Port of Spain, Trinidad - Just weeks after West Indies spinner Sunil Narine underwent testing at the International Cricket Council (ICC) accredited University of Loughborough Bio-Mechanical testing facility, the University of T&T (UTT) is positioning itself to host similar facilities to support not only regional cricket, but all competitive sporting teams across the Caribbean.
This was revealed by National Sport Ambassador and Senior Manager of Sports at UTT, Daren Ganga. The former Test opener also got the ear of Dr Guy Jackson, Operations Manager of the National Cricket Performance Centre of the English Cricket Board (ECB), a facility that is hosted by the Loughborough University. Dr Jackson indicated that he will discuss with the ECB and the WICB to look at ways of supporting this venture.
Chris Gayle's 57-ball 117 propelled Royal Challengers to 226 before S Aravind and Mitchell Starc snuffed out Kings XI Punjab's pursuit inside 14 overs. Save for a belated cameo from Axar Patel, there was flimsy resistance from the visitors as they folded up 138 runs short. The defeat all but ended Kings XI's chances of making the playoffs.
Kings XI sleepwalked through the chase, losing half their side inside the Powerplay, the second-most in any IPL season. Manan Vohra was removed after David Wiese dived full stretch at cover to get his fingers under the ball. Thereafter, Kings XI's batsmen came unstuck, with seven of them bowled.
Given the well-documented background, it is tempting to dismiss West Indies' triumph in the engrossing, fluctuating, nerve-wracking final Test over England as simply a one-off against opponents suddenly overtaken by internal problems that mirror their own.
After two decades of steady decline, West Indies remained entrenched at eighth in the official Test rankings entering the series; England were third. It was enough to prompt the scepticism.
The doubts have begun to perceptively fade over the past five weeks. This team's spirit in repeatedly fighting against tough situations that have overwhelmed others in the recent past have given new hope of a revival of fortunes.
Coach of the West Indies cricket team Phil Simmons met with struggling West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul for a lengthy period on Monday in Barbados, as they discussed his future with the regional side.
The 40-year-old Chanderpaul who is nearing Brian Lara’s mark for the most Test runs by a West Indian, had a miserable tour against England, where he tallied just 92 runs at a lowly average of 15.33 from six innings.
West Indies middle order batsman Jermaine Blackwood has emerged as the biggest mover in the latest Reliance ICC Player Rankings on the strength of impressive batting in the just ended series against England in the Caribbean.
Blackwood has soared 31 places to a career-high 37th spot after scores of 85 and 47 which helped West Indies to win the third test by five wickets and square the series one game apiece on Sunday.
The Jamaican batsman, who scored his maiden test century during the series, enjoyed a match-winning 108-run fifth wicket partnership with Darren Bravo whose second innings contribution of 82 has put him up three places to 29th.
Meantime there were major gains for three West Indies bowlers-Jerome Taylor, Shannon Gabriel and Jason Holder.
