Sobers: Cricketing IPL cricket
conditions not
By Azad Ali
Cricket West Indies (CWI) says the
current delay in payments to regional
cricketers is one of the outstanding collections.
The international men players have
not been paid their match fees for the
home series against Ireland in January
(three ODIs and three Tests and three
T20s) and the Sri Lanka tour in February
March (three ODIs and two T20s).
The international women are owed
their match fees for the four matches
they played in the T20 World Cup,
played in February and-March in Australia.
CWI Vice-President, Dr. Kishore
Shallow in an interview with Guardian
Media Sports said: Considering the
current circumstances of the COVID-19
Caribbean L 28 ife, May 1-7, 2020
Garfi eld Sobers (R) with his former WI teammate Wesley
Hall, in later days. Photo by George Alleyne
pandemic, CWI is fortunate to be able
to mitigate the challenges and sustain
payroll up to this point.
“While we have outstanding match
fees for players, which would be honored
soon as we have sufficient collections
over the past few weeks, we are
pleased that all retainers for players
(which is the majority of remuneration)
are up to date, as March 2020,” he said.
He added: “We have been able to pay
our staff at the secretariat and I held a
meeting with CEO Johnny Grave and he
has indicated that come to the end of
June we should be in a better position to
pay all those who are still owed.”
Cricket West Indies Vice President,
Dr. Kishore Shallow. Cricket West Indies
By George Alleyne
A favorite past time of cricket fans is
ruminating on comparative abilities of
players who took the field in different
eras, such as: ‘was Brian Lara a better
stroke maker than Vivian Richards’;
‘was Malcolm Marshall a more penetrating
bowler than Dennis Lillee’?
But the man hailed as the greatest
all-rounder the sport has ever seen Garfield
Sobers, has said that these types of
comparisons make no sense principally
because the game has changed very
much over eras with players facing different
challenges and conditions of play
as time went by.
“I don’t think you could make a comparison
between the past players and
the present because they are different
games that they are playing, but it is
their game,” the 83-year-old told Barbados
Nation newspaper Tuesday.
“There are so many things that have
changed in this game that they are
playing now. Whether it is a Test match,
a Twenty20, or whatever it is, there are a
lot of different rules that have been put
in the game.”
“It is very difficult to talk about the
two games together. It is very difficult
to make comparisons and to class
people, who are the greatest and best
players and who played well. You can’t
because there
are two completely
different
games,” he
contended.
“It is not
the same in
comparison to
the game that
I played … in
the past. You
got the IPL
Indian Premier
League
T20 and then
you got a different
game
complet ely.
You got a game now where the bowlers
don’t set the field. The rules set
the fields because the rules tell you,
you can only have two fielders behind
square, you could only have a player
here and you can only bowl two bouncers
an over,” he noted.
Sobers who played for the West
Indies from age 17, between 1954 and
1974, accumulated 8,032 runs, took
235 wickets and made 109 catches in 93
matches, pointed out two new playing
conditions that differentiate the modern
game from the past.
“You got a mask helmet now that
they use on the face.
“You have the front-foot rule, where
your front foot can’t go over the batting
crease.
“So for God’s sake, don’t make the
comparisons between the players of
today and the players of yesteryear
because there is no comparison,” he
advised cricket fans.
“It is not the same in comparison to
the game that I played and my comrades
who played with me like Wes Hall and
before me, or Everton Weekes and
Clyde Walcott, or a lot of those fellows
in the past.”
Continued from Page 27
After the lockdown was extended
until at least May 3, the Board of
Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)
officials held a teleconference before
informing the franchise about further
delay.
BCCI is yet to make an official
announcement on the postponement.
BCCI President, Sourav Ganguly
had earlier acknowledged the difficulty
in hosting the tournament
amid the lockdown with travel and
other restrictions due to the global
health crisis.
The uncertainty around this year’s
edition of the IPL is a big setback, particularly
for the 62 cricketers bought
for a collective US$18.34 million at
the players auction last December.
Several key West Indies players are
among the 62 cricketers who were
bought in the auction.
the PCB would feel the pinch if these
boards are unable to receive the usual
distributions from the International
Cricket Council.
The ICC, which distributes profit
from its tournaments among member
countries, is working on contingency
plans but expects the World
Cup to go on as scheduled.
West Indies is among several other
cricketing nations which are expected
to participate in the Twenty20
World Cup.
Mani, who chairs ICC’s Finance
and Commercial Affairs committee,
said the PCB was preparing for the
worst.
The PCB will also be signing a new
TV rights deal this year.
The absence of bilateral series
against India, because of soured
political relations between the two
neighbors, would hurt but Mani said
there was not much PCB could do
about it.
2,344 runs at CPL — played for Tallawhs
in the first four seasons of the CPL in 2013
and their second triumph in 2017, before
captaining the St. Kiss and Nevis Patriots
for two years. He rejoined the Tallawhs
in 2019.
Commenting on Gayle joining his
squad, Sammy said, “Chris is one of the
most successful T20 batsmen in the world
and with his experience with our young
openers, a lot can be learnt from Chris.”
Continued from Page 27
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)
Chairman Eshan Mani. Associated
Press / Gurinder Osan
Continued from Page 27
Jamaican Chris Gayle joins St. Lucia Zouks
Revenue loss
the same
Windies players still await their match fees