OVER $5,000 in prize money will be at stake at this year’s sixth edition of the Trincity Residents Association Limited 10k and 5k races. The event, started six years ago, is aimed at encouraging community spirit among residents of the Trincity area. Both the 10k and 5k will begin at the Dinsley Trincity Government Primary School on June 15, and prizes will be awarded in three age groups —- Under-12; Under-19 and Open. Winners in the Under-12 age group, girls and boys, will collect $100, the runner-up $75, third placed $50 and fourth, $25. For winning among the Under-19s, girls and boys, the prize will be $200, the runner-up collects $150, third $75 and fourth $50, while the winners of the open category, male and female, gets $400, second $300, third $200 and fourth $100. The same prize structure is in place for the non-Trincity residents to finish in the first four places in the open category both male and female. Jennifer Brown, chairperson of the Trincity Residents Association Limited stated in a media release yesterday that Clyde Forde, former secretary of the National Amateur Athletics Association (NAAA) has been assisting with the organisation of the race in the past.
While the West Indies cricket team were hammering the Aussies into submission in the seventh One-Day International in Grenada, history was also created at the Munroe Road Recreation Ground, Cunupia on Sunday. Former limited-overs champion club Alescon Comet grabbed the KFC Super Sixes Cricket Challenge Trophy from pre-tournament favourites Clico Preysal in the inaugural final. The three-day competition attracted twelve National Cricket League Division One and Two clubs and it was British American Aranguez which provided the biggest treat to the established Division One rivals. In the end, they took home the third prize worth $3,000 after they whipped Ceramic MerryBoys in the third-place play-offs which preceded the final.
Solid hitting by Trinidad and Tobago’s Under-19 opener Imran Khan provided the enthusiastic spectators with the batting fireworks as he inspired Comet to 87 runs in the allotted six overs. The right-handed Khan slammed four sixes and three fours in his belligerent 38. He dominated the 64-run second wicket partnership with skipper Suruj Ragoonath who made 16. Dary Balgobin contributed 10 and later bowled Dinesh Ramdin for eight while Kapil Harry dismissed the dangerous Shazam Babwah Nevin Stewart for 16 and 13 respectively. Harry finished with two wickets for 14 in his one-over stint. Siewdath Baldeo bowled Ravi Ramphal behind his back for nought and Preysal’s challenge was soon over as Junior Sadhoo bowled Aaron Ragoonath for 14. Preysal made 63 in 5.2 overs and tasted defeat by 24 runs. For Comet, the KFC Super Sixes Trophy provided consolation for a disappointing Division One 2003 season. It was a well-organised series and Ragoonath received the beautiful KFC Super Sixes Trophy plus a cheque worth $10,000 from Prestige Holdings marketing assistant Wendy Alleyne. Babwah collected the runner-up prize of $7,000 while John Suraj did the honours for British American Aranguez which placed third and earned $3,000. Richard Kelly of Ceramic MerryBoys collected the fourth prize worth $1,500 while his national youth teammate Imran Khan was presented the “Man of the Match” award.
Summarised Scores.
KFC Super Sixes Final: ALESCON COMET 87 off 6 overs (Imran Khan 38, Surij Ragoonath 16, Dary Balgobin 10; Ravi Ramphal 1 for 4, Shazam Babwah 1 for 14 and Aaron Ragoonath 1 for 23) beat CLICO PREYSAL 63 off 5.2 overs (S Babwah 16, Nevin Stewart 13, A Ragoonath 14; Kapil Harry 2 for 14, Dary Balgobin 1 for 11, Siewdath Baldeo 1 for 7 and Junior Sadoo 1 for 1).
Result: Comet won by 24 runs. Champion received KFC Super Sixes Trophy and $10,000.
Runner-up: Preysal ($7,000).
Man of Match: Imran Khan (Comet).
Third Place Play-offs: CERAMIC MERRYBOYS 68 for 4 off 6 overs (Richard Kelly 37, Lincoln Roberts 15) lost to BRITISH AMERICAN ARANGUEZ 69 for 1 (Michael Brown 38, Anil Datoo 12) by nine wickets.
Former West Indies opener Bryan Davis has given a resounding vote of approval to Brian Lara in his second stint as the regional team’s captain. Lara, who took over from Carl Hooper after the ICC World Cup earlier this year, finished the series against Australia losing both the Test and limited overs series. But Davis said there were signs of better things to come. The West Indies lost the Test series 3-1 and the one day tournament 4-3. However Davis was pleased with the team’s performances. “The team is playing good cricket at the moment but this does not mean we have turned the corner. It is just that the players now look more focused and hungry for success. “I think that once they don’t get complacement against the Sri Lankans they would do well and could end up winning both the Test and One-Day Inter-national series. “Brian Lara is doing a very fine job at the helm and this team is playing well under him. He is now more bolder in his captaincy and has shown imagination,” said Davis. Lara opened the bowling in the seventh one-day match on Sunday against Australia with off-spinner Marlon Samuels. This caught the Australians by surprise and they were reduced to 18 for two early in the encounter. But Davis warned: ”If we are going to get complacent against the Sri Lankans we are only going to go back to losing. The players must continue their good performances and must be on a high after whipping the world champions in three successive matches.”
Kerwyn Mohammed, who has represented Trinidad and Tobago in the regional Under-15 cricket series, was voted the Most Valuable Player for South in the recently concluded British Gas Under-17 cricket series. Mohammed received his award at the prize-giving ceremony held at the Queen’s Park Oval, Port-of-Spain on Thursday night. Mohammed was very consistent in his all-round play but was unable to take South to the title. Central walked away with the honours by winning all their matches. South came in second, while North took third. In the Under-15 division, Logie Division comprising players from the South East of Trinidad took the title. They were led to the crown by batting stylist Javed Mohammed who was also voted their Most Valuable Player. Nanan Division, who have dominated the tournament since its inception a couple seasons ago, were beaten into second place. President of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board of Control (TTCBC), Alloy Lequay was on hand to speak to the youths, as were officials from the sponsoring firm, British Gas.
BRITISH GAS HONOUR ROLL
UNDER-15
Champions: Logie Division
Runners-up: Nanan Division
Third place: Gomes Division
MVPs
Dhanraj Division —- Kevon Francis
Nanan Division —- Visham Jaggessar
Logie Division —- Javed Mohammed
Bishop Division —- Kjorn Ottley
Gomes Division —- Sunil Narine
UNDER -17
Champions: Central
Runners-up: South
Third place: North
MVPs
Central —- Ancil Bhaggan
South —- Kerwyn Mohammed
North —- Kerron Pollard
North East —- Prudencio Cedeno
South East —- Ronnie Lochansingh
The Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board of Control will host a graduation function for the 2003 class on Friday, June 13 at the National Cricket Centre, Balmain Village, Couva. The 22 players entered the academy to fine-tune their skills earlier this season and will be the first set of graduates passing out. PowerGen, who are giving substantial assistance to the Sir Frank Worrell Cricket Academy, will be sponsoring the event that gets underway at 6.30 pm.
Felicity Invaders and Queen’s Park Cricket Club were crowned joint champions at the finals of the Advance Commercial 30-overs limited overs series. This took place after the final was washed out by rain on Friday, Indian Arrival Day. The teams were scheduled to fight it out for the first prize of $7,500 at the Gilbert Park Cricket Facility in California. However inclement weather didn’t permit a ball to be bowled and both finalists were crowned joint champions. They would now share the winning purse and receive trophies for their effort in reaching the finals. Chairman of the Superleague series Patrick Rampersad said he thought that the tournament was a huge success and brought fans back to the evening game. He thanked sponsors Raju Advani who was on hand with his staff to take in the match that never got off.
BRIDGETOWN: An ugly picture of the Caribbean has been painted by an Australian journalist who has raised doubts over the region’s ability to successfully host the 2007 Cricket World Cup. Trevor Marshallsea, who covered Australia’s tour to the West Indies for the Melbourne Age newspaper, went as far as saying that the service industry in the Caribbean leaves a lot to be desired. In an interview with the Barbados Nation, he pointed to frustrations with airlines, hotels, restaurants and taxi drivers, among others. “It not only creates a bad public image for the place, but it also adds to the thought that there will be a lot of angry, disgruntled and unhappy people here in 2007,” Marshallsea said. “The whole service industry needs to have a look at itself. Whenever things go wrong, nobody seems particularly concerned. No one apologises. “They just tell you don’t worry, things will come later on. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t.”
During his two months in the Caribbean, Marshallsea said flight delays, missing luggage, along with high-priced and unfriendly taxi-drivers were common. On arriving in Barbados from Trinidad after the Second Test, Marshallsea’s bags and those of a fellow Australian journalist turned up two days later. “I think there are going to be a lot of problems with the World Cup here,” he said. “There are a lot of little difficulties which I think will contribute to a lot of people who come here for the tournament leaving with a sour impression of the place, feeling that it is a very frustra-ting and difficult place to get things done.” Marshallsea described Trinidad, where the Aus-tralian cricketers reported the disappearance of cricket equipment when their luggage was at the Piarco International Airport, as a “forgettable place, if ever there was one.” “When you’re a visitor somewhere, your impressions of the place stem mainly from the people,” he said. “I found the people in Trinidad, particularly the taxi-drivers, were fairly unfriendly. They are not presenting a face to visitors which people need when you are hosting world events like a World Cup, apart from the fact they were hideously overpriced,” he said. In relation to the cricket side of things, Marshallsea said the Caribbean possessed good grounds, but there needs to be improvements in practice facilities, traffic flows in and out of grounds, and stricter crowd controls. Enough hotels to accommodate the influx of visitors to the region was another problem he identified.
LAST Year’s Jetsam Award nominee Beautiful Mind, Ruby Rich and Red Hill will head the weights for three handicaps on the Arima Race Club Day 17 card at Santa Rosa Park, Arima, on Saturday. The trio has been asked to tote 56.5 kilos each for their assignments in the three sprints on the 10-race programme. Beautiful Mind who annihilated a good field of juveniles in his only start in the Nursery Stakes on Royal Oak Derby Day last year will face off against seven rivals in a 1200 metres contest for West Indian-bred three-year-olds, non-winners of two races in their career. In the dash, the Glenn Mendez speedball whose career had been plagued with injury will be handing out two kilos to Naturelly Classy, who is entered in another handicap, and as much as eight to Upset All.
Ruby Rich will have a similar number of runners to deal with over the identical 1200 metres distance in the second handicap on the card. In this race framed for West Indian-bred four-year-olds and over which have not won four races, the Harriram Gobin charge will have to contend with Supreme Dancer (55), and recent winners Toronto Star (54.5) and Bajan Connection (53). The undecided Naturelly Classy and Richie Rich were given the bottom weight of 50 kilos in the tough-looking contest. Red Hill will take along his top impost in the nine-horse Restricted Handicap over 1250 metres. The extended sprint which was an intended match-up between West Indian Bred three-year-old winners and Imported three-year-olds and over animals failed to attract any foreigners. Splitting Image who made his return to racing last week will take along 55 kilos. The consistent Bon Voyage will come in the event with 54.5 kilos, while Emelda M is set to match strides with the duo with the penny-stamp weight of 44.5 kilos.
Following are the entries and weights
RACE 4: W.I BRED 3 Y.O NONWINNERS OF TWO RACES IN CAREER – 1200 METRES.
1. BEAUTIFUL MIND – 56.5, 2. NATURELLY CLASSY – 54.5, 3. FULL OF PROMISES – 53.5, 4. HYARIMA – 53.5, 5. AFFIRM DECISION – 53, 6. WILD LIFE – 52.5, 7. SWEET LAURA LEE – 49.5, 8. UPSET ALL – 48.5.
RACE 5: W.I BRED 4 Y.O & OVER NON-WINNERS OF FOUR RACES IN CAREER – 1200 METRES.
1. RUBY RICH – 56.5, 2. SUPREME DANCER – 55, 3. TORONTO STAR – 54.5, 4. ANATEVKA – 53, 5. INDIAN DECISION – 53, 6. BAJAN CONNECTION – 53, 7. RICHIE RICH – 50, NATURELLY CLASSY – 50.
RACE 8: RESTRICTED HANDICAP – W.I BRED 3 Y.O WINNERS AND IMPORTED 3 Y.O & OVER – 1250 METRES.
1. RED HILL – 56.5, 2. SPLITTING IMAGE – 55, 3. BON VOYAGE – 54.5, 4. MAID OF HONOUR – 54.5, 5. PIECE OF CAKE – 52.5, 6. SQUEE ZINTRU – 52, 7. NEW STAR – 52, 8. FRUITION – 46, 9. EMELDA M – 44.5.
RACEHORSE owners, trainers and grooms are left holding an empty bag because there is no Betting Levy Board. To date, four race days have been run off since the term of office of the last board headed by Roop Chan Chadeesingh expired. And according to a source close to the BLB, over $744,000 is sitting at the bank but cannot be paid out because no one has the authority to sign the cheques. The well-placed source claims the BLB pay out approximately $186,000 per race day. But it is understood, the money has accumulated while owners continue to race their horses not knowing when they will get their cheques. And by extension, it is only when owners collect prize money trainers, jockeys and other workers down to the farriers get paid. The BLB which was headed by Chadeesingh has been “out of office” since May 7 this year. Horseracing and the BLB falls under the portfiolio of Trade and Industry Minister Kenneth Valley, who is also a Minister in the Ministry of Finance. Only a week ago, Chadeesingh promised should he be returned to the chairmanship of the BLB, the history of late payments will be something of the past. He also indicated he had submitted a three-year plan to Minister Valley, which was well received. Among Chadeesingh’s plans is the establishment of an entertainment centre at Santa Rosa Park, Arima, to generate revenue for horseracing. Chadeesingh noted Woodbine Race Track in Canada pay the best stakes in North America, mostly because revenue collected at their entertainment centre, which includes slot machines and other games.
The statement given by Minister of Education, Senator Hazel Manning, that core subjects History and Geography would not be dropped from the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) list would normally have been welcome. However, Minister Manning has qualified her statement when she said that “as a matter of fact, we are going to put History in Visual Arts, in Social Studies and other subjects, so that it will be expanded.” Unfortunately, Mrs Manning rather than allay the genuine fears of students may have simply aggravated them. Young people today are demanding to know more of their history, where they came from, the struggles and disappointments of their forbears. We have seen this increasingly, in the importance to persons of Indian descent of Indian Arrival Day; to persons of African descent of Emancipation Day and African Liberation Day and to Caribs, of Santa Rosa.
It is only a few decades ago that what was then referred to as West Indian History (Caribbean History) ran an uncomfortable third in secondary schools in Trinidad and Tobago to British and European History. And while the average student five or six decades ago could rattle off wholly irrelevant dates and events of British History, for example that the Battle of Hastings had been fought in 1066, he or she knew almost nothing about the Haitian Revolution. In turn, the student of the 1940s and 1950s was not exposed to in depth studies of Caribbean history, or the history of India and Africa, lands from whence the ancestors of the bulk of Trinidadians and Tobagonians had come. Such history was downplayed, and the misinformation which passed in schools for Indian and African history contributed in some measure to low self esteem.
In turn, Caribbean History had been treated merely as an extension of British or European History. Yet, without the need to be overly sentimental, the Indian Sub-Continent, the African Continent, China and the Caribbean islands and its peoples are rich in history, and had much to be proud of. You cannot submerge all of the accumulated bits and pieces of history, which had evolved over hundreds and even thousands of years in say, Visual Arts and Social Studies. The Education Minister has urged persons not to spread rumours, but to wait until her Ministry should publish correspondence. There are serious Sixth Form students of Caribbean History, who, briefed by the authorities, are concerned at what they see as a plan to have History merely as a part of Social Studies. These students, and indeed the country, need to be told in clear, unequivocal language that History, specifically Caribbean History, will remain on the CXC subject list for secondary schools, as a separate subject. We should not have to remind the Minister or Cabinet of the importance of History.
