CARIBBEAN TODAY


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LAUDERHILL, Florida A
West Indies All-Stars team,
comprising several former Test
players, marched to a 37-run
victory over Canada All-Stars
to win the MAQ Twenty20
championship last month.
 After winning the toss and
choosing to bat first, the West
Indies scored 128 runs in their
allotted 20 overs, and Canada
could only reach 91 all out in
18.5 overs when they replied
at Central Broward Regional
Park here.
 The Windies All-Stars
included Richie Richardson, a


former West Indies captain,
Philo Wallace, Franklyn Rose,
Stuart Williams and Courtney
Browne.
 About 600 fans attended
the championship match, many
cheering for the Caribbean
team that was a crowd favorite
all Memorial weekend.
 The West Indies All Stars
won all three matches in the
weekend tournament, which
also included a World XI and
Pakistan All Stars teams.
 "It's exciting," said
Richardson, the West Indies
All-Stars captain.


SPORT


Windies stumble late, lose cricket Test to Australia


 GORDON WILLIAMS

KINGSTON, Jamaica A dis-
appointing batting display by
the West Indies on the final
day of a captivating match
handed Australia an impres-
sive victory to open the three-
Test cricket series between the
two long-time rivals in the
Caribbean which began late
last month.
 Asked to make 287 runs
to win with one full session
and the entire fifth day in glo-
rious weather the home side,
enthusiastic and competitive
throughout the first four days,
crumbled to 191 all out to lose
by 95.
 Only Denesh Ramdin,
Darren Sammy, Devon Smith
and Daren Powell offered any
second innings resistance, and
what was headed for a cliff-
hanger finish fizzled into a
huge anti-climax, although the
players appeared satisfied
with the spirit of the contest.
 "I think anyone who
played in this game certainly
enjoyed the atmosphere,"
Australian captain Ricky
Ponting said.
 The match was filled with
pulsating intrigue from the
first day. Australia, the top
team in the world, won the
toss and elected to bat at
bright, warm Sabina Park
here, but in front of a disap-
pointing crowd considering
the traditional rivalry and the
recent improvement shown by
the eight-ranked West Indies.

'TIGER'S' TURN
 The visitors got off to a
wobbly start at 37 runs for two
wickets on an uneven pitch,
but then asserted lh L mIlNL '
to take control. Ponting top
scored with a century, while
pace bowler Fidel Edwards
grabbed five wickets, as
Australia finished at 431 all
out on the second day.
The West Indies started its
response solidly. Openers


Brenton Parchment and Smith
added 47. Runako Morton
chipped in with 67 and
Dwayne Bravo 46. But it was
senior batsman Shivnarine
Chanderpaul who once again
proved to be the backbone of
the West Indies batting. The
little Guyanese they call
"Tiger" ticked off his 18th
Test century to lead his team's
fight back. Chanderpaul,
despite suffering a crashing
blow to the head that numbed
his body after he ducked into
a short ball from pacer Brett
Lee, scored 118 runs to push
the home team to 312 all out.


Chanderpaul's heroics could not save
the Windies against Australia.

 The West Indies began
its second stint in the field
brilliantly. The mighty
Australians were buckled by
the Edwards-Powell one-two
late evening punch and ended
with 17 for four, 136 runs
ahead with six wickets stand-
ing. The crowd, sensing a
home team fight-back, broke
into song "Rally 'Round The
West IndiL, as the match
swung towards an exciting cli-
max.
 "It has been an eventful
day," West Indies coach John
Dyson said after day three.

PRESSURE MOUNTS
 The Caribbean team piled
on more pressure, Powell tak-
ing an early wicket to leave
Australia at 18 for 5, its lowest


start in decades, barely 10
minutes into day four. But the
visitors gradually pulled them-
selves back into the contest
and finished their second
innings at 167 all out. But
after putting just 22 on the
board, Parchment edged man-
of-the-match Stuart Clark to
the wicketkeeper to add to the
mounting drama. When bad
light forced the players off at
46 for one on day four, the
West Indies still needed 241 to
win with nine wickets stand-
ing. Bravo, who took four
wickets in Australia's second
innings, sounded positive his
team could pull it off.
 "We are in a position of
strength," he said.
 Yet a dramatic start to the
final day sent the West Indies
spiraling towards defeat. The
home team lost five wickets
before lunch and stumbled to
82 for 6. Late resistance by
Sammy, Ramdin and Powell
brought respectability to the
total, but a golden chance to
lead the Test series had
already slipped away.

Final scores: Australia 431
(Ricky Ponting 158, Andrew
Symonds 70 not out; Fidel
Edwards five wickets for 104
runs) and 167 (Symonds 79;
Dwayne Bravo four for 47,
Edwards three for 40).
West Indies 312 (Shivnarine
Chanderpaul 118; Brett Lee
three for 63, Stuart Clark
three for 59) and 191 (Ramdin
36, Sammy 35, Devon Smith
28 and Daren Powell 27;
Clark five for 32).

REMAINING SCHEDULE
BETWEEN THE TWO
TEAMS: Second Test May
30-June 3, Antigua; Third Test
- June 12-16, Barbados; plus
one 20/20 on June 20; and five
one-day internationals June
24, St. Vincent; June 27 and
29, Grenada; and July 4 and 6
in St. Kitts.
0


 "Even though I've been
retired from the international
game for a long time, I feel a
little bit of buzz," added the
46-year-old, who captained
West Indies from 1991 to 1996.
 In the West Indies total,
Browne top-scored with 48,
while Stuart Williams (13),
Philo Wallace (13) and
Richardson (11) also got to dou-
ble figures.
 Geoff Barnett (28) and
Sanjay Thuraisingham (25)
were Canada's chief scorers in
their failed run chase.
0


 GORDON WILLIAMS

PHILADELPHIA,
Pennsylvania It's clear,
Aaron Ross is drawn to speed.
From pee wee league, through
high school, college and even
now in his job, as a profession-
al American football player,
Ross is about matching strides
with the game's fastest.
 But successfully chasing
Jamaican-born track star
Sanya Richards, for what
eventually should be her hand
in marriage, was a different
ballgame than scurrying after
wide receivers. Ross was sim-
ply unaware of what he was
getting into when he first saw
Richards at a track meet in his
home state of Texas a few
years ago.
 "To tell you the truth I
didn't know she was a
Jamaican until later on in our
relationship," said the rookie
defensive back for the Super
Bowl champions New York
Giants of the National
Football League (NFL)
recently at the Penn Relays,
which he attended here to be
with his fiancee as she com-
peted for the United States.
 Now that he does, he has
some catching up to do and
Ross, even his ladylove
agrees, is not doing badly so
far. The Texan and the
Jamaican appears a game-win-
ning combo.
 "She's been a joy in my
life ever since I met her," Ross
said of Richards, "so it's been
great."

CARIBBEAN ROOTS
 An early encounter with
her parents enlightened him
about Richards's Caribbean
background.
 "I had a chance to meet
her father (former Jamaican
soccer player Archie
Richards) and I heard his
accent; her mother's and all
that," he said.
 Now he's learning to work
himself into the Jamaican cul-
ture. A key approach, Ross
explained, is simply listening
and absorbing the nuances.
But his best strategy to inte-
grate, he said, is to lean on his
own upbringing, where cour-
tesy always worked.
 "Just a smile," he said, as
both he and Sanya burst out
laughing. "I'm a Texas gentle-
man."
 The two met as students
at the University of Texas
where Richards ran track for
the Longhorns and Ross
played football. Ross was a
productive first round draft
pick of the Giants in 2007 and
is set to earn millions of dol-
lars as a pro. Richards has
already bagged huge sums on


the international track circuit.
They are both financially
secure and may get married in
2010.
 With Richards as his side,
Ross said he is getting com-
fortable with the Jamaican
culture. Sanya's family has
made his assimilation smooth
as well. And all he has to do
is, well, show up.
 "Just being myself," he
said, explaining his game plan.
"I'm around them all the time,
with the family. So everything
is good."
 That carries some bene-
fits. Ross now claims to love
Jamaica's reggae music.
Crooner Beres Hammond is
his favorite. But mealtime at
the Richards home has some
perks too.
 "I'm loving the food," he
said.

FORTUNE
 Sanya is happy too.
 "I feel very fortunate,"
said the 23-year-old Richards,
who moved from Jamaica at
age 12 and chose to run for
the U.S. "because they've
given me so much."
 Despite struggling last
season, where she was slowed
by illness and failed to make
the U.S. team to the 2007
World Championships (W.C.)
in her pet event the 400
meters, Richards still consid-
ers the past year a success.
She earned a gold medal in
the W.C. 4x400 meters relay
and in February attended the
Super Bowl to root for her
man and share his triumph.
 "My fiance had the best
year of his life," she said.
"...So I feel definitely fortu-
nate. I'm very happy and my
personal life has gone great."
 Yet when she was at her
lowest point, Ross stepped up.
It was a time for him to slow
to Sanya's pace and be sup-
portive.
 "Absolutely. I mean, it was
exciting to come off my season
and come straight into his and
see him," she said of
:, 11" i 1 is. "As soon as I got
back to the States he became
the starting cornerback and
then it was just success, suc-
cess. So it was good and it defi-
nitely kept me in good spirits."
 She is eyeing a 400-meters
gold medal at this summer's
Olympic Games in China. But
Ross's NFL commitments
could prevent him from
attending. It shouldn't matter
much. There will be time for
him to catch up. After all, he
can't let her get away.

Gordon Williams is Caribbean
Today's managing editor.
0


Caribbean-born runner matches

strides with American grid star


Team of ex-Windies stars wins


20/20 cricket tourney in Florida


June 2008