CARIBBEAN SPORTS ROUNDUP

By NAN Sports Editor

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. May 10, 2018: Here are the top stories making Caribbean sports news for the week ending, May 10, 2019:

Grenadian Olympian Loses Mom

Grenadian Olympian Kirani James is mourning the loss of his mother. Reports indicate that James’ mother, Annie James, passes away Wednesday night after a battle with kidney disease.

The Grenadian sprinter who specializes in the 200 and 400 meters won the 400 m at the World Championships in 2011 and the 2012 London Olympics. He is Grenada’s first and only Olympic medalist.

His running career has been hampered by his own health issues, including Graves’ disease that stemmed from an overactive thyroid.

Athletes From Four Caribbean Nations For IAAF Okohama

Caribbean athletes from four Caribbean nations – Jamaica, The Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago and the Dominican Republic – are set to participate tomorrow in the IAAF Okohama (International) in Japan.

Among the top regional athletes who will be competing in Japan are Jamaican Olympians Elaine Thompson, Nesta Carter and Shelly Anne Fraser Pryce as well as Trinidad and Tobago’s Michelle Lee-Ahye.

World champions Trinidad & Tobago will be sure to renew their rivalry with Olympic champions USA in the men’s 4x400m while Jamaica will look to defend its men’s 4x200m world record.

The competition runs from May 11-12, 2019. Some 790 athletes from 47 teams will descend on Japan for the global event.

West Indies Gear Up For World Cup

As the West Indies cricket team counts down to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019, Jamaican-born opener Chris Gayle has been named as the side’s vice-captain for the upcoming tourney.

“It is always an honor to represent the West Indies in any format and this World Cup for me is special,” commented Gayle. “As a senior player it is my responsibility to support the captain and everyone else in the team. This will probably be the biggest World Cup, so there will be great expectations and I know we will do very well for the people of the West Indies.”

The ICC Cricket World Cup which will be played in England and Wales from May 30 to July 14. West Indies will be playing in the marquee event for the 12th time and have won twice in 1975 and 1979. They open this year’s campaign against Pakistan at Trent Bridge on May 31. First ball is 10:30am (5:30am Eastern Caribbean Time/4:430am Jamaica Time).

Former West Indies Legend Passes On

Barbados-born West Indies batting legend, Seymour Nurse, passed away this week after battling an illness. He was 86.

Nurse played 29 Test matches for the West Indies between 1960 and 1969. A powerfully built right-hand batsman and an aggressive shotmaker, Nurse preferred to bat in the middle order but was often asked to open the batting. Nurse’s Test cricket career came to what many consider a premature end in 1969.

A member of the famous Empire Cricket Club, Nurse’s cricketing mentor was club-mate Everton Weekes. He made his first-class cricket debut for Barbados in 1958. The following year he made a double century for Barbados against the touring English and quickly found himself called up for Test duties with the West Indies. Over the next five years, Nurse struggled to establish himself as a permanent fixture in the West Indies team. It was not until the West Indies toured England in 1966 that Nurse was able to perform consistently at international level.

He was remembered by the West Indies Cricket Board as one of the greatest batsmen ever to play the game. A Board statement said he “typified all the best of West Indian batting – flamboyant stroke-play combined with powerful hitting and an insatiable appetite for runs.”

On his retirement from the game, he served as a mentor and coach to many great West Indies players and was an astute administrator and selector.