Cricket West Indies (CWI) today named Floyd Reifer as the new Head Coach of the West Indies “Rising Stars” Under-19 team. Reifer is an Australian Cricket Board (ACB) certified Level Three Coach, whose leadership experience includes being a former West Indies captain.
The former interim West Indies Head Coach and current Head Coach of the West Indies Emerging Player & High-Performance Programmes will lead the development of the squad as they prepare for the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup to be played in the Caribbean in early 2022.
Reifer was chosen because of his impressive track record in building and coaching successful development teams, including the UWI Blackbirds, the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC), the West Indies Emerging Players and the West Indies ‘A’ Team.
According to CWI, as a former interim head coach for the senior team, and as batting coach for the recent tour of England, Reifer’s experience and knowledge are perfectly suited to help young West Indians understand what is needed for them to achieve global standards.
He is also a former batting coach for the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots and is the current Head Coach of the Jamaica Tallawahs in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
“It is great to be coaching the young players of the West Indies and trying to guide them as we prepare for the World Cup at home,” Reifer said reacting to his appointment.
“I am excited to have already begun the work and I’m sure the young men are also very enthusiastic. In speaking to many of the possible team members, they are all eager to start the programme. They have not been playing much cricket due to the COVID-19 situation, so it is great that CWI has started to put the preparation in place for our team a year out from hosting the World Cup.
“We have solid plans. The programme we have in place is science and technology-based and it looks at all aspects of their game, including cricket fundamentals and personal development. It is very intense and based on creating an 'elite athlete' with a professional mindset. We have held meetings with coaches and the Territorial Boards and they are all happy with the direction we are going. Within that programme, we hope to have high-performance training camps during the year, the annual Under-19 Rising Stars tournament in the summer, followed by hosting the South Africa U19s for five One-Day matches in the Caribbean.”
Jimmy Adams, CWI’s Director of Cricket, said he was happy that CWI had been able to appoint Reifer to lead the Under-19 programme and take the young players through to the World Cup early next year. “The opportunity fits perfectly given his remit as our High-Performance Head Coach, a role in which he has successfully overseen our High-Performance squads in the recent past, including Emerging Players and ‘A’ teams,” Adams said.
“I would also like to thank Graeme West who coached the U19 team in the last three campaigns, including winning the Tournament in 2016. Graeme will continue to be involved in his current role as High-Performance Manager. He will provide valuable support for Floyd in the planning and execution of the programme all the way through to the World Cup next year.”
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Chris Gayle challenges Usain Bolt to race: “All Usain will be seeing is a lot of dust”
West Indian batting legend Chris Gayle has spoken about the time Jamaican spring king Usain Bolt got his wicket in a friendly game which led the hard-hitting batsman to challenge the sprinter to a race.
“Till this day, he’s still afraid of me. Doesn’t want to see me on a 100m track,” Gayle tells ICC in a new video released by cricket’s world governing body before breaking into a laugh.
“Of course, I’m a sprinter. All Usain Bolt will be seeing is a lot of dust and the Universe Boss just going down the stretch,” Gayle added.
In response, Bolt said “we all know Chris can’t run. We have seen him. We know Chris doesn’t do quick singles or anything. We’re not worried about Chris.”
Responding to this, Gayle said, “that’s a big lie. I run a lot of ones, twos, threes, you name it… sometimes even fours. So, Bolt, get your running spikes ready. And if you want to bring any other athlete along, you know, Yohan Blake, Asafa Powell, anybody. Somebody gonna come fourth. And it’s not me!”
Talking about Bolt taking his wicket, Gayle said that the incident had happened at a charity match where Bolt had bowled a “damn good bouncer” at him, following which he told himself to not hold back at the “fun game.”
“After the bouncer I said to myself, it’s a fun game. What am I doing? So, I start smashing him. Hit him for one or two sixes and probably for a few fours. Then, eventually, I get an inside edge onto the stumps,” said Gayle.
Gayle and Bolt are both ambassadors for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the USA from June 1-29.
DJ Bravo reiterates call for love, togetherness in T&T; to host peace walk on May 18
Former West Indies cricket captain Dwayne Bravo is again hoping to use his status and influence to shape a safer Trinidad and Tobago, as he is set to host a peace walk to raise awareness about crime in the twin island republic.
The event, Unity Walk 2024 – A Mother’s Cry, is scheduled to start at Memorial Park in Port of Spain, on May 18, at 10:00 am.
“Come out and let’s re-inject love, peace, unity and togetherness in our beautiful twin island,” Bravo said in a short video.
“Don’t miss out, get your crew, come out in your numbers. Walk for unity, walk for peace,” he added.
The walk is being held to raise awareness of domestic violence, drug abuse, gang warfare and murder.
This is another attempt by Bravo to not only encourage the youth of Trinidad and Tobago, in particular, to follow their dreams, but more importantly, to stay away from a life of crime.
Last year, Bravo, known for his electrifying all-round performances for West Indies and in franchise cricket, took to Instagram to share his thoughts on the crime situation.
"To the youths out there, please find your passion and follow your dreams! Drugs and guns (are) not the way forward,” he said then.
The two-time T20 World Cup winner made the plea under an excerpt of his song "Sad Place".
While the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) reported a five percent decrease in homicides — 577 in 2023 as compared to 605 in 2022 — citizens remain concerned about a high level of violent crime in and around the city centre of Port of Spain.
IPL: Capitals sneak past Titans after Pant heroics in free-scoring clash
Rishabh Pant stole the show with an unbeaten 88 as Delhi Capitals leapfrogged Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League table with Wednesday's nervous four-run victory.
Delhi looked in some trouble after Sandeep Warrier dismissed openers Prithvi Shaw for 11 and Jake Fraser-McGurk on 23 but Pant blitzed a remarkable 43-ball knock that contained eight maximums to help the Capitals to 224-4.
That onslaught from the India wicketkeeper came after Axar Patel – promoted up the order to number three – blasted 66 off 43 balls, though Wriddhiman Saha (39) and Sai Sudharsan (69) led the Gujarat fightback.
David Miller's quickfire 55 offered further hope yet impact player Rasikh Salam's 3-44 stunted that response.
With the Titans needing 19 from the final over, Mukesh Kumar (1-41) held on in a showdown with Rashid Khan (21 not out) to edge the Capitals over the finish line.
Data Debrief: Sharma sets unwanted IPL record
Though much of the credit went to Pant for his late-innings destruction, questions may be asked of Mohit Sharma, whose 0-73 from four overs marked the most expensive figures for a bowler in IPL history.
Mohit cannot shoulder too much blame, though, as this entertaining IPL clash saw only two bowlers concede less than eight runs an over – Warrier's 3-15 in the first innings before Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Saha and Rahul Tewatia (4) in his 2-29 Delhi spell.
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