Noted sports attorney Dr Emir Crowne is warning regional professional cricketers to be wary of dubious establishments seeking to represent them.
This comes in the wake of a development wherein Trinidadian cricketer Kavesh Kantasingh is being falsely advertised as being represented by the Dubai-based AS Cricket Agency. The agency lists Kantasingh as being among several regional players including Jarion Hoyte and Derone Davis.
They also have Pakistan spinner Mohammed Wasim listed as a ‘client’.
Kantasingh, who had met Dr Crowne at a conference on sports and intellectual property rights in April, recently approached the attorney and Crystal Paul of the New City Chambers law firm to review a management agreement involving the AS Agency. However, in reviewing the document Dr Crowne came across several red flags, which he outlined in correspondence to the agency.
“As a preliminary point, we note that the Agency and the Holiday Inn Bur Dubai apparently share the same address. Although we are alive to the fact that some businesses in Dubai do indeed use landmarks to help facilitate mail delivery, further independent investigations have cast serious doubt on the legitimacy of the given address,” said the letter that is over the signature of both Dr Crowne and Ms Paul.
The letter also addressed the fact that AS Agency had already listed Kantasingh as a client, which Dr Crowne characterized as “a clear misrepresentation”.
“You have gone well past the boundary on this one. Mr Kantasingh is not your client. Your use of his name, image and biography is therefore misleading, fraudulent and a breach of copyright. It must be removed immediately, and an apology issued for use of same,” the letter demanded.
Beyond those issues, Dr Crowne also expressed concerns about the nature of the agreement itself, which the attorney said, “does not withstand scrutiny”.
“First, the agreement indicates that it is governed by “UK Law/UAE Law”. We are unsure how the laws of two jurisdictions can simultaneously govern a contract. It is a contractual enigma wrapped in a jurisdictional riddle,” the letter stated.
“Second, the agreement indicates, “disputes arising from or in connection with this agreement shall be finally settled by arbitration under the Procedural Rules of the Court of Arbitration for Sports [sic]”. We are genuinely unsure of how – or why – the Court of Arbitration for Sport would have jurisdiction to settle a dispute arising from said agreement. However, we appreciate that to the untrained eye the “Procedural Rules of the Court of Arbitration for Sports [sic]” does indeed add an air of legitimacy to your operation.”
It is against the background of these concerns that Dr Crowne said he and his colleague would not be advising Kantasingh to enter into a relationship with AS Agency.
“He will remain within his crease, as it were,” Dr Crowne concluded.
Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.
Hetmyer, Chase pass fitness tests, available for Sri Lanka Tests - Jimmy Adams
Shimron Hetmyer and Roston Chase are now available for selection to the West Indies teams after both players passed fitness tests during the past few days, Cricket West Indies Director of Cricket Jimmy Adams announced today.
“We had done a press conference very recently and we had explained that there were some players that had missed the minimum fitness standard for selection, two of those players have since met that standard, that’s Roston Chase and Shimron Hetmyer,” Adams said earlier today.
“They would now be available for selection for the next selection meeting around the Test matches coming up later in March.”
The players were among four that the West Indies selectors said were not named to the T20 and ODI squads to face Sri Lanka starting March 3 because they had failed fitness tests.
Hetmyer’s omission, especially, caused a bit of a stir regionally, considering that the news of his non-selection came against the backdrop of him scoring a century for the Guyana Jaguars in the semi-final of the CG Insurance Super50 semi-final against the Windward Islands Volcanoes last week Thursday.
During a press conference last Saturday, Adams, in response to questions regarding whether the selectors would consider overlooking Hetmyer’s fitness considering his current form, said that was not likely to happen.
“The policy asks for a minimum standard in certain aspects of fitness testing. So on the yo-yo intermittent test, that minimum standard is 40 and for a couple of years we have had selection tied to the achievement of that minimum standard,” Adams said.
“It’s pretty simple and all the players are aware of it. Failure to get to 40 makes them unavailable for selection. So when the panel sits, the first thing that they will consider, before looking at the teams and the squads they want to put together, is who are the players that are available through achieving that minimum standard.”
CWI President Ricky Skerritt praises TT Red Force and TTCB for unbeaten Super50 campaign
Cricket West Indies (CWI) President, Ricky Skerritt, has congratulated the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force on their outstanding performance in winning the CG Insurance Super50 Cup at the Coolidge Cricket Ground.
The Red Force romped to victory in last Saturday’s final by 152 runs over the Guyana Jaguars. They were the only unbeaten team in the competition winning all seven matches giving skipper Kieron Pollard the honour of lifting the CG Insurance Super50 Sir Clive Lloyd Trophy.
In the wake of the impressive showing, CWI President Ricky Skerritt sent congratulatory messages to the team and the president of the TTCB President Azim Bassarath.
“This was a remarkable show of force by Trinidad from start to finish,” Skerritt said.
“It was a total team effort and Red Force found a match-winner at every stage. The other five franchise teams, including losing finalist Guyana Jaguars, all worked hard and showed good fighting qualities to varying degrees. But The Red Force was more dominant and consistent than ever, and simply unstoppable.”
The CWI president in a direct message to the TTCB boss said: “Congrats on a great tournament and final victory for TTCB and your team. This incredible performance should emphasize the vital importance of planning and preparation. I hope it has also reminded us why cricket administrators should not simply throw away senior players while these players still have such good value to their team and country. Successful cricket teams employ a healthy balance of youth and experience, just like your team did in winning this tournament.”
President Skerritt also thanked the Government of Antigua and Barbuda, local health and medical officials, the tournament officials and operators from the Antigua & Barbuda Cricket Association, The Leeward Islands Cricket Board, and CWI and tournament sponsor CG Insurance who worked diligently to make the CG InsuranceSuper50 event such a huge success.
CWI announces new broadcast rights deal with Sky New Zealand
Cricket West Indies (CWI) has announced the signing of another major long-term broadcast rights agreement, this time with Sky New Zealand for the exclusive live coverage to all West Indies home matches played in the Caribbean.
The agreement covering both television and digital rights will mean that Sky New Zealand including its Sky Go mobile app and Sky Sport Now streaming app will offer live coverage and highlights of televised West Indies regional tournaments including the current and future editions of the CG Insurance Super50 Cup.
The agreement will feature next month’s visit of Sri Lanka for three CG Insurance T20Is, three CG Insurance ODIs and two Test matches. Later this year West Indies is expected to host South Africa, Australia and Pakistan. The postponed 2020 white ball series against New Zealand is likely to be rescheduled into 2022.
“CWI is pleased to announce that we will be doing business with another leading sports broadcaster, Sky New Zealand,” said CWI President Ricky Skerritt.
“We are continuing to ensure an expanding worldwide coverage of the exciting West Indies brand of international and regional cricket.”
Johnny Grave, CEO of CWI, welcomed the new agreement.
“This landmark long-term agreement with Sky New Zealand will ensure West Indies matches and New Zealand tours of the West Indies can be watched live on TV and mobile devices. This partnership delivers on our strategy to deliver the best of West Indies cricket to fans all over the world,” he said.
Sophie Moloney, CEO Sky New Zealand said fans love to see the West Indies play.
“The West Indies have always delivered some of the most exciting and explosive cricket, appreciated by fans around the world. New Zealand cricket lovers are no exception, and we look forward to continuing our fantastic relationship on behalf of our customers,” she said.
This is CWI’s fourth new broadcast rights agreement announced in recent weeks, following announcements with ESPN+ for the United States; BT Sport for the United Kingdom and Ireland; and SuperSport for sub-Saharan Africa including South Africa, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Kenya.
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