DALLAS: The Los Angeles Lakers eased past the conference-leading Dallas Mavericks 100-89 on Thursday, making a mockery of the three-time defending NBA champion’s lowly seventh position in the West.
The defeat was just the Mavericks’ eighth home loss of the season. Shaquille O’Neal had a huge night, notching 31 points while grabbing 17 rebounds. Teammate Kobe Bryant added 19 points and Derek Fisher notched up 18. Steve Nash paced Dallas with 26 points, with fellow all-star Dirk Nowitzki pouring in 25 while pulling down 22 boards. The slick-shooting Nash was four-of-six from beyond the arc. The defeat was the seventh for Dallas in 10 meetings with the West’s other contenders – the Lakers, Sacramento Kings and San Antonio Spurs.
In Atlanta: The Hawks put a dent in the Washington Wizards’ playoff plans with a 91-89 win. Shareef Abdur-Rahim paced the Hawks with 24 points, nailing an off-balance shot at the buzzer for the 91-89 victory. It hit both the rim and backboard before dropping in. Team-mate Jason Terry added 18 points while dishing out 10 assists. Michael Jordan, at 40 years old gave it his all in a losing cause, notching 22 points, 12 in the final period, while grabbing a season-high 14 rebounds and serving up seven assists. Jerry Stackhouse had 15 more points for Washington, now two and a half matches behind the Milwaukee Bucks for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
In Portland: The Trail Blazers appeared to be still suffering the effects of an internal squabble, as they fell 93-88 to the Utah Jazz. Ageless Karl Malone notched 21 points to pace the Jazz, with Matt Harpring adding 17, including a crucial three-pointer in the final half minute. Another veteran, John Stockton, racked up 15 points while dishing out 10 assists. Rasheed Wallace topped Portland with 23 points. Blazers forward Zach Randolph punched team-mate Ruben Patterson during practice on Wednesday, earning a two-game suspension.
SHARJAH: Yousuf Youhana and Younis Khan rattled up a superb fourth-wicket stand of 124 runs yesterday to steer Pakistan to a seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the Sharjah Cup cricket tournament.
Pakistan made 225 for three, overhauling Sri Lanka’s 223 for six with 2.4 overs to spare. The win saw the Pakistanis, who defeated Zimbabwe by 68 runs in Thursday’s opening match, virtually through to the final of this four-nation US$105,000 tournament. The new-look Pakistan team, formed after a poor World Cup, was helped by a dropped catch by Jehan Mubarak off skipper Sanath Jayasuriya when Youhana was only 10 with the score at 113 for three. Vice-captain Youhana made the Lankans pay for their miss, striking seven crisp boundaries in his run-a-ball 64 not out. Team-mate Khan smashed an unbeaten 57 with four boundaries, and hoisted spinner Kumar Dharmasena for a six to end the match.
Sri Lanka, semi-finalists at the recent World Cup, missed the services of their injured top paceman Chaminda Vaas. Earlier when batting, Kumar Sangakarra hit his first One-Day International century — not out, no less — against a tight-fielding Pakistani side. Sangakarra’s performance later earned him the “Man of the Match” award. Pakistan’s pace attack of Muhammad Sami and Umer Gul had Sri Lanka shaky early, getting openers Marvan Atapattu and skipper Sanath Jayasuriya out with only 44 runs on the board. Their tight fielding and bowling restricted Sri Lanka to 89 in the first 25 overs. Sri Lanka’s star batsman Jayasuriya was also deprived a chance to cross 9,000 runs in One-Day International cricket, when he was caught seven runs short at 27. Jayasuriya, at 8,993 after 298 One-Day Internationals, skied a catch to Muhammad Hafeez off the bowling of Sami.
Sangakkara, who came in at the fall of Jayasuriya’s wicket, then proceeded to bolster the Sri Lankan innings, spicing his innings with nine boundaries. He struck 100 off 111 balls. It was Sangakkara’s first century in 86 One-Day International matches. He remained unbeaten along with teammate Kumar Dharmasena, who pitched in with 23 runs. They set a 57-run partnership to the end. Debutant Rana Naveedul Hasan was the pick of the Pakistani bowlers. He gave the Sri Lankan batsmen some tense moments when he took the wickets of Hashan Tillekeratne and debutante Prasanna Jayewardene in consecutive balls in the 41st. Sami was the most economical with a wicket for 36 runs off his spell, which consisted of two maiden overs. Today, surprise World Cup semi-finalists Kenya open their campaign against fellow Africans, Zimbabwe.
MELBOURNE: Australia have dropped Damien Martyn from their squad for the four-Test tour of the West Indies because the batsman has failed to recover from a broken finger sustained at the recent Cricket World Cup.
Michael Clarke from New South Wales was named yesterday as Martyn’s replacement. The uncapped 22-year-old will travel to the West Indies during the weekend, the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) said in a statement. The First Test starts in Guyana on April 10. Martyn, a veteran of 33 Tests, was expected to join the squad next week after receiving further treatment in Perth. “The fracture will need protection for up to four weeks, after which we are hopeful the healing process has taken hold and he is fit enough to be available for One-Day international selection,” Australia team physiotherapist Errol Alcott said in the statement.
Martyn told reporters in Perth ysterday: “I was hoping to be on the plane next week … The news didn’t come back what I needed to hear. “That is always the risk when you get injured now, there are a lot of great players around and you can’t just walk back into the side,” the 31-year-old added. Martyn scored an unbeaten 88 in Australia’s World Cup final win over India in Johannesburg on March 23 despite fracturing his finger in a match against Kenya eight days earlier. The right-hander has a Test average of 46.51 with five centuries. Australia are also weakened by the absence of paceman Glenn McGrath and leg-spinner Shane Warne, who have taken 913 Test wickets between them.
McGrath, 33, has returned to Sydney to comfort his wife Jane, who has a cancer infection in her hip. Uncapped Western Australia fast bowler Brad Williams, 28, is on his way to Guyana as a temporary replacement for McGrath. Warne was handed a 12-month doping suspension in February after the 33-year-old tested positive for diuretics. Clarke was the fourth-highest scorer in the 2002-03 Australian four-day competition with 763 runs at 47.68. The fresh-faced lad from Sydney’s western suburbs made an unbeaten 39 against England in January in his One-Day International debut.
THE EDITOR: Thank you for the facility to celebrate for the benefit of both posterity as well as for living history the unparalleled and unique contribution to national development and Caribbean diplomacy made by the late Lennox Fitzroy Ballah, former Permanent Secretary of the Foreign Affairs Ministry who was cremated on Thursday last.
The late Ballah faithfully served TT in several fields of national endeavours with outstanding and meritorious successes. But it was in the very specialised field of developing the new corpus of the Law of the Sea at the United Nations (1967-1982) that he carved an exceptional reputation for himself and which redounded to the benefit of TT. As a student of Ballah, I can vouch that former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ralph Maraj was correct in asserting that Ballah’s knowledge and contribution in this field was unsurpassed.
Until recently, Ballah was one of the few surviving arc-hitects/fathers of the new public order for the oceans that came into being with the coming into force of the 1982 United Nations Montego Bay Convention on the Law of the Sea. It was this accolade more than any other of his several outstanding credentials that recently earned him a seat on the bench of the International Tribunal For the Law of the Sea located at Hamburg in Germany.
His was the flame that fired my own young passion for the law of the sea as well as that of Industrial Court Judge Cecil Bernard, Ambassador Philip Sealy, Errol Matthews, Rodney Appleton, Independent Senator Christopher Thomas and the late Chief of Defence Staff, Commodore Mervin O Williams who constituted a most formidable TT delegation to the Third UN Conference that lasted nine years. He led the TT delegation to the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea from start to finish driven by an uncanny awareness and foresight on how the new laws were likely to impact on the maritime interests/resources of TT and the wider Caribbean.
Ballah’s ratio dicidendi lay in defending and promoting in the most erudite fashion TT’s right to the maximum extent of its potential marine space for the exploitation of its hydrocarbons, transportation, tourism, fishing and leisure. That was the heart and soul of his negotiating strategies and the law of the sea formulations/ theses that he tabled in and outside of the United Nations. For this he was deservedly awarded a National Award, Medal of Merit (Gold) by former President Hassanali.
Mr Ballah’s personality and infectious diplomatic modus operandi and charm exerted a compelling and disarming influence at the United Nations on behalf of TT. He conducted a genre of effective international diplomacy that bore no relationship to the small developing island status of TT. Ballah was an outstanding publicist/commentator on the law of the sea and prosecuted the marine interests of TT at fora held at the bilateral, regional and international levels with a view to influencing the United Nations law-making process. Even though the rest of the Caribbean, except Jamaica, was largely represented on the fringes at the negotiations/meetings, Ballah safeguarded and defended their maritime interests especially with respect to the negotiating positions put forward by Venezuela relating to the status of islands and delimitation criteria. In fact he played a leadership role in the conclusion of the 1991 TT/Venezuela Delimitation Agreement as well as several fishing and other bilateral accords.
As Permanent Secretary at Foreign Affairs Ballah distinguished himself as an integrative manager always focussed on promoting the national interest at home and abroad. A whole generation of architects of the new law of the sea passes away with the demise of Lennox Ballah. He toiled unremittingly for 36 years, unsung and unheralded, to forge and usher in a more equitable public order for the oceans that was more responsive to the needs of the developing world and one that was not premised on might being right.
STEPHEN KANGAL
Caroni
THE EDITOR: The motoring public should be made aware that the Audrey Jeffers Highway as it is called is misleading. This I found out after I was caught and fined in a speed trap recently, or rather entrapped, as I was informed by the uniformed officer that the speed limit is 50 kilometres per hour and not 80 kilometres per hour as obtains on the other highways such as the Churchill Roosevelt and Uriah Butler Highways.
I am not of the opinion that this road is now in the category of the nearby Mucurapo Road. It would be a good idea for the relevant authorities to place the appropriate signs indicating the correct status of this causeway.
FIDEL GONZALEZ
Westmoorings
THE EDITOR: I wish to congratulate Mr Brian Lara as the new WI skipper vs Australia. A much more experienced Lara would surely be able to put a halt to the flagging fortunes of West Indies cricket. A more tactical expert than Hooper at the game, it would surely work wonders for the new skipper.
We would now definitely see a spinner on the team, hopefully from Trinidad and Tobago. Vivian Richards’ archaic way of thinking, in his belief that pace is the way to go, should be dumped. I wish to recommend to our skipper the book “Captaincy In Cricket” Reflections- by Fyzul Hassanali. Lara should memorise the author’s thoughts exp-ressed in Chapter two “The Captain — Lig-hthouse Among Pla-yers.” In this chapter the author emphasises the role of leadership, loyalty, communication, consultations and the willingness to compromise. He states “the great captain is one who never misses an opportunity for an advantage; who applies astute measures in every department of the game in order to achieve victory — even when he leads an ordinary combination.
This vital text discusses also, flagging fortunes of West Indian cricket, famous captains, team selection and training, the toss, the role of the umpires, at the crease, on the field, and some historical tit bits. I want to humbly advise our new skipper to keep this text very handy and consult it quite regularly, on and off the field.
MICHAEL MOHAMMED
San Juan
THE EDITOR: As a resident of the Constituency of St Augustine, I am aware that the lands at Lower Dookiesingh Street, St Augustine south (south of the Churchill Roosevelt Highway) have been relatively developed and a large number of houses have been built thereon. There is now electricity, water, slipper drains, a paved roadway and telephone.
However, I would be remiss in my duty to the uninformed if I do not say that the one singular person responsible for all these necessities is a resident whose name is Ethelbert Ram-samooj. Prior to now this area was one of Caroni (1975) Limited’s canefields, marshy, swampy and desolate. Sometime in 1992, on the request of the then Member of Parliament, John Humphrey, I chaired a meeting in the middle of this canefield. Present were Ethelbert Ram-samooj, former Councillor Kumkaran Ramjattan, Mr Rango and Vishnu Persad of the Lands Department of Caroni (1975) Limited. Thus began the establishment of this community.
Mr Ramsamooj visited me every day at home and insisted and persisted that I assist him, whether by arranging a meeting with Mr Vishnu Persad or by arranging transport for him to go to Brechin Castle in Couva. Mr Ramsamooj single-handedly took a keen interest in the establishment of this community. He literally walked one day from Brechin Castle sugar factory, where the office of Mr Vishnu Persad was, up to and along the Solomon Hochoy Highway and nearing Chaguanas, he got a lift to Curepe. All to ensure that the few residents who lived in the canefield got security of tenure.
Mr Ramsamooj’s persistence still endures and he continues to be the live wire in the community. He surely knows his way around. Special rec-ognition should be given to him by all the residents who arrived afterwards. He surely deserves “pioneer status.” He surely is the “governor”, an epithet given to him by then member of Parliament, Gerald Yetming. I am of the opinion that a University Degree (Honoris Causia) should be conferred on Ethelbert Ramsamooj. More than that, a National Award is befitting this pioneer who received no secondary education but who has graduated from the University of Life. The dedication and commitment of Ethelbert Ramsamooj must not go unnoticed. We can all learn from him.
SHAH HOSEIN
Rapsey Street
Curepe
THE EDITOR: There is a rotten TTEC electricity pole situated on the premises of No 17 Pluscarden Gardens, Cocoyea which can fall at any time. The wooden pole is so rotten at the base, that one can see through to the other side. Several reports were made to TTEC, even the Councillor Mr Lynch came but up to now nothing has been done. One wonders if TTEC is awaiting the fall of the pole before coming to replace it. If the pole falls, several residences would be affected, houses can be burnt, children as well as dogs, etc can be electrocuted with the live wires on the ground, household appliances can be damaged and many houses will be out of electricity for days. Is this what TTEC is awaiting?
I am appealing to the relevant authority to come and check the pole and replace it quickly before a disaster happens.
NATHANIEL BROWNE
Pluscarden
Cocoyea
THE EDITOR: American double standards and hypocrisy and their own ‘New World’ order philosophy is what has embroiled the world in turmoil. Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein are two ‘Made in USA’ products, who have been rejected on the world market and passed off as damaged goods due to unfair trade practices by them, since the US found them to be growing in assets which would overwhelm the US market.
Let us revisit history a little. America armed, assisted and trained Osama bin Laden and the Afghan guerillas in the war against the Russians and termed them ‘Freedom Fighters’. Even had a CIA agent stationed in the region who trained them in the use of the shoulder-held missile launcher, which they used successfully. They also brought Russian arms like the Kalashnikov rifle and other weapons in the underground black market to arm bin Laden’s army so as to evade the scrutiny and detection of American participation. After they had no use for bin Laden and company, they were branded as ‘terrorists’ when the Russians retreated in disgrace after being thrashed. It is ironic for America to now claim as unfair practices Russian companies allegedly selling GPS jamming devices, missiles and night vision goggles to Saddam Hussein. Talk about hypocrisy and double standards!
People’s hatred and abhorrence of America is only compounded by their own treatment of the rest of the world community. Nelson Mandela quite rightly said it long before the start of this war, “America is a threat to world peace. They must not be seen as the answer to world peace”, my quote. United Nations Security Council resolution 1441? What about United Nations resolution 242, is this insignificant to the people of Palestine as much as resolution 1441 is important to American interests? America engineers, propagates and causes certain world events via the CIA so as to intervene and take control and be seen as the ‘great liberator’ while holding the benefactors of their services in complete subservience as a means of protecting their interests. Such was the fate of Chile, Panama, Grenada, Afghanistan, to name a few, and now it’s Iraq’s turn. When I look on the TV and papers and see American forces giving people chocolate, sweets and food, it reminds me of the trinkets given to the Aztecs and Incas by Pizzaro and Cortez, the Caribs and Arawaks by Columbus and by the European settlers to the Native American Indians to take their land and wealth. Talk about “wolf in sheep’s clothing”! That is the epitome of American politics as it relates to current world events. The world is not a playground for America, it is God’s property. As the late great Robert Nesta Marley once said, “Jah is Earth’s rightful ruler and him never build no wire fence.” Nuff said.
LESLIE CRAIGWELL
Carenage
THE EDITOR: I would greatly appreciate your paper finding space to extend my deepest condolences to our Prime Minister, Patrick Manning on the tragic loss of one with whom he worked so closely up to quite recently. Of course, I refer to Mark Guerra. If we are to believe the police record of this high-ranking member of the Jamaat Al Muslimeen as reported in the press, the following question seeks an answer. What was the Prime Minister of this country doing holding peace talks with someone with such a record? Can any right-thinking individual envisage the President of the United States of America, in the era of Al Capone, sitting down to hold discussions on the then on-going gang wars in Chicago, with this procurer of evil. For make no mistake, there was little difference between the thinking of Capone and Guerra, yet the killing, gangland style, of this individual has invoked a sense of loss within the bosom of our Prime Minister.
E NOEL
St Augustine
