Noted cricket journalist and former Gleaner Sports Editor Tony Becca passed away on Thursday morning.
He was 78 years old.
The news of his passing was confirmed by his wife, Cecilia, who advised that the Melbourne Cricket Club stalwart was pronounced dead at 4:50 a.m. at the Andrews Memorial Hospital, weeks after contracting dengue fever.
He had been showing signs of improvement but things took a turn for the worse this week when he suffered a ruptured colon, requiring an emergency surgical procedure on Tuesday.
He died of cardiac arrest this morning.
Becca, born November 10, 1940, had been battling a series of illnesses over the past few years.
It is the nightmare scenario doing the rounds in ODI cricket right now, the one no team wants to find themselves in. Bowling to this England batting line-up in the last ten overs of their innings when they have wickets in hand. It's not a job for the feint hearted. Hell, it's not even a job for the toughest of souls. More often than not, it's a situation which leads to serious punishment and in Grenada, it was West Indies' turn to suffer.
England were three wickets down at the end of the 40th over. Captain Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler were well set and ready to tee off which the tourists did to the tune of 154 runs in the last ten overs. It was the most runs England have ever scored in the final sixty balls of an ODI innings, beating the 135 they managed against Pakistan at Trent Bridge in 2016 on the way to a world-record total of 444.
According to CricViz, over the last four years, England's average run rate in the last ten overs is 8.26, the fastest in the world, so this performance wasn't much of a surprise. It's just what they do. In the same period, West Indies have conceded nearly eight runs an over with the ball at the death, the second worst of any side who has qualified for the World Cup. It's just what they do, too. And at St George's, it wasn't hard to see why.
On a day when over 800 runs were scored, over 500 just in boundaries, at the National Cricket Stadium in Grenada, England came out victorious to take a 2-1 lead after spectacular centuries from Jos Buttler and Eoin Morgan. It was a wicket full of runs, and there were as many as three centurions on Wednesday (February 27), with Chris Gayle joining the English pair with one of his finest One-Day International innings. With over eight an over required from the onset, his brilliant onslaught of a 97-ball 162 kept Windies ahead in the chase. But once he fell, they fell behind the required rate, and were eventually bowled out for 389, falling short by 29 in the chase of 419 with Adil Rashid picking up five. It was, however, Windies' highest-ever ODI total.
Mark Wood continued to deliver for England with a four-wicket haul. He pegged Windies back early on sending back John Campbell and Shai Hope early as Gayle battled on to kept Windies in the chase. Gayle took on the bowlers from the onset and raced away to a 32-ball half-century. He smashed his 500th international six - the first batsman to reach the landmark - en route his 55-ball century, his second in the series, also surpassing the landmark of 10,000 ODI runs, only the second West Indian after Brian Lara. The stand of 176 between him and Darren Bravo had Windies scoring at a rate better than the required rate at that point.
Both the West Indies and England will be rueing the heavy showers leading to the teams now having one less pilot in preparation for this summer’s World Cup. The people of Grenada, on the other hand, considering the nation’s drought, will be pleased that there is truth in the idea that if you want it to rain, just set up the stumps.
Windies must have felt, within themselves, that the abandoned match was a let-off for England who would have been without Ben Stokes. And though the prolific Alex Hales was set to replace the all-rounder, England would have been without a key member of their bowling attack–their death-bowler.
However, the hosts can take solace in the strength that has been added to their team with Andre Russell set to replace the injured Kemar Roach for the remainder of the series. “Kemar Roach had to be withdrawn from the ODI series due to injury and will be replaced in the squad by the experienced Andre Russell for the last two matches. We believe Russell will add value to the squad”–Courtney Browne.
Russell should be able to strike the balance Brathwaite never could in this Windies team, as a finisher as well as providing three or four overs should the captain ask.
With Stokes seemingly cleared to take part in the fourth ODI at the same venue on Wednesday, Russell’s possible inclusion in the West Indies XI and with only a 40% chance of rain with scattered showers, it promises to be a good one.
Ricky Skerritt has hit back at comments made by Cricket West Indies President, Dave Cameron cautioning the regional governing body’s lead administrator not to make the issue of “turmoil” central to the election campaign.
Skerritt, a former tourism and sports minister here, is challenging Cameron for the CWI presidency at elections scheduled for March 24 in Jamaica.
In a radio interview during the second one-day international against England in Barbados last week, Cameron said while Skerritt had “done a lot as minister in St Kitts”, what he was best remembered for was his period as West Indies team manager and “the turmoil that occurred during those years”.
“If Cameron wants to talk about turmoil, perhaps he can explain why former head coaches, Ottis Gibson, Phil Simmons, and the several others who Cameron hastily and summarily dismissed, from both the men’s and women’s teams, have collectively cost CWI well over US$ 1million,” Skerritt said in a statement yesterday.
