Having arrived a good 30 minutes ahead of schedule for his press conference, Darren Sammy waited patiently for the journalists, out of shape and panting after hurriedly clambering down three levels, to catch their breath and settle down. Suddenly, he discovered the pleasures of a swivel chair, going round and round in circles and repeatedly saying. ‘This is nice’.
As the Q&A session got underway, someone asked the West Indies captain, “You seem very relaxed, do you think India are easy opponents tomorrow?” For a fleeting second, the smile left the Sammy face as he struggled to make sense of that query. Then, he grinned broadly and countered, “You seriously asked that question?”
Kieron Foley, founding architect of CPL Ltd, revealed Tuesday that the country had been given just short of two weeks to reply to the proposal or risk having CPL matches intended for Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Grounds moved to another Caribbean island.
“Clearly, it’s just the other day (Monday) we got the proposal. So the proposal is being looked at and we will give a date as to when there should be a response one way or the other,” the prime minister said.
ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – Leaders Jamaica will return to action this weekend on home soil, where they will face Windward Islands in the fourth round of the Regional 4-Day Tournament, starting on Friday at Sabina Park in Kingston.
The Jamaicans will be looking to continue their dominance over the Windwards since the turn of the century, having won eight of the 17 matches contested during that period.
This includes three wins in the last four matches, but the Windwards will take heart in the knowledge that they have won in their opponents’ backyard as recently as five years ago, when they earned a hard-fought, three-wicket victory at the Trelawny Multiplex.
In a rare occurrence, the island of Barbados will host two matches this week, starting five hours apart.
ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – Shane Shillingford will play in the Regional 4-Day Tournament this weekend, after undergoing remedial work on his bowling actionThe 31-year-old off-spinner is set to appear for third-placed Windward Islands, when they face leaders Jamaica in their fourth round match, starting on Fridayat Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica.
“Obviously, I am extremely happy that I will be playing this weekend,” said Shillingford. “I have put in a lot of hard work over the past few months.
Former South African and Australian national team coach, Mickey Arthur has signed on to be the head coach of the defending champions Jamaica Tallawahs, while Tim Nielsen, also a former Australian national coach will take the helm of the Antigua Hawksbills, and Simon Helmot, current coach of the Melbourne Renegades in the Australian Big Bash League, will take charge of the Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel. IPL and CLT20 winning coach, Robin Singh, of the Mumbai Indians and former England assistant coach, Matthew Maynard, will return for a second year, leading the coaching staff of the Barbados Tridents and the St. Lucia Zouks respectively, while former West Indies head coach, Roger Harper, returns to see if he can better the second place finish he led the Guyana Amazon Warriors to last year.
