WEST INDIES took a giant stride towards a semifinal berth in the ICC Under-19 World Cup yesterday when they, once again, held their nerves to beat a determined Sri Lanka by three wickets in their first game of the Super Six stage.
Chasing 232 at Diamond Oval, the Caribbean side made the chase perhaps more complicated than it should have been, before getting over the line with three balls left in the Group 2 contest.
Opener Steve Wedderburn finally found his touch with a man-of-the-match 61 off 71 balls while Jordan Johnson chipped in with 39 off 46 deliveries and captain Stephan Pascal, 31 off 26.
However, West Indies needed the level head of Nathan Sealy in the late stages, the right-hander entering at number eight to see off Sri Lanka’s challenge with an unbeaten 27 off 28 deliveries.
Jamaica has no participation in the tournament because the Government decided not to bid for any games, having cited what it says is the high cost to prepare.
Sport Minister Olivia Grange said last year that $450 million would be needed to make upgrades to Sabina Park in Kingston in order to bring the stadium up to modern standards for the World Cup. The response to this from the public was negative, with many stakeholders questioning whether the Government and Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) truly see the sport as a priority.
“Timely is the upcoming World Cup in June this year,” Shallow said while addressing an audience at the launch of the schoolboy cricket season on Thursday. “Like I’m sure every one of you [is], I’m disappointed that you won’t be hosting matches here in Jamaica at Sabina Park. I’m hoping that there’ll be some making up of that in the near future.”
Shallow says that one of the consequences of no games being hosted by Jamaica is its youngsters not being exposed to live cricket being played at the highest level by the best players from across the world.
He says this is unacceptable, because youngsters need players to look to and on whom to model their careers.
Former TT and West Indies pacer Tony Gray believes Cricket West Indies (CWI) and the various territorial boards must do all in their power to curate pitches across the Caribbean to help nurture the raw fast-bowling talent in the region.
Speaking to Newsday in the aftermath of Shamar Joseph's stunning match-winning spell of seven for 68 against the number-one ranked Australia in the second Test of their two-match series at The Gabba in Brisbane, Gray said similar fast-bowling talents can be unearthed by producing faster tracks and implementing more strategic scouting initiatives.
Joseph, 24, has taken the cricket world by storm in the last two weeks, with his second-innings exploits in The Gabba Test leading West Indies to their first Test win in Australia since 1997. Joseph took the wicket of Aussie talisman Steve Smith with his very first ball in Test cricket, before bowling his way to a five-wicket haul on his Test debut in Adelaide.
The National Senior selection panel has included Jonathan Drakes (as the replacement for Raymon Reifer) in the Barbados Pride squad for series 1 to 3 matches of the 2024 CWI Regional First-Class competition.
Raymon Reifer had requested and was granted an NOC to participate in the Bangladesh Premier League.
The Kraigg Brathwaite-led Barbados Pride squad will oppose the Combined Campuses and Colleges in the opening series of matches to be played at Chedwin Park in Jamaica from February 7-10, 2024.
Second Test hero Shamar Joseph revealed that he was still in bed nursing a painful toe three hours before the start of the penultimate day’s play at the Gabba and never thought he would take any further part in the contest.
Forced to retire hurt the previous evening after being struck by a Mitchell Starc yorker, the 24-year-old was subsequently cleared of any fracture but remained in severe pain and was unable to bowl as Australia reached 60 for two at the close of Saturday’s third day.
However, Joseph said team physio Dr Denis Byam instructed him to come to the ground instead of remaining at the hotel, and following treatment, he was able to take the field.
He then destroyed the Aussie innings with a pacey spell of seven for 68, the hosts losing their last eight wickets for 94 runs as West Indies clinched a nerve-jangling eight-run victory to draw the two-match series 1-1.
