Tyra Gittens goes into tomorrow’s SEC Championships in a confident mood seeing how well she has performed indoors this season.

Notwithstanding the Guyana Jaguars’ crushing nine-wicket victory over the Windward Islands Volcanoes in the final preliminary round match on Monday, Captain Leon Johnson says he has no intention of underestimating their opponents when the two teams meet again in the second semi-final tomorrow.

The Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board are throwing their support for the current leadership of Cricket West Indies in the lead up to the virtual Annual General Meeting set for March 28.

Shimron Hetmyer scored his second half-century of the CG Insurance Super50 competition earlier today as Guyana Jaguars romped to a nine-wicket victory over the Windward Islands Volcanoes in the final match of the preliminary round at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

Hetmyer scored an unbeaten 67 off 59 balls, hitting three fours and four sixes, as he partnered with Tevin Imlach for an unbroken second-wicket stand of 93 to helped propel Guyana to 155 for 1 from 28.4 overs in reply to the Windwards’ 153 all out.

 Imlach, who scored an unbeaten 37, shared an opening stand of 62 with Chanderpaul Hemaj, who made 41.

Alick Athanaze was the lone wicket-taker for the Windwards with 1-130 from his seven overs.

Earlier, Man-of-the-Match Keon Joseph took 4-24 and Hemraj 2-11 as the Windwards were bundled out for 153 in 45 overs.

Only Kevin Stoute, who scored 41 and Emmanuel Stewart 46 offered any real resistance to the Guyana bowling attack.

Stoute and Stewart put on 60 for the fifth wicket after which Stewart and Kevin Cottoy mounted a 39-run stand for the sixth. Cottoy made 27.

The teams will meet again in the second semi-final on Thursday.

He has only played three Test matches for the West Indies but wicketkeeper/batsman Joshua Da Silva believes he has made great strides in his development as a batsman since he made his debut in New Zealand in December 2020.

 Charokee Young believes improving her running form and having a better understanding of what she does has led to better performances so far this season.

The 20-year-old rising star also revealed that she has dropped the 800m because of her love for the 400m and that she is definitely aiming to make Jamaica’s Olympic team to Tokyo this summer.

“I think the Olympics are within my reach. I am pretty close to the times (required to qualify) and I am definitely going to try out for the Olympics. Once I am healthy I am definitely going to try to make the Olympic team,” she said.

Just over a week ago, Young, the former Hydel High School standout, split 51.12 that helped Texas A&M an all-time collegiate-best of 3:26.27 at the Tyson Invitational, the ninth-fastest time ever. It was also a season-best time, a meet record and facility record.

It was a performance that saw the team named the U.S. Track & Field National Athlete of the Week.

Young told Sportsmax.TV that they went into the race intent on breaking the record.

“Our aim was to break the record and I did my best,” she said. “I wasn’t focused on how fast I was going to run, was just focused on doing my best for that day.”

Prior to enrolling at Texas A&M, Young had personal bests of 2:06.02 and 52.48 in the 800m and 400m, respectively. In her freshman year, she ran 2:05.80 indoors in March 2020, before the pandemic shut down the collegiate season.

So far this season, she has picked up from where she left off, running ran a personal best 51.93 indoors, which along with the 51.12 relay split last week, has demonstrated her steady improvement.

“I have been working on my running form. My form has gotten much better. I also have more knowledge about what I am doing, I am learning more about my body and I am more mature now,” she said while explaining that she anticipates running even faster as she transitions to outdoors later this year.”

“I am getting better each time I touch the track so if I hit personal bests I will be happy. My health is pretty good and the more correct your form is the less you run the risk of getting hurt.”

Failing with the bat was all the motivation Andre McCarthy needed to inspire him to a match-winning performance with the ball against the Barbados Pride on Sunday.

Andre McCarthy took six wickets including a hat-trick as the Jamaica Scorpions defeated the Barbados Pride by 51 runs at the Coolidge Cricket Ground and book a date with the Trinidad Red Force in the semi-finals of the CG Insurance Super50 on Wednesday.

Danielle Williams won the 60mh hurdles at the final American Track League meeting this evening in the third-fastest time in the world this year.

 No need to discard Jason Holder as Test captain.

    How do we evaluate a captain? Do we use their win-loss record? Do we judge their on-field performances? West Indies Test captain Jason Holder should continue as the team’s leader despite calls for Kraigg Brathwaite to replace him at the helm.

The calls have come after Brathwaite led the squad to victory over Bangladesh in a two-Test series two weeks ago while Holder opted not to tour due to health and safety concerns.

 Changing captains is not the answer to the West Indies’ problems and if the selectors were to do so it would be a very rash and irresponsible decision. It would also amount to a knee-jerk reaction.

When Holder was selected to be Test captain in 2015, it was purported as a “long-term” appointment. By replacing Holder with Brathwaite after success in one Test series, the selectors run the risk of undermining Holder’s confidence by bringing into question his ability to lead. Nothing good would come from that.

 It would be inaccurate and quite unfair to say Holder has had no success as captain as he did win the Wisden Trophy in 2019.

The 29-year-old Holder has grown as a cricketer and is one of the world’s leading Test cricketers, ranked third on the all-rounder’s chart, 11th in bowling and 43rd in the batting rankings.

He has a lot to offer to the team and each player can learn from his exploits in different formats and levels of the game.

It is also key to note that just recently, Kraigg Brathwaite was stripped of the vice-captaincy and told to focus on improving his game.

The Windies will be confident going into their series against Sri Lanka. So instead of causing unnecessary division within the team by changing captains, each player should be encouraged to learn from the other and cooperation should be encouraged.

Both Holder and Brathwaite can work alongside each other. Holder could learn a thing or two from Brathwaite and vice versa.

 So instead of focusing on who should be captain, the focus should be on building around the core and planning for the future.

 The NBA All-Star Game should be cancelled.

The 2021 All-Star Game was initially cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic but the NBA has reversed the decision and decided to hold a one-night event in Atlanta on March 7, despite public objection from players.

Despite players like LA Lakers star LeBron James coming out and voicing his displeasure with the league’s decision saying that he will be there physically but not mentally, the NBA’s persistence in continuing with the All-Star Game, gives the impression that player safety and concerns are being overlooked in the name of profit.

The All-Star Weekend provides fans with the ability to interact tradition with their favourite players. However, the fact that Covid-19 has prevented fans from being at the games undermines the need this season.

We live in unprecedented times and the safety and health of the players should be of paramount importance, and it is not unreasonable to believe that the All-Star Game could trigger virus clusters that put even more players at risk.

Is all this worth risking the rest of the NBA season?

 Novak Djokovic is unstoppable!  Novak Djokovic extended his dominance at the Australian Open beating Daniil Medvedev 7-5 6-2 6-2 to secure his18th Grand Slam title.

The 33-year-old Djokovic dispensed of his opponent in an hour and 53 minutes to claim his ninth Australian Open title and move with two of the number of titles won by both Roger Federer’s and Rafael Nadal.

Not even an abdominal injury suffered earlier in the tournament could prevent the Joker from continuing his relentless march to catch up with his two contemporaries.

Congratulations!

A last-wicket stand of 85 between Man-of-the-Match Jeavor Royal and Fabian Allen paved the way for Jamaica Scorpions close six-run-win by Duckworth/Lewis over the Leeward Islands Hurricanes earlier today.

Four-hundred-metres world record holder Wayde van Niekerk is to join Lance Brauman’s training camp in Florida, leaving behind his long-time coach Ans Botha in South Africa in what is said to be a temporary move.

“As much as I have enjoyed my experience with Tannie Ans and her group, I am hoping to break my world record and to do that I need to ensure I am training alongside the world’s best sprinters,” van Niekerk said in a press release today.

“So I feel a temporary move to the United States will be in my best interests for the immediate future.”

In Florida, van Niekerk, who briefly trained in Jamaica alongside Usain Bolt, prior to setting the world record of 43.03s at the 2016 Rio Olympics, will rub shoulders with 2019 World Champion Noah Lyles and Bahamian superstar Shaune Miller-Uibo, the 2016 Olympic 400 champion and 2019 World Championship silver medalist.

Van Niekerk, 28, who is making a comeback after seriously injuring his knee during a rugby game in October 2017, will reassess his future plans after the Tokyo Olympics.

In the summer of 2015, 18-year-old Calabar High School track star Michael O’Hara signed a professional contract with Puma and joined the world-famous Racers Track Club where he would rub shoulders with global stars Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, Warren Weir and a host of other world-class athletes.

Big things were expected from O’Hara who was the World U18 200m champion in 2013 and who also excelled at the 100m, 110m hurdles and even the 400m.

His 10.19 and 20.45 personal bests over the 100m and 200m, respectively, hinted at what was possible once he matured under the experienced handling of Coach Glen Mills.

“Michael is one of the world's top young sprinters. He is a World Youth Champion and multiple Jamaican Champion. Under the coaching guidance of Glen Mills I am confident that he has a very bright future," said his agent Ricky Simms.

Unfortunately, things have not gone as planned with the talented athlete struggling to make the successful transition that so many had expected of him.

Four years later, he returned to his high school coach Craig Sewell and began to make headway in the sprint hurdles, one of the three events at which he excelled in high school. Now, a member of the newly formed Legacy Track Club at his old high school, O’Hara believes he is finally ready to live up to his immense potential.

In a recent interview with Sportsmax.TV, O’Hara, now 24, believes he has learned the lessons necessary for him to finally make the next step.

“Back then I had to learn the sport better and to learn what the transition is and what it takes; to accept the fact that there might be downfalls, to accept the fact that there might be mistakes and during the time we have to fall down and get back up,” he said.

“Now, I am more focused and understanding of what it takes to be a professional athlete and what it takes to get where I want to be.”

Head Coach at Legacy Omar Hawse tells Sportsmax.TV that the signs are there that this not just talk from the former high school star. Since he has returned to Calabar and training with his former coaches, O’Hara has been a different athlete.

“He has been putting in some good work. He is more focused, he seems to be very hungry, takes instructions better and seems eager to get to his best,” Hawse said. “Let us hope it can continue.”

The early signs of improvement were there in 2019 when after returning to the sprint hurdles, his former coach Glen Mills admitted that O’Hara seemed to have found his niche. The 13.61 he ran in Loughborough was an indicator that things were moving in the right direction and put him in line to qualify for the 2019 World Championships in Doha.

After qualifying for the finals of the sprint hurdles at Jamaica’s national championships in 2019, OHara fell and was denied a place on the team to Doha. Notwithstanding that disappointment, OHara feels like things are finally falling into place for him to move forward.

“It’s a good welcome home for me. The coaches are not unfamiliar so my mind is in a good place,” he said. “I am very good to be where I am right now. Working with Sewell again has been rejuvenating because he was there in high school with me. The chemistry was there in high school and there is no unfamiliar chemistry now that I am back with him.”

Sewell said the focus is now on getting Michael physically ready for whatever event he chooses to do.

“We are preparing him for anything that he could do well in if it’s the hurdles, the 100 or 200,” he said. “That’s the plan going forward for him. I don’t think he has any preference at this point, he is just preparing for all, being more technical at all so when we are ready to make that decision, it will come down to what’s best at that time.”

Along the way, OHara has come in for much criticism from an expectant public, disappointed in his lack of progress. He says he is used to that and chooses to use those negatives in a more positive manner.

“Criticism is nothing new coming from high school to now. I take them as motivation for me. I always train like I have something to prove. This is my drive; that is what gives me my push to go forward,” he said.

Bayer Leverkusen winger Leon Bailey believes Lionel Messi needs to leave Barcelona when his contract expires at the end of the season. Such a move, Bailey believes, would take Messi closer to Cristiano Ronaldo in terms of achievement.

There was little interest in West Indies players at the 2021 IPL Auction held in Chennai earlier today.