire, where Patterson claims he was playing alongside 60 and 70-year-olds. He was being paid a pittance and pretty much left to fend for himself. He remembers a one-off visit to Pakistani cricketer Wasim Akram’s residence. “It was a fancy house on a hill. He was a wonderful host, but I couldn’t stay for long. It made me feel awkward. At the same time, I was bunking with a bunch of reggae musicians in a low-income area of Manchester,” he says. His growing disenchantment led to differences with the captain and Patterson recalls how he stood at the top of his bowling mark once and just couldn’t bring himself to bowl.
Matters grew worse, he claims, when he finished the season there and joined Tasmania in Australia as an overseas professional in the Sheffield Shield. The treatment there was equally humiliating, he reveals, with the state team refusing to provide him with any sort of formal accommodation. “I was pretty much just staying with whoever would offer me a residence, man or woman. And often, when we went out of Hobart to play matches, my luggage would be in the reception the moment we returned after the last day’s play,” he says.

Patterson, of course, would go on to higher honours soon after with the West Indies and gain notoriety as one of the most menacing fast bowlers in the world. But, he keeps harping on how those early “misadventures” left an overriding impact on him, and, eventually, “took me to places that nobody should go”. He claims to have written “injustice” in bold, capital letters across his living room wall, but he has no memory of when he had done so.

Patterson’s international career was largely without incident till the very end, when he was unceremoniously dropped after the 1992-’93 tour of Australia on disciplinary grounds. He never played again. But, even while he ran roughshod through opposition line-ups, he insists on having felt uncomfortable and ill at ease in his own dressing room. He recalls the time he made life miserable for Desmond Haynes and Gordon Greenidge with a barrage of bouncers in a regional match. But he also says he often felt like he was being singled out. “When I was playing, there was no fun either, because of the treatment,” he says.
During the 1991 tour of England, he says, he came to be called Terry Alderman after the Australian cricketer of the same name, for his accuracy. He had picked up the skill to move the ball around in addition to his fiery pace. There was one training session, he tells me, where he had Viv Richards, on his farewell series, in all sorts of trouble. So frustrated was the legendary batsman, Patterson recalls, that he threw his bat at the net and walked away. “That taught me something. It was like I wasn’t expected to be doing this, troubling the master with my bowling. That wasn’t my job,” he says.

Within two years, Patterson was out of the picture. Around the same time, he moved into his home, where he has remained ever since, except for a handful of one-dayers he showed up for Jamaica in the 1997-’98 season. “Since I stopped playing, it’s been a 360 degree turnaround. It’s so far away from all I knew growing up that that in itself could send you places you aren’t prepared to go to without notice. Cricket wasn’t supposed to have done that to me,” he says.

So what has Patrick Patterson been doing over the last 25 years? “Absolutely nothing. Nothing that promotes good living,” he replies. At some point during the conversation, Patterson talks about certain “external forces” who are out to get him, or, at least, ensure that he stays where he is. He first refers to them as “gods” and then simply as “they”. “They wanted me to be here and they are responsible for this,” he says, but denies knowing who they are or what they want from him. He also blames “them” for all the rumours about him across the Caribbean, mostly to do with him having lost his way, if not his sanity. “One time, I heard a fellow convincing everyone that I was already in Bellevue (a mental asylum in Kingston). That day, I just hit the pits. I couldn’t move when I heard it. I was scared that that’s where they wanted me to be,” he says, his voice quivering. “They said they couldn’t find me, but I was right here. But they kept speculating and tarnishing my image and I couldn’t do anything about it because I had more basic things to worry about, like food,” he adds.

The sudden transformation in his life affected all his relationships and turned him into a recluse. The raging speculation over his condition only aggravated Patterson’s manically depressed state and fed his paranoia about what might happen to him. It’s even convinced him over the years that those trying to help him are putting themselves in harm’s way. “I am always scared for whoever reaches out to me, that they’ll get to them too and ensure that I’m stuck here. You should be careful too,” he says. It takes nearly two hours to somewhat get him to believe that there might not have been any “external forces” out to get him, that he might have ended up becoming his own enemy. He reluctantly agrees as we are about to get done.
Patterson admits to have gotten out of his shell slightly of late. He can go to the supermarket without worrying about what people might say. Over time, his estranged family has patched up with him, too. His children, a 27-year-old daughter and a 24-year-old son, who live in Canada, now visit him often. Last year, he even took them to meet their grandparents in the country. The children provide him with basic provisions every month to keep him afloat.
We get picked up by Locks that night. As he’s about to get out of the car, Patterson holds my hands and says, “I haven’t spoken like this to anyone from the time I can remember. I’m so glad I came. Money can’t buy this. I’m so glad I came…”

I meet him on a couple of occasions more. The second time was over dinner again, but this time in Port Royal, in the company of his friend of over three decades, Fozzie. The two get into a banter with the serving lady about her singing capabilities, and, for once, Patterson’s just like any other jolly, old guy, enjoying his retired life with some fish and beer. “They know how to kill a career and leave someone for dead,” Fozzie tells me when I ask him about his memories of Patterson’s cricketing days. He doesn’t divulge anything else about how he has dealt with seeing a friend turn from a superstar to a near-outcast. It’s clear from seeing them together that they still remain as close as ever. Patterson even perks up enough to recall more about his career, talking about the time he got Javed Miandad out in Pakistan, and, how, during that tour, an ODI had to be suspended briefly, and then, abandoned, when someone threw a boot that narrowly missed his face. He also talks about playing at Arundel and how Curtly Ambrose would jovially tell Richards before every game that “I know where your kids live” in case he didn’t give him a long bowling spell.

Our final meeting is just before I head to the airport — again, outside his gate. Patterson, for once, doesn’t have a cap on and his hair is sticking out. For once, it’s like seeing the cricketer whom the world feared many years ago and not the man who has since lived in fear of the world. I get to see the front-yard, basking in the shade of a massive mango tree. “I planted it myself and the ones you see are all Julie mangoes. I want to plant some East Indian ones too,” he says. He thanks me again for having pushed him to step out of his self-imposed exile and spend some time in the real world. But, when I tell him that I’ll stay in touch even once I’m back home, his smile vanishes and his face turns serious. He comes close, holds my hands and says, “But don’t forget, they’ll be listening. They tap my phone, you know. This is not easy for me. Believe you me. Believe you me…”

62
Cricket Anyone / West Indies tour of England 2017
« on: July 24, 2017, 08:46:42 AM »
http://newsday.co.tt/sport/0,246791.html


Davis queries WI team selections for England Test series
JOEL BAILEY Monday, July 24 2017

EX-TRINIDAD and Tobago and West Indies opening batsman Bryan Davis has queried the selection of the 15-member Windies team for their forthcoming three-Test series, away to England.

Among the players chosen by the selection panel, headed by Courtney Browne, were Barbadian-born Kyle Hope (who is an opening batsman for the TT Red Force) and Raymon Reifer (a left-handed all-rounder for the Guyana Jaguars).

Both Hope and Reifer are the only members of the 15-man team who are yet to play Test cricket, while Reifer has never featured at the international level.

In a recent interview, Davis commented, “These fellahs are very fortunate because they’re Bajans. There are nine Barbadians on the team. The last time you had nine Barbadians on a touring team like that was to England in 1966.

I remember it well.

“Now that seems to be starting again (under the new selection panel). I’m seeing more and more Barbadians, of very average ability, being forced into the team, and given second looks all the time. I’m seeing a lot of personal insularity in this thing.

“I am very critical of the selectors,” Davis added. “I don’t think the present selectors are really up to it. I don’t believe they can analyse the game of cricket.

I see no good reasons that they ever put forward for selecting their teams, and it looks more like who are their favourites.” Davis pointed out, “Reifer is a slow medium bowler. He’s an ordinary bowler.

“What about (Ronsford) Beaton? There was talk that he was in line for Test cricket. Why he didn’t get a look-in to go to England?” Earning a recall to the team was veteran fast bowler Kemar Roach.

Davis pointed out, “What is worrying is his injury-prone problem.

He’s a good bowler but it is said that he bowled well this year (in the Regional Four Day Championships).

I don’t have his figures.” He added, “I have nothing against him because he’s a good bowler and a good cricketer. I just worry about if he’s fit enough.” Another worry for Davis is the technical ability of the Windies players to cope with the swinging ball in England.

“They have very poor techniques and, to play good cricket and make big scores, in any type of cricket, you need (a) proper technique,” he stressed. “(In) England, the ball does a little bit more off the pitch. And if you don’t have the right technique, and you don’t move your feet and get in line with the ball, you’re in trouble. And we don’t have the proper technique.

“I’ve never seen the work going (into) the cricketers to improve their techniques. I don’t know if (WI coach) Stuart Law is going to improve on that sort of practice to develop that, to improve their skills, to play in England. But as far as I see it, I don’t think those batsmen that we have can cope at all. I don t think so.”

63
Cricket Anyone / Cricket West Indies Thread
« on: July 13, 2017, 02:36:42 PM »
http://www.espncricinfo.com/westindies/content/story/1110424.html

The biggest names in Caribbean cricket could be about to return to the West Indies team after significant progress was made in negotiations between players and the board.

Not only has a resolution been agreed to the Darren Bravo impasse, but the likes of Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Dwayne Bravo and Chris Gayle are also available for selection for the ODI side after an amnesty was proposed by WIPA, the players' union.

Dave Cameron statement
"In early November 2016, I gave an interview to SportsMax TV during which I discussed player retainer contracts and the grades of contract that had been awarded to certain players. In the course of the interview I stated that Darren Bravo had previously been on an 'A' contract, which I have since been advised is not correct. I apologise for the misstatement, and wish to assure Mr. Bravo that there was no insult or offense intended towards him. Darren is a senior cricketer who has been a valuable part of the WINDIES set up for a long time, and I would hope to see his game continue to progress and mature, at both regional and international level."


That means they could be available for the limited-overs section of the tour to England that starts in a few weeks.

Gayle, who marked his international return after 15 months during the one-off Twenty20 International against India in Kingston last week, said during an event in Bengaluru on Thursday that "things have been steadily improving" and playing the 2019 World Cup, for which West Indies may have to qualify, is still a burning desire.

"The fans were happy to see me back on the field representing West Indies. Hopefully, things can get better. Hopefully I can play a few more games. I definitely want to play the 2019 World Cup," Gayle said. "Things are beginning to open up a little more now between players and the board. It's looking good, and we've to try and build from this to get the best players out on the field."

The key to the resolution has been Cricket West Indies abandoning its contentious policy regarding player availability for regional cricket. Whereas, in recent years, CWI policy dictated that players would only be eligible for West Indies selection if they had played in the corresponding format in regional cricket, the board is now in the process of softening that hardline stance.

It is anticipated it will be formally relaxed when the new round of central contracts are introduced in October, with a new range of white-ball contracts also adding to the players' security and flexibility.

Both Jimmy Adams, Director Of Cricket, and Johnny Grave, CWI CEO, have previously intimated their desire to change the policy, with Adams labelling it "unsustainable".

In the meantime, though, an amnesty has been proposed to those who have not been involved in regional cricket, giving them the chance to represent West Indies again. The likes of Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Darren Sammy and, once his WADA ban is served, Andre Russell could be other beneficiaries.

While the amnesty has yet to be ratified by the board of CWI, ESPNcricinfo understands a conference call will take place before the end of the week where it is hoped the proposal will be accepted.

Darren Bravo statement
"On 11 November 2016, after viewing statements made about me by Mr. Dave Cameron, president of Cricket West Indies, on a television sports programme, I tweeted a response which referred to the president which was, in retrospect, inappropriate. As I have always tried to uphold the best traditions of West Indies cricket and its players, I now therefore wish to withdraw the comment made on my Twitter account and apologise to the president of CWI and to all WINDIES fans.
"

Darren Bravo, who has been suspended since November 2016 when he was sent home from the tour of Zimbabwe following his Twitter condemnation of board president, Dave Cameron, is also set to return.

Both parties have released statements of apology* and Bravo's tweet will be deleted with no admission of liability and without prejudice to the pursuit of any claim for damages. That will not only allow Bravo to take a full part in the forthcoming CPL season but render him eligible for West Indies selection once more. Having not played much red ball cricket of late, he is not thought to be a realistic candidate for the Test tour of England. He could well feature in the ODI team, though.

That method of solution had been suggested as far back as February. But Bravo instead pursued legal action against the board, claiming lost earnings. It seems that action is on-going despite the apparent thawing in relations, though it is understood no damages have been paid to date.

A similar resolution is expected imminently in the case of Nicholas Pooran.

It all amounts to encouraging news for long-suffering West Indies supporters. With the side having slipped to 9th in the ODI rankings (they are 8th in the Test rankings and 5th in T20), it is almost impossible for them to qualify automatically for the 2019 World Cup ahead of the ODI rankings qualification cut-off date in September.

The availability of some familiar faces is a significant step in the right direction.

*1700 GMT - This story was updated with statements from Darren Bravo and Dave Cameron

George Dobell is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

64
Other Sports / RIP David Noel
« on: July 11, 2017, 10:28:43 PM »
No flipping idea the man was dead yes. He died back in April, just found out by chance.

http://www.guardian.co.tt/sports/2017-04-15/tha-mourns-former-boxing-champ-noel


THA mourns former boxing champ Noel

 

 
Published:
Saturday, April 15, 2017

T&T former national boxer David Noel, 56, passed away yesterday at the Scarborough General Hospital after a long illness. Jomo Pitt, the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Division Assemblyman, who is the Secretary of Sport and Youth Affairs extended sincere condolences to the family of Noel on his untimely passing.

He said Noel, who celebrated his 56th birthday on April 3, was a coach with the Department of Sport for several years and has played a role in the development of young Tobagonians over the years and he was an esteemed member of the boxing fraternity.

“Our prayers are with the family,” Pitt said. “David Noel was part of the Sport and Youth Affairs family and has been ill for a long time. We would like to express our deepest sympathies to his wife and daughter, who has been at his side.”

 

Boxing Biography

On May 2, 1980, debuting for Trinidad and Tobago at the age of 19, David Noel fought in the middleweight division and was up against Ivor Simmons. Noel won the match by technical knockout (TKO) in the sixth round.

He was unstoppable in his first year obtaining six wins from six fights. Over the years David performed exceedingly well by securing a professional record of 43 bouts, 29 wins, 13 losses and one draw.

In 1981, Noel fought less fights than the previous year, but inevitably with the same results. The 20-year-old was still unbeaten. Although he was undefeated, his record was not perfect. On April 10, seven days after his birthday, he fought Jean-Yves Piperol of France, and held him to a draw. It was the only draw of his boxing career.

On January 29, 1982, Noel fought for his first title belt. His opponent was Eddie Marcelle and on the line was the T&T Super-welterweight title. Noel won by a technical knockout (TKO) in the 11th round. Later in that same year he defeated two other opponents, taking his tally for the year to three out of three victories.

On August 19, 1983, David fought for his second title, the WBA Fedelatin Super-welterweight title against Patrico Diaz of Argentina. He lost in the 12th round and missed out on the opportunity of having a second belt. This was not a good year for him as he fought three fights and only won one.

But Noel bounced back fitter, stronger, healthier and more persistent for the period 1984-1987. He was clearly dominant as he took on 14 fights, conquering 11 of his opponents and only suffering three defeats.

On September 2, 1988, he fought the Jamaican, Anthony Logan, for the WBC Continental Americas Middleweight title, at Mucurapo, Trinidad and Tobago. He won the fight in the 12th round. In the same year on December 10, he took on the Englishman, Nigel Bean, for the Commonwealth Middleweight title, at Crystal Palace, London. He lost by a technical knockout (TKO) in the first round.

Noel was inactive for a short while but he returned in 1991 fully rested and won his third belt, the WBC FECARBOX Middleweight title against Wayne Harris in Port-of-Spain, T&T.

He was again inactive for the period 1992-1995. In 1996 he returned to action, winning his two fights that year. The next year saw him fighting three times; losing the first fight to Ken Sharpe on 30th April, winning the second against Guillermo Jones, a Venezuelan, for the WBA Fedelatin super-welterweight title on September 27 and losing the return bout on November 29.

Sports

65
General Discussion / Transferring money from TT to North America
« on: July 04, 2017, 01:58:27 PM »
Re. transferring money from TT to the USA or Canada.

Anyone know what is the limit per transaction?
Also is there a limit per month?
Does the money first have to be converted to US dollars or can it be transferred as TT and be automatically converted once it reaches your account?

Thanks,
VB

66
Quizz Time & Facts / Football/cycling/middle and long distance
« on: July 03, 2017, 04:18:34 PM »
What TT athlete was good enough to be the cycling, middle and long distance Champion of TT whilst also playing football for the national team.

And by middle and long distance I mean Track.

My mistake, he didn't run track.

TM,  ah feeling brave. Go tru.  ;D

VB

67
Cricket Anyone / Ireland, Afghanistan awarded Test status
« on: June 23, 2017, 11:38:26 PM »
http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci-icc/content/story/1105463.html


The Ireland and Afghanistan domino effect
PETER DELLA PENNA 14

Both countries being awarded Test status is as much about restrictions lifted as about opportunities gained



The elevation of Ireland and Afghanistan as Full Members is the crowning achievement after a trail-blazing decade for both countries. It's a celebration of their hard work on the field, but also about yeoman's work off the field by both administrations. The boards have supplemented historic performances with enhanced infrastructure, and multi-day competitions that have been awarded first-class status.

In spite of now being part of the Test family, there are no guarantees for extra exposure by way of matches.

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One just has to look at the struggles over the years of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe to fill their skin-and-bones body of fixtures, where others have far meatier calendars, to know that Ireland and Afghanistan will not gain instant Test nourishment.

Zimbabwe's first Test, at home against India in 1992, was one of eight they played in the first 12 months of their Test existence, along with two more at home against New Zealand and a reciprocal one-off trip to India. It took them another three years to record their maiden Test win, against Pakistan, in their 11th Test, and 20 more Tests after that for their second win, over India at home in 1998.

They followed that with their first away win, against Pakistan in Peshawar in their next Test. However, the only other team they have beaten besides India and Pakistan is Bangladesh, for a total of 11 wins in 101 matches.

Bangladesh, who played their first Test against India in Dhaka in 2000, had a eight more through the end of 2001. But their on-field struggles were far greater. Though from a chronological standpoint their first win - against Zimbabwe in January 2005 - came just over four years after their inaugural Test, they took three times longer than Zimbabwe did in terms of matches played to record it.

Their


 
Netherlands could be directly impacted with the 2018 Test Challenge scrapped   © Panda Man
The ripples of this decision of awarding Test status to both countries are first being felt in the ICC boardroom, where positions that had been held by Ireland as the representative of all Associates are now vacated. New blood will come in and new voices will have a chance to be heard. In the immediate term, that may happen with a particularly empathetic set of ears in Warren Deutrom, Ross McCollum and Shafiq Stanikzai, the men most familiar with the administrative struggles that Associates go through.

It's not just in the ICC boardroom that the domino effect is being felt, though, as their now former Associate brethren are impacted on the field in many ways. Since the 2005 ICC Trophy, the top six ranked Associates following the conclusion of the World Cup Qualifier hold ODI status. That is how Ireland (in 2005) and Afghanistan (in 2009) first gained ODI status. With both countries no longer part of the Associates pack, the door is open for two more Associates to potentially score more opportunities and recognition in limited-overs cricket, and just as significantly, prevents two others from possibly losing it.

It could ease some of the pressure on Scotland and Hong Kong, currently third and fourth on the WCL Championship table and ostensibly fifth and sixth among Associates in ODI cricket prior to Thursday's decision. This also brings renewed hope for Kenya and Nepal, who are just below them, while Canada and Oman, freshly promoted from WCL Division Three, can also have a crack at securing ODI status through the 2018 World Cup Qualifier.

But it's not all roses. Perhaps the biggest loser coming out of Thursday's announcements is Netherlands. The ICC, in line with its old tradition of moving goalposts, has scrapped the long-hyped Test challenge in 2018, and possibly the one proposed for 2022 as well. David Richardson, the ICC CEO, called it "unnecessary" now that Ireland and Afghanistan have been given Full Member status. He admitted in so many words that the proposition to play the lowest-ranked Full Member for a shot at provisional Test status was targeted for the two sides that now been given Test status.

Netherlands is currently next in line on the Intercontinental Cup table. They're placed third, 31 points behind second-placed Ireland, and have an outside chance to draw close should they secure a full 20 points when the two sides face off at Malahide in August. Similarly, Netherlands are right behind Ireland in one-day cricket by virtue of occupying the top spot on the WCL Championship table. But winning that competition may no longer guarantee a spot in the 13-team ODI league.

Richardson had stated earlier this year that the winner of the WCL Championship would be the 13th team in the proposed ODI league for 2023 World Cup qualification, but new details on Thursday showed the boardroom thinking had changed, with the 13th team possibly being decided by a rankings cut-off date ahead of a proposed start of the ODI league in 2020.

It means winning the WCL Championship in this cycle carries far less weight. Even finishing as the top Associate at the 2018 World Cup Qualifier might not be enough and there is the possibility of another WCL Championship cycle being squeezed in between the end of the qualifier and 2020 to determine the 13th team. While it's great news for a majority of Associates, the Dutch have every reason to grimace.

Funding is another area where the ICC has sent out mixed signals. Ireland and Afghanistan are both expected to have their current ICC distribution doubled to more than US$40 million each over an eight-year cycle. It's good for them, but that money is coming out of what had been allocated for all Associates and does not eat into distributions for their now fellow Full Members.

It's also worth noting that the ICC has furthered the notion that rules exist for some and not for others when it comes to certain demographics, to Afghanistan's benefit. Developing women's cricket was referenced by Cricket Ireland's Warren Deutrom as one of the 21 statutes that needed to be met in the application for Full Member status, and Ireland has made significant investments in this regard.

Afghanistan's administrators often pay lip service to prioritising the development of women's cricket, but there is scant evidence anything has come of it, and they have faced few, if any, sanctions as a result. Women's cricket in Afghanistan is a complicated matter, with various sensitivities at play that have slowed the pace of progress. But having obtained full membership without satisfying an obligation to fulfill a mandate for women's development, the ACB's hand is not about to be forced on the issue.

At the end of the day, it's a mixed bag for Associates. While Afghanistan and Ireland have received funding, the others have had their earnings chopped. Yet there is genuine hope that when an Associate country gets its administrative and on-field ducks in a row, there might be a path forward for them to aspire to.

Peter Della Penna is ESPNcricinfo's USA correspondent. @PeterDellaPenna

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
 
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68
Quizz Time & Facts / From English football to American TV
« on: June 23, 2017, 11:12:10 PM »


What ex English youth fotballer is now starring in an American TV series.

NOT TALL MAN.!!!

VB

69
Quizz Time & Facts / Father and Son - Olympic boxing alternates
« on: June 09, 2017, 11:44:41 PM »
What father and son were both boxing alternates on the USA Olympic team.

NOT TALL MAN.

VB

Let me spice this up. Who were the fighters that beat them and for which Olympics?

70
Quizz Time & Facts / From cricket to not football
« on: May 24, 2017, 07:58:11 PM »
What TT cricketer once turned down a contract offer to play professional football.

Can't give too many hints because it will be obvious  but this was in the 80s.


VB
NOT TALL MAN

71
Quizz Time & Facts / TT Fast bowler and MCC
« on: May 24, 2017, 03:16:33 PM »
Which TT fast bowler captained the MCC 11.

NOT TALL MAN.

72
Quizz Time & Facts / Teenaged OpenerS (TT)
« on: May 17, 2017, 08:16:10 AM »
Name nineTT openers who made their fist Class debut for TT whilst still teenagers.

I am not sure if Andy Ganteaume was 19 or 20 so I have excluded him.

NOT TALL MAN.


73
We lose.

Gabriel need a slap.

74
not that anybody give one azz...but scores and updates here.

75
Cricket Anyone / WI vs Pakistan, 1st Test, Kingston, April 21-25, 2017
« on: April 20, 2017, 11:01:06 PM »
scores, updates here.

76
Cricket Anyone / WICB FOUR DAY TOURNAMENT 2016-217 April 15-18,
« on: April 16, 2017, 07:40:27 PM »


Cariah anchors resilient Red Force batting – 1st day, 10th round
Stabroek News



BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, CMC – A half-century from Yannic Cariah led consistent batting down the order from Trinidad & Tobago Red Force against Leeward Islands in the Regional 4-Day Tournament yesterday.
Cariah was unbeaten on 73 and a few others got starts without carrying on, as the Red Force dodged showers and batted the entire first day of the 10th round match to reach 269 for six in their first innings at the close.

Yannic Cariah anchored T&T Red Force with an unbeaten 73. (File photo)
The left-hander anchored the visitors’ batting for the latter half of the day, as fellow left-hander, opener Amir Jangoo supported with 46, Ewart Nicholson made 45, fellow rookie Akiel Cooper added 41 and Isaiah Rajah made 40 after the visitors were put in to bat on a typically batsman-friendly Warner Park pitch.
None of the Hurricanes’ bowlers distinguished themselves, after new captain Montcin Hodge called correctly and the two sides spent part of the day avoiding rain which swiped close to an hour of play.
Red Force suffered an early setback when makeshift opener Imran Khan was lbw to Jeremiah Louis for a duck in the fourth over of the day.
The rest of the visitors’ batting however, gradually wore down the Hurricanes bowlers with Jangoo featuring in successive half-century stands with Rajah and Nicholson before off-spinner Jacques Taylor bowled him after lunch.
For the remainder of the day, Cariah was the glue that held the Red Force batting together, sharing a vital 94 for the fifth wicket with Cooper that took the edge off the Hurricanes’ bowling later in the day.

77
Cricket Anyone / the Nicholas Pooran thread
« on: April 13, 2017, 11:08:09 PM »


April 7, 2017
How Nicholas Pooran came back from the brink
Peter Della Penna
13

Two years ago a car crash put in doubt whether he would walk again, but against the odds, he has made it back to the West Indies team
 
Pooran's appearance in this year's Hong Kong T20 Blitz was part of a wider jostling for his services © Power Sport Images/Getty Images

Three months into 2017, Nicholas Pooran is a cricketer in demand. Eleven days after being snapped up by Mumbai Indians in the IPL auction, he is suiting up for Islamabad United in the PSL playoffs against Karachi Kings. A week after that he is walking out to bat in a bright yellow outfit for City Kaitak in the Hong Kong T20 Blitz.
Pooran spent a month at the end of 2016 playing for Khulna Titans in the Bangladesh Premier League. That came two months after he made his West Indies debut, against Pakistan in the UAE.
On paper, these T20 appearances would seem to be natural progressions for someone who first rose to prominence on the international scene in February 2014. Before Carlos Brathwaite was designated as the man whose name would be remembered, it was Pooran who was on the tip of West Indian tongues, earmarked as one for the future when he took on an Australia Under-19 bowling attack in Dubai - one that had attempted to turn the rest of the West Indies Under-19 batting card into binary code on the way to making the score 70 for 8 - and struck a marvellous 143.
However, T20 riches were the furthest thing from Pooran's mind two years ago as he lay in a hospital bed in Couva, Trinidad, wondering if he'd even walk again, let alone play cricket.

****

January 6, 2015. Trinidad & Tobago's training session at the National Cricket Centre in Balmain has just let out. There is a buzz around newcomer Pooran, the 19-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman who has been serving as an understudy to Denesh Ramdin. With Ramdin touring South Africa as part of the West Indies squad, it means there may be more opportunities for Pooran to build on his superlative performance a year earlier at the Under-19 World Cup in the UAE.


Before Carlos Brathwaite was designated as the man whose name would be remembered, it was Pooran who was on the tip of West Indian tongues


But fate has decided that his season is about to end before it even begins, and possibly his career too.
"I was coming back home from training, driving," Pooran recalls. "I was close to home and a car was overtaking another car, so I pulled away. I hit a sand heap and then I came back onto the road and another vehicle hit me.
"I was knocked out and then I couldn't remember what happened. I just woke up at the accident and I was like, 'How did this happen?' I was shocked. I couldn't believe that this happened. I was taken in an ambulance, couldn't move my legs.
"My left patellar tendon had ruptured and I had a fractured right ankle. I couldn't straighten my leg," Pooran says, pointing to the scars. "At first, I didn't really know what happened. I wasn't too sure. People kept telling me, 'Move your toes, move your toes!' I knew I couldn't move my knee, so I knew something's definitely wrong.
"The first thing I asked the doctors was if I could play cricket again," he says, letting out a long sigh, before staring straight ahead into no man's land. "At first they weren't too sure until they did the surgery. The doctors did what they had to do and did a perfect surgery, Dr Ali and his staff. They did a wonderful surgery. Everything, thank God, everything came back to normal."


 
Following his exploits at Under-19 level, Pooran had been slated for great things © ICC


He had two surgeries, in fact. The first was less than 24 hours after the accident, to repair the left patellar tendon. The second, on his right leg to repair the ankle fracture, had to wait another week, till after the swelling from the injury subsided. The surgeries, though, were a minor detail in the process to figure out the answer to the question Pooran had put to his doctors.
"It was up to therapy now to determine if I would play cricket again."

****

The first day of therapy was only a few weeks after Trinidad & Tobago had won the Nagico Super50, defeating Guyana in the final. For the first four months, only the smallest gains were made, because Pooran was in a wheelchair the majority of the time. The surgery on both legs forced recovery to move at a snail's pace.
"I tried to sleep as long as possible," Pooran says, admitting it was hard not to be depressed at times. "If I sleep late, the day will be short. Basically I'd get up and watch TV, read some books, play on my phone. There wasn't much I could do. When I started therapy, I went every day, so then my day would be therapy, then back home.
"Therapy is tough, therapy is boring. Every single day I'd just wake up and think, 'Ugh, therapy again?' Sometimes I'd think, 'When will I start to walk again properly? When will I run properly?'"


"The first thing I asked the doctors was if I could play cricket again. At first they weren't too sure"


It took Pooran until July, six months after the accident, before he could walk without assistance. He started therapy with 90-minute sessions three times a week, but by this stage it had grown to two hours a day, six days a week. Large chunks of time were often spent attempting to do the most mundane tasks.
"Cricket was what he had going for him and what he's been working on his whole life, and he felt that was the end of everything," says Dr Oba Gulston, the Barbados Tridents physiotherapist, formerly with Trinidad & Tobago, when recounting Pooran's rehab transformation.
"It took a while. We did a lot of work with him, gave him some time, just kept encouraging him and helping him to believe. We celebrated every landmark, every achievement, because often times when you've been very high-functional, you don't look at starting to walk as a big deal, going up steps for the first time, the first time he was able to do a squat again with assistance - the fact that we had the range of motion in the knees to do it was a big thing because he didn't have that initially."
By August 2015, Pooran began jogging again, and in September he had his first net session. His rehab had been ramped up to four hours a day. At the turn of the year his physical-therapy workload was near pedal to the metal: eight hours daily, spread across three sessions, split between wicketkeeping coach David Williams in the morning, Dr Gulston in the middle of the day, and rounded off by a training session at Queen's Park Oval.
Dr Gulston was there to push him physically, but often pushing him in spirit was Kieron Pollard. The allrounder was going through an injury ordeal of his own after damaging his right knee while playing for Cape Cobras in South Africa's domestic Ram Slam T20. It caused him to miss West Indies' ride to the 2016 World T20 title and the early part of IPL 2016.


 
Pollard was a constant supportive presence during Pooran's long months of rehab © WICB


Pollard had already gone through a prior ordeal with a knee injury that forced him to sit out six months from 2013 into 2014. With that experience under his belt, Pollard served as a rehab mentor to Pooran. When Gulston wasn't working with both of them in person, the three kept in constant contact over WhatsApp.
"Polly would share some of his experiences and he would challenge [Pooran]," Gulston said. "They would make bets about doing different things and running different times. If Nicholas did certain exercises, Pollard would ask, 'What did you do today?' and I would have to take videos of it and send it to the group so Pollard, who was at the IPL, would see Nicholas doing stuff. Sometimes there would be a hundred messages popping up on the group, and it would just be the two of them going back and forth."
As positive as the bond he forged with Pollard was, Pooran faced a different set of hurdles with the Trindad & Tobago Cricket Board. His doctors felt the best way for him to truly recover full range of motion, speed and match fitness was to play, though he was still not 100%. The TTCB wouldn't select him until he received full medical clearance. A stalemate ensued.
Pooran says he aired his thoughts to T&T assistant coach Kelvin Williams. He trusted Williams, who had coached him coming up through Under-19 cricket. A mutual decision was then made for Pooran to leave the Trinidad & Tobago set-up, and instead he sought opportunities in club cricket with Queen's Park CC. He found a key ally in then West Indies coach Phil Simmons.


"Therapy is tough, therapy is boring. Every single day I'd just wake up and think, 'Ugh, therapy again?'"


"He met me for the first time and he asked me why I couldn't make this team," Pooran says of a crucial encounter with Simmons. "I explained to him [what had happened with the TTCB]. So he was there and he told me in front of Kelvin Williams, 'Hey Pooran, this is what I want from you. Everything that has happened, it's gone. Leave it. I want you to focus on CPL, not focusing on batting or keeping. Focus on getting fit and ready for CPL.'"

****

At the CPL draft that February, Pollard's Barbados Tridents took Pooran in the fourth round for US$90,000 - the same price Andre Russell fetched from Jamaica Tallawahs. It put Pooran in the top ten most expensive local players in the CPL, lofty status for someone whose last formal match at island level was in December 2014, and who was still rehabbing his way back from catastrophic leg injuries.
"I think Pollard was the one who made that decision," Pooran said. "It was a big call, especially being the captain of Barbados Tridents. He showed faith in me. He's a person who believed in me and that was a big risk for him to take, to convince the CPL owners to buy me. I had some pressure heading into CPL. It was always in the back of my head, 'What if I don't do good?'"
By the time Pooran's first match with Tridents came around, it had been more than 18 months since his last first-class match. Fate determined that it would come against Trinbago Knight Riders at Queen's Park Oval. He was so eager to prove he was fit again that a bit of anxiety almost weighed him down. "Before I went into that field, I asked God and Jesus to give me strength and courage," he said.
Entering at 95 for 4 in the 15th over chasing a target of 171, Pooran was scratchy in his first few deliveries, and was involved in a run-out with David Wiese, but before long he had found his timing. He locked onto Kevon Cooper in the 18th, stroking him for six, four, six off the first half of the over to bring the equation down to 37 off 15 before he ran himself out to finish with 33 off 12 balls.


 
Pooran: "I had some pressure heading into CPL. It was always in the back of my head, 'What if I don't do good?'" © CPL/Sportsfile


Though the Knight Riders management is not tied to the TTCB, the venue provided extra fuel for Pooran that night, and for the rest of the season. "I wanted to show the cricket board that 'Hey, I hope you can see now because I can play,'" Pooran said. "I guess this could answer all the questions now."

****

Pooran finished with 217 runs in eight innings at 27.12 for Tridents in 2016, including 81 off 39 balls in a Man-of-the-Match effort against St Lucia Zouks. Only AB de Villiers and Shoaib Malik scored more runs for Tridents, while Pooran's 18 sixes in the league stage put him fourth on that list, behind only Chris Gayle, Chris Lynn and Johnson Charles.
Pollard said that knowing what Pooran had gone through made him an inspiration for his team-mates. "I think he has been a revelation," Pollard said during the Tridents tour of Florida to end the 2016 CPL season. "Coming back from what he actually came back from, struggling and not being able to get into the Trinidad & Tobago team in 50-overs or four-day cricket. He played an entire season for Queen's Park. I thought there he did well. So he was looking forward to this tournament and he has shown what he can do.
"This is T20 cricket, so you don't expect a guy like that who bats and takes risks to be consistent. When he comes off, he wins games for you, and that's exactly what he did for us in a couple games. It could only go up from there for him. It's good to see that another youngster is coming out of hardship."


"I believe that everything happens for a reason. Maybe getting into the accident was a blessing in disguise. I appreciate life more now"


More than the runs, Pooran said he was most proud of being able to keep wicket throughout the season. He was steadfast in his determination that the leg injuries would not limit his workload behind the stumps. Thin and wiry before his injuries, all the work in the gym during his rehab has made his legs into tree trunks and enhanced his batting strength. To further prove he is healthy not just to bat but to keep wicket, Pooran doesn't wear a brace in the field on his surgically repaired left knee.
"I want people to say, 'Hey, Pooran had this major injury, major accident, we thought he would never keep again, never play again.' I just want to be that person - people can say, look to him as a motivation, because obviously it was a really bad accident, and if I can come back from it, anyone can come back from anything."
On the back of his CPL performances, Pooran was picked for West Indies for the first time when they travelled to the UAE to play Pakistan last September. He finished the series with a modest 25 runs in three matches, as West Indies lost heavily in a 3-0 T20I series sweep. Not that the numbers mattered much to Pooran: simply being able to take the field for West Indies, at age 20, mind you, less than two years after waking up in a hospital bed fearing he'd never play again, was reward enough.
"After all I went through, to get back where I am is a wonderful feeling," he said, when describing the moment he received the news he had been selected. "I wanted to play for the West Indies by 21. So that was a big goal for me and a big achievement.
"I really doubted it, especially getting back to full fitness. I really doubted it but I never give up on my dreams. Every day I keep working harder and harder. God makes everything possible, so all thanks and praise goes to him."


Pooran's 2016 season with Tridents under coach Robin Singh made an impression on the former India international, and the Singh-Pollard connection contributed to him being taken in the IPL auction by Mumbai Indians in February. Pooran also followed Singh to play for finalists City Kaitak in the Hong Kong T20 Blitz. During his time in Hong Kong, he was retained by Tridents in the 2017 CPL Draft.
"I believe that everything happens for a reason," Pooran says, his 18-month comeback journey from injury complete. "Maybe getting into the accident was a blessing in disguise. I appreciate life more now. I appreciate the life that I have and the talent that I have. I was blessed.
"What I learned is that every single opportunity you get, you have to grab it. When I was down and out, all I was waiting for was an opportunity again. Every opportunity I get now, I want to take it with both hands now. I want to give my best, give 100% every time I enter that cricket field now, whether I have a bat or whenever I keep. There's not one day I'll go onto a cricket field and I'll try to do less than I could. I finally got this opportunity after a year and a half and this time I'm not letting go."
Peter Della Penna is ESPNcricinfo's USA correspondent. @PeterDellaPenna
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

78
Cricket Anyone / WICB FOUR DAY TOURNAMENT 2016-217 April 7-10
« on: April 05, 2017, 08:26:36 AM »

results here.

79
Cricket Anyone / WI vs PAK. 4th T-20, POS, TT, April 2, 2017
« on: April 02, 2017, 10:49:11 AM »
scores, updates here.

80
Cricket Anyone / WI vs Pakistan, 3rd T-20, POS, TT, April 1, 2017
« on: April 02, 2017, 10:48:17 AM »

http://www.guardian.co.tt/sports/2017-04-02/lewis-lashes-pakistan
Vinode Mamchan
Published: 
Sunday, April 2, 2017


To the strains of MX Prime’s ‘hold dem and wuk dem’ Evin Lewis took cue and did exactly that against the Pakistanis, as he took West Indies to their first win of the series at the Queen’s Park Oval yesterday. 
For once the fans at the Oval left happy as the left-hander slammed 91 to take the West Indies to a seven-wicket victory, with a whopping 5.1 overs left. Lewis carved the bowling to all parts of the ground to keep his team’s chances of saving this series alive and well. His performance presents the host with a chance of squaring the series 2-2 when the final game in the series takes place at the same venue.
Chasing 137 was tricky given what has transpired in this series with the West Indies batting, but after an early let off Lewis was able to put things right. The man from Tableland in south Trinidad was on fire at the Oval and took the bowling by the scruff of the neck to bring joy to the estimated 5,000 fans who stayed loyal to West Indies cricket. He got out just before the victory was formalised, having faced just 51 balls and hitting nine sixes and five fours.

After his century against India last year in Fort Lauderdale, USA, Lewis entered a slump where he got only 24 runs from five matches before yesterday. Lewis was happy to deliver after being run out in the first two games.

“Well, I got run out in both games, so I was very happy to be out here and getting runs today. I have been working hard with Toby Radford in the nets and this has worked fine for me and I am looking to come back tomorrow and deliver again for my team,” Lewis said.
Jason Mohammed, coming into the game to make his debut at the International T20 level, proved a vital cog in the wheel, as he added 76 of 6.4 overs with Lewis. Mohammed was there at the end unbeaten on 17 of 15 balls with two fours.

Nineteen-year-old spinner Shadab Khan, who played a key role in the visitors previous two victories, was finally tamed when the three overs he bowled went for 38 runs before he got the prized scalp of Lewis.
Earlier, Pakistan won the toss and decided to take first strike with the thinking that the afternoon sun would bake the pitch and assist their spinners later on. Skipper Sarfraz Ahmed must have had second thoughts after the first over, as two wickets fell to leg-spinner Samuel Badree.
Before the fans could settle, Ahmed Shazad slammed the first ball for four, Badree responded by touching his timber next ball and two balls later, the promoted Imad Wasim was stumped without scoring.
Cousins Akmal and Azam then got together and re-started the innings for the Pakistanis. They were aided by some poor stuff from fast bowlers Jason Holder and Carlos Brathwaite and the pair regrouped and was able to get their team back on track. Akmal was aggressive, while Azam displayed the controlled hand and the partnership worked nicely.

In an effort to get a breakthrough, Brathwaite threw the ball to Marlon Samuels for his first bowl in international cricket for quite a while, after his ban from the International Cricket Council (ICC). The Jamaican started in fine style removing Akmal with his first ball for 48 of 37 balls. His innings included four fours and two sixes.

After that the West Indies were back in the game and when Babar Azam fell for 43 and Shoaib Malik fell for three, the West Indies pushed and reduced the visitors to 137.

81
Cricket Anyone / WI vs PAK. 1st T-20, Barbados, March 25, 2017
« on: March 26, 2017, 02:14:20 PM »
we lose.

82
Cricket Anyone / WICB FOUR DAY TOURNAMENT 2016-217 March 17-20
« on: March 21, 2017, 12:10:28 PM »
results here

83
Cricket Anyone / Andre Russel faces prospect of longer ban
« on: March 12, 2017, 05:53:58 PM »

http://www.espncricinfo.com/westindies/content/story/1086210.html



 
Andre Russell is currently banned until January 30, 2018 © Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Andre Russell, the West Indies allrounder, faces the prospect of having his anti-doping ban extended to two years after the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) launched an appeal over the original sanction.
In January, Russell was handed a one-year ban for breaking anti-doping whereabouts regulations three times in a 12-month period which, under the code, classed as a failed test.
Russell's lawyer confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that the appeal will be heard with JADCO seeking the maximum two-year penalty. Currently his ban runs until January 30, 2018.
When the one-year ban was handed down, JADCO found that Russell had failed to adhere to whereabouts requirements on January 1, July 1 and July 25, 2015. His defence was that because of his cricket commitments he had left it in the hands of his agent to complete the required paperwork but the JADCO legal counsel accused him of "gross negligence".

84
Cricket Anyone / WICB FOUR DAY TOURNAMENT 2016-217 March 10-13
« on: March 12, 2017, 11:51:25 AM »
Red Force on top

The Trinidad and Tobago Red Force dominated the second day of their Regional Four-Day clash against the Windward Islands Volcanoes at the Grenada National Stadium, yesterday with Yannic Cariah scoring his maiden first-class century as the Red Force posted 275 before dismissing the hosts for only 104.
However, new Red Force skipper Kyle Hope declined to enforce the follow-on and by the close of play, his side had extended their lead to 194.

Cariah, who retired hurt on 92 late on the first day of the match on Friday, returned yesterday to reach 102 not out as the visitors added 25 to their overnight tally of 250 for seven before being dismissed.
Kyle Mayers grabbed four wickets for the Volcanoes while Jeremiah Louis took three. The Volcanoes were then rocked by the pace of Sheldon Cottrell and Marlon Richards. They went into the lunch break at 11 for one and it did not get any better when they came back out for the middle session.

Richards struck with the first ball after the break as Devon Smith was bowled for three. The next delivery saw Keddy Lesporis being caught behind by wicketkeeper Steven Katwaroo without scoring and shortly after, Taryk Gabriel was caught off Cottrell as the Volcanoes slipped to 11 for four.
The hosts were 21 for five when Cottrell had Liam Sebastien lbw for four while Sunil Ambris failed to impress as he was caught off the off-spin of Bryan Charles for ten.
The Volcanoes were 33 for six at that stage. But Mayers resisted with 31 before he was caught by Charles in the midwicket region as he pulled at a long hop from off left-arm spinner Khary Pierre, while Shillingford made 34 before he was lbw to leg-spinner Imran Khan.

No one else reached double figures for the Volcanoes while Cottrell finished with three for 30, Richards took two for 14, Khan had two for 28, Charles ended with two for 22 and Pierre with one for six.
Batting a second time, the Red Force reached 21 for one at stumps with Jeremy Solozano being the one casualty thus far. However, Hope, unbeaten on ten and Isaiah Rajah (not out on six) will resume this morning with the opportunity to lay the foundation for a formidable victory target to set the home side,

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Quizz Time & Facts / TT opener - father football/cricket
« on: March 08, 2017, 12:12:33 PM »
Continuing the trend of openers:

What TT opener had a father who played both cricket and football for TT?

NOT TALL MAN!!!

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A mature century from Eoin Morgan helped England to victory in the first ODI of the series against West Indies in Antigua. The win was secured with almost three overs to spare, with Chris Woakes and Liam Plunkett taking four wickets apiece.
Morgan, the England captain, had spoken the day before the game about the need for his side to temper their aggressive instincts a little on a surface that he anticipated would do little to encourage stroke-play. It proved an accurate analysis. On a sluggish, slightly two-paced pitch England were precariously placed at 29 for 2 when Morgan walked to the wicket after West Indies had won what appeared to be an important toss in a match delayed by rain.

It took Morgan seven balls to get off the mark and 33 to reach double-figures. But he did not panic. Recognising that this was a surface on which a total of 270 might prove match-winning, he batted accordingly and reached his tenth ODI century - and second in three matches - with his second six in the 49th over of the England innings. It was a masterful demonstration of experience and calculated aggression in conditions demanding more subtlety than aggression.

It was the first time England had failed to post a total of at least 300 when batting first in an ODI since February 2016. But, in these conditions, it was a challenging total and testament, perhaps, to some growing sophistication within an England side that has tended, until now, to try to blast its way to success. Had they attempted to make 350, they could very well have subsided for fewer than 200.
"It wasn't easy or pretty," Morgan said afterwards. "It was hard work, especially getting in.
"It was very tacky early on. When they peeled the covers off, it was damp. They rolled it and it looked dry but it just rolled the moisture into the wicket. Over the first 15 or 20 overs the moisture came out of it and that balls that dismissed Joe Root and Jason Roy both kept low."

It was Morgan's fifth century as captain, a new record for an England skipper surpassing the four made by Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook.
West Indies will rue two missed chances, though. First Kieran Powell, at slip, was unable to cling on to an outside edge offered by a loose drive off Carlos Brathwaite's first ball when Morgan had just 4, while later Shai Hope was unable to complete a tough catch after a delivery from Jason Mohammed turned, bounced and took Morgan's outside edge when he had 69.
Perhaps more significantly in the grand scheme of things, Morgan also had an escape when he was struck by a bouncer bowled by the impressively sharp Shannon Gabriel. Through a pull shot too early, Morgan was struck on the stemguard but, thanks to the extra protection, he was able to go on and celebrate a fine century in front of a crowd dominated by travelling England supporters. Ticket prices of USD75 appear to have done little to attract local spectators.

Morgan accelerated intelligently after his careful start. He struck the spinners for four fours in eight balls at one stage, going deep in his crease to pull and lofting the ball over mid-off when the man was pulled into the circle, while also clearing his front leg and striking the seamers for his two sixes.
He was given excellent support from Ben Stokes. Stokes, too, ensured he played himself in before going on the attack and it took him 26 deliveries to reach double-figures but once he settled he went on the attack and helped his captain add 110 in 18.4 overs.
Struggling to hit fours on the slow surface and with bug square boundaries, Stokes instead relied on his power. He struck three sixes in 12 balls at one stage - helped by Kraigg Brathwaite stepping over the boundary as he attempted to take a catch at deep midwicket - and registered his sixth score of 50-plus in his last nine ODI innings, from 56 balls.

While he was eventually caught at long-on and Morgan was run-out backing-up - Moeen Ali hit the ball straight back at the bowler, Brathwaite, who threw down the stumps - Moeen contributed 31 from 22 balls to help England plunder exactly 100 runs off the final 10 overs of their innings.
West Indies rarely threatened to get close to their target. After Evin Lewis pulled to deep midwicket, Kieran Powell sent a leading edge to point as he tried to turn one into the leg side, and Kraigg Brathwaite pulled to mid-on. Mohammed and Jonathan Carter added 82 in 13.5 overs to revive West Indies hopes, but when Carter was brilliantly caught by Jason Roy, charging in from deep midwicket, and Mohammed was run-out by some nifty footwork from the bowler, Steven Finn, having been called through for a sharp single, their chase fell away.

"We were in the game right through," Mohammed said afterwards. "But when a team scores a hundred in the last 10 overs, they've got a really good chance. That was a crucial part in the game.
"A couple of chances went down, too. If we'd held on to them, there could have been a different result."
England's victory was achieved without the need to use Stokes' bowling skills. The much-anticipated rematch between him and Carlos Brathwaite, therefore, will have to wait. Woakes, who finished with four wickets as reward for an intelligent display of control and variation, dismissed him with a slower ball. Plunkett also finished with four wickets, while Finn, in his first ODI since September 2015, was wicketless but bowled with good control. It was, in short, a good display by England's seamers.
"I thought they were brilliant in conditions that don't really suit us," Morgan said. "We were relentless in making them hit cross-bat shots into the wind. It was an outstanding performance from the seamers.
"It wasn't pre-planned not to us Ben. I just didn't need to go to him."

Sam Billings will feel he only partially took his chance to impress having retained his place at the top of the order. He registered his second half-century in three ODI innings to steady England, after Gabriel defeated Roy with one that may have kept a little low and bowled Joe Root with a beauty that cut in off the seam. Billings may feel he squandered a chance to register a really telling total, though, when skipping down the pitch and drilling a catch to mid-on.

"He's got to keep churning out runs," Morgan said when asked if Billings had done enough to see off the return of Alex Hales over the next couple of games. "Alex is a very formidable player in our side and has scored a lot of runs when we've won games. It'll all depend on how Hales has pulled up from training."
George Dobell is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo. He will be covering England's tour of the Caribbean in association with Smile Group Travel, specialists in hosted supporters' packages.
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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Cricket Anyone / Underperformig Brathwaite "an invesment."
« on: February 25, 2017, 12:50:51 PM »
http://www.guardian.co.tt/sports/2017-02-25/underperforming-brathwaite-%E2%80%98investment%E2%80%99-argues-browne

Published: 
Saturday, February 25, 2017

FLASHBACK: Carlos Brathwaite celebrates after the all-rounder hit the winning runs in the Twenty20 World Cup final. (© WICB Media)
The 28-year-old all-rounder’s selection has been questioned in some quarters especially in light of his recent failures but Browne said Brathwaite was still at a very early stage of his development and the selection panel was focused on getting the best out of him.
“He’s a young player who is a very exciting player on his day, who hasn’t played a lot of international cricket either. He’s an investment and we all know if we get him right what he can produce for us,” Browne said in a radio interview here.

“We would have seen him in the T20 World Cup but one of the things is if you sit and hear, say a coach or captain, speak about Carlos Brathwaite it is a bit different.”
He continued: “The way how 50-overs cricket is played now where there are power-plays and there are certain bowlers you go for in power-plays and certain bowlers you don’t. And Carlos’s strike rate would be more than the other bowlers because of the time of the games when he bowls.
“Not that I am saying that is in any way a reason not to perform but we have to take into consideration he’s still a young player at the international level. There’s so much things. We have a very young team and … the selection panel we sat and we talked about all players, and we all felt that Carlos Brathwaite was still someone that we can get a lot out of.”

Brathwaite shot to prominence last April when he smashed massive sixes off the first four balls of the last over to propel West Indies to a dramatic victory over England in the final of the Twenty20 World Cup.
Since those heroics, his form in ODIs has been ordinary, with a meagre 157 runs coming from 12 appearances at a lowly average of 15.7, while taking 17 wickets with his medium pace.
Overall, Brathwaite averages just 13 with the bat from 20 ODIs and has taken 21 wickets at 40.
Browne contended Brathwaite should not be measured against his exploits at the T20 World Cup, especially since he was still relatively new to international cricket.
“What you must understand is this is still a young man. If he sit and we expect Carlos to repeat what he did in the World Cup every single time, we’re going to fool ourselves,” the former Test wicketkeeper explained.

“Carlos needs to develop like any other cricketer. We’ve dug ourselves in a massive hole over the years, there’s no quick fix to our problem. It is about hard work. It’s about getting our players out there, developing our players.

“It’s not about ‘you’ve had five games, you have not performed’ so just throw [the player away]. It’s about helping players to develop and realizing their full potential.”
Brathwaite, who was elevated to the T20 captaincy last year, was a vital part of the Barbados Pride squad that won the Regional Super50 title last weekend in Antigua.
Batting down the order and mostly coming at the crunch, he managed 91 runs from eight outings and snared eight wickets.
Browne said it was important players like Brathwaite were given an extended run in order to prove themselves.
“When you look at our players, there are some who have been given a little extension because you want them to develop,” he noted.

“We don’t want to have a case where you have a whole bunch of players – like what you used to happen in the past – where we had so much players, all of them had games under their belts but none never got a good extension or fair run to help them to develop. We need to develop cricketers.
“We are number eight in the world because we put ourselves there by playing bad cricket over the years by making bad decisions. We have to develop a team, it is hard work but the one thing I must say about Carlos and a lot of the other players, we have players now who actually want to play, we have players who are committed, they are self-starters, they work hard.

“When you see players who are doing that, you know that you will be able to create that environment that is conducive to producing cricketers that can perform consistently.” (CMC)

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Quizz Time & Facts / Keeping it in the family
« on: February 17, 2017, 05:18:56 PM »
A former WI Test opener is married to the daughter of a former TT Test bowler.

Who is the opener and who is the bower?

Tallest go ahead, ah feeling brave.  ;D

VB

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Quizz Time & Facts / From pace to spin
« on: February 05, 2017, 07:02:54 PM »

Name me two TT fastbowlers who later became great spin bowlers for their  country.

One of them actually played for the WI youth team as  a pace bowler.

NOT TALL MAN.

VB

90
Cricket Anyone / WICB REGIONAL SUPER 50 THREAD
« on: January 26, 2017, 12:15:51 PM »
scores, results, here.

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