What a fabulous weekend for sport. Television sets will be working overtime from early Friday right until late Sunday night. You name your sport and it’s going to be showing from cricket to football to Wimbledon to basketball. Is that enough for now?
Let’s bowl off with cricket. The T20 Internationals against the Aussies start on Friday in St Lucia and not knowing the result, West Indies fans will be hoping for the best. Saturday is game two and perhaps thankfully for the home team, the Australian squad is not as strong as it could have been with their two main batsmen, David Warner and Steve Smith, opting out of the tour.
Their batting is definitely going to be the weak part of their game but the Aussies are fighters and some of the fringe players will be looking for permanent places on the Australian squad, especially knowing that both Warner and Smith will return for the T20 World Cup to be played in October. They have a number of all rounders in their squad but the main bowling trio of Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Adam Zampa will certainly cause enough problems for the West Indies batting line up.
The West Indies selectors have opted for the same squad that was beaten by a far more determined and better prepared South African team. It really baffles me. For example, I have nothing personal against Chris Gayle or Fidel Edwards as they are both fantastic cricketers and can possibly energise a great team spirit within the dressing room. However, let’s face facts - Gayle is 41 and Edwards is 39. Is it a final farewell for them?
In the meantime, West Indies is suffering because the team does not have someone to bat at number three and either consolidate the loss of an early wicket or up the run rate following a good start. Why has Darren Bravo dropped off the radar? Gayle may very well score big runs against Australia and I would be the first to raise my glass to him, but whether he scores runs or not is immaterial. Are there really no younger players to give the opportunity to other than Gayle and Edwards?
On paper, just as it was against South Africa, this West Indies team seems slightly better than Australia but one wonders whether the visitors will play with the same mindset as the Proteas. If this proves to be the case, it will certainly be a difficult series yet again for Pollard’s men.
On the other hand, West Indies women are doing exceedingly well against their Pakistan counterparts. Having won the T20 internationals, on Friday is the second of their ODIs and skipper Stafanie Taylor is leading from the front with her brilliant all-round performance in the first ODI. She continues to be the rock on which West Indies women cricket thrives and one really hopes that when she departs, the coaches would have already identified a worthy successor to this loyal and dedicated servant to the women’s game.
To the beautiful game and T&T have made it into the main draw of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Having completely outplayed Montserrat, it was a different victory only achieved from kicks from the penalty mark against French Guiana. I thought T&T looked slightly lethargic against their French opponents and coupled with some injuries, in the end, the positive attitude of the Soca Warriors brought them through a difficult game.
Admittedly, T&T looked a far different team from the one that played in the World Cup qualifiers. They seem more together as a unit, are trying to keep possession of the ball and are consistently coming forward in numbers. My one concern is T&T’s central defenders. They appear to be ball watching and not picking up the diagonal runs of the opposing attackers. The goal from French Guiana came from a defensive header which was sent right to the feet of an opposing forward. Rather than clear with height, the cardinal rule for a defender is to get distance and if you can't get distance, get height so if the ball is going to an opposing player, enough time would elapse for a teammate to put in a tackle.
T&T is in Group A which is very tough. They play Mexico Saturday night at 10 pm. At 7.30pm on July 14 vs El Salvador and the final group game at 10 pm on July 18 against Curacao who are coached by Guus Hiddink with former Dutch striker Patrick Kluivert as his assistant. I just can't see the Soca Warriors moving on to the next round but I am certain that local fans will be hopeful for a determined performance full of heart and a never say die attitude. After all, that is all that can really be asked of a national team.
Tomorrow, before the Mexico encounter, is the Copa America final at 8 pm and the dream matchup between Brazil and Argentina. Neymar vs Messi and what a game it is poised to be. When these two countries meet in a football match, it truly feels like an impending war. Many Trinis support Brazil and the way they have been playing in the tournament, they will start as favourites but who can discount a team with the maestro Lionel Messi in their line up? Both countries have outstanding goalkeepers and I expect them both to have a very busy night as it will be attacking football at its very best.
The Euro 2020 final between Italy and England will kick off on Sunday at 3 pm. No France, no Belgium, no Germany, no Spain and no Portugal. One has to admit that Italy has taken the tournament by storm. From game one, they were tight at the back as one would expect with Italian teams and when they broke, they had the pace and precision of passes to upset the best defences. Spain outplayed them in the semi-finals but the Italians' perseverance shone through.
What can one say about England? They arguably have the best domestic league in world football but they have waited 55 years to be in a major final and their manager Gareth Southgate has been heavily criticised for selecting a defensive line up. It has worked for him and with 64,000 fans at Wembley cheering on the English for the final who knows, they may repeat their 1966 World cup triumph and the burning question will be answered on Sunday - is it coming home?
Tennis fans will have their fill with the ladies singles final at Wimbledon on Saturday and the men's final on Sunday. The epic battle for the NBA finals between the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks resumed Thursday with the Suns one game up. Dear me! What a scintillating weekend of sport lies ahead of us!
Editor’s note: The views expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views of any organisation of which he is a stakeholder.