Caribbean Sports Round-Up

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Mar. 8, 2018: Here are some of the news heating things up on the Caribbean sports scene for this week:

Will The West Indies Cricket Board Get A New President?

The countdown is on to the March 24th election for President and Vice President of the West Indies Cricket Board.

Jamaican Dave Cameron, who has been in the post since replacing Julien Hunte on March 27, 2013, is facing a serious challenge this year. Former St. Kitts and Nevis minister and West Indies team manager, Ricky Skerritt is challenging Cameron for the post.

Skerrit’s Vice-Presidential candidate, Dr. Kishore Shallow, is challenging Emmanuel Nathan of Dominica for that post. So far the two have publicly been endorsed by Trinidad and Tobago and the and Leeward Islands’ cricket boards but they will need to get the votes of others to oust the largely unpopular Cameron and his veep.

“The opportunity to rescue Cricket West Indies is now. It is imperative we change the narrative of our cricket, in the West Indies and globally, by rebuilding relationships with our best and brightest players in order to bring our passionate fans back to the game. This starts with credible, innovative leadership that listens,” Dr. Shallow recently stated.

The representatives of the six territorial boards – Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Windward Islands, and Leeward Islands – will vote to decide on the CWI presidency. Each board has two votes.

Meanwhile, The UWI Faculty of Sport will host a discussion on West Indies Cricket with Skerritt and Dr. Shallow  on Monday, March 11th at 6:30 p.m. at the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination UWI, Cave Hill Campus. The challengers to the top CWI positions will be presenting their manifesto to members of the BCA and other stakeholders, as well as the media. A Q&A segment will follow.

West Indies Face England Again Today

The West Indies team, fresh from a defeat in the first Twenty20 International  match, is set to face England again today, March 8th and Sunday, March 10th in St. Kitts.

22-year old fast bowler Obed McCoy has joined the squad for the remaining two games of the series ster all-rounder Andre Russell pulled out of the series “due to an adverse reaction to a medical procedure done in Dubai before he flew to the Caribbean.”

McCoy is a left-arm fast bowler who made his international debut against India in October last year, and has four wickets from two ODIs. He is uncapped in the other two formats.

England leads the three-match T20I series 1-0, having won the first match in Gros Islet by four wickets.

The Windies squad for the second and third T20 is as follows: Jason Holder (c), Fabian Allen, Devendra Bishoo, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, John Campbell, Sheldon Cottrell, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope (wk), Obed McCoy, Ashley Nurse, Nicholas Pooran, Oshane Thomas.

Former Zimbabwe Cricket Director Banned For Attempted West Indies Match Fix

Former Zimbabwe Cricket director Enock Ikope has been banned from the game for 10 years for corruption linked to the 2017 West Indies tour fix attempt. Ikope was found guilty of breaching three counts of the the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Anti-Corruption Code. Ikope’s suspension announced by the ICC on Wednesday follows the 20-year ban handed out to Rajan Nayer, a former senior Zimbabwe cricket official, in March 2018.

Nayer, the treasurer and marketing director of the Harare Metropolitan Cricket Association, admitted to offering Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer US$30,000 to fix the result of the Test series with the West Indies, which the visitors won.

Team Jamaica Bickle Turns 25

US-based non-profit organization, Team Jamaica Bickle, is marking its 25th anniversary of caring for the health, well-being, accommodations and appetites of Jamaican scholastic track-and-field athletes participating in the Penn Relays in Philadelphia.

Team Jamaica Bickle’s volunteer sponsors and supporters will be holding events and activities leading up to the 125th annual event April 25 through 27 at the University of Pennsylvania’s Franklin Field. Thousands of fans from the New York area will be trekking to the track meet.

The organization is in need of donations and sponsors to make the 25th anniversary event a resounding success. For more on Team Jamaica Bickle, visit teamjamaicabickle.org.