The first six Caribbean Premier League (CPL) matches to be played on US soil will include two games under floodlights at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida as well as two weekend double-headers to round out the league phase of the tournament, from July 28 to 31.
The CPL organisers announced plans last month to stage six matches in Florida for the upcoming season and sources had told ESPNcricinfo that the games would be held at some point in the final two weeks of July. An advanced copy of the schedule obtained by ESPNcricinfo shows that Guyana Amazon Warriors and Barbados Tridents will feature in the first match in Florida to be played under lights, on Thursday, July 28. The following day, St Kitts and Nevis Patriots will take on Trinbago Red Steel under lights again.
Night matches at the stadium are a major change after the ICC-certified facility initially failed to get clearance in 2010 to have T20Is between New Zealand and Sri Lanka played under floodlights due to a design flaw. The floodlights at the stadium were originally installed too close to the field, creating excessive shadows which were deemed a safety hazard for night time cricket. As a result, both those matches as well as the T20I series in 2012 between New Zealand and West Indies were scheduled for the day time.
Top alrounder Andre Russell, who is expected to play a major role in the regional side’s attempt to win the coveted trophy, could be hit with a two-year ban from the game as a result of an anti-doping violation.
It was revealed today that the talented Jamaican cricketer had committed an “anti-doping whereabouts” violation. According to the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO), Russell, has reportedly missed three drug tests in a 12-month period, which equates to a failed test under doping laws.
“We received notification of Russell’s violation about two weeks ago and I’ve appointed a panel to hear his case,” JADCO independent disciplinary panel chairman Kent Pantry told international news agency Reuters today.
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s recent rift with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has left uncertainty surrounding the staging of the third Test match against India at the Queen’s Park Oval.
The Indians are carded to tour the West Indies from July 14 to August 11 for a series of four Tests with the third scheduled for T&T from July 28 to August 1.
However, officials at the WICB believe that Dr Rowley’s recent calls for the dissolution of the organistion, could signal that his government will not be supporting the Test being played in Trinidad.
Following the Caricom Heads of government meeting in Belize three weeks ago, Dr Rowley noted the deterioration of West Indies cricket and its lack of proper management. He said this was discussed by Caricom Heads and based on these discussions, it was felt that there was nothing more to gain from talks with the WICB.
During the last year Leon Johnson’s stature as Captain and batsman in West Indies Cricket has been growing rapidly and the 28-year-old is quietly confident of regaining his Test place in the near future. “I think my chances of getting back in the West Indies side are good at the moment but nothing in life is a given so with four possible innings left in the tournament, a couple more big scores won’t do those chances any harm,” Johnson said yesterday after his team defeated the Volcanoes by six wickets on Sunday.
Johnson hit Shane Shillingford for six to end the game as the Jaguars reached 39-4 chasing 39 for victory. The eighth round win here in St Lucia extended the unbeaten streak of the defending champions to 15 matches in PCL four-day cricket as the Jaguars increased their lead to 125 points.
The Jaguars Captain has only converted four of his 30 First-Class scores over fifty but he has scored two centuries in his last three games and seems well on course to rectify that problem. In the last match Ronsford Beaton’s career best 5-43, Raymon Refier’s four-wicket haul and Johnson’ first innings 107 set up the victory inside three days to give the team a well deserved extra rest day yesterday.
EXECUTIVE member of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board Manohar Ramsaran yesterday backtracked on statements made to the Newsday concerning a Yahoo account implicated in an alleged email concerning off-spinner Sunil Narine. Approximately two weeks ago, a screenshot of an email allegedly sent out to 10 top cricket official surfaced with account mramsaran2004@yahoo. com among the recepients. Ramsaran, a former Sports Minister, responding to Newsday questions on Monday said he never received an email from someone purporting to be an “Azim Bassarath” making disparaging comments about Narine’s bowling action as he had stopped using the email account mramsaran2004@yahoo. com since 2007. “That email address (mramsaran2004@yahoo.com), when I was in Opposition between 2004-2007, I used that. 2007 when I retired, I retired that email. “After that I had mramsaran- 1027cricket@gmail.com, then after that I had mramsarantdc@ tdc.gov.tt then I had this one that i have now (mransaran99@ gmail.com). I ain’t no big boy. I only use one email at a time,” he told Newsday on Monday. Newsday, however, unearthed a February 14, 2015 TT CB email which was addressed to Ramsaran using that particular Yahoo acount. Several other cricketing personalities still use mramsaran2004@yahoo.com to reach Ramsaran.
