By Azad Ali
West Indies head coach Phil Simmons
said Test Captain Jason Holder
was not considered for selection to the
West Indies Twenty20 squad for the
three-match series in New Zealand later
this month because of the tight logistics.
Holder, 28, has showed form in the
shortest format during the year but was
not among a 14-man squad named for
the Nov. 27-30 series in Auckland and
Guyana Football Federation’s UEFA ties Samuels retires
Caribbean Life, N 34 ovember 13-19, 2020
Mount Maunganui.
Simmons explained that with the
limited turnaround times between the
end of the Twenty20 series and the start
of the two-Test series on Dec. 3, a decision
was taken not to allow Holder to
feature.
He told reporters in an online media
conference that the Twenty20 series
finishes a day or two before the first Test
match with Holder being captain of the
Test team, a decision was taken by the
selection panel that Holder will not be
considered for that part.
The head coach said Holder is always
in consideration for Twenty20s. He has
had two good years at the Caribbean
Premier League (CPL) and now his having
a good tournament at the IPL.
Holder is known more for his exploits
in the longest format where he tops the
ICC’s all-rounder charts but has already
played 17 Twenty20 Internationals, with
varying levels of success.
By George Alleyne
Its games are suspended but executives
of the Guyana Football Federation
(GFF) are not sitting at rest as
they have linked up to the European
administrator of the sport, UEFA, to
conduct several training exercises for
when play resumes.
GFF announced last week that it
has embarked with the European
counterparts on a series of education
initiatives covering areas such as
planning, communications, finance,
fan engagement, remote working and
crisis planning, preparing members
for its post-pandemic football recovery
strategy.
“In this crucial period of transition,
we are committed to focussing
all of our time and efforts on ensuring
that football hits the ground running
as soon as the authorities give us
the green light,” said GFF President
Wayne Forde of this venture, dubbed
the ‘UEFA Bounce-back’ program.
“We are receiving expert support to
fine-tune our action plan and to equip
our entire team with the tools it needs
to continue to deliver on our strategic
goal to transform football in Guyana.”
According to the GFF, UEFA experts
will connect with their departments
and staff via a series of video conference
workshops over five weeks,
focussing on a thorough situational
analysis, building unity and togetherness
within the football community,
action planning for the future and
preparation for the delivery of the Federation’s
100-day ‘Bounce-back’ plan.
“The programme also underlines
the significant progress we have made
in building strong and productive
relationships with our global partners
as part of the Executive Committee’s
long-term pledge to restore
and enhance the GFF’s international
image and to leave a strong legacy and
foundation for future generations,”
the GFF president stated.
This is not the first instance of collaboration
between the Guyanese and
UEFA, with the most recent being earlier
in the year when GFF received two
minibuses to bolster its youth development
programs by improving access
to, and reducing the costs associated
with the running of, its national network
of Academy Training Centres.
Also, GFF stated that in 2019 and
as part of ‘UEFA Assist’ program, it
signed with Denmark’s Football Association
a historic six-year Memorandum
of Understanding focussed on
providing technical and operational
assistance ahead of the Confederation
of North, Central America and Caribbean
Football region’s hosting of the
2026 FIFA World Cup.
A-team
Continued from Page 33
ager, said the recently acquired
Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua
should also be established as
an academy-like training center,
with amenities and coaches and
used to facilitate players like Hope
who were struggling at the highest
level.
And Lloyd, who oversaw Hope’s
elevation to the Test side five
years ago, also warned against
the 26-year-old playing Twenty20
cricket as it was proving to be detriment
to his development.
“If we had an “A” team, we
should have given him a chance to
go and get his form back,” adding
that “T20 is not for Shai Hope.”
CWI CEO
Cricket West Indies CEO Johnny
Grave. https://twitter.com/johnnygrave
Continued from Page 33
with confidence and be looking to
put on a really strong performance
against an inevitably very strong New
Zealand side.
Continued from Page 33
als, which scoring 1611 runs.
His 56-ball 78 against Sri Lanka
and his one for 15 bowling helped
the West Indies win the 2012 ICC
T20 World Cup final. Four years later,
he scored an unbeaten 85 off just 66
balls to help West Indies defeat England
to win the 2016 Twenty20 World
Cup for a second time.
Samuels last represented the West
Indies in Twenty20 Internationals in
August 2018 against Bangladesh.
His career was also marred by controversy
as the ICC banned him for
two years after he was found guilty
of receiving money from bookies and
bringing the game into disrepute. In
2015 he was banned from bowling
for a year due to a suspect bowling
action.
West Indies’ Jason Holder in action, during the Third Test against England at the Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester,
Britain on July 25, 2020. Martin Rickett / Pool via REUTERS
Test captain Holder axed from T20 squad
/johnnygrave
/johnnygrave
