By Azad Ali
Cricket West Indies have retained
all 13 umpires on the current senior
panel for next year.
Director of Cricket, Jimmy Adams
believes the move augurs well for
officiating in the region.
CWI said last week it had opted
against making any changes to the
number of retainer contracts for
Caribbean L 34 ife, MAY 21-27, 2021
officials, especially in light of the
ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, which
had resulted in a “significant reduction”
in domestic cricket last year.
Among those retained are Barbadian
Gregory Brathwaite, who stood
in his debut Test against. Sri Lanka
in the Caribbean in March, Nigel
Duiguid who has officiated eight
One-Day Internationals and 31-yearold
Leslie Reifier Jr, who has stood
in five ODIs and nine Twenty Internationals.
Jacqueline Williams, the only
female umpire on the circuit, is
among those retained.
CWI said the continuous investment
in the umpiring panel was
critical to the preservation of the
game’s integrity.
By Nelson A. King
CONCACAF says, at present, just
one team is set to make its CONCACAF
Gold Cup debut at this summer’s tournament,
with Suriname appearing in
its first ever Gold Cup.
“While they might be joined by three
other sides who are in the Prelims —
Bahamas, Barbados and Montserrat
— Suriname have already earned their
place in the 16-team tournament and
will be looking to follow in the footsteps
of another Caribbean side that
made waves in their first Gold Cup,”
said CONCACAF on Tuesday.
“It was the 2007 edition of the tournament
when Guadeloupe made their
first Gold Cup appearance, and it was
as memorable as they come,” it added.
At the time, CONCACAF said Guadeloupe,
led by former UEFA Champions
League finalist Jocelyn Angloma,
scratched out a 1-1 draw with Haiti
and picked up a 2-1 win over Canada
to secure enough points to reach the
knockout round.
“That in itself was an amazing
accomplishment for a Gold Cup debutante,”
CONCACAF. “But then, Les
Gwada Boys really got the attention
of everyone in the region when they
defeated Honduras 2-1 in the quarterfinal,
putting themselves just one win
away from the final.”
In the end, CONCACAF said “it was
not meant to be, as they valiantly fell
1-0 to Mexico in the semifinals, but it
was a performance that will forever live
in Gold Cup lore.”
“Fast forward 14 years later, and
Suriname could be poised to make a
similar run,” CONCACAF said.
Like the 2007 Guadeloupe team,
it said Suriname boasts a squad full
of players playing in some of the top
leagues of Europe, including the Eredivisie
in the Netherlands and the Turkish
Super Lig.
CONCACAF said Suriname is also “a
side that can score quickly in bunches.”
Under the guidance of Head Coach
Dean Gorre, Suriname posted a firstplace
finish in Group D of League B
of the 2019-20 CONCACAF Nations
League with a 4W-1D-1L record, CONCACAF
said.
It said only Jamaica (21) scored more
goals in the 2019-20 CNL than Suriname’s
16 in League B.
CONCACAF said Suriname also has
in its ranks the player who finished
as the top scorer in all of League A,
League B and League C in Gleofilo
Vlijter, who poured in 10 goals for his
country.
“With plenty of weapons in attack, a
lethal goal-scorer, a solid defense and
a squad that has experience battling
in some of Europe’s top leagues, the
ingredients are all there for Suriname
to channel their inner 2007 Guadeloupe
and make a deep run in the 2021
Gold Cup,” CONCACAF said.
SA tour
Continued from Page 33
was reported that St. Lucia and Grenada
are the likely destination for the
South Africa series.
Grave said discussions are taking
place with governments and chief
medical officers.
St. Lucia has given the green light
to host two Test matches at the Darren
Sammy Ground (June 10-14).
This will be followed by five Twenty20
Internationals at the Grenada
National Cricket Stadium from June
26 to July 3 and it will be the first
time that South Africa will play bilateral
cricket in the West Indies since
2010.
The South Africans are expected to
arrive in the Caribbean on June 1.
Axed
Harper said following the announcement
of the new central retainers for
the year starting in July.
The likes of batsmen Shimron Hetmyer,
Sunil Ambris, Sheldon Cottrell
and Oshane Thomas were all axed
from the list of white-ball contracts,
while Roston Chase, Test vice-captain
on tour of New Zealand as recently
as last December, lost all formats
contracts.
Batsman Shamarh Brooks and
wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich also
lost their red-ball contracts, which
were not renewed.
of the worst periods in the team’s
history.
In fact, the team has won only
eight of its last 31 series inside the
last 10 years and has struggled to
beat top tier sides with any consistency.
However, under new captain,
Kraigg Brathwaite, West Indies
stunned Bangladesh and avoided
defeat to Sri Lanka, resulting in its
highest ranking since 2013.
Donnedy Fer of Suriname (2L) celebrates with team mates after scoring a goal in the Concacaf Nations League
B tournament match between Suriname and Nicaragua in Suriname at the Andre Kamperveen stadium in Paramaribo,
Suriname on Sept. 8, 2019. CONCACAF
Continued from Page 33
West Indies’ Kraigg Brathwaite.
Jon Super/Pool via REUTERS, fi le
Continued from Page 33
Suriname in Guadeloupe’s footsteps
Cricket West Indies retains all its 13 umpires
Test rankings