Andre De Grasse of Canada and Fred Kerley of the United States compete in the men’s 100 meters race at the
Weltklasse IAAF Diamond League international athletics meeting at the Letzigrund stadium in Zuerich, Switzerland,
Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021. Gaetan Bally/Keystone via AP
By Azad Ali
Experienced off-spinner Sunil Narine
was not considered for selection for the
West Indies team for the upcoming ICC
World Cup in the United Arab Emirates
and Oman, due to fitness reasons, Chief
Selector, Roger Harper explained.
The 33-year-old Narine has not
played for the West Indies since the
Indian tour of the West Indies in 2019.
But he has been a key part of the
Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) bowling
attack during the 2021 Caribbean Premier
League (CPL) in St. Kitts, with a
haul of 11 wickets at an average of 13.90
an economy rate of 4.78 and a strike
rate of 17.4.
During a Zoom press conference
after the squad was announced last
week, Harper “Narine is a great miss for
the team like this, in a tournament like
this. However, Sunil does not fit our fitness
criteria,” he said.
Harper said Narine failed to pass a
yo-yo test, hence his non-selection.
With regards to Chris Gayle’s fitness,
Harper said the hard-hitting batsman
has a medical exemption so he does not
have to meet the same fitness standards
Caribbean Life, S 34 EPTEMBER 17-23, 2021
the younger players have to do.
Kolkata Knight Rider’s Sunil Narine.
Associated Press/Mahesh Kumar A./File
T20 squad
Continued from Page 33
decision to omit Holder from the top
15 and name the ICC’s number one
allrounder as a reserve.
On the other hand veteran Gayle’s
inclusion was questioned based on his
form over the last five years.
Chief Selector, Roger Harper has
defended the selection of the 41 yearold
saying “in Chris Gayle’s case, all
that was taken into consideration
in terms of what he can offer the
team and whether his being part of
the squad would make it stronger. I
think the selection panel was happy to
answer yes.”
Gayle is one of the legends of Twenty20
cricket but, in the twilight of
his 22-year international career, the
left-handed batsman has totaled 227
runs in 16 Twenty20 Internationals
this year.
In the ongoing CPL in St. Kitts,
Gayle has been in poor form struggling
to get runs.
Regarding the omission of Holder
from the 15-member squad, Harper
said the decision inspired much discussion.
“Leaving the quality of Holder out
of the 15 is a very tough decision and
it encouraged a lot of debate,” Harper
said.
There were several surprises in
the selection of the squad, including
allrounder Roston Chase who is
yet to play a Twenty20 International,
fast bowler Oshane Thomas, and the
recall of pacer, Ravi Rampaul, who last
played a Twenty20 for the West Indies
six years ago.
The selection panel named four
reserves — batsman Darren Bravo,
allrounder Jason Holder, left-arm spinner,
Akeal Hosein and left-arm fast
bowler, Sheldon Cottrell.
Harper said the squad is made up of
many world-beating players, who once
knitted into a world-beating team, will
be extremely difficult to beat.
West Indies team is the only twotime
winners of the ICC Twenty20
World Cup — 2012 and 2016.
Africa were restricted to 80 for nine
off their 20 overs.
Choosing to bat first, they got 23
from Sune Luus but she was the only
one of the top six to pass 20 as the
innings never recovered after slumping
to 12 for four in the third over.
Ramharrack then snatched three
of the four wickets to fall in a miserly
three-over spell to ensure there was
no late fight back.
In reply, West Indies Women made
82 for five to snatch victory.
The first game was rained out as
a no result while West Indies lost the
second by 50 runs.
the Italian in Tokyo, won the Diamond
League men’s 100 metres title with a
time of 9.87 seconds.
Canada’s Andre De Grasse came home
in second, running a personal best 9.89.
He also finished runner-up in the 200
metres race which was won by American
Kenny Bednarek.
In the field, Russian Anzhelika Sidorova
became only the third woman in pole
vault history to clear five metres, with
her height of 5.01 metres just short of
the world record of 5.06 set in the same
stadium by Yelena Isinbayeva in 2009.
Sidorova’s effort was a Diamond
League record, second on the world outdoor
all-time list and the best clearance
outdoors since Isinbayeva’s record was
set 12 years ago.
Mondo Duplantis attempted to better
his own world record of 6.18m after
winning the men’s event with ease, but
despite the fevered backing of the 20,000
crowd, the Swede failed to set a new
mark.
Norway’s Karsten Warholm, the Olympic
champion and world record holder,
was a comfortable winner of the men’s
400 metres hurdles in a modest time of
47.35. The women’s title was taken by
Femke Bol of the Netherlands.
Namibian Christine Mboma won the
women’s 200 metres, claiming victory in
an Under-20 world record time of 21.78 to
suggest she can add to her silver medal
in Tokyo.
Mboma, who also won in Brussels last
week, beat Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson
and world champion Asher-Smith into
second and third respectively.
British teenager Keely Hodgkinson
won the women’s 800 metres title ahead
of Kate Grace of the United States, while
Kenyan Emmanuel Korir edged compatriot
Ferguson Rotich in the men’s race.
Joint Olympic champion Gianmarco
Tamberi claimed the high jump title
after clearing 2.34m, proving one of the
most popular athletes on the night as he
stirred the crowd into a frenzy and celebrated
his success with typical gusto.
There were 25 final winners, with each
champion collecting $30,000 — half the
prize in 2019 — and automatic entry
into next year’s world championships in
Eugene in the United States.
(Reporting by Peter Hall and Nick
Said, editing by Ed Osmond)
Continued from Page 33
Continued from Page 33
THOMPSON-HERAH’S STELLAR SEASON
WI Women
Mystery spinner Narine out of World Cup