Carib Beer Cup Slashed, Delayed?

Tue, Nov 1, '05

 

(In The Papers Today: Rumours swirl that the premier first-class tournament is about to be cut in half but, as usual, there's zero confirmation and lots of confusion...)

The 2005 Carib Beer series will start two weeks later than originally scheduled, according to the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC Web site posted confirmation that the tournament now bowls off on November 25.

West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) chief executive Roger Brathwaite told CBC that the board was forced to postpone the competition's start date. Apparently the delay is due largely to organisational problems in some of the territories.

In the Jamaica Gleaner, Anthony Foster reports that Jamaica Cricket Association president Jackie Hendriks is disappointed with the West Indies Cricket Board for their decision to reduce to the Carib Beer tournament to a single round.

Hendriks said: "I am very, very disappointed ... I thought last year's season was the start of a proper first-class season for West Indies, who previously had, in my view, the shortest first-class season of all leading Test-playing countries."

Foster's article cites lack of funding as the main reason, stating the competition costs US$1.2 million to stage and the WICB has to put up half of that amount.

Haydn Gill of the Barbados Nation, appears to be in the same predicament as us ? that is, still waiting for confirmation of the truncated Carib Beer series.

Gill was informed by Zorol Barthley on Saturday that the tournament would be starting on November 11th but no finalised itinerary had been received. The article concurs with the Gleaner report that lack of funding is rumoured to be a reason behind the delay.

The latest Cricket World Cup 2007 Venue Summit started at the Barbados Hilton on Monday, with 220 delegates attending more than 60 different meetings before it wraps up on Friday.

The ICC liaison Chris Tetley spoke on the opening day about how the region can use the World Cup as a springboard for major development as an international events centre.

Philip Spooner reports that day two of the summit will address venue assessment and venue reviews, field and pitch reviews, and legal seminars.

With just two days to go before the first Test between the West Indies and Australia begins in Brisbane, Tony Cozier provides an update on Bennett King's strategic use of his fast bowlers as well as an update on the injured list.

Media Watch first saw Cozier's article on the Trinidad Express Web site and was somewhat puzzled, with the opening sentence reading, "And the head coach said yesterday only their performances in the Test would determine whether it was the right decision."

Has Cozier turned biblical? No, as after reading both the Nation and Stabroek News, we learned that the Express had left the first paragraph of the story out when it was posted to hte Web site.

On to Bennett King and the pace men. Corey Collymore, Jermaine Lawson and Fidel Edwards were omitted from the line up in the tour match against Queensland so that the coaching team could monitor their workloads. It was a gamble, says King, and only once the Test begins will he see if he's come up trumps or blown his cash.

Wisden Cricinfo reports that Courtney Walsh has spoken up in support of the West Indies team, saying they will go into the first Test with a much needed confidence boost following their strong performance against Queensland.

Walsh is optimistic the team can upset the Aussies. "It's going to be hard but if you want to make a mark you've got to play against the best."

You hear that, Mikey?

In Zimbabwe, Phil Simmons' day in court arrived Monday when proceedings began on the issue of his dismissal from his role of coach by Zimbabwe Cricket.

Simmons claimed the sacking was unlawful, and his legal representation says that Zimbabwe Cricket's managing director had no authority to terminate employment as the former West Indies player was not on the board of directors. The case continues in the Harare High Court on Friday.

In the Guyana Chronicle, Ravendra Madholall reports on round two of Guyana;s Carib Beer inter-county four day competition.

Leg spinner Mahendra Nagamooto featured prominently alongside fast bowler Esaun Crandon, each picking up four wickets as their Berbice team romped to a 174-run win over Essequibo.

Berbice will now meet Demerara at Bourda on Thursday in the third and final round of the 2005 competition.

Dan Rutstein, cricket correspondent for Bermuda?s Royal Gazette writes that the national team will most certainly lodge an official complaint over the prejudiced treatment they were dealt during the ICC Intercontinental Cup in Namibia.

Team management will soon submit their tour reports to the Bermuda Cricket Association and alleged incidents including racist comments from Namibian players, the deluge of short pitched bowling that led usually timid coach Gus Logie to find his inner assertiveness.

Logie pulled his his team off the field with more than 12 overs of play remaining are slated to be detailed. The bad blood is rumoured to have stemmed from Bermuda?s qualification for Cricket World Cup 2007 at Namibia's expense.

The ICC was forced to intervene on two occasions throughout the twelve day jaunt, which Bermuda threatened to cut short.