BRIDGETOWN: The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) on Saturday launched the 75th anniversary celebrations of West Indies’ entry into Test cricket with a colourful parade at Kensington Oval. A march past by the band of the Barbados Defence Force, flag waving Scotiabank Kiddy cricketers, and a brief ceremony during the lunch interval of the first Cable and Wireless One-Day International (ODI) between West Indies and Sri Lanka all formed part of the launch. The celebrations will be held in partnership with the University of the West Indies and with sponsorship from Shell Antilles & Guianas Ltd, current sponsors of the Shell Cricket Academy of the St George’s University in Grenada, as well as support from the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel. The activities under the theme “75 Years of Windies Test Cricket: Uniting the Region, Exciting the World”, will have an educational focus to build awareness of the rich West Indies cricket legacy.

Reverend Wes Hall, president of the WICB, noted at the launch that on June 23 during St Lucia’s historic first Test match, the WICB would celebrate the actual anniversary of the first West Indies Test match with a special tribute to the 1928 team. Presentations will be made to representatives of their families who are being invited to St Lucia. Similar presentations will be made at Sabina Park during the Second Cable and Wireless Test Match between West Indies and Sri Lanka to representatives of the families of the members of the 1928 team from Jamaica. The WICB will also be launching a commemorative book entitled, A Nation Imagined, by Professor Hilary Beckles, a noted cricket historian and Pro Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, and opening a photographic exhibition in Jamaica on June 28. Hall said while it was an honour to be president of the WICB, it was a very special privilege to be responsible for giving appropriate effect to the 75th anniversary of West Indies Test status. He observed that while we are celebrating the first steps onto the Test field on June 23, 1928 at Lord’s in England, it was also important to be aware of the many records set including the more recent ones of 375 in an innings by Brian Lara and 519 Test career wickets by Courtney Walsh.

Flames of Las Lomas defeated Bustin Loose by seven wickets in the latest round of matches in the 2003 Sunshine Windball cricket series. Fine bowling by C Neeranjan crippled Bustin Loose and they could only manage a paltry 105 all out. Flames then made light work of the target, getting there for the loss of just three wickets. The top score in the Flames innings was 39 from the bat of A Gokool. In another North Zone encounter, New Generation easily overcame Five Rivers by eight wickets. In the South, new team “Rum till I die” seem to be finding it very difficult to come to terms with the opposition, losing their last two matches. The biggest win in the last round was a 178-run whipping of Hard Drive inflicted by Home Boys. Batting first, Home Boys totalled an emphatic 234 for nine in their 25 overs. Hard Drive then fell for just 66 in reply. Remarkably, 56 runs came from the bowling of M. Benjamin who also took four wickets.

SUNSHINE FROSTED FL-AKES WINDBALL CRIC-KET SCORES
Hard Drive 32 lost to Unkown 33/0 — By 10 wickets.
New Generation 49 (J Bethelmy 4/18) lost to Loony Toons 51/5 (A Remy 5/17) — By 5 wkts.
Caratal128/9 (K Henry 45) def Starliner 32 (S Rahim 4/13) — By 96 runs.
Home Boys 135/7 (C Bandoo 4/31) def Loony Toons 125 — By 10 runs.
D Unknown 99 lost to New Generation 102/4 (D Sobers 48 n.o.) — By 6 wkts.
Caratal 141/7 def Top Shutters 73 — By 68 runs.
Hard Drive 133 lost to New Generation 137/5 (J Bethelmy 51 n.o.) — By 5 wkts.
Starliner 132 (S Rahim 4/17) def Rum Till I Die 57 — By 75 runs.
Home Boys 234/9 (C Bandoo 4/16) def Hard Drive 66 (M Benjamin 4/56) — By 168 runs.
Caratal 145/5 (K Henry 55) def Rum Till I Die 120/6 — By 25 runs.
Top Shutters 109 def Starliner 87 — By 22 runs.
Home Boys 56 lost to Unknown 57/5 — By 5 wkts.
Starliner 124/4 (S Trin 56 n.o., A Mohammed 4/9) def B’Venture Outlaws 120 — By 4 runs.

Former top Trinidad and Tobago leg-spinner Ganesh Mahabir wants to help young cricketers improve their skills. Mahabir was TT’s hero in 1985 when the national senior team won the Shell Shield, emblem of regional First Class supremacy. He emerged as the leading wicket-taker with 30 victims (five matches) to his name and bowled TT to its third regional title. He has also played Division One cricket for Queen’s Park Cricket Club and Moosai’s Sports Club, For the past 18 years the senior team has failed to regain top regional honours. Mahabir completed his regional First Class career with 100 wickets and was the fastest to the coveted triple figures among those who had preceded him. He is still actively involved in Division Two competitions. And during the 2003 season, he appeared for the British American Aranguez Sports Club, which was promoted to this level for the first time. He has the desire to help younger players and share his knowledge.

“Cricket has been a seasonal thing in this country. And I think we have to change that trend by making it a year-round programme where the players will be able to develop and become better. They should be practising and experimenting when the competition season is over,” Mahabir said. “From January to May, players are involved in different levels of competition but they need to work on their overall improvement during the off-season. There is need for more specialised training and those who work hard at improving their game will develop faster and get better results,” the spinner said. Seeking to help those younger players who are interested in improving their game, Mahabir decided to hold coaching clinics every Saturday at the Aranguez Sports Club ground. The first session starts this Saturday from 3 pm. All players and parents who are interested can contact Mahabir at 645-0202. The clinic will last for 26 weeks and is open to all players from eight years to 15-years-old.

Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs, Roger Boynes has written a letter to West Indies cricket team manager Ricky Skeritt congratulating the team on their performance in the last three matches of the one-day series against Australia. The letter, written on behalf of the Ministry and the Government, was full of praise for the young team and for the leadership of captain Brian Lara.

It read:
“On behalf of the staff of the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs and on my own behalf, I wish to congratulate the West Indies cricket team on their resounding three consecutive victories over Australia in the recently concluded One Day series.” “The performance of our young team, under the astute leadership of Brian Charles Lara, proves that they are still a force to be reckoned with in this game of glorious uncertainties.” “The players displayed dedication, discipline, talent and skill to show the world that they can still be leaders in the game of cricket.” “On behalf of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago I congratulate you on your fine performance. With your own hands, you made success. “As we celebrate, permit me to wish you and aspiring cricketers similar success in the future.”

ARIMA Ball Masters players Melissa Snaggs is the top junior shoot in the Port-of-Spain Netball League. She earned the title following a shoot-out with Erica Job of Horizon after the two were knotted up with 14 goals each at the Jean Pierre Sports Complex on Monday. And when the duo met in a tie-breaker, they again finished with seven goals apiece, before Snaggs edged Job 5-4 in a second shoot-off to clinch the crown. There was also a shoot-off between Asha McDowell of Sparkles and Chrisalene Murrell (Malta Carib Senators) for the runner-up position after the pair finished with 12 goals each.

In the second go-around, McDowell and Murrell were still tied on seven goals. But McDowell prevailed 4-2 on the third attempt to get the bronze medal. Horizon, with 32 goals, won the team shooting title, with Harlem B2 and CIL  Sparkles B2 tied for second with 29 goals each. For the winners, Job scored 14 goals, Crystal Palmer and Abigail James nine each, while McDowelll had 12, Ria Roach nine and Odella Harding eight for Sparkles and Raisa Thorne 11, Kerleema Prosper and Atoya Adams nine for Harlem.

TURIN: Jamaicans Juliet Campbell and Lorraine Graham-Fenton have registered good wins at the Primo Nebiolo Memorial — IAAF Grand Prix II — meeting. Campbell ran a personal season’s best 22.79 seconds in the 200 metres, while Graham-Fenton set the sixth fastest 400-metre time this year when she won in 50.45 seconds. Hicham El Guerrouj produced the highlight of the meet with 2003 world best win in the men’s 3,000 metres. Campbell, the 2001 World Indoor champion over the distance, scored her first major win of the year as she edged Romania’s Ionela Tirlea (22.80) by 0.01 seconds, with French star Christine Arron, a close third in the half-lap sprint in 22.92 seconds. Bahamian Christine Amertil, who won the Milan 400 on Tuesday night, finished fourth in 23.39 seconds. Graham-Fenton, who won silver at the last Olympic Games and World Championship meet, was a comfortable winner of the women’s 400 metres, topping Senegal’s Amy Mbacke Thiam (51.59).

Kareem Streete-Thompson of the Cayman Islands and Jamaicans Davian Clarke, Ricardo Williams, Debbie-Ann Parris and Kemel Thompson secured top-three finishes. Streete-Thompson’s best long jump was measured at 7.85 metres for third behind Salim Sdiri (8.00) of France and Italian Nic Trentin (7.94). Olympian Clarke ran 45.30 seconds in a close second in the men’s 400 metres to Eric Milazar of Mauritius, who was 0.02 seconds faster in 45.28. Williams ran his quickest 100-metre time this year, 10.29 seconds as he finished third to American Coby Miller (10.10) and Uchenna Emedolu (10.19). Namibian veteran Frankie Fredericks was fifth in 10.45 seconds. In the 400 hurdles, Thompson (48.95) pushed Olympic champion Angelo Taylor (48.94) to a close finish in the men’s race, and Parris ran 55.59 seconds for third in the women’s event. Tirlea, beaten by Campbell in the 200, stepped up for gold in the 400-hurdles in 54.10 ahead of American Sandra Glover (54.82). Morocco’s El Guerrouj won the 3,000 metres in a world-leading seven minutes 30.23 seconds.                   
 

BRIDGETOWN: Jamaica’s 2001 World Championship 200-metre silver-medallist Chris Williams headlines the list of invitees for the Barbados Track and Field Classic (BARITAC) at the National Stadium today. Williams will contest both the men’s 100 and 200 metres in the third staging of the meet, attracting this year, competitors from the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. Other international names for the meet include Antiguan Pan Am Games sprint medallist Heather Samuel and in form Bahamian Chris Brown, who has already logged international wins in South Africa this season with three consecutive 400-metre victories during the Engen Series. Jamaicans Aneisha McLaughlin and Jermaine Gonzales, both medallists at the 2002 World Junior Championship in Kingston, are also entered. McLaughlin will face a 200-metre field that includes Samuel and Trinidad and Tobago’s CARIFTA Games 100-metre bronze medallist Wanda Hutson, and Gonzales meets Brown, American Milton Campbell, and TT’s former CARIFTA champion Simon Pierre, in the men’s 400 metres.                                                                   

TACTICAL BID is getting in her best shape for the Santa Rosa Dash, one of the features on Labour Day, June 20, Day 18 of the Arima Race Club season at Santa Rosa Park, Arima. The Cyril “Grey Patch” Arneaud-trained American-bred filly stepped over 1000 metres in the smart time of 1:05.8 seconds in a recent gallop. The event over 1200 metres carries a purse of $45,000 and has attracted a field of 11 runners. Another holding the engagement is the aptly named Song Of Freedom, who went over the same distance in a comfortable 1:11.5 seconds. This four-year-old American-bred gelding won his last start over 1100 metres in a track record time 1:03.54 seconds.

Sugar Mike, a disappointing fourth last time out in the Indian Arrival Turf Handicap over 1725 metres and who also holds the engagement, had a comfortable spin over 400 metres in 29.9 seconds. Others in the event are Outswinger who won that Indian Arrival Turf Handicap, along with Sure Wager, the speedy Movietowne Magic, Fortunate Flag winner of a Starter Allowance over 1350 metres on the Indian Arrival Day programme in the good time of 1:122.64 seconds, Inswinger, Sure Ting and promising Invincibility.