Topics

181

2006 World Cup - Germany / About Paraguay's second goal against T&T

« on: July 20, 2006, 03:14:27 PM »

The second goal scored by cuevas - how is that supposed to be defended? From the tape, it looked like a give and go. edwards was marking the guy that passed the ball (forgot his name). cuevas went across the goal past latas and lawrence. who was supposed to pick up cuevas?

182

Other Sports / ultimate waste of time and space

« on: July 10, 2006, 03:16:18 PM »

dere is alot of dis scourge afflicting de football fields in the toronto area. ah wonder who doz pass by and see a perfectly groomed football field ... and a bunch of fools playing dis chupidness called:

ULTIMATE FRISBEE

[/size][/b]


dat is a waste of a good pitch. all of dem running fast and stopping like cockroach. ah see dem practicing dey overhand and underhand throw and the "hammer" which doz look more desperate than skillful.

dere is one good aspect of dis tragedy and dat is that a good set of oman play de game. but for such a chupid dotish activity, dey doz take it too seriously trying to call it a sport.

for one, i never want to disgrace a perfectly good football field dis way.

183

Cricket Anyone / WI fielder's throwing questioned

« on: June 14, 2006, 12:55:03 PM »

Stephenson questions weak arms

Haydn Gill

June 14, 2006


 
An experienced former professional is embarrassed by the weak throwing arms prevailing in the West Indies team. Franklyn Stephenson, an ex-Barbados all-rounder who made a name for himself on the circuits in England, South Africa and Australia, is also questioning the benefit of some of the team's fitness drills.

"It is really embarrassing to see you have at least four guys who cannot get the ball anywhere near the stumps from off a pretty short boundary," Stephenson told Nationsport yesterday. " It's just not athleticism. If you've got such a prestigious group of people looking after our athletes, I'd like to see they've improved in some way. I've always considered that instead of a physiotherapist, a proper masseur could actually get the muscles right for the games every day."

Stephenson was speaking on the abandoned fourth day of the second Test between West Indies and India at the Beausejour Stadium. He identified young fast bowler Jerome Taylor and experienced batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul as the only two players in the team with outstanding throwing arms.

Since the new coaching staff, headed by coach Bennett King and including the tough strength and conditioning co-ordinator Bryce Cavanagh came on board, training sessions have gone to a new level. Stephenson, however, feels some of the work could have had a negative effect on the arms.

"Cricketers don't do some of these wide-arm push-ups. You want your muscles strengthened for that actual action that you use," he said. "If you put them in a different strengthening position, then you're working the wrong muscles in the joint. It is being manifested out there."

While watching India pile up 588 for eight declared, Stephenson said it was evident the visitors knew the fielders with weak throwing arms, and duly took advantage.

A former professional, who played English county cricket for Gloucestershire, Nottinghamshire, and Sussex, for Free State in South Africa, and Tasmania in Australia, Stephenson said he had problems with his arm towards the end of his career and doubted whether many of the problems that existed now could be easily corrected.

"I struggled with my shoulder after a while and then I developed a way of throwing the ball, pretty much underarm so the shoulder wouldn't over-extend, but I prided myself on getting the ball to the keeper no matter where I was in the field," he said.

"These guys need to see some specialists. If it can be corrected, I don't know how long it is going to take. It's just going the wrong way. I'm not sure if it's being created in them or if it's just deterioration."

Stephenson also questioned the impact of Cavanagh, who prior to his arrival in the Caribbean, had spent five years with New South Wales rugby team.

Cavanagh also completed tertiary qualifications at the University of Technology, Sydney, and the Australian Catholic University, Sydney, where he acquired a sports science degree with honours and a graduate diploma in education.

"We need specialists in the job and if you are not a cricket person, you should not be around a cricket team," Stephenson said. "You should be experienced enough to know which muscles are being used and how they are strengthened. If you are not a cricket person, then you could be doing a lot more detriment to the team than help."

© Nation News

184

2006 World Cup - Germany / Stern John: T&T ready to shock England

« on: June 12, 2006, 08:55:46 AM »

Stern John: T&T ready to shock England

Coventry striker Stern John believes Trinidad and Tobago can surprise England on Thursday in Nuremberg.

 
John, 29, put in a solid shift as the lone attacker as the World Cup newcomers surprised Sweden by taking a point with a 0-0 draw.


He said: 'We know the England game will be very tough.

'You are only as good as your last game but we ground out a result against Sweden and hopefully we can build on it.

'We won some fans in our opening match and that was important.

'People who have been watching all over the world will be talking about this and Trinidad and Tobago players for years to come.'

Gillingham defender Brent Sancho, who replaced the injured Marvin Andrews, is also quietly confident going into the England clash.

He said: 'No-one expected us to get a result against Sweden but we always believed in ourselves. Who knows what can happen now?

'Getting a draw against Sweden is the biggest moment in our footballing lives but hopefully it will get even better in this tournament.'

185

What about Track & Field / Powell runs 9.77 again

« on: June 11, 2006, 12:18:33 PM »

Powell ties 100-meter world record shared with Gatlin

Associated Press

GATESHEAD, England -- Asafa Powell ran 9.77 seconds at the British Grand Prix on Sunday to equal the 100-meter world record he holds with Justin Gatlin.


The Jamaican originally ran 9.77 in June 2005 in Athens, Greece. Gatlin tied Powell's record in Qatar on May 12 after his initial mark of 9.76 was changed five days later because of a timing mistake.

"That's how you run a world record," Powell said "As I said, I can run as fast as I want, when I want. I told them I would do my best here and I didn't let them down.

"My coach is not all that happy because in the end I didn't do what he wanted me to do -- but I can work on that. I came out and proved I can run 9.77 seconds again."

Gatlin withdrew from the Gateshead meet on June 4 after his agent, Renaldo Nehemiah, said there wasn't a contract for the Olympic champion to run against Powell.

The co-world record-holders will race in the 100 at the London Grand Prix on July 28.

"I don't know what [the new record] is going to be, but it's going to be a lot faster than that," Powell said. "This year I'm feeling a lot stronger, and that means I'm faster, so there's no doubting it."

Powell earned a $50,000 bonus for his run in front of a crowd of 8,500.

Michael Frater of Jamaica finished second in 10.06. Dwain Chambers of Britain, in his first race since his two-year ban for the drug THG ended last November, finished third in 10.07.

186

Cricket Anyone / Express: Lara's Call for Freedom - Sponsorship in West Indies Cricket

« on: June 07, 2006, 11:44:40 AM »

[ur=http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/westindies/content/current/story/249532.htmll]Resolving the future of West Indies cricket

Lara's call for freedom[/url]

Tony Cozier

June 5, 2006


In spite of his position as the most identifiable and potentially most influential individual in West Indies cricket, Brian Lara has seldom been inclined to publicly air his views on the many complex and diverse issues that affect it.

He might have been wary that his words would be misinterpreted. Perhaps he didn't want to crush any more corns for he had, after all, been involved in enough controversy for one career. Now, as captain for the third time, entrusted with the responsibility of guiding West Indies cricket out of the mire that has consumed it for so long, Lara has acknowledged that this involves more than simply picking teams, tossing the coin, setting fields and making bowling changes.

Even before his recall to the helm, he spoke repeatedly and enthusiastically of the talented emerging young players in the region and of his aim to use his experience to help them develop. He has subsequently said that he sees success in his third coming as skipper as "producing a leader who will be able to take over".

As was evident in his address at the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) awards function at the Chaguaramas Convention Centre recently, Lara also recognises that the revival depends as much on factors off the field as on it.

He concentrated in his talk mainly on one area, sponsorship - or, to be more specific and to use his words, "the shackles of sponsorship" and the "dependency" of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) on foreign backers.

It was not to say Lara was ungrateful. He paid due tribute to Cable & Wireless for their 18 years' support and to Digicel which replaced them two years ago.

On the surface, his stance seemed contradictory on two counts. Even with sponsorship, the WICB is close to US$20 million in the red and needs every dollar it can get while Lara himself has personally benefited from the involvement of both telecommunications companies. Under his personal endorsement contract, his image adorns tv and media advertisements and billboards supporting bmobile, the Cable & Wireless brand.

As captain of the West Indies team, he is bedecked in Digicel kit during every international series. Yet it is precisely because there are such external influences that Lara put forward his proposal to encourage more financial involvement from the millions of day-to-day, cricket-mad West Indians, at home and abroad.

The captain based the idea of opening up supporters' membership of US$20 a year on the example of such schemes at two of the wealthiest clubs in different sports on either side of the Atlantic - the Green Bay Packers of American football and Barcelona of Spanish soccer. He spoke of Barcelona's 900,000 members and the vast sums they contribute every year to the club. No one would expect such an influx from Caribbean people but, properly organised and administered, it could raise, at a conservative estimate, in the region of US$2 million a year for the WICB.

That would be enough to sustain the first-class tournament at least. And it would have the psychological advantage of giving the people a sense of ownership of their game that now seems to be held by an Irish company and, more recently, a Texan billionaire.

Lara's idea is not entirely new. Lately, the formation of the Legends in Barbados - a company comprising all those who have represented the West Indies in Test cricket - aims to raise interest in and money for the game.

But previous attempts to organise supporters groups have come to nothing. Given the growing number of fans that travel between the territories for international, and even regional cricket, it is difficult to understand why - except when the record of the WICB's marketing department is taken into account.

This is a scheme that should have been running from way back. There are others too that the WICB and the territorial associations could benefit from by having their brighter sparks spend a week or so at Green Bay and Barcelona - or, for that matter, the imaginative cricket state teams in Australia and elsewhere.

Lara's contention that the WICB should get away from complete reliance on sponsorship - and, more especially, foreign sponsorship - might well have been prompted by the fierce war between Cable & Wireless and Digicel that divided board and players, player and player. West Indies cricket was caught in the crossfire and no one more than Lara himself. Nor is it yet over.

There have been charges of ambush marketing during this season's series against Zimbabwe and India and reports, noted with concern by members of the WICB's cricket committee, that some players have been signed up by a Digicel competitor, in other words Cable & Wireless. That situation was very much of the WICB's own making. Once bitten, it is safe to assume that it won't arise again.

If it did, it would not be necessarily vastly different between competing West Indian sponsors but, at least, they would likely be more understanding of the need to save the game from collateral damage.

In the meantime, Lara's prodding might just be the catalyst for Ken Gordon to activate the Green Bay-Barcelona plan and to light a fire under his moribund marketing section to come up with other devices to more thoroughly incorporate the wider cricket public into the game they so passionately follow and support so that the "dependency" on sponsorship is reduced. The revival of the team on the field has started. It has to be complemented off it.

© Trinidad & Tobago Express

====

We go lun from the Warrior Nation!

187

Cricket Anyone / Sehwag fined for excessive appealing

« on: June 07, 2006, 11:38:25 AM »

Sehwag fined for excessive appealing

Cricinfo staff

June 7, 2006

 
Virender Sehwag has been fined 20 percent of his match fee for excessive appealing during the tense final stages of the drawn first Test between India and West Indies in Antigua.

Sehwag was found to have breached section 1.5 of the ICC Code which relates to "the practice of celebrating a dismissal before the decision has been given". He removed Dwayne Bravo and Denesh Ramdin on the final day as West Indies hung on by one-wicket to save the match.

All level one breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand and a maximum penalty of 50 percent of a player's match fee. The charge was brought by the umpires Asad Rauf, Simon Taufel and Billy Doctrove.

Jeff Crowe, the match referee, reached his conclusion after a hearing attended by Sehwag, the Indian coach Greg Chappell and the umpires following the conclusion of the Test.

© Cricinfo


====
cooler heads prevail ....

188

Other Sports / T&T vs. Bahrain again...

« on: May 25, 2006, 08:16:18 AM »

T &T are paired with Bahrain in the 5th round of the 37th Chess Olympiad.

The 4th round saw T &T edge Honduras 2.5-1.5.

In the 1st round, Sweden defeated T & T 3-1 ... but we getting them back on the pitch come June 10th!

189

Cricket Anyone / What do you think about Twenty20 format?

« on: May 21, 2006, 09:01:03 PM »

twenty20 championship next year in south africa - any opinions?



ps: credit to this earlier thread

190

Football / Which club team mates will play each other in Germany?

« on: December 09, 2005, 10:12:38 PM »

Which club team mates will be playing each other in Germany?

e.g. from Chelsea
Didier Drogba and Arjen Robben
Petr Cech and Michael Essien

e.g. from Arsenal
Thierry Henry and Phillipe Senderos

e.g. from AC Milan
Dida/Cafu/Kaka and Dario Simic

e.g. Barcelona
van Bommel/van Bronckhorst and Messi

what others?

191

Cricket Anyone / What was the biggest contributor to the problems in the Australia tour?

« on: December 04, 2005, 07:10:27 PM »

After the pain of an early collapse followed by marginal vindication in the 3rd test, we are in a familiar position. What went wrong?

What was the biggest problem we faced in Australia?

Captaincy?
Officiating?
Player Selection?
Overall Strategy?
Something Else?

Would like to hear your perspectives.... 

ps. my pick: the initial 4-pace strategy was wrong on wickets that killed pace and with the off-spin talent of bravo and smith.

192

Football / AWATT: Please arrange for the 1000th member ...

« on: November 16, 2005, 05:27:33 PM »

... on the board to take the approved "Am I a Waggonist?" test and a free Waggonist bumper sticker if they pass.

193

Cricket Anyone / Tour Match with Queensland

« on: November 13, 2005, 08:09:37 PM »

harsh, real harsh. i said before the pace bowlers from the west indies could bowl out test class batsman. i might take that back. i not making too much of this 1st class test but still a little disconcerting.

Bowling	Overs	Runs+Extras	Wickets	Econ	S/R
Edwards	18	87+10	0	5.39	-
Best	26	132+22	0	5.92	-
Lawson	12	52+4	0	4.66	-
Bravo	22	86+4	2	4.09	45
Samuels	29	149+0	3	5.14	49.7
Dw Smith	15.4	50+1	3	3.26	17

will see how the 2nd test turns out but BK's 4-pacer attack need some variation to take wickets.

194

Football / Who getting the biggest cutarse come Saturday?

« on: November 10, 2005, 10:20:01 PM »

There are 4 other World Cup playoffs scheduled for Saturday. Which side will suffer the biggest defeat?





ps. Thanks SHOTTA!

195

Cricket Anyone / ICC rankings (Oct): Collymore, Devon Smith and Ramdin rising

« on: November 07, 2005, 03:44:06 PM »

Here's a summary. Full rankings http://www.cricketratings.com.

Bowling:

23.	Corey Collymore	Up 7
34.	Jermaine Lawson	Down 3
46.	Fidel Edwards	No Movement
50.	Daren Powell	Up 1
52.	Chris Gayle	No Movement
55.	Dwayne Bravo	No Movement

Batting:

5.	Brian Lara	Down 3
10.	Shiv Chanderpaul	Down 3
30.	Chris Gayle	Down 4
31.	Ramnaresh Sarwan	No Movement
50.	Wavell Hinds	Down 3
62.	Devon Smith	Up 15
T82.	Marlon Samuels	No Movement
T82.	Denish Ramdin	Up 8

196

General Discussion / CNN/AP: Diwali sparks racial tension in Trinidad

« on: November 01, 2005, 10:08:54 PM »

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/11/01/diwali.trinidad.ap/index.html

Diwali sparks racial tension in Trinidad

Tuesday, November 1, 2005; Posted: 7:13 p.m. EST (00:13 GMT)

 
LONGDENVILLE, Trinidad (AP) -- For millions of Hindus around the world, Diwali marks a time for families and friends to gather for fireworks, lighting of lamps and feasting to celebrate the triumph of good over evil.

But celebrating this year's ancient Hindu festival of lights took on a more personal tone for Rajesh Ramoutar.

Ramoutar, 37, is one of dozens of Indian-origin farmers in central Trinidad who say they were discriminated against by being denied the right to observe Diwali at the state-owned farm where they raise fish and sheep -- a charge the government denies.

Diwali, officially observed in Trinidad on Tuesday, marks the victory of Hinduism's most revered god, Rama, over the demon king Ravana in Hindu mythology.

The farmers got permission to hold the celebrations last week after threatening to sue, but not before sparking an uproar that highlighted racial tensions between Trinidadians of African and East Indian descent.

"Christmas celebrations are held on premises every year and no one has stopped them," said Ramoutar, who has worked for 14 years on the farm in rural Longdenville, 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of the capital of Port-of-Spain.

The government has said it never tried to stop the farmers from observing the celebrations but only from using a meeting room on the farm because of a fire hazard associated with using oil lamps.

"There was no discrimination involved," said Brent Bain, a spokesman for Trinidad's Agriculture Ministry.

Still, Ramoutar called the government's relenting "a victory not only for Hindus, but against discrimination in Trinidad and Tobago."

Politics is divided along racial lines in the twin island nation of 1.3 million. Blacks mostly support the governing People's National Movement while East Indians favor the main opposition party. The country's population is roughly split in half between both groups.

The Diwali dispute angered Trinidad's East Indian community, whose members complain that the country's winner-take-all system of politics results in discrimination against supporters of the party not in power.

They say the East Indians are denied promotions and jobs in the military and police service, noting the majority of senior police officers are black. Many East Indians also blame a recent wave of kidnappings on blacks who they say target Indian businessmen.

More than 200 East Indians arrived in Trinidad on May 30, 1845 aboard the ship "Fatel Razack" to work as indentured laborers on British sugar plantations.

The Diwali celebration is one of several traditions that add to the Caribbean country's cultural mosaic.

On Saturday, Ramoutar and about 75 other farmers gathered at the farm's meeting room, the men wearing traditional long tunics and the women wearing colorful saris adorned with hand-woven patterns and gold trimmings.

After being led in a puja, or a worship with special prayers, the group went outside and placed dozens of amber-glowing lamps on the ground meant to show Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, the way into homes and offices.

Other Hindus celebrate Diwali with loud firecrackers, followed by feasting on sweets made with milk, lentils, dry fruits and nuts.

"Look around us, there are all these lights and highlights of Hindu culture. We have to preserve this for our children. Our forefathers passed it on to us and we have to pass it on to them," Ramoutar said.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
http://

197

Cricket Anyone / Role for spinners in ODI format?

« on: October 30, 2005, 08:14:02 PM »

Number cruncher S. Rajesh on Cricinfo.com with an interesting piece:

The Friday column

A new spin to ODIs, and Vettori's return

S Rajesh

October 28, 2005


 
If it's ODIs in Sri Lanka, it must be time for spin © Getty Images
 
 

When one-day cricket first started in the 1970s, many reckoned that this format would destroy spin bowling: limited-overs cricket rewards line-and-length bowling, without too much experimentation; spinners generally tend to flight the ball in an attempt to lure batsmen into errors, and in the process are liable to go for runs in a version which placed a premium on them. Spinners wouldn't be able to cope, many feared.

As it turns out, spin bowling in one-day cricket has come a long way from those early days: in the 1970s, fast bowlers sent down 83% of all deliveries bowled in a match, which meant spinners got a mere 17 overs out of 100, or less than nine in an innings. Contrast that to today's fare, when spinners bowl, on an average, nearly 16 overs per innings - that's almost double the amount they contributed in the '70s.

India were probably the first team to demonstrate that a team with a prominent spin attack could be successful in one-day cricket when, in 1985, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan and Ravi Shastri formed a critical component of the bowling attack in their outstanding win in the World Championship of Cricket. The fact that they could repeatedly staunch the runs in the middle overs and pick wickets proved that there was a role for quality spinners in the ODI format. Today, with Muttiah Muralitharan, Daniel Vettori and Harbhajan Singh, among many others, playing their trade so successfully that not many would question the role of slow bowling. In fact, in the 1990s, spinners bowled 171 deliveries per match, up from 120 in the previous decade. And while they give away more runs per wicket than fast bowlers, spinners have edged ahead in terms of economy-rate.

Decade-wise contribution of pace and spin in ODIs  Wickets Average Econ rate Wkts per ODI/ Balls per ODI
1970s - fast bowlers 838 25.71 3.65 10.22/ 432.16
1970s - spinners 133 34.84 3.78 1.62/ 89.76
1980s - fast bowlers 4653 29.48 4.07 9.02/ 391.66
1980s - spinners 1241 35.49 4.26 2.41/ 120.17
1990s - fast bowlers 7762 31.15 4.40 8.32/ 353.51
1990s - spinners 3373 35.18 4.47 3.62/ 170.64
2000s - fast bowlers 6797 31.19 4.73 9.00/ 355.98
2000s - spinners 2539 36.03 4.59 3.36/ 158.43


It also helped, of course, that the subcontinent began hosting a bulk of the one-day games. On pitches which offered little to the fast bowlers and the medium-pacers, there was no other option but to turn to spin. In the 1970s, less than 9% of one-dayers were played in the subcontinent. In the 1980s, with Sharjah suddenly becoming a hotbed for ODIs, that figure leapt up to 41%. Even the shift of locations, though, doesn't entirely explain the increasing prominence of spin bowling: in the 1990s, 42% ODIs were played in the subcontinent, only a marginal increase from the previous decade; yet the contribution of spin bowling jumped up by nearly nine percentage points (50 balls per match). In the 2000s, the contribution of spinners has decreased slightly, explained partially by the reduction in matches in the subcontinent.

Decade-wise ODIs in the subcontinent Decade Total ODIs ODIs in subcont Percent
1970s 82 7 8.54
1980s 516 214 41.47
1990s 933 392 42.02
2000s 755 259 34.30


And of course, a look at the country-wise figures reveals the countries where slow bowling have revelled the most. No surprises here: Sri Lanka sees nearly 40 overs of spin per match, while in New Zealand that figure drops to 17. Meanwhile, the numbers for West Indies offer a telling tale of the changes in conditions and their team in this decade - in the 1990s, spinners used to bowl 140 deliveries per match; in the 2000s, this has gone up to 159.

Contribution of spin in the 2000s in host country Matches played in Wkts Average ER Wkts per ODI/ Balls per ODI
Sri Lanka 485 29.67 4.18 5.57/ 237.66
India 236 41.44 5.28 4.61/ 217.88
Bangladesh 163 36.87 4.54 4.41/ 214.68
Sharjah 183 33.39 4.29 4.07/ 189.84
Zimbabwe 231 35.49 4.63 3.62/ 166.02
Pakistan 116 40.70 4.91 3.31/ 164.74
West Indies 165 36.45 4.54 3.30/ 159.04
Australia 274 36.64 4.77 2.85/ 131.48
South Africa 292 39.87 4.64 2.45/ 126.61
England 183 37.80 4.63 2.20/ 107.98
New Zealand 109 36.98 4.34 2.06/ 105.17


Vettori's comeback
He was always rated highly as a spin bowler, but till about 18 months back, you wondered what the hype was all about. Hampered by injuries which required a change in action which resulted in loss of form and confidence, Daniel Vettori was struggling to live up to all those claims of him being the best left-arm spinner around. Just before the final of the NatWest Series in England last year, Vettori's average in ODIs had ballooned to almost 38, and in 137 matches he had only taken 120 wickets.

Then, he took a magnificent five-for in the final against West Indies, a performance which has triggered off a remarkable turnaround for him: in his last 22 one-day internationals, he has taken 37 wickets - that's almost 1.70 wickets per match - at a splendid average of 20.21 and an equally impressive economy rate.

That confidence has rubbed off on his Test performances too, over the last year. Before embarking on the tour to Bangladesh in October 2004, Vettori's Test average was 38.14. In ten matches since then, he has taken 50 wickets - easily his best run in Tests - bringing his career average down by more than three runs. Of course, it's helped too that four of those ten matches have been against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. With Test series against West Indies and South Africa coming up over the next six months, Vettori has an opportunity to set that record straight as well.

S Rajesh is stats editor of Cricinfo. For some of the stats he was helped by Travis Basevi, the man who built Stats Guru and the Wisden Wizard.

© Cricinfo

198

Cricket Anyone / Wavell Hinds out for 2 weeks ...

« on: October 26, 2005, 10:14:56 PM »

According to cricket.com.au Wavell Hinds fractured a little finger in his left hand (he's left handed i think) in the tour match with Queensland. He's expected to miss the 1st test and the 2nd tour match.

199

Cricket Anyone / Which WI bowler will take the most wickets in Australia?

« on: October 26, 2005, 04:27:18 PM »

who shutting down the aussies?

200

Football / if T&T was part of CONMEBOL qualifiers, where would we place?

« on: October 24, 2005, 09:48:52 PM »

this is idleness i know but i want to know what you think...

201

Football / Bet365 has T&T slight favourite over Bahrain

« on: October 15, 2005, 04:39:48 PM »

At time of posting the odds offered for teams advancing to the WC final are:

T&T      1.72
Bahrain  2.00

Out of the 5 matches to be played on Nov12,16 - this is the closest one to call.

202

Cricket Anyone / conspiracy theories??

« on: October 15, 2005, 04:26:21 PM »

The crisis in West Indies cricket

Who's behind the war?

Vaneisa Baksh

October 15, 2005


 
The West Indies have been deprived of their best players for reasons other than pure cricket © Getty Images
 
 


Brian Lara recently expressed the frustration that all parties must feel in the still unresolved contractual dispute between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA).

"It's sad that West Indies are playing, I'm fully fit, [Ramnaresh] Sarwan is fully fit, Chris Gayle is fully fit and we [were]) not out there playing, hopefully that can be sorted out," Lara said. "I just want to play cricket really. It's very important for me and for West Indian cricket that I'm out on the field playing."

For a year, the WICB and the WIPA have locked horns over various match/tour contracts, all subject to a disagreeable Clause 5. In November 2004, the players selected for the camp before touring Australia for the triangular VB Series refused to sign contracts at the very last minute and that was enough ground gained to allow the tour to proceed.

Earlier this year, the West Indies sent a different kind of team to Sri Lanka for the Test and tri-nation one-day series after the contract disputes could not be resolved. This time around, Ken Gordon, the new President of the WICB, has made it his goal to ensure that the show goes on, and a "full-strength" team has been selected for the Australia tour despite continued disagreements.

The disputed clause has been sent to the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA) with an undertaking that the West Indies board and the players will accept their recommendations as binding. The understanding is that this recommendation may even be to hand it over to an independent arbitrator if, after ten days, no agreeable position is found.

The disputes really started since Digicel replaced Cable & Wireless, the long-time sponsors, as the main sponsor for West Indies cricket in a changeover that has led to a commission of enquiry into the circumstances surrounding the new deal. The findings of the Sponsorship Negotiations Review Committee have been adroitly waylaid by WICB accusations that the report was inappropriately distributed, and that the conclusion reached by its chairman regarding the legality of the Digicel/WICB contract was incorrect. The chairman, Justice Anthony Lucky has since severed all ties with the WICB, and the matter is trundling into obscurity as emerging issues contrive to distract attention. Yet, the epicentre of the ongoing contract dispute is located within, and the forecast for that environment continues to be hazy.

"The war is a telecommunication war. I don't really understand everything, but I just want to play cricket really," said Brian Lara to the Australian press, revealing how confusing the situation had become to cricketers.

But is it really just a telecommunication war or does it have deeper, political roots? It is well known that Digicel, a company formed to enter the Caribbean market, found powerful political allies in Jamaica, and that Cable & Wireless had its wires cut in that market. Over the past few months, Caribbean politicians have taken turns snapping at each other over various levels of involvement in the cricket disputes. Back off, said Owen Arthur, the Barbados Prime Minister, a message that seemed subtly aimed at his Jamaican counterpart, PJ Patterson.

"A few thousands of dollars should not be enough to stop us from seeing a common purpose of the only thing, really, that has effectively held the Caribbean people not only together, but the only thing that has given us a global sense of accomplishment for more than 50 years.

"Obviously, the game has been, in many respects, destabilised to some degree because we can't properly plan," said Arthur over the weekend, again chiding those who would break up the union for some dollars.

While Caricom had assembled a prime ministerial cricket committee to offer assistance in the dispute, their advice has largely been ignored, and indeed, Arthur had even scolded its chairman, Grenada's Prime Minister Keith Mitchell, for overstepping his bounds. There are certain things that should be left to the WICB to decide, was Arthur's warning, an attempt no doubt to reduce leverage from other political powers.

The WICB and WIPA have conceded that they are not getting anywhere with this impasse, but have finally decided not to take it to the wire yet again. They've agreed to accept the recommendations, to make them retroactive, and most importantly, to allow the players to do what they need to do to remain competitive: play cricket. For this to work, everyone needs to keep their end of the bargain.

Vaneisa Baksh is a freelance journalist based in Trinidad.