Powell urges massive improvements from Scorpions despite wins
— as pink-ball test against India awaits
ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Back-toback victories for Jamaica Scorpions have not blinded captain Rovman Powell to the glaring issues facing his side ahead of tomorrow’s first semi-final against favourites Trinidad and Tobago Red Force.
Scorpions lost the first three games of their Super50 campaign before wrapping up with wins against Leeward Islands Hurricanes and Barbados Pride, to book their place in the final four but Powell said improvements were needed in all departments.
“The discussion is we can’t be dropping simple catches and we can’t be fielding like how we’re fielding, and also the batting is of some concern,” was Powell’s frank assessment following Sunday’s thrilling 51-run victory over Pride at Coolidge Cricket Ground.
“The middle order, the top order, we have to start trying to get a start, work harder to get a start up top and then the middle order can come to the party.”
He added: “It’s a semi-final so we can’t leave it there. We still have to go back to the drawing board and see if we can get into the finals.”
Defending a modest 218, Scorpions got a magnificent six-wicket haul – including a hat-trick – from part-time off-spinner Andre McCarthy to rout Pride for 167 in the 42nd over.
But not for the first time, their batting failed miserably, slumping to 87 for eight before number 10 Odean Smith smashed an unbeaten 68 and staged two last ditch half-century stands to rescue the innings.
The match was a virtual repeat of Friday’s contest against Hurricanes when Scorpions successfully defended 220.
They were down and out at 135 for nine but were rallied by an 85-run, last wicket stand between Fabian Allen (44) and Jeavor Royal (38).
Only two of their specialist batsmen – Brandon King and McCarthy – have scored fifties in the competition, a statistic Powell acknowledged had to improve.
“It’s for the key batters to buckle down and start putting scores on the board,” he urged.
“We showed in the bowling department that we are a capable unit so it’s for myself and the other capable batters in the middle order to start scoring runs.”
However, Powell explained that the form of the lower order had not been by accident, with plenty work having gone into their batting behind the scenes.
“They’re doing very well in the nets,” Powell revealed.
“We reinforced the batting by placing them lower down because we realise that when Jamaica do well in 50-over cricket it is the lower half that generally score the runs and not the top half.
“That’s an interesting stat that we revisited in our team chat and realised that the lower half is as important as the top half.”
Needing to win Sunday’s decisive game to reach the semis, Scorpions seemed on their way out of the tournament with Pride well placed on 141 for two in the 29th over. But McCarthy and left-arm spinner Allen combined to take the last eight wickets for 26 runs as Pride suffered a stunning collapse.
“To be honest, we believed [we had enough]. We believed Barbados let go of the game when they let us score so much runs in the back end,” Powell pointed out.
“We just took that. Cricket is about momentum and we took that going into our bowling display and I think it was a total team effort.
“We knew if we could bat close to the 50 overs we would get a score that we could defend. If we got close to the 50 overs we would get close to 200 runs and once we got that we could make a game of
it.”
The West Indies all-rounder also said there had been no specific instructions to McCarthy before he entered the attack.
“I just give him the ball and told him to do what [he normally does], to find some
wickets for us and if he can find a breakthrough or two then he can start building some pressure,” Powell said.
“Six for 16 doesn’t happen all the time and to see it come up in such a tough game like this is very, very special.”
In keeping with its mandate to help improve the health and wellness of the nation, the Guyana Gym Owners and Trainers Association (GGOTA) has outlined some major plans for 2021.
According to a release from the body headed by Noshavyah King, offering a CPR course, workshops and training courses for persons aspiring to be personal trainers are among the ambitions of the GGOTA for the year.
Below is the full list of the plans of the GGOTA:
GGOTA PLANS FOR THE YEAR 2021
1.Offering our first course of CPR and First Aid to Trainers,Coaches and Gym Owners.
2.Basic Training course for persons aspiring to become a trainer or fitness coach.
3.Workshops for gym owners on gym etiquette in keeping with Covid Guidelines.
FUTURE PLANS
“We have set out plans to work with the Ministry of Education school system assisting with educating teachers and students on nutrition, making healthier options available in Canteens and also the importance of physical education from the primary level,” the release stated.
“Providing workout programmes online and through television for children and adults to encourage physical activity,” it added.
Birthed out of a group conversation due to the closure of gyms and the subsequent loss of revenue of trainers and gym owners owing to COVID-19 pandemic last October, the association’s aim is to build and represent a structured community for
the betterment of the local fitness industry as a whole with focus on addressing the immediate & long-term problems.
Headed by owner of Genesis Fitness Gym, King, Guyana’s only licensed Zumba instructor, the GGOTA’s mandate is as follows.
Statement of Purpose: Gym Owners and Fitness Trainers Association is an association formed by the fitness industry for the fitness industry. Since the fitness industry is large yet unorganized and fragmented, GGOTA aims to build and represent a structured community for the betterment of the industry as a whole with focus on addressing the immediate & long-term
problems.
Mission: The mission is to improve the health of the nation by encouraging people to be more active, more often. GGOTA provides services and facilitates partnerships for a broad range of organizations, all of which support our vision and have a role to play in achieving that goal.
Affiliation: A formidable body representing the entire fitness industry in Guyana, our members and partners will include local gyms & studios from across the public, private and adjacent sectors.
The Guyana Gym Owners and Trainers Association vows to selflessly work together and continue identifying problem
areas in the fitness hemisphere and bring about improvements that would benefit all stakeholders across the country in a nonbiased manner.
Membership: Gym Owners, Fitness Trainers, Coaches and Nutritionist.
The full slate of the GGOTA Committee is as follows: Noshavyah King (President), Vice Presidents, Yannick Grimes and Roger Callender, SecretaryJordana Ramsay-Gonsalves, Treasurer, Kimberly DosSantos, Assistant Secretary/Treasurer-Semonica Duke, PRO-Emmerson Campbell and Neil Barry-Committee Member.
MUMBAI, (Reuters) - England must register their first win in a pink-ball test abroad if they are to keep their hopes alive of qualifying for this year’s World Test Championship final when they face-off against India at the world’s largest cricket stadium from tomorrow.
New Zealand have already booked their spot for the inaugural WTC final to be held at Lord’s later this year, leaving India, England and Australia vying for the other.
The four-test series between India and England is currently tied at 1-1 at the halfway stage and Joe Root’s men will need to win the remaining matches to qualify.
The task appears a tad simpler for Virat Kohli’s side, with the hosts needing to win at least one test and avoid defeat in the other.
Australia’s cancelled trip to South Africa means that Tim Paine’s side are dependent on India and England and would need a drawn series or a 2-1 win in favour of the touring side to set up a WTC final clash against their trans-Tasman rivals.
England have slightly more experience of playing day-night tests than their hosts but do not have an exemplary record outside their home comforts.
They beat West Indies at Birmingham but lost in Adelaide and Auckland and the Feb. 24-28 test under floodlights at Ahmedabad’s Motera Stadium will be their fourth outing.
The refurbished stadium, with a capacity of 110,000, has displaced the Melbourne Cricket Ground as the world’s largest for cricket and will be the venue for the remaining tests.
Local authorities have allowed 50% capacity for the day-night match - only the second in India after the one against neighbouring Bangladesh at Eden Garden in Kolkata in 2019.
India won that match in a little over two days but suffered a defeat in their next one against Australia in Adelaide, where they also suffered the ignominy of posting their lowest ever test innings of 36.
Players from both sides said last week that the sample size of day-night test matches was too small to arrive at any conclusion on the behaviour of the pink ball.
Seamer James Anderson,
James Anderson
England’s most prolific bowler, said he felt the pink ball swung a bit more in the air during practice than the traditional red one.
“We’ve got a little bit of experience with the pink ball but this is just the second test in India, the first one in February as well so we don’t know how it is going to behave,” the 38-year-old told reporters.
“The bowlers who get the ball in their hand come the test match will be hopeful of it doing something and we’ll be hopeful that that gives us a little bit of an edge.
“Obviously, I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed if I do play and we bowl first, I’ll be hoping it does a little bit.”
England are expected to welcome back Anderson after resting him during the defeat in the second test in Chennai as part of their much-debated rotation policy while fit-again speedster Jofra Archer will also be available for selection.
The hosts will also receive a boost with the return of rested pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah while senior fast bowler Ishant Sharma is expected to play his 100th test match during the daynight affair.
NORTH SOUND, Antigua, CMC – Keon Joseph’s new-ball burst and Shimron Hetmyer’s flamboyant unbeaten half-century, ensured that the Guyana Jaguars swept aside the Windward Islands Volcanoes with ease in the final preliminary round match of the Regional Super50 Cup here yesterday.
Chasing just 154 at the Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium after fast bowler Joseph had wrecked Volcanoes with a four-wicket haul, Jaguars stormed to a nine-wicket win inside 29 overs, courtesy of Hetmyer’s 67 not out.
The victory was the fourth of the tournament for the Jaguars who finished second in the standings on 16 points behind the unbeaten Trinidad and Tobago Red Force, while Volcanoes ended third on eight points.
While the contest was of academic interest especially with both teams already qualified for the next round, it served as a prelude for Thursday’s second semi-final which will see the two sides clashing again.
Choosing to bat first, Volcanoes were bundled out for 153 off 45 overs with Emmanuel Stewart top-scoring with 46 off 82 deliveries and Barbadian Kevin Stoute hitting 41 from 72 balls.
But the innings was never stable after Joseph (4-24), in his second match of the tournament, wiped out the top order in a lethal early burst that sent Volcanoes tumbling to 22 for four in the ninth over.
Joseph struck twice in the morning’s first over when he had Andre Fletcher caught at cover by Tevin Imlach of the first legitimate delivery without a run on the board and then removed captain Sunil Ambris for two with the final ball of the over.
Tottering on four for two, Volcanoes lost Alick Athanaze for seven in the fifth over, bowled by Joseph, and Roland Cato followed in the ninth over without scoring, whipping the same bowler to Hetmyer at short midwicket.
Stewart and Stoute then patched up the innings in a 60run fifth wicket partnership, before Keron Cottoy (27) joined Stewart to add a further 39 for the sixth wicket, as Volcanoes fought back.
While Stewart struck four fours, Stoute counted two but perished with a half-century beckoning, holing out to deep square leg after failing to keep down a slog sweep at left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie in the 27th over
And the last sign of resistance disappeared once Stewart fell in the 37th over by the run out route, as the last five wickets went down for 32 runs, with Chandrapaul Hemraj (2-11) snatching the last two wickets to fall in one over with his left-arm spin.
In reply, Hemraj got Jaguars off to a flying start, lashing an up tempo 41 off 32 balls with seven fours and a six, as he put on 62 off 58 balls for the first wicket with Imlach who was unbeaten on 37 from 80 balls at the end.
The left-handed Hemraj had drilled off-spinner Athanaze to the cover boundary off the previous delivery when he played back and was bowled by the fourth delivery of the 22-year-old’s first over and the 10th of the innings. However, Hetmyer entered to dominate the remainder of the run chase, belting three fours and four sixes in a swift 60-ball knock, as he added 93 in an unbroken second wicket stand with Imlach.
The West Indies left-hander raced to his second fifty of the tournament off 46 balls in the 22nd over by sweeping Athanaze to the fine leg boundary, but it was Imlach who struck the winning runs when he pulled a rank long hop from leg-spinner Cottoy to the ropes at mid-wicket.
With the newly appointed Cricket Ombudsman, Kamal Ramkarran announcing the first elections of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) for Friday, it is likely that Bissoondyal Singh will be nominated for the position.
Attorney-at-Law Ramkarran had issued a notice last weekend that scheduled the election for the Umana Yana, High Street, Kingston.
The notice pointed out to the County Boards, namely Essequibo Cricket Board, Demerara Cricket Board and Berbice Cricket Board that the submission of list of delegates to the Cricket Ombudsman whose address is Lot 2 Avenue of the Republic, Georgetown should be no later than February 25 at 16.00 hours.
The elections stems from the recent rulings in the Courts and the appointment of Ramkarran by Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr.
The Demerara Cricket Board held its elections Friday last under the Court’s supervision which saw Bissoondyal Singh elected President. Following his election, Singh expressed an interest in becoming the next president of the GCB.
When asked about officially announcing his bid for the post he responded, “Not really, that is going to be a transparent and democratic process, elections is a competition and we will see how it goes.”
However, when asked if he was interested in the position he replied, “At this time, yes!”
While no other person has since expressed any interest for the position, Stabroek Sport found an overwhelming support for Berbice Cricket Board president, Hilbert Foster to seek election to the highest office in Guyana’s cricket.
While a lot of those voicing their views wished to remain anonymous due “to fear of discrimination and being treated indifferently,” they backed Foster with evidence of his track record in the transformation of Berbice Cricket.
Since becoming BCB president the County has seen an unprecedented amount of tournaments being played with over 100 tournaments from that time and at
least 35 more set for 2021.
Foster has also been on the forefront of social assistance, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic where he has assisted thousands of families with hampers and necessities to fight the pandemic.
When contacted, Foster told Stabroek
Sport that he is not interested in the presidential bid but is willing to serve in any other capacity on the board in order to bring normalcy to Guyana’s Cricket.
The Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club Chief Executive Officer went on to add that his priority at this time is with his club and county.