President of the WICB Dave Cameron is expected to field questions from the local community in a meeting called “Changing the Business of West Indies Cricket.” Cameron will serve as president of the WICB for the next two years, going up unopposed at the WICB elections on March 4 in Antigua.

Among the topics expected to be discussed are the hiring of new West Indies head coach Stuart Law, chief executive officer Johnny Grave and director of cricket Jimmy Adams. The trio replaces Phil Simmons, Michael Muirhead and Richard Pybus respectively.

The right-hander blazed her way to an unbeaten 125, the first century of the 2017 season, as Preysal Phoenix posted 211 runs for seven wickets, in 42 overs, at the Caldrac Ground in California.

C ooper received good support from national captain Merissa Aguilleira, who contributed 21.

Shari John was the top wicket- taker for Hibiscus Ladies with two wickets for 41 runs.

Renelle Dookie had figures of 3/16 and Shenelle Lord 2/9 as Hibiscus Ladies were skittled out for 81. Shenice Pascall was the top scorer for Hibiscus Ladies with an unbeaten 28.

In another fixture on Sunday, Technocrats took care of Moosai Sports by 53 runs at the Esmeralda Ground in Cunupia.

Jodian Morgan led the way with 55 while fellow Jamaican Chadean Nation made 47 not out as Technocrats posted a score of 169/3 off 31 overs. Another West Indies player Stacy Ann King chipped in with 44 for Moosai Sports while Karishma Ramharack had 2/27.

Moosai Sports were always struggling in their reply, as they folded for 116, with Felina Jack scoring 38 and Ramharack 27.

Getting wickets for Technocrats were Morgan (2/2), Kajol Dalgir (2/20), Stephanie Ragoonath (2/25) and Nation (2/40).

And, at Pinto Road Recreation Ground in Arima, Players blanked Cricket Lovers by 52 runs.

Sherene Ramkissoon had a top score of 22 as Players were bowled out for 130 in 40 overs.

Amy Holder collected 3/20 while Jovankha Simon had 2/16 and Sarah Charles 2/17.

Shermatie Nowrang returned figures of 6/14 and Shania Abdool 2/24 as Cricket Lovers were dismissed for 78 in 26.3 overs. Selene O’Neil was the only batting spark for Cricket Lovers with 31.

Rampaul and Gabriel have been on top of their game in the Super50 tournament so far, helping bowl TT into the semi-finals.

In the last match of the preliminary stage against the Leeward Islands Hurricanes on Sunday, Rampaul grabbed three wickets for 27 runs, while Gabriel took 3/41. The Red Force will face Jamaica Scorpions in the first semifinal tomorrow at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua.

Rampaul said getting the wicket of in-form opener Kieran Powell cheaply, was crucial in TT ’s five-wicket win over the Hurricanes.

“He has been giving his team a good start, and Shannon is bowling brilliantly for us throughout this competition. He (Gabriel) has really put up his hand and he is delivering. Me on the other end, I just try to keep it tight for him to attack and I can’t fault him, he is giving his all. We could see from that wicket (Powell) the buzz on the team was good, and we were able to bowl them out.” Rampaul was happy to contribute to his team’s win. “It is always good to have good performances, match-winning performances for the team. I basically just assessed the conditions and used the pitch as much as possible and it worked today (Sunday).” Rampaul credits his season with Surrey in England last year for his success in the Regional 50-over tournament. “I think playing county cricket in England really lifted my cricket. Hopefully I could do good for the team before I head back to England this year.” The West Indies fast bowler believes TT ’s familiarity with the Coolidge Cricket Ground will give them an advantage over the Scorpions tomorrow

The show will have two segments -the crowning of the National Calypso Monarch and an international celebration of some of TT’s cultural trailblasers who have excelled in the art form.

Of his plans for the February 26 show at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain, Wiltshire said: “This year an additional segment, ICONS would be added.

I would not like to give away too much, but I can promise a very exciting, eclectic and engaging show.” As it has been over the last few years, the main part of the show would be the Calypso Monarch final, that is expected to take place between 7 pm and 9.30 pm.

This will be followed by the ICONS’ segment from 9.30 pm to 11.30 pm.

This segment will honour a few of TT’s treasured cultural icons, namely recent winner of the prestigious Victoires de la Musique, (the French equivalent of the Grammy’s) Calypso Rose (Mc Cartha Linda Sandy-Lewis), mas designer extraordinaire Peter Minshall, international soca stars Machel Montano and Bunji Garlin (Ian Alvarez), and pan pioneer Dr Anthony Williams.

Awards will be presented to each of these icons, after which there will be an international celebration of the national stars, beginning with a performance by internationally-acclaimed pannist Robert Greenidge. A host of foreign acts will follow including Rupee (Rupert Clarke) of Barbados, Teddyson John (St Lucia), Terri Lyons (TT), Skinny Fabulous (Gamal Doyle, St Vincent) and Kreesha Turner, Canadian/ Jamaican recording artiste and songwriter.

Each artiste will give a one song cameo performance, and make way for a sub-segment of the ICONS, titled: Seeds Of The Icons.

This segment will see performances by the children and grand children of some of TT’s cultural legends such as the Lord Kitchener (Aldwyn Roberts), Ras Shorty I (Garfield Blackman), Merchant (Dennis Franklyn Williams) and SuperBlue (Austin Lyons), with Kernal Roberts, Nailah Blackman, Sekon Sta (Nesta Boxill) and Fay Ann Lyons, each performing one of their respective father’s and grandfather’s classics.

Presented by the National Carnival Commission (NCC) in collaboration with the Trinbago Unified Calypsonians Organisation (TUCO), the show will also feature performances by Bunji and Fay Ann Lyons-Alvarez, MX Prime (Edghill Thomas), Ravi B (Ravi Bissambhar), Ella Andall and Devon Matthews, Omardath Maharaj and Raymond Ramnarine.

Apart from Greenidge’s performance, steelband music will welcome patrons to the event and the national anthem will be played on the pan.

Also, Wiltshire said, as tradition dictates, the Carnival King and Queen will make their presence felt to ignite the Merry Monarch celebrations.

Asked how he felt about the opportunity to produce the show Wiltshire said: “I am very pleased to be given the opportunity, I have expressed my interest to be considered and tendered for the last four years.” He then promised: “The entire show will run an extremely entertaining four hours, 15 minutes, with a 15-minute intermission.”

Speaking at the event Piquart said: “Trinidad and Tobago is at a very important juncture in its economic history.

Much has been said about diversification…

and much has been said about the potential of tourism. An average of 400 French tourists per month visited Trinidad and Tobago in 2015.

These were French nationals, but could you imagine the potential for French-speaking travellers from other francophone countries? “It is my belief, that the marketing of these two beautiful island destinations – the hiking, eco-tourism and agro-tourism markets, the dive sector – so popular in Tobago, the festivals and cultural events…the marketing of all these and more can be enhanced by the attention and treatment that the Petit Fut? guide gives to that French-speaking traveller.” Olivier An?, sales manager and representative of Petit Fut? , then gave a slide presentation of the reach, scope and effectiveness of the Petit Fut? and Tobago travel guide as an indispensable tool in tourism promotion in the French-speaking market.

He said: “We don’t only do guides, we do magazines as well, showing the trendy destinations. So when a destination is not doing very well in the French market we try to convince the institution of a country that wants to be better known in France and we tell them let’s do something together.” And that they did with the Tourism Development Corporation to produce the 232-page Trinidad and Tobago travel guide 2017 edition that covers every aspect one can think of in Trinidad and Tobago, with an updated version expected in 2019.

In existence for 40 years, Petit Fut? has covered more than 630 tourist destinations in France and around the world, including 80 exclusive guides such as the travel guide for Trinidad and Tobago.

Piquart said: “When you consider that, in 2014, Le Petit Fut? was the travel guide of choice for over three million French-speaking tourists from countries such as France, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and that the website Petitfut?.com is visited by more than three million French-speaking potential travellers per month, you can begin to imagine the possibilities and the power of this guide as a marketing tool.” Petit Fut? is a unique and high quality content guide which helps visitors to find the perfect destination for their next vacation, prepares their weekends away and holiday trips.

It also gives all the information needed about accommodation, restaurants, attractions, local life, and shares notes with other travellers on the Petit Fut? forum or just allow people to share their views on the Petit Fut? guide.

Eighty two percent of Petit Fut? readers buy the magazine to travel to France, while 66 percent buy it to travel to foreign countries.

Petit Fut? publishes more than 400 guides every year in France, but has a larger circulation through the local and foreign media network.

But what happens if your own immune system could not recognise good cells from viruses or bacteria, and decides to auto-destroy everything even when there’s no imminent threat? What is its effect to your integuments, especially the hair? When coming to hair loss, the immune system plays a major role in some types of hair loss, such as, alopecia areata, the group of cicatricial alopecia, as well as scaly scalp conditions like psoriasis.

The main gland that acts as the immune system’s commander- in-chief is the thymus gland. Its main responsibility is to stimulate production and maturation of T-cells, which is an active defence member of the white blood cells against infections.

The thymus gland is most active during childhood years and starts to shrink into a fatty tissue when you hit puberty. Nonetheless, the integrity of your internal defence system would reach its optimum before it starts to shrink.

Your thymus gland will remain functional only until the average age of 75.

Studies have shown that the deterioration in the size of thymus glands helps in the development of some auto- immune diseases.

Imagine a group of soldiers becoming more and more confused because there is no team leader to guide them.

So too is your body when it is triggered for auto-immune responses, your defences will perceive normal cell as a pathogen, including your healthy hair follicles.

Your immune system can identify your hair follicles as foreign proteins which need to be eliminated.

Now, this is where you may start noticing your hair is growing thinner and your scalp is becoming more visible.

In reference to prior studies showing the relationship of thymus glands to hair loss, specialists are claiming that a thymus extract applied topically on balding areas has significantly shown improved hair growth. The thymus extract will act as your hair follicle’s physical barrier that protects it from harmful chemical irritants like the dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and other agents.

However, these thymus components are said to be extracted from cows and some from the thyme plant. Thyme is a herb, and is sometimes used in combination with other herbs. Considering this, I still recommend that you always check with your doctor or trichologist before trying these synthetics or herbal preparations, especially when these products are currently a market rave among people who are looking for fast solutions to hair loss.

While more research must be undertaken to prove that thymus extracts are medically therapeutic, there are many ways to help improve your immune system.

Healthy diet, regular exercise, proper hydration and hygiene –are just four of the many ways you can keep your body healthy and these are things that you can perform at your own pace. Remember, your immune system is your body’s “999 or 911”. In order for it to function at its best, you should maintain a healthy living and you can always check if you are doing the right thing by looking at the quality of your hair and scalp.

Germaine Williams Beckles is a doctor of trichology (DT T?CT), nutrition consultant (NC) and motivational speaker, Rayogee Wellness Lifestyle Woodbrook627-4659, germainewilliamsbeckles.

com, email your questions to queries@geesexclusive.

com or 627-4659

At a number in your accounts division I was given a PBX number to call at the Waterfront Complex, which has an automated PBX message that directed me to a non-answering number.

A subsequent attempt resulted in me being cut off when I actually managed to get a human voice helping me.

Finally, I was directed to the lifeguard division. The person at the other end disavowed all knowledge of what I was enquiring about and suggested I contact the permanent secretary at Abercromby Street, for which he did not have a number. This I tried to do but at 10.45 am nobody was answering the phone and I had to go out.

So after having wasted my morning I was still unable to contact National Security.

Do you think you have a slight problem here? I might even have had an urgent message but couldn’t deliver it. (It is actually an administrative matter.) Don’t feel alone though, it’s the same in all government departments.

But I thought in view of the crime situation some priority might be given to National Security.

I was quite wrong in this assumption.

Reg Potter Glencoe

The reason why things are bad is due largely to the poor quality of leadership we have in public office over the years.

In TT and many other countries lately, leaders are elected to office based on factors like race, religion, culture and popularity rather than competence.

Consequently, ineptitude reigns while the leaders are protected through the media or by communities from the scrutiny necessary to improve the quality of their management.

In TT while murders increase, the economy falters and our infrastructure degenerates. One ought to ask our leaders: * Why is there no legislation passed or contemplated to deal with the backlog of cases in our courts? * Why are there no structured policing in our communities? * Why are simple things like State-manufactured and controlled licence plates not in place? * When are communities likely to be managed in a manner like those in the developed world? * When are we likely to have an alternative access to Chaguaramas? * Why is there no effort to have special court sessions for dealing expeditiously with gun-related offences and revised gun laws to allow an easier path to obtaining legal firearms? * Why is there no concerted urgent effort to make tourism and agriculture major contributors to earning foreign exchange through investment in conjunction with our business community? One can go on and on but the answer is poor or inept leadership.

When one sees the shanty at the Mucurapo Foreshore in the view of everyone being left to grow, the uncontrolled illegal backfilling of the lands in Carenage ignored, the lands of Caroni left unattended, and our infrastructure allowed to deteriorate due to a lack of a structured maintenance programme, it must be clear that our problem is leadership. Will the Government ever tell the nation what is the total cost of repairs to the Red House to date? That is rumoured to be over a billion dollars.

Nothing can or will get better until we unite in seeking to elect leaders with a vision for the proper management and development of TT . We have the personnel. What we need is the political will to break from traditional ethnic support of incompetence.

Steve Alvarez via email

But just how effective would this really be? Once you instruct a child not to do something, that is exactly what he/she does when you are not watching. Therefore, why not instead educate the children? Do we not have teachers who can do this? I am yet to hear our erstwhile Ministry of Education on this.

And then, when all is said and done, what would we have achieved? Really, have we banned the sale of regular cakes, sugar cakes, nut cakes, rice cakes, tamarind balls, ice cream, lollies, sno-cones (complete with condensed milk), candies etc? If not, we are back to square one.

L Seepersad via email

She did it with the p l a t i n u m – s e l l i n g album “Far from Home”. She has made us proud in Bethel, her village in Tobago, in all of Tobago and Trinidad, as well as the entire Caribbean.

It was brilliant that she sang Leave me Alone when she accepted the award because she is sensing that the calypso is a Road March contender.

But quite frankly, for me, it was even more wonderful that she won this award on the eve of the 33rd National Calypso Queen Competition which was held last night at Queen’s Hall. It has bought back a very pleasant memory of a caring woman.

I recall when Sister Liseli Daaga and the women of the National Women Action Committee (NWAC) met with Rose in 1985 as they planned to revive the National Calypso Queen Competition.

Rose gave her immediate support for the competition. She told them she would perform free of charge because of her belief in the power of women and the power of women in calypso.

The competition, which had been first produced by businessman Lal Parsotan, had not been held for two years previously. When NWAC took up the challenge to keep the competition, things were so bad that there were only 75 people in the first audience that night in February 1985.

Since then the vibrancy and the integrity of the National Calypso Queen Competition has been kept alive by a succession of women leaders: Liseli Daaga, Dela Obika and Stephenie Charles. Each of them was a president of the NWAC and a member of NJAC’s Central Executive.

In the foreword of the magazine commemorating the 15th anniversary of the competition, I wrote, “Where the National Calypso Queen Competition is concerned, there are two memories in particular which NWAC should always cherish.

“The first is the happiness it gave to Calypso Rose who performed at the first NWAC National Calypso Queen Competition. On that evening Rose welcomed her daughters, her children, the new generation of female performers, because she had been a lonely pioneers for many years.

“The second was the happiness it gave to Lady Trinidad who died last year (1998).

She was the first woman to record a calypso but she had to cease performing in the early years of the 1900s because the society felt that it was unbecoming of women to sing calypsoes.” As the 33rd National Calypso Queen Competition was held last night, I know that NWAC would have remembered when Rose graced them with her presence at their first competition in 1985.

Congratulations again, Rose.

Aiyegoro Ome former president, NJAC