Smasher Contracts for 15 W.I Players

Smasher Sports UK will sponsor 15 West Indian cricketers for the next year, providing them with a retainer, along with an appearance fee when they play international cricket. The players have also been promised employment at the end of their careers.

The players are Daren Ganga, Mervyn Dillon, Ricardo Powell, Dave Mohammed, Sherwin Ganga, Carlton Baugh, Pedro Collins, Fidel Edwards, Wavell Hinds, Sylvester Joseph, Omari Banks, Tino Best, Reon King, Rayad Emrit and Martin Nurse.

Samuels Recovering From Wrist Strain

The wrist injury that ruled Jamaican batsman Marlon Samuels out of Rounds 7 and 8 of the Carib Beer series has been diagnosed as a strain.

Samuels, who has been seeing orthapaedic surgeon Dr Kenneth Vaughn since returning from St Maarten after Round 6, says he is feeling a bit better. "The swelling is basically gone, and I'm not feeling any pain," Samuels told CaribbeanCricket.com.

Do We Need to Change Our Thinking?

During the last decade, the coaching of cricket has undergone many changes, some good and others not so good. The pendulum has swung dramatically from old and proven methods to a new and exciting scientific approach. As a result, cricket development and performance have more or less been taken over by sports scientists and academics. Former test players are being sidelined and are losing their power base and position of influence.

Nowell Overstepped Bounds

A dear friend once said to me, ?The way things start is usually the way they end?.

I don?t know if that was an original quote or a borrowed one, but it seems very apt for the present situation -- or should we say crisis -- that exists with regards to present relations between the West Indies team and their major sponsor Digicel.

WIPA: Digicel Made 'Unjustified Demands'

President of the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) Dinanath Ramnarine says team sponsors Digicel made "unjustified demands" of the playes which were not covered by the match/tour contract for the VB one-day series in Australia.

Reacting to a strongly worded memo penned by Digicel's Richard Nowell, Ramnarine said the comments contained "unjustified imputations on the character and behaviour of WI players who are all members of WIPA."