Kevlon Anderson scored a magnificent second first-class century to put the West Indies Academy in an excellent position at stumps on day one of their second four-day game against Emerging Ireland at Coolidge on Saturday.

The hosts ended the day 300-8 off 89.4 overs after being put in to bat by Emerging Ireland.

Anderson, 23, ended the day 101* off 172 balls including 14 fours and was well supported by Captain Nyeem Young who made 80 off 115 balls including seven fours and five sixes.

Matthew Nandu and centurion from the first game, Joshua Bishop, also made solid contributions with 35 and 22, respectively.

Tom Mayes has so far grabbed 3-62 off 21 overs while Michael Frost and Matthew Foster have taken 2-71 from 25 overs and 2-90 from 23.4 overs, respectively.

Full Scores:

West Indies Academy 300-8 off 89.4 overs (Kevlon Anderson 101*, Nyeem Young 80, Tom Mayes 3-62, Michael Frost 2-71)

Jamaica’s Men’s 3x3 Basketball team successfully navigated Thursday’s qualifying round at the FIBA 3x3 AmeriCup in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Drawn in qualifying group B alongside Mexico and Guatemala, they finished with a record of 1-1 to advance.

They lost 13-22 to Mexico before rebounding with a 21-13 win over Guatemala.

They will take on the USA and Argentina in Pool A on Saturday.

Jamaica’s women’s basketball team has advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2023 FIBA 3x3 AmeriCup in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The Jamaicans got through qualifying on Thursday’s opening day with a pair of dominant wins over Nicaragua (21-1) and the Cayman Islands (22-3), respectively, while suffering a narrow 14-22 defeat to Colombia in between those games.

Friday saw them go 1-1 in Pool D play, losing to Puerto Rico 14-16 in overtime before beating Mexico 16-14, to advance to the quarterfinals.

They will tackle Brazil in the quarters on Saturday afternoon.

Johnson Charles and Rovman Powell both played starring roles to help the Delhi Bulls get their second win in as many games in the 2023 Abu Dhabi T10 League on Friday with a 65-run triumph over the Chennai Braves at the Zayed Cricket Stadium.

Charles made a 21-ball 40 opening the batting including four fours and two sixes while skipper Powell, batting at five, hit 35 off just 15 balls including one four and four sixes to help the Bulls post an intimidating 126-6 off their 10 overs after being put in to bat.

Englishman James Vince also showed good form with 37 off 14 balls. Obed McCoy and Junaid Siddique had identical figures of 2-18 from two overs.

Chennai’s chase then came up significantly short, being bowled out for just 61 in 8.5 overs.

Only Mohammad Nabi was able to crack double figures with 25 as Fazalhaq Farooqi (2-8 from two overs), Muhammad Rohid (2-14 from two overs), Naveen-ul-Haq (2-22 from two overs) and Ravi Bopara (2-4 from five balls) combined to produce an excellent display of bowling.

West Indies “A” will have it all to do on Saturday’s fourth and final day of their second unofficial “Test” match against South Africa “A” if they want to go 2-0 up in the three-match series.

Friday saw the West Indians end day three 134-5 off 41 overs, needing a further 308 runs for victory on day four at Buffalo Park in East London.

Zachary McCaskie hit a 90-ball 50 to top score for the West Indies, so far.

Tevin Imlach (16) and Kevin Sinclair (15) are the batsmen at the crease.

Off-spinner Dane Piedt ended the day with 3-57 from 14 overs.

Earlier, South Africa began day three 65-1 with a lead of 209 runs and continued to drive the West Indies further back through some excellent batting.

Tony De Zorzi (34) and Raynard Van Tonder (20) were the batsmen at the crease at the start of the day.

De Zorzi fell pretty quickly for 37 and that wicket brought Keegan Petersen to the crease to join Van Tonder.

Van Tonder was able to score his second half-century of the game with a 74-ball 56 before he fell in the 39^th over with South Africa “A” cruising at 139-3.

Petersen carried on, batting beautifully on his way to an unbeaten 112 off 134 balls, following up his 67 in the first innings.

Khaya Zondo (49) and Ruan De Swardt (29*) also provided excellent contributions as the hosts declared on 297-4 off 71.3 overs, setting the West Indies a target of 442 for victory.

Full Scores:

South Africa “A” 298 off 97.2 overs (Keegan Petersen 67, Raynard Van Tonder 50, Tony De Zorzi 44, Ruan De Swardt 42, Akeem Jordan 3-43, Shamar Joseph 3-57, Kevin Sinclair 2-53, Jair McAllister 2-64) & 297-4 dec. off 71.3 overs (Keegan Petersen 112*, Raynard Van Tonder 56, Khaya Zondo 49)

West Indies “A” 154 off 47.2 overs (Zachary McCaskie 62, Dane Piedt 5-28, Tshepo Moreki 3-66) & 134-5 off 41 overs (Zachary McCaskie 50, Dane Piedt 3-57)

Tahlia Richardson can now call herself a four-time National Senior Badminton Champion after once again claiming the Women’s Open title at the All Jamaica Badminton Championships at the YMCA Auditorium last weekend.

The 22-year-old 2023 CAC Games bronze medallist took the title after a three-set win over Katherine Wynter.

Richardson won the first set 21-14 before Wynter rallied back to level proceedings at one set all with a 28-26 second set victory.

Richardson then locked in and was able to dominate the third and deciding set 28-10 to seal her fourth title.

Despite the win, Richardson expressed to Sportsmax.tv that she was not entirely pleased with her performance, specifically a shift in her usual play style in the second set.

“It’s two-fold for me. In one sense, I’m glad I was able to retain my title and win my fourth national championship. In another sense, I’m not entirely pleased with my performance,” she said.

“In the second set, I changed the game plan and was playing more passive which is not my playing style. In the third set I played my natural game which is more fast and attacking and was able to dominate,” Richardson added.

Richardson, who recently graduated from the University of the West Indies with BSc. in Human Resource Management while minoring in Psychology, went a bit into her preparation for the tournament, noting the process was slightly hampered by injury.

“I had a slight injury two weeks before that so it was about working through that and ensuring that I would be at my best for the tournament,” she said.

“Besides that, it was just about doing strength training and on-court training and ensuring consistency in both,” Richardson added.

She also went into difficulties endured while trying to balance a budding career in professional badminton with the pursuit of her college degree.

“It was about being disciplined and knowing what I want,” she said.

“It would sometimes be difficult especially when face to face school resumed because I would be gone for a tournament or a training camp once a month or once every other month. But once I managed my time and was consistent with that, I was all good to go,” she added.

Richardson also claimed top spot in mixed doubles and silver in women’s doubles.

South Africa “A” were 266-6 after 85 overs at stumps on day one of their second unofficial “Test” math against the West Indies “A” at Buffalo Park in East London on Tuesday.

Keegan Petersen (67) and Raynard Van Tonder (50) led the way for the South Africans after they were put in to bat by the West Indies “A.”

Tony De Zorzi (44) and Khaya Zondo (35) also batted well on Tuesday.

Shamar Joseph has, so far, taken 2-39 from his 17 overs while Kevin Sinclair and Jair McAllister also have two wickets, each.

The West Indies lead the series 1-0.

Full Scores:

South Africa “A” 266-6 from 85 overs (Keegan Petersen 67, Raynard Van Tonder 50, Tony De Zorzi 44, Khaya Zondo 35, Ruan De Swardt 25*, Shamar Joseph 2-39, Kevin Sinclair 2-53, Jair McCallister 2-64)

The Deccan Gladiators opened the seventh season of the Abu Dhabi T10 League with a 22-run win over the New York Strikers at the Zayed Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

The Gladiators, champions of the last two editions of the tournament, posted 118-8 from their ten overs after being put in to bat by the Strikers.

Englishman Tom Kohler-Cadmore led the way for the Gladiators with 68 off 33 balls including four fours and six sixes while Andre Russell hit 17 off nine balls in support. Captain Nicholas Pooran (1), Andre Fletcher (2) and Fabian Allen (0) all failed to make significant contributions with the bat.

Sri Lankan Chamika Karunaratne took 3-25 from his two overs.

The Strikers were then reduced to 96-6 from their ten overs in reply.

Muhammad Waseem (26) and Asif Ali (24) were the main scorers for New York as Zahoor Khan bowled beautifully to finish with 2-12 from his two overs.

The West Indies Academy completed an innings and 134-run victory over Emerging Ireland on day three of their first four-day match at Coolidge on Monday to go 1-0 up in the three-match series.

Emerging Ireland started day three 29-3 trailing the West Indies Academy by 167 runs.

They lost their final seven wickets for just 33 runs as the hosts secured victory by an innings and 134 runs.

Isai Thorne ripped through the Irish line-up on Monday with 4-8 from six overs and was well supported by man of the match Joshua Bishop who took 2-5 from 4.4 overs and captain Nyeem Young who grabbed 2-15 from two overs.

Full Scores:

Emerging Ireland 213 all out off 61.4 overs (Murray Commins 93, Cade Carmichael 59, Fionn Hand 25, Isai Thorne 4-33, Johann Layne 3-43, Nyeem Young 3-56) & 62 all out off 33.4 overs (Isai Thorne 4-8, Joshua Bishop 2-5, Nyeem Young 2-15)

West Indies Academy 409 all out off 96.4 overs (Joshua Bishop 102*, Teddy Bishop 90, Kevlon Anderson 79, Johann Layne 56, Mike Frost 4-89, Matthew Foster 3-81, Gavin Hoey 2-57)

Real City and Basement will contest the final of the 2023 SFP Pocket Rocket Foundation Six-A-Side competition after semi-final wins at the FESCO Field in Waterhouse over the weekend.

Sunday saw Real City secure their spot in the final with a 2-0 win over Lion Den thanks to goals from Nico McLeish and Hakeem Green.

Their opponents in the final will be Basement who beat Black Strikers 1-0 on Saturday thanks to a strike from Taywane Lynch.

The final takes place on Sunday, December 3 at 3:30pm.

Fifties from Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Kavem Hodge helped the West Indies “A” build a small 24-run lead over South Africa “A” at stumps on Wednesday’s day two of their first unofficial four-day “Test” match at Willowmoore Park in Benoni.

The West Indians made 314-9 declared from 93.2 overs after starting day two 46-0 with Tagenarine Chanderpaul on 28 and Zachary McCaskie on 17.

The pair put on a further 20 runs before McCaskie was the first man to fall for 31 in the 17^th over.

Kirk McKenzie then came and went quickly for a duck bringing Kavem Hodge to the crease to partner Chanderpaul.

The pair put on an excellent 110-run third wicket partnership before Chanderpaul fell for a top score of 78 off 150 balls in the 54^th over. Chanderpaul’s knock included 12 fours. Vice-captain Tevin Imlach was next to go for 16 to leave the West Indies 196-4 in the 60^th over.

Hodge was then joined by captain Joshua Da Silva and the pair added 17 before Hodge was the fifth man to fall, going for a well-played 73 off 151 balls including nine fours.

Da Silva (20), Kevin Sinclair (39) and Akeem Jordan (40) then all added crucial contributions as the innings eventually ended with the tourists leading by 27 runs.

The South African bowling was led by Tshepo Moreki with 3-56 from 19 overs while Dane Piedt took 2-60 from 23.2 overs and Hardus Viljoen took 2-91 from 21 overs.

South Africa “A” were 3-0 off three overs at stumps.

Full scores: South Africa “A” 287-9 dec. off 78.5 overs (Keegan Petersen 59, Tony De Zorzi 55, Clyde Fortuin 53, David Bedingham 47, Jayden Seales 3-23, Akeem Jordan 3-61, Kevin Sinclair 2-64) & 3-0 off 3 overs

West Indies “A” 314-9 dec. off 93.2 overs (Tagenarine Chanderpaul 78, Kavem Hodge 73, Akeem Jordan 40, Kevin Sinclair 39, Zachary McCaskie 31, Tshepo Moreki 3-56, Dane Piedt 2-60, Hardus Viljoen 2-91)

Reggae Boyz central defender Damion Lowe has described defeating Canada to advance to the 2024 Copa America and the Concacaf Nations League semi-finals as a top two moment of his national team career along with their 1-0 win over Mexico at the Rose Bowl in the 2017 Concacaf Gold Cup.

Lowe was instrumental in helping the Boyz defeat their rivals 3-2 at the BMO Field in Toronto on Tuesday to secure a spot in the semis as well as next year’s Copa America.

The final score over the two legs was 4-4 with Jamaica advancing based on the away goals rule.

“It’s up there. I think top two. I think beating Mexico 1-0 at the Rose Bowl is still the best moment of my national team career but this one is up there for sure especially with all the talking that has been going on from the Canadian team but the guys showed real heart today,” Lowe said in an interview after the game.

In what can only be described as a masterstroke by head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson, Lowe, who started the game at his preferred centre back position, was moved into the midfield in the second half, a move that completely changed the game in Jamaica’s favor.

The first of Shamar Nicholson’s two goals on the night came after an excellent assist from Lowe after winning the ball in the final third.

“Nothing too hard for me to think about because I’ve played there and have experience there,” said Lowe about the move to midfield.

“I just tried to analyze the spots that I should be in and just try to help the team as much as possible. I didn’t really think about it at all. Coach just told me I’m playing central midfield and I said okay then just went in and gave my all,” he added.

A national team member for over seven years, the 30-year-old hopes that this is the first step of Jamaica consistently getting over the line and qualifying for big tournaments.

“It’s big! As I said to the guys, it’s no more almost. Every year, every two years it’s almost getting to the finals; almost getting to the semi-final; almost getting to the world cup. Now it’s time to get over the line and we’ve achieved one goal in getting to the Copa America. We’re in the semi-finals of the Nations League so I’m grateful,” he said.

Lowe will now turn his attention to an MLS Cup Conference Semi-final for his Philadelphia Union as they are set to take on FC Cincinnati on Saturday.

“That’s the focus right now. We’re going back into camp tomorrow to prepare for that and get some recovery done and Saturday we have a big semi-final against Cincinnati,” he said.

Captain Nyeem Young and opener Matthew Nandu both hit unbeaten half-centuries as the West Indies Academy defeated Emerging Ireland by six wickets in the third One-Day match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua to take a 2-1 series win.

The Academy first dismissed the Irish for 175 in 43.4 overs after winning the toss and choosing to bowl first.

Emerging Ireland captain Stephen Doheny top scored with 64 from 96 balls including six fours while Tom Mayes hit 27 and Morgan Topping 20 against excellent bowling from Joshua Bishop (3-32 from 10 overs), Ashmead Nedd (3-28 from nine overs) and Kevin Wickham (3-42 from 8.4 overs).

The hosts then needed only 40.3 overs to successfully reach 179-4 and seal the series win.

Young led the way with a 67-ball 75* including eight fours and three sixes while Nandu batted through the innings to finish 63* off 107 balls including three fours.

Matthew Humphreys took two of the three wickets for Emerging Ireland.

The teams will now turn their attention to a pair of four-day matches from November 25-28 and December 2-5 at Coolidge.

The West Indies “A” Team will enter day two of their first unofficial four-day “Test” match against South Africa “A” at Willowmoore Park in Benoni trailing by 241 runs after a decent day with bat and ball.

The hosts, who have six players in their 11 with Test experience, won the toss and chose to bat first on Tuesday, posting 287-9 before declaring.

They were led by half centuries from Keegan Petersen (59), Tony De Zorzi (55) and Clyde Fortuin (53) while David Bedingham also played well for his 47.

Jayden Seales bowled excellently up front with 3023 in 15.5 overs while Akeem Jordan took 3-61 from 18 overs. Kevin Sinclair also bowled 18 overs and took 2-64.

The West Indian opening pair of Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Zachary McCaskie were able to put on 46 in nine overs before stumps on day one.

Chanderpaul will enter day two 28* while McCaskie is on 17*.

Full scores: South Africa “A” 287-9 dec. off 78.5 overs (Keegan Petersen 59, Tony De Zorzi 55, Clyde Fortuin 53, David Bedingham 47, Jayden Seales 3-23, Akeem Jordan 3-61, Kevin Sinclair 2-64)

West Indies “A” 46-0 off nine overs (Tagenarine Chanderpaul 28*, Zachary McCaskie 17*)

Former West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo issued some scathing criticism towards lead selector for the West Indies Men’s Team, the hon. Desmond Haynes, as well as white ball head coach, Daren Sammy, after his younger brother Darren was overlooked for the upcoming three-match home series against England.

Darren Bravo, 34, recently led the Trinidad & Tobago Red Force to the CG United Super50 Cup title and finished the tournament as the leading run-scorer with 416 runs in eight innings at an average of 83.20 with one hundred and three fifties.

His production proved to be not enough in the eyes of the selectors, however, as they opted to go with younger players who they have invested in with an eye on the 2027 World Cup, according to Haynes in a press conference on Monday.

“SMH!!! When will the BS stop?!” I’m not surprised with my brother’s non-selection, but with the recent changes in WI cricket management, I held onto a bit of hope for the better,” Bravo said in a statement on Instagram on Monday.

“This is NOT acceptable, and I just can’t make sense of it! So here are my burning questions: What’s the criteria for West Indies team selection? Surely, it can’t be solely based on performance?” he added.

The former all-rounder then went into the aforementioned stats that Darren bravo put together in the Super50 Cup before asking more questions.

“I usually stay away from these discussions but the mistreatment, disrespect, and dishonesty towards players over the years demand a voice. When will it stop? When will this BS actually stop?”

He then directed his ire toward Haynes, Sammy, and newly appointed director of cricket Miles Bascombe.

“To Mr. Desmond Haynes, your statement didn’t surprise me. It feels like another former player singing for his supper. I hoped for trust in the system with figures like you, Sammy, and the new director of cricket, but the system failed again,” he said.

Bravo ended by offering encouragement to his brother and congratulating some of the new and returning members of the squad.

“To my brother, this too shall pass. Keep your head up, stay focused and trust in the Almighty. And, as always, I extend my best wishes to the team and selected players. It’s refreshing to see (Kjorn) Ottley, (Sherfane) Rutherford and (Shane) Dowrich back in the mix. Good luck guys,” he ended.