Finch upbeat about Gayle for Big Bash League
MELBOURNE, Australia (CMC):Australia’s Big Bash League is bracing for the arrival of West Indies star Chris Gayle, and his Melbourne Renegades captain Aaron Finch says he is looking forward to the prospect of playing alongside one of the game’s biggest names.The left-handed Gayle will be making his first appearance in the Bash in three years, and Finch believes the big-hitting opener can make a huge impact as the Renegades challenge for their first ever title in the competition.”I’ve been on the receiving end of some of his enormous innings in the past, so it will be good to actually play with him,” Finch said.”If we can bat around Chris and allow him the right amount of time to get going, it doesn’t guarantee success, but I think it sets up a pretty good model.”He added: “The statistics would say that Chris is the best player in the world, and I’m a pretty good player as well, so it could turn out to be quite a nice combination.”Gayle came under heavy criticism during his last stint in the Big Bash when he turned out for Sydney Thunder. Then, he managed a mere 137 runs at an average of 19, with his lavish off-the-field lifestyle taking precedence.Finch downplayed the controversy, however, pointing out that with the player based this time around in Melbourne and having the presence of fellow West Indies teammate Dwayne Bravo, his focus would also be different.GREAT SPOT”He’ll be in Melbourne, for one. It’s a great spot, and Dwayne Bravo, one of his good mates, is here as well. So I think it will be a little bit more comfortable for him here, I think,” Finch contended.”He’s played enough cricket around the world – I think he’s played Twenty20 in most of the countries that you can play – so it’s just about making Chris as comfortable as he can possibly be and fit, that’s all we’re worried about.”Gayle reportedly underwent back surgery following the Caribbean Premier League in the summer and it has raised doubts about the player’s fitness.However, Finch said he was encouraged by Gayle’s readiness following his recent short stint in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League.”I think it’s just a case of wait-and-see when he gets here,” Finch said. “I know he has been smacking them around in Bangladesh, and I’m sure hehas been swinging hard, testing it (back) out as well.”The Big Bash bowls off Thursday.
PNP candidate for South Eastern St Andrew, Julian Robinson, says that he is not troubled that the slowness at some election stations, would impact his voter turnout. Robinson voted this morning at Jamaica College, and has since been checking on things in his constituency. “I don’t think it will affect it, we are trying to put in place measures for people to stay,” he said. “At polling division 44, people have been complaining about how slow the process is and that has been the cry throughout the constituency.” The most delayed scene was at the Sir Howard Cook Development Centre in Nannyville, where voters and election day workers engaged in a verbal altercation over what they say are faulty identification systems.
Aggressive innings PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka (AP): Sri Lanka overcame an unbeaten 110 by Marlon Samuels to beat the West Indies by 19 runs in the rain-interrupted third one-day international (ODI), and sweep the series 3-0 yesterday. Asked to bat first, the West Indies made 206-9 in a rain-shortened innings of 36 overs. Samuels faced 95 deliveries, hit a six and 15 boundaries. Sri Lanka were set 190 to win on the Duckworth-Lewis method and when rain ended the game, it reached 180-5 in 32.3 overs, 19 runs ahead of the par score. Kusal Perera top-scored for Sri Lanka with 50, his second half-century of the series, while captain Angelo Mathews was 27 not out. Captain Jason Holder returned the best bowling figures of 2-44 for the West Indies. Tillakaratne Dilshan was first to be dismissed in the Sri Lanka innings when he was caught by Jonathan Carter in the covers off Carlos Brathwaite. Dilshan was dropped by the same fielder in the previous delivery. Lahiru Thirimanne added 21 before being caught by Samuels off Holder. Perera faced 47 deliveries in his aggressive innings, that included two sixes and two boundaries. Dinesh Chandimal and Milinda Siriwardana scored 23 and 1, respectively. Earlier, Samuels walked in with West Indies at 16-3. He quickly lost another partner, but steadied the innings with his ninth ODI century. Samuels shared 55 runs for the eighth wicket off 31 deliveries with Brathwaite (18) after the match was reduced to 36 overs due to two rain interruptions. Lasith Malinga struck with the fourth ball of the innings when he had Johnson Charles (4) caught by Dilshan. Suranga Lakmal trapped fellow opener Andre Fletcher (6) leg before wicket. Malinga and Dilshan again combined in the dismissal of Jermaine Blackwood, while Lakmal bowled Darren Bravo (4), leaving the West Indies in trouble at 18-4 before Samuels came to the rescue. Fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera took 2-39. Lakmal, Malinga and Ajantha Mendis also took two wickets each. Samuels was named Man of the Match, and Perera received the Man of the Series award.
Following Jamaica College’s scintillating 40.01 clocking to capture the Class One Boys’ 4x100m at the Gibson McCook Relays last Saturday, Devaughn Baker believes his school’s sprint cadre will be the ones to watch at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Championships next month.”It was a fine run. We knew that we were going to come out here and win this quite easily. We wanted to break Calabar’s 39.30 seconds, but we are still happy with the win,” Baker said.Baker is a former Class Two record holder in the 400m, winning the finals in 46.64 in 2013. He was a beaten World Junior Championships semi-finalist that same year but had seen a dip in form since due to injuries.This year, however, he believes he will be big for himself and his Old Hope Road institution, hoping to medal at Champs and help them to victory.”I am a person always in the mix, so I will medal,” he added, while dismissing the assertion that JC is just about field events, jumps, and so on.He explained that JC’s class one is not to be taken lightly.”We were going for sub-39, so we will see how that goes,” he said. “Yes, we are going to cause upsets, and the next two weeks, we will prove a point. We have a point to prove.”JC were the second winners of the championships in 1911 and have been among the top five finishers since then, winning the trophy for schoolboy athletics supremacy an overall 21 times, the last in 2011.”Every year, we go in as underdogs, and even seeing that we came out here and produced, they are still going to have us as underdogs. But we are going to prove them wrong,” warned Baker.
43 VICTORIES Corley is a 41-year-old veteran from Washington, DC, who has had 70 fights, with a record of 43 victories, 26 losses and one draw. He has boxed all over the world and last fought in Denmark on February 26, scoring a tko victory over Osama Hadifi. He has fought for world titles several times, among them a loss to Zab Judah for the WBO super lightweight title in 2003 and another loss to Miguel Cotto for the same title in 2005. He also had a non-title fight loss to boxing kingpin, Floyd Mayweather Jr, in 2004. Azore has 16 victories, five losses and three draws in a career that started in December 2006 and saw him becoming the Guyanese welterweight boxing champion in December 2012. He has been inactive recently because of his inability to get fights, but has been training hard for several months since learning that he would be a challenger in the Contender series. He told The Gleaner yesterday that he is “fit, ready and confident” and is looking forward to a good fight. Two experienced boxers – DeMarcus ‘Chop Chop’ Corley from the USA and Iwan ‘Pure Gold’ Azore, a Guyanese-born fighter who lives in Trinidad and Tobago – will exchange punches tonight over five rounds in the second preliminary bout of the Wray and Nephew 2016 Contender Series. The action starts at 9 p.m. at the Chinese Benevolent Association auditorium, Old Hope Road, and will be broadcast live on Television Jamaica. Last week, spectators left the venue bemused and disappointed when after only 55 seconds, one of the boxers, 19-year old Xzaviar Ford from North Carolina, USA, suffered a torn tendon in his right shoulder and could not continue, gifting the bout to his opponent, Jamaican Richard Holmes, who was declared the winner by technical knockout. The promoters and sponsors were very disappointed with the outcome and have made an effort to have a better line-up this week. Corley, who was not on the original list of boxers selected to appear this year, was recruited a few days ago to join the USA team in their bid to defeat the Caribbean team. The format of the competition is that there are eight boxers on each team – the Caribbean and the USA – respectively. A draw is then used to select the opponents from both camps, and they will challenge each other over five rounds, with the winners moving on to the quarter-finals, the semi-finals and then the final. The eventual winner of the competition takes home $2 million, the runner-up $500,000, third $250,000 and fourth $200,000.
NAGPUR, India (CMC):West Indies captain Darren Sammy has expressed disappointment with his team’s three-wicket loss to Afghanistan, but says he is pleased that their goal of advancing to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup was achieved.West Indies crashed to a sobering defeat against spirited Afghanistan in a low scoring thriller at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium yesterday, but had already qualified for the semi-finals on the basis of scoring three straight wins before their first loss in the tournament.”We are very disappointed that we lost the game. Whatever happened today does not affect how we are going to play in the semis,” vowed Sammy.”We wanted to come out of this group winning four out of four, but looking at the history of the tournament, no team has done it undefeated. So we will leave this game here and see it as the blip in the tournament. Now we have two knockouts to play. Two more steps.”Samuel Badree destroyed the top order with three wickets, while Andre Russell picked-up two as West Indies restricted Afghanistan to 127 for seven. But Mohamad Nabi and Rashin Khan with two wickets each contained the Windies big hitters with spin and forced them to squander an easy run chase.”It is a total we should have got. I think we just kept losing wickets. One partnership of 50 plus would have won us the game. But we just did not bat well throughout the innings,” said Sammy.”We did not take it lightly. They are a side we are supposed to beat and we just did not do it today. But the main objective in coming out of the Super 10 was to qualify for the semis and that we did.”Dwayne Bravo was the top scorer with 28, Johnson Charles scored 22, while Andre Fletcher was forced to retire on 10 with a hamstring injury.”At the end of the day we just did not play smart enough. The games we have won somebody took responsibility to bat through,” he said. “This time nobody did it. Nobody took responsibility. They just left it for the next man to come. Like I said to the guys tonight, we will just leave this game here in Nagpur. It’s a new focus now .We just have to be ready.”
Two American immigration lawyers agree that Jamaican athletes have nothing to fear with regard to moving to America to seek opportunities in sports in light of the recent immigration controversy. However, a recent incident involving former Trindad and Tobago and Manchester United star player Dwight Yorke causes concern for at least one of the attorneys. United States President Donald Trump made updates to his immigration ban on Mon-day, in his attempts to curb the arrival of refugees from countries with Muslim cultures, from which he believes many international terrorists and terror groups originate. There are many Jamaicans who believe this immigration ban will eventually evolve and not only affect Jamaicans living in the US right now, but also prevent others from moving there. Some of these Jamaicans are athletes and as such, they fear it will hamper their careers if they cannot move to the US to sign for professional sports teams or gain sports scholarships for American Universities. Ksenia Maiorova is a managing partner at the Maiorova Law Group based in Orlando, Florida, and she said that any attempt to restrict immigrants’ entry into the US at the moment are not currently enforceable. “The first thing to note is that portions of the Executive Order on immigration, specifically, those dealing with the so-called Muslim ban, have been stayed by the federal court,” Maiorova said. “The remaining provisions are currently being implemented. The provisions of the Executive Order do not, at this time, include anything that I believe would be an impediment for Jamaican athletes seeking sports visas or green cards to the US, provided, of course, they do not have a criminal history.” EXISTING LAW Maiorova continued: “A person may be subject to removal or deportation from the US up until they become a US citizen. But this is only if they commit certain acts like falsely claim to be a US citizen, stay out of the US for too long, or commit certain crimes. That is part of the existing law today. Trump cannot unilaterally take away green cards for no cause at all. Athletes who are here on green cards are not subject to deportation unless they commit one of these acts, which would, by law, make them deportable.” Yorke was recently denied entry to the US because he had previously visited Iran (one of Trump’s banned nations), and his passport had been stamped to show this. Attorney Dahlia Walker-Huntington, who based in Hollywood, Florida, says that this is not cause for Jamaicans to be fearful, but they should be concerned. “I don’t like the word fear because it makes people paralysed,” she said. “You should be concerned and you should seek competent representation if you are an athlete in a similar situation. “The issue with Trinidad, why it’s a little different from Jamaica, is that Trump himself even singled out Trinidad with regard to its Muslim population. So what happened to a Trinidadian athlete may not happen to a Jamaican. But if someone is travelling to any of those countries and they intend to enter the US at some point, they need to get some representation as to what can be expected.” There are currently 13 Jamaicans playing MLS football in the US, with several others playing in the lowerteired USL competition. Jamaicans from a wide range of sports disciplines such as basketball and athletics also compete and train on a regular basis in the country.
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) Rafael Nadal defeated Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-1 to win his 10th Barcelona Open title yesterday.It was the second consecutive week that Nadal had won a tournament for the 10th time. He had become the first men’s tennis player in the Open era to win the same title 10 times at the Monte Carlo Masters last Sunday.”It means a lot to me to win 10 titles here in Barcelona as well,” Nadal said. “To win in Barcelona and Monte Carlo gives me a dream start to the clay season.”It was Nadal’s second title of the season and 71st of his career. The fifth-ranked Spaniard had lost his previous three finals, including to Roger Federer in the Australian Open.Next month he will try to win a 10th French Open title. The last of his 14 Grand Slams was three years ago in Roland Garros.BREAK POINTNadal broke the ninth-ranked Austrian late in the first set and early in the second, then cruised to close out the match for his 51st career title on clay. He saved the only break point he conceded to Thiem at the “Rafa Nadal” center court. He was only broken twice in 47 service games throughout the week.”It was vital for me to win the first set,” Nadal said. “It was difficult. I had a few more chances than him, but it was very even.”The 30-year-old Nadal has won 10 consecutive matches and is 21-1 in his past 22 sets.Thiem, who had upset top-ranked Andy Murray in the semi finals on Saturday, was trying to win his second title of the season. He won in Rio de Janeiro in February.Nadal won five straight titles in Barcelona from 2005-09, then three consecutive from 2011-13, and now two in a row in 2016 and this year. He has a 10-0 record in finals in Barcelona, losing only one set.Nadal improved to 53-3 at the ATP World Tour 500 event.
LONDON, England (AP):With the concrete shell of the new stadium to his right, Harry Kane stretched out his right boot to flick the ball into the net.The striker, who grew up supporting Tottenham, will go down as the north London club’s last scorer at its White Hart Lane home after 118 years.A 2-1 victory over Manchester United was the perfect send-off yesterday, especially as it ensured Tottenham signed out of the stadium as English Premier League runners-up the club’s highest finish in 54 years.”What a way to finish,” Kane said after fans flooded the field at the final whistle. “We’re disappointed after losing out on the title again.”Not since 1961 has the league trophy been paraded at White Hart Lane.”But we’re growing and getting better,” Kane said. “Third (in 2016), second (this year) and, hopefully, next season, we’ll be number one.”The last-ever goal came from Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney, but by that time, Tottenham already had the goals it required – from Victor Wanyama’s sixth-minute header and Kane’s 28th goal of the season.”To be unbeaten at White Hart Lane in the last season here is something to be happy with,” Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino said.While it was a party atmosphere for the hosts, who are seven points behind champion Chelsea, it was another miserable day for JosÈ Mourinho in his erratic first season in charge of United.Mourinho has already lifted the League Cup. But defeat at Tottenham ensured United will finish outside the top four just as it did under Louis van Gaal last season, with Champions League qualification now depending on beating Ajax in the Europa League final.BIG SPENDING BY MAN UWith two games remaining, sixth-placed United is 15 points behind Tottenham despite vastly outspending the north London club. Since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 after delivering United’s last league title, United’s net transfer spending has been around £350 million (US$450 million). In that time, Tottenham has spent about as much as it has recouped on transfers.And it is the goals from academy graduate Kane over the last three seasons that have propelled the side up the standings. For the first time ever, Tottenham will play a second consecutive season in the Champions League, providing valuable income from UEFA as it completes the building work on a new 61,000-seat stadium.After a season across north London at Wembley, Tottenham is due back here for the start of the 2018-19 season.
MOST READ LATEST STORIES The winner between Foton and Sta. Lucia will take on Petron, while the victor between Cocolife and Cignal will square off with F2 Logistics.The Asset Managers ran away with a five-set victory over the HD Spikers, 19-25, 24-26, 27-25, 25-16, 15-9, and that could factor into the 7 p.m. match.Another thing going against Cignal was the absence of local leaders Jovelyn Gonzaga (knee injury) and Rachel Anne Daquis (dengue), leaving a rudder-less lineup that struggled to get past winless squad Victoria Sports-UST last week.ADVERTISEMENT Carpio hits red carpet treatment for China Coast Guard PLAY LIST 02:14Carpio hits red carpet treatment for China Coast Guard02:56NCRPO pledges to donate P3.5 million to victims of Taal eruption00:56Heavy rain brings some relief in Australia02:37Calm moments allow Taal folks some respite03:23Negosyo sa Tagaytay City, bagsak sa pag-aalboroto ng Bulkang Taal01:13Christian Standhardinger wins PBA Best Player award Kiss-and-tell matinee idol’s conquests: True stories or tall tales? And with high morale coming into the quarterfinals after turning back erstwhile unbeaten F2 Logistics, the Tornadoes should have the upper hand in the knockout encounter at 4:15 p.m.“We have high respect for these teams and we work very hard because we want to make sure we defend the title again,” said Foton coach Moro Branislav.FEATURED STORIESSPORTSRedemption is sweet for Ginebra, Scottie ThompsonSPORTSMayweather beats Pacquiao, Canelo for ‘Fighter of the Decade’SPORTSBrian Heruela arrival bolsters Phoenix backcourt, defenseThe veteran Serbian mentor said he was expecting the Lady Realtors to pour their hearts out against them, the way Generika-Ayala made Petron worked hard for the semifinals berth late Tuesday.The Blaze Spikers, the reigning All Filipino champions, encountered a rough patch before overcoming the hard-fighting Lifesavers in a thrilling five-setter, 19-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-17,15-11. De Ocampo, Hodge to miss first month of Philippine Cup Margot Robbie talks about filming ‘Bombshell’s’ disturbing sexual harassment scene Jo Koy: My brain always wants to think funny Jake says relationship with Shaina ‘goes beyond physical attraction’ Foton standouts Christine Joy Rosario and Jaja Santiago look to stop Sta. Lucia’s upset bid. —AUGUST DELA CRUZFoton eyes a trouble-free ride to the semifinals against lightly regarded Sta. Lucia Realty even as Cocolife and Cignal dispute the remaining Final Four spot in the Chooks to Go-Philippine Superliga Grand Prix Thursday at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.The two-time defending champion Tornadoes will be going up against the Lady Realtors, whom they trounced in the eliminations with ease, 25-16, 25-11, 25-16.ADVERTISEMENT View comments Coco’s house rules on ‘Probinsyano’ set Sports Related Videospowered by AdSparcRead Next OSG plea to revoke ABS-CBN franchise ‘a duplicitous move’ – Lacson It’s too early to present Duterte’s ‘legacy’ – Lacson Phivolcs records 2 ‘discrete weak ash explosions’ at Taal Volcano Don’t miss out on the latest news and information. Steam emission over Taal’s main crater ‘steady’ for past 24 hours