Buckle up, sports fans, as we are once again blessed with a bounty of important sporting events over the next few weeks. Let us start with the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), which bowled off on August 14 in Basseterre, St Kitts.
With 20 games to go in this year’s competition, five of the six teams are nicely bunched, with the Barbados Royals (BR) bringing up the rear. I expect BR to rise in the table in the next week, especially when they have their home games carded for the Kensington Oval.
This year’s tournament seems to be one of the most competitive we’ve seen since its inception. It’s so unpredictable that on any given day or night, trying to pick the outright winner is as difficult as trying to predict Donald Trump’s next move.
The Antigua & Barbuda Falcons (ABF) are the tournament’s Jekyll and Hyde. They’ve handed out two beautiful beatdowns to the BR and the Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR), but then they stumbled against the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots (SKNP) before promptly getting their revenge. Unfortunately, their game against the defending champions, the St Lucia Kings (SLK), was rained out, so they now have to play their remaining fixtures away from Antigua, which started with the game last night against the TKR. I predict they’ll be hard-pressed to get to the eliminator without their home crowd, who, as we all know, can be a serious 12th man (more on the 12th man later).
The Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW) currently look like a formidable team after winning their first two games rather comfortably. They certainly look like the most complete, all-around team currently; however, every team has a bad game, a moment where they forget how to hold a bat or bowl a ball. For the Warriors, that game was on Tuesday night. Thinking 202 runs would have been enough, GAW bowled badly against the SLK and paid the price. GAW will now have to pick up their game and avoid an unexpected fall from grace.
Speaking of having a bad game, ask the TKR about their encounter with ABF. They batted badly but were nearly saved by the veteran Kieron Pollard, who showed he still has some fuel in the tank, assisted by an appalling dropped catch by Imad Wasim, a certified “sitter,” that nearly cost ABF the game. It was so bad, I suspect Wasim wakes up in the middle of the night screaming, “Catch Him…” I expect TKR to get better as the tournament gets deeper; they will have to rotate their team, as 11 of their players are over 32 and will have to be managed carefully.
The SLK have had a truly miserable time with 2 games being rained out, which is tough luck on them. The victory against the GAW against the odds could very well kick-start their season. They badly need Alzarri Joseph back in their team and need to have a strong run-in to defend their title, or they may find themselves watching the rest of the tournament from the sidelines.
The SKNP are woefully inconsistent at this time. One minute, they’re a world-beating team, the next, they’re a group of strangers who just met at the stadium. They won two games, but when they needed to perform at the death in the other games, they just could not raise their level. They have some tremendous T20 players in their squad, but outside of the two victories, they have not performed as a team, especially the top half of their batting, which seems to go on a collective strike, refusing to perform when it matters most.
Let’s move over to Flushing Meadows in New York, the site for the US Open tennis tournament. The US Open served off last Sunday with a delicious mix of tennis and cold, hard cash. With a whopping 39% increase in prize money, the champions will be taking home a cool US$5 million. My advice to all parents is to get your children playing lawn tennis from the time they can hold a racquet.
It’s early days in the tournament, but we’ve had a few juicy upsets. On the men’s side, Daniil Medvedev, the man who was once the top-ranked player as recently as February 2022, now ranked 13, lost to Benjamin Bonzi, the Frenchman ranked 51st, who also beat him at Wimbledon. In the women’s draw, the ever-so-promising Madison Keys, currently ranked 6th in the world, who won the Australian Open in January, was defeated by Renata Zarazua, a Mexican ranked 82nd in the world. This is why we watch. It’s the only sport where a person ranked 82nd in the world can still, on their best day, turn a favourite’s career into a cautionary tale.
In the men’s draw, I am looking no further than the big two, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, but they must be on song. I am sure you remember Wimbledon when Grigor Dimitrov had Sinner on the ropes, and it was only after Dimitrov tore a chest muscle that saved Sinner from what looked like a sure defeat. In the women’s draw, Iga Swiatek looks to be back to her best and can challenge the world number one, Aryna Sabalenka, for the title. It’s incredible to think that Sabalenka has won three titles this year but still hasn’t clinched a Grand Slam. Can she change that? She’s a determined player, which is a polite way of saying she’s probably fueled by a fiery rage that will propel her to victory. Let’s wait and see.
And now, for the main event: T&T vs Curacao in a World Cup qualifier on Friday ( September 5) at the Hasely Crawford Stadium. This will be one of T&T’s biggest games, in terms of what is at stake, since that magical evening in Bahrain in 2005. It is not the final game, as what transpired in the Middle East, but it’s the opening game, which means the team must get off to a winning start. I have already indicated that the games being played at the Hasely Crawford stadium must be nothing less than a victory for the team. The Hasely Crawford Stadium needs to be transformed into a pulsating, red sea of patriotism. The atmosphere against St Kitts and Nevis was so special, and I do not doubt that you, as the 12th man, were the inspiration, the secret ingredient the team needed.
Curacao cannot and must not be underestimated, as they have beaten T&T twice in the last four encounters; however, that was back then. Coach Dwight Yorke knows, and the players know it is no longer experimenting; the real deal is here, and knowing what Dwight wants, he will expect nothing less than 150 per cent from whoever takes the field in the red, white and black.
He has done his homework on the opposition, and he has done his homework on who he believes will do the job for T&T in the various positions. It is not a matter of the eleven who take the field, but those who come on to the field as replacements will be just as important.
Dwight has been there, done that, so he knows what has to be done. Trust in him and give him your full support.
So, head to all advertised outlets to get your authentic replica shirts. Go down to the stadium in your numbers, as the gates will be open from 4:00 pm, with lots of activities and entertainment to get you ready to give your loudest support. Let’s blow Curacao out of the Hasely Crawford stadium with support like we have never done before. This is our moment! This is our home! Let’s make sure everyone who steps onto that pitch knows they are playing for a nation that believes in them. Good luck to the team and the technical support. We know you’ve got this. Let’s make history together, T&T.
