Archive for the ‘Sports’ Category
Monday, March 3rd, 2008 |
I‘m not sure how many of you got a chance to catch the Stanford 20/20 final on Sunday night, but the game was great. I just wish the West Indies could play like that sometimes. Hats off to all the Jamaicans for reaching the final, but something went woefully wrong with their game. I can’t remember the last time I saw any cricket team collapse like that.
Congratulations to the guys and all, but I just wanted to say that I find it incredibly interesting that they left Tobago off the cheque. How in the world could they let that happen? No wonder Tobago feels left out.
I have to apologise for the quality of the picture, but I had to snap a photo of the TV since the early demise of my TV card many months ago.
Posted in Cricket, Sports | 4 Comments »
Thursday, May 3rd, 2007 |
Two days ago the West Indies squad for the tour of England was announced. The squad includes: Ramnaresh Sarwan (Captain), Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Corey Collymore, Fidel Edwards, Daren Ganga, Christopher Gayle, Sylvester Joseph, Runako Morton, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Devon Smith, Darren Sammy, Jerome Taylor.
Glad to see Ganga in the squad again although it would have been hard to exclude him after being named top West Indies batsman of 2006. He was also named Vide Captain. I’m also happy to see bowler Ravi Rampaul back in after returning from injury. I was hoping that they’d give Keiron Pollard another chance, but since he failed to shine at the Cricket World Cup, his exclusion doesn’t surprise me. I wish the WICB would stop doing that thing where they throw a youngster into the mix when prospects seem dim hoping that he would be a star boy only to find out that he’s not a miracle worker whereupon they never select him again.
Posted in Cricket, Sports | No Comments »
Monday, April 23rd, 2007 |
I never paid much attention to Brian Lara or to cricket for that matter till the Government proclaimed a national holiday in honour of Lara’s 277 against Australia in Sydney. I didn’t know the first thing about cricket back then, but I was grateful to anyone who made it possible for me to miss a day of school. It was only after that that I became interested in Brian Lara or cricket for that matter. After all, if this man has such an influence on whether or not I have to go to school, I had better pay attention to him.
And so my entire cricketing experience has always included Lara. It’s because of Lara that the numbers 277, 375, 400 and 501 bring me immense pride. If I started watching a Windies game late, the question that always needed asking was, “Has Lara batted yet?”. 76-3 means very little if Lara still hadn’t batted. Century, double century, no problem. Hayden took his record away? No big deal, he’ll get it back. See what I told you? I told you he could do it.
I’ll tell you something, starting to watch cricket when Lara was king was probably the worst thing any newbie could do.
And now, for someone who has equated cricket with Lara their entire life, there is a huge deficit where Lara once stood at the crease, stood in the slips, and directed men around the field. News of his retirement hit me like an unexpected death. Now that he has retired, I feel abandoned. It’s almost like I was led into a great, big forest and left for dead. Of course through Lara I have gained a great respect for the game and an admiration for other players, but I was brought to this place by Lara and it’s kind of hard trying to imagine staying here without the man.
I don’t know. Maybe I’m overreacting and maybe it will all be OK when the tour of England begins, but it definitely won’t be the same.
Posted in Cricket, Personal Story, Sports | 6 Comments »
Monday, April 2nd, 2007 |
I want someone to help me understand this West Indies team. Help me understand why our bowling is so bad, why it seems that only some of the batsmen decide that they are going to bat that day.Why does it seem that Chris Gayle needs a batting lesson? And why do some teams look like they have it all figured out while the West Indies look like they are at their first day of school? Three games, three big losses. I know the schedule is compact, but geez.
South Africa, Bangladesh and England are still on the menu, do we still have an appetite?
Posted in Cricket, Sports | 6 Comments »
Tuesday, March 27th, 2007 |
SEA Exam Today
Allyuh today is SEA exam. Allyuh have allyuh No. 2 pencils, yuh sharpener, yuh eraser and yuh exam slip? Allyuh eat a good breakfast? Remember not to get too stressed out, eh. Answer the questions as quickly as you can. Make sure to blacken the entire circle on the answer sheet. Do your working on the side. If you don’t know the answer to a question, skip it and come back to it if you have time. Doh feel nervous, yuh know. Make sure to reach on time ok? So make sure to tell mummy or daddy to drop yuh off early. Nice chirren. Don’t worry, after today is play time till you get your results. No more “reaching late for SEA” dreams.
Is it strange that I never forgot my Common Entrance number? Even if I didn’t, my mother saved my slip and has it stashed away somewhere. During the exam it took my shoes off, kicked back and did my exam. I remember the examiners joking with me when it was all done that I took off my shoes and looked so relaxed. I guess that was the only way I knew how to do it. Anybody else mammy still have they Common Entrance slip or is that just me?
Rain & Clouds
Allyuh, I haven’t seen the sun now for almost a week. All we’ve had is rain, rain and more rain along with a helping of black clouds. And it’s only just March. The Bermuda/Bangladesh game could only go about 21 overs a side because of it. Yet it doesn’t look like it’s letting up any time soon. The good thing is that I haven’t heard of any reports of flooding yet.
Basdeo Panday
“The only reason they failed was because they got too greedy. They tried to hang two Indians with the same rope.” Would someone who truly loves Trinidad talk like this? Or is this a self-absorbed, megalomaniac politician trying to seize power at any cost? Who cares if this divides an already polarized society? Who cares about the repercussions?
And I’m not making any judgment here about whether the prosecutions of Mr. Sharma and Mr. Panday were witch hunts. I’m concerned more with the language used by Mr. Panday and the immediate implication of race into this whole matter.
West Indies Vs. Australia
Whether we play them first or last, we have to meet them. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t more than a little worried. Watching that game they played against South Africa made me wonder if we have it in us. Of course both Australia and the Windies are capable of playing at a World Class Level, but it has come to the point where Windies’ losses are called slumps and Australian losses are called flukes. It’s a little hard to win against a team that loses once in a blue moon.
Although they’ve moved out of the old Antigua Recreation ground and into the newly built Sir Viv Richards Stadium, will Lara get his old Antiguan luck back? Oh loss ah worried.
Posted in Cricket, Education, PNM, Politics, Race, Sports, UNC | 10 Comments »
Monday, March 19th, 2007 |
Well this has indeed been a wacky week of the Cricket World Cup. The person who said cricket is boring is incredibly misguided. Whether the action is on or off the field, the excitement never stops.
- First of all the West Indies beat Pakistan. The wacky part is not that the Windies won, the ease of it all. They sort of looked like the Windies of days gone by and not the shaky, nerve-wrecking ones we’ve become accustomed to.
 |
| Sachin Tendulkar |
- Next, World Cup debutants Ireland force a tie down Zimbabwe’s throat in a game that seemed to be a sure win for the seasoned Zimbabweans. At one point, needing just 15 runs from 36 balls with four wickets in hand, Zimbabwe slumped to needing a run off the very last ball of the game. However no run came as number eleven Ed Rainsford was stumped on that last ball creating the third ever tie in a World Cup game.
- India then looses to lowly Bangladesh by five wickets at the Queen’s Park Oval. India accumulated 191 all out in 49.3 overs – an innings in which Sachin Tendulkar could only muster 7. Bangladesh was able to make up the total with 5 wickets to spare.
- Pakistan, of course, wasn’t going down like that. In their bid not to be upstaged by rivals India, they decide that they are going to lose to an even worse opponent in the form of Ireland – by three wickets – on St. Patrick’s Day. Guess who their top scorer was? The extras with 29 runs. Not only do they lose and are booted from the tournament, but then they get fined for having a slow over rate. Inzamam-ul-Haq was fined half of his match fee, whilst the other players were fined 20 percent each. Say what? In the wisdom of Ace Ventura, “Unfortunately in every contest, there must be a looooser.” What exactly is a minnow anyway?
 |
| Bob Woolmer found dead |
- Next, the unthinkable happens. Very sadly, Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer is found dead in his hotel room. The cause of death is still uncertain. Before coaching Pakistan, Bob Woolmer actually coached South Africa and even Warickshire during the time that Brian Lara scored his record 501 not out. I’m hearing talk that the players will be wearing black armbands to commemorate Woolmer’s passing although I’m not sure for how long.
- Lastly, England Vice Captain Andrew Flintoff was one of six England cricket players disciplined for their participation in a late-night drinking session. Flintoff himself was demoted and handed a one game suspension for his role in the incident that ended when he had to be rescued from the sea when the pedalo he was using capsized. Hmm, excessive drinking at a world sporting event? Can anyone say Bode Miller? On the other hand, why does a 4am pedalo ride appeal to drunk people?
Posted in Cricket, Sports | 9 Comments »
Friday, March 16th, 2007 |
The Daily Mail reports that daddy’s dearest aka Daryan Warner was secretly fined almost US $1M by FIFA (of which $250,000 had been paid) which represents the profit he would have made on the sale of 5,400 World Cup tickets for England, Mexico and Japan games over the course of last year’s tournament.
Last September the Daily Mail’s Andrew Jennings (Warner’s nemesis) revealed that Warner was being investigated for suspected shady dealings concerning World Cup tickets. Last December FIFA announced that they had cleared Jack Warner of all wrongdoing saying:
“It could not be evidenced that Mr Jack Warner had knowledge of the resale of these tickets at a higher price.
“The resale is certainly forbidden, but the person who did the reselling is not subject to the FIFA jurisdiction, because it is the son of Jack Warner.”
FIFA did recommend however that Jack Warner be scolded and reprimanded which Warner took as vindication.
Jennings says now that Warner was not only reprimanded, but been secretly fined during last December’s executive committee meeting and that FIFA stipulated that the $992,652US be donated to the charity SOS Children’s Villages. Jennings added that Daryan Warner’s company Simpaul Travel has been banned from dealing in tickets. The secret deadline for full payment of the fine is on March 22, but Jennings suggests that there won’t be any further action if Warner decides not to pay since Jack Warner controls 35 crucial votes that will ensure Sepp Blatter gets a third term.
Of course these are all allegations made by Andrew Jennings who seems at times to have an axe to grind with Warner. You can see the full stories here and here (including “secret reports that FIFA suppressed”).
Posted in Corruption, Football, Sports | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, March 14th, 2007 |
 |
| Windies Celebrate (AP Photo) |
Well the West Indies pulled it off. The batting wasn’t as great as we would have hoped. 241 on a short-boundaried Sabina Park was not very much to defend. However we did have a good innings from Samuels, Sarwan and a blazing 32 of 15 balls from Dwayne Smith (THE Dwayne Smith). The bowling though was inspired. Dwayne Smith (THE Dwayne Smith) ended with figures of 10 overs 3-36 and Bravo ended with 9 overs 3-42. Let me tell you something, if I had to face Bravo, I’d be terrified of the man’s bowling and fielding combo, because he was on fire yesterday. One of the best bowling stats in my opinion was that the Windies allowed only 4 extras. We all remember how things used to be in that department.
On the whole it was good to see the much maligned Dwayne Smith come good for a change as well as to see Marlon Samuels continue with his recent good form. I have to say though, that I was a little surprised at how tame Pakistan was. On the batting side of things, Shoaib Malik helped to put up a decent fight, but that looked almost like a solo campaign at times considering power batsmen like Mohammad “Danger Man” Yousuf and Inzamam-ul-Haq were playing it pretty safe.
I did start to get worried when the wicket fall remained at 3 for what seemed like hours and it didn’t help that Michael Holding was going on and on about how Brain Lara needed to change his bowling attack to include more spin. Lara, however, didn’t change it to spin, and Holding eventually shut up about it after Dwayne Smith claimed Mohammad Yousuf’s wicket.
Finally my own Summary: Batting – 5/10, Bowling – 8/10, Fielding – 8/10. Can we improve this and keep it going till the end?
Posted in Cricket, Sports | 4 Comments »
Thursday, March 8th, 2007 |
 |
| Michael Holding |
Courtney Walsh, Michael Holding and Australian Captain Ricky Ponting have all come out strongly against the inclusion of the minnows in the Cricket World Cup. Who are the minnows? These are the non-Test-Playing nations that have been included into this year’s Cricket World Cup. They are Bermuda, Canada, Scotland, The Netherlands and Ireland. The ICC more politely refers to them as “ICC Associates”.
Frankly I don’t see what all the hullabaloo is about. So they don’t play test cricket, they’re not as good as us. So what? It’s actually kind of nice to see some new faces on the scene once in a while. It’s nice to see players from Ireland and Bermuda playing our game. It’s nice not to be treated to the same old fare all the time. When did we here in the WI get so high and mighty that we can dictate who can come into our little member’s club?
As far as I could remember, both Trinidad and Jamaica were once minnows in the FIFA World Cup – and such minnows we were compared to all the big names. Yet we managed to hold our own in the face of stiff competition. Even now the West Indies manage to play like minnows on occasion, so what’s wrong with letting the new kids play?
 |
| Dwayne Leverock |
One of the great things about the minnows (as Rahul Dravid put it) is that they add charm to the tournament. You can’t deny that.
Watching Bermuda’s Dwayne Leverock, who knew that a 264lb man could play cricket? Who knew he could spin bowl well enough to claim 2-32 (claiming the wickets of Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood)?
Of course this has reopened the fat-joke buffet that was closed when Shane Warne retired (Wait, did I just do one myself?). Some of the better ones include “Pietersen undone by wide delivery“, “Big bowling attack“, “Burly Leverock hungry for success“, “Spinner poses weighty problem“, “Dwayne Leverock does not throw his weight around back at the hotel…“, “England’s batsmen felt the pressure of the heavy roller” and “Bermuda were bowled out for 45 against England on Monday, but in 125kg spinner Dwayne Leverock they have a bowler who can turn the ball – even if he can’t turn down seconds.”
Yes, Bermuda were eventually scuttle out for 45 runs, but who knew a minnow could have England at teetering at 5-132?
On the other hand I do wonder if this inclusion is an attempt on the parts of the ICC and its sponsors to draw out the tournament in order to milk the ad revenue for as long as possible. Could be.
However, when the first round of the World Cup is over, the minnows would have been ejected and the rightful order of things would have been reestablished – that’s if the plan all comes together as it should. Surely, the possibility of an upset is not what’s driving people like Holding and Ponting to protest the minnow’s inclusion, is it? I can tell you that minnows in any tournament are capable of playing a style of the game that their opponents are unfamiliar with and therefore unable to adapt to, and that makes for unfamiliar territory and an evening, as it were, of the playing field.
And just to take the heat off Leverock a little, a bit of sledging between Warne and South Africa’s Daryll Cullinan:
Shane Warne : I’ve waited two years for another chance to humiliate you.
Daryll Cullinan : Looks like you spent it eating.
Posted in Cricket, Sports | 6 Comments »
Thursday, February 1st, 2007 |
Sachin Tendulkar with his Man of the Match Award
Do we not like Sachin anymore? Then someone please explain the crotch rocket. Have they not heard of Ben Roethlisberger, Jay Williams and Kellen Winslow? of course not. Otherwise they’d know that athletes and motorbikes don’t mix.
Sachin, step away from the bike.
In other news the West Indies got bulldozed yet again losing the series 3-1 to India. Let’s not go into any details fo the very last game of that series as it might be a tad bit upsetting. Let’s just say that……nah, forget it.
Um, so, how’re the World Cup preparations coming along, there? Allyuh realize it’s in March right? Pollard I think you’ll get a place in the squad cuz honestly, who else is there to deny you a place? Barath you and all get ready yes boy.
Pray for your team.
Posted in Cricket, Sports | 5 Comments »
