Aspiring Cricketer Killed in Trinidad

Adrian St Jihn

An aspiring British cricketer has died after reportedly being shot in a robbery in Trinidad,  Adrian St John, 22, from London, is understood to have died on Sunday.

West Indies cricketer Chris Gayle, who runs a cricket academy, tweeted: "Such sad news to hear. My condolences to his family & friends. Adrian St John was the captain of the academy. #Sigh."

The Foreign Office said it was in contact with authorities in Trinidad following the death of a UK national.

Local media reports suggest Mr St John was attacked after he had stopped his car to pick up two friends, and was shot as he drove away after they had been robbed.

Donovan Miller, programme manager for the Chris Gayle Foundation, said: "I'm really finding it hard to come to terms with it, how someone could do something like that to such a lovely person."

He said Mr St John was one of the first members of the Chris Gayle Academy in London, adding: "He wanted me to support him to go to the Caribbean and to kind of push hard with his cricket."

Friends have taken to Twitter to pay tribute to Mr St John.

"In utter shock to hear that one of my good friends Adrian has passed away. One of the funniest and nicest people," Tommy Smith tweeted.

"Tragic news. A lovely lad and a talented cricketer. Thoughts are with his family and friends. RIP Adrian St John," tweeted Surrey-based Southern Railway, Kenley and Selsdon Cricket Club.

Alleyn Cricket Club, based in south London, tweeted: "Adrian St John, who played for us 85 times from 2009 to 2014, has been murdered in Trinidad. We're devastated."

"Saddened by the news of the death of one of our Alumni, Adrian St John. Our prayers are with his family. RIP Adrian," the University of Hertfordshire men's cricket team tweeted.

The Chris Gayle Foundation aims to "improve access to good-quality education, training and employment for at-risk young people in Jamaica and the UK".

The cricket academies it runs offer young people a chance to play matches "as a focus for the development of their communication skills, teamwork and collective pride in their achievements".

#RIP

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Whole World Had Come Down - Stokes

Ben Stokes

Ben Stokes has spoken for the first time since England’s defeat in the World Twenty20 final, saying he felt “the whole world had come down on me”.

The England all-rounder had been charged with ensuring West Indies could not recover the 19 runs needed in the final over to take the T20 trophy. Instead he was hit for four consecutive sixes by Carlos Brathwaite and was taunted afterwards by the man of the match Marlon Samuels for bowling full tosses. “He doesn’t learn,” the batsman said.

Stokes recalled the moment vividly in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, saying: “I thought, ‘I’ve just lost the World Cup’. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know what to do. It took me so long to get back on my feet. I didn’t want to get back up. It was like the whole world had come down on me. There weren’t any good things going through my mind. It was just complete devastation,” he said.

“For about 40 minutes at the end of the game I knew I just had to deal with it. I had to come back out on the field, collect my medal and listen to all the speeches. I knew the cameras would be all over me to see how I was. Obviously I was gutted but I did not want to show that. I wanted to keep my head up.

Although his captain Eoin Morgan was quick to offer his support there were unwanted repercussions this week when Stokes’s mother Deborah, who lives in New Zealand, phoned the Radio Hauraki show to defend her son after the hosts criticised his performance. Her complaint was broadcast live on air without her permission. The two hosts were suspended.

Stokes recalled the denouement. “After the first six I thought ‘Oh God’ but I was backing myself. I had been in that type of situation for four weeks in all my training so it was not a case of holding anything back and thinking I hope I get this one in, because I knew I could do it,” he said.

“It was not until they needed one off three that I knew the game was gone. When they needed seven I was still backing myself to get us over the line but I just couldn’t. It was amazing hitting. I just did not execute what I wanted to do.”

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Younis Follows Afridi After Pakistan Failure

Younis steps down 

Waqar Younis has resigned as the Pakistan coach following his side’s disappointing performances in the World Twenty20 in India and the Asia Cup in Bangladesh.

Waqar is the latest to step down from his role with the country following the captain Shahid Afridi’s resignation as the T20 captain. The Pakistan team manager, Intikhab Alam, had called Afridi “absolutely clueless in terms of on-field tactics and off-field leadership” in a report.

Waqar had offered to step down last Tuesday, saying he would “literally put [his] hands together and beg for forgiveness”. He has now ended his second term as the Pakistan coach, after being appointed in 2014 following another stint in charge between 2010 and 2011.

Pakistan won only three of the eight games they played at the World Twenty20 and the Asia Cup and Waqar wrote a highly critical report of how the team was performing which was leaked. In it, he attacked the PCB for not allowing him input on squad selection and he was also disparaging as to Afridi’s captaincy.

“I am resigning from my post today with a heavy heart,” said Waqar, before referring to his report. “I want my recommendations to be implemented. They were not acted on when I first made them in 2015.”

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Brathwaite Halts England T20 Hopes

Carlos Braithwaite and Chris Gayle, West Indies, World Twet20 Final
Getty Images

West Indies won a tense World T20 final in spectacular style, when Carlos Brathwaite hit the first four balls of the final over for four sixes, making a mockery of what looked a stiff task of 19 off six Ben Stokes deliveries. 

West Indies finished on 161 for six.

England had posted 155 for nine as Joe Root led the way with a classy half-century. When Darren Sammy won his 10th straight toss he was quick to send England in and promptly saw them lose three quick cheap wickets in the first five overs. But Root’s 54 in 36 balls gave the innings some backbone, with Jos Buttler (36) and David Willey (21) chipping in as wickets tumbled regularly in Kolkata.

When West Indies batted, they quickly slipped to 11 for three, with Chris Gayle making only four. But Marlon Samuels was reprieved after being given out with the score on 37 and finished with 85 off 66 balls. 

Then came Brathwaite’s fireworks.

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Warne Questions Australia Selections

Shane Warne has questioned the wisdom of some of Australia’s selections – which, he says, contributed to their early elimination from the World Twenty20. 

Defeats by New Zealand and India led to them being knocked out in the group stage for the second competition in a row.

Although Warne, cricket’s second-highest Test wicket-taker with 708, admits Australia were not good enough, he thinks they created a major problem by ditching the long-standing David Warner-Aaron Finch partnership at the top of the batting order. 

Shane Watson and Usman Khawaja were preferred to open as Warner floated in the middle order while Finch, one of only two Australia batsman to score a T20 international hundred, played only the final two matches.

Warne acknowledges Khawaja, who scored two centuries in four matches in the Big Bash League, should have been a certain starter but not as opener.

He said: “First of all, our selection was wrong. I don’t think we got that right, we messed around with it too much rather than sticking with what’s been a proven formula and we probably didn’t play well enough, which is the brutal truth.

“I know Khawaja was in unbelievable form and had to play but I would have batted him at No3. I don’t think they should have broken up Finch and Warner and I think it upset the balance of the team. Those two guys had been batting together for a long time, they have done well in Twenty20, they’ve done well in one-day cricket, and suddenly they got spilt up.

"And I just would never, ever have left Aaron Finch out. Even if he missed out in a few games, I think that Finch-Warner partnership is an intimidatory factor before a ball is bowled and people would have worried about Finch and Warner. It’s not to say they didn’t worry about Khawaja, but I just think the other two are more destructive.”

Warne also criticised the decision to leave the seamer John Hastings out of the must-win game against India in favour of Josh Hazlewood. He added: “Hazlewood is a beautiful Test bowler, and it’s not that he can’t bowl in these forms of the game, but I just think Hastings is a better option in a Twenty20 game because of his yorkers – we saw him in the Big Bash bowl his yorkers, he’s just about the best we have. We were one-dimensional by not playing Hastings all the time. I just think because we had so much talent in our team and so much skill, they [the selectors] thought: ‘It doesn’t matter what the combinations are we’re still going to do OK.’ But it wasn’t to be.”

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South Africa Win Sri Lankan Dead Rubber

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Hashim Amla hit an unbeaten 56 as South Africa closed the Super 10 stage of the World Twenty20 with an eight-wicket win against Sri Lanka in Delhi.

A dead rubber between two eliminated sides was never likely to produce spectacular cricket but South Africa were comfortable victors at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium. They took all 10 Sri Lankan wickets for 120, with the 39-year-old Tillakaratne Dilshan top-scoring with 36, before Amla broke the back of a gentle chase.

The only two wickets to fall were down to good fortune, Quinton de Kock dawdling towards his crease as he was run out for nine and Faf du Plessis given out lbw to a rotten decision. Amla would not be moved, though, dropping anchor for 52 balls and hitting five fours and a six.

AB de Villiers (20), whose presence attracted many of the 16,000 fans who attended, ended things with a six off Suranga Lakmal.

A win here will be cold comfort for South Africa, whose fabled under-performance at global events has gained another chapter, while their opponents look to have a long rebuilding phase ahead.

Sri Lanka were missing their captain, Angelo Mathews, who injured a hamstring during his brilliant one-man stand against England, but began their innings well with a bright opening stand of 45.

The left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso broke that up by bowling Dinesh Chandimal through the gate and then cleaned up Lahiru Thirimanne with his next delivery.

Dilshan put on another 30 with Milinda Siriwardana before the latter was carelessly run out and that represented the best Sri Lanka could muster.

By the time Farhaan Behardien had Dilshan lbw on the sweep the innings had lost its spine. Sri Lanka’s next five wickets fell for 35, with the last man, Lakmal, run out with three balls left to bowl.

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England Naivety Could be Good - Eoin Morgan

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Eoin Morgan believes that a touch of “naivety” could prove to be a good thing for England’s World Twenty20 prospects in India.

Morgan, the England captain, is the most experienced short-form campaigner in a group still in its infancy, having been put together following a post-World Cup clear-out by the incoming head coach Trevor Bayliss last summer.

Twelve of the 15-man squad have fewer than 15 caps in the format and while Morgan is an old hand in Indian conditions due to his Indian Premier League experience, several of his squad have yet to play in the country.

Indeed for some, their arrival on Tuesday in Mumbai represented their first time on Indian soil. While that could be seen as a handicap, Morgan is choosing to look on the bright side and insists his youthful team will not be held back.

“It’s a different challenge. Not only have a lot of our guys never played in the IPL, a lot of our guys have never been to India before,” he said. “But I think sometimes having that experience – particularly in India where a lot of teams come here, including us, and get hammered – can almost scar your perceptions and [affect your] play in the tournament.

“Having a little bit of naivety along with a huge amount of talent isn’t a bad thing.”

England’s limited-overs side have been comprehensively rebooted since the dreadful showing at the World Cup last year, with just six survivors from that tournament on duty this time.

There have been some impressive displays since the new-look side were put together, particularly in the 50-over format, though five consecutive defeats to end the recent white-ball tour of South Africa have tempered enthusiasm.

“I’m reasonably confident about things, Morgan said. “Before the South Africa series we had a really good run of things; we’ve seen in the group we have a lot of talent and a lot of match-winners.

“It didn’t necessarily happen in South Africa and one of the things after that trip that we talked about was, ‘Are we still playing in the right way? Are we being beaten in the right manner, doing the things we said we’d do?’ And I think we are. The attitude in the group is still of a really positive mindset and that’s very important coming into this tournament.

“I would say we’re the most expressive we’ve been for a long time. We’ve a lot of talent and we encourage our players to go out and be as brash and aggressive as they can and take the game to the opposition.”

Morgan was speaking on the anniversary of his side’s defeat against Bangladesh in Adelaide, a result that confirmed their group-stage exit from the World Cup and represented a new nadir of the Peter Moores era.

The Dubliner, 29, made a duck that day and admits the disappointments of his first major tournament as captain continue to drive him. “It will always be there, that World Cup,” he said. “Going through such a significant loss and such a down period in your career really does make you enjoy any success you have down the line.

“It’s been quite a significant factor in the turnaround we’ve had, the different attitudes, the different group of players and to a certain extent the results we’ve had. Not necessarily just that day against Bangladesh, but as a whole trip. It was a huge learning curve for me, particularly as a captain.”

England, who are in Group One alongside Sri Lanka, South Africa and the West Indies, face New Zealand in a warm‑up fixture at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday.

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Sammy Seeks Better WIndies Player Deal

West Indies players will be thrown off the squad for the World Twenty20 if they do not agree to financial terms by Sunday’s deadline, according to the head of the region’s cricket board.

The hard-line stance comes in the wake of reports that the 15-man squad, upset at a huge pay cut, has rejected the contract offered by West Indies Cricket Board.

Cricinfo on Tuesday published a letter from Darren Sammy to the WICB in which the West Indies captain said the financial terms for the World Twenty20, which starts in India on 8 March, were unacceptable.

“We want to represent the West Indies but the financials on offer we can’t accept,” Sammy wrote.

WICB chief executive Michael Muirhead did not sound in a negotiating mood, however, when he spoke on Jamaican radio. “The WICB is committed to play in the tournament, let me say that first,” Muirhead said on Hitz 92fm.

“No one will leave the shores of the West Indies without signing a contract and if these players in particular choose not to sign, then I guess we’ll be left with no option but to substitute other players for them.”

Muirhead added that the board was not in a position to improve the remuneration package, negotiated with the players association nine months ago.

“They have had lots of time to digest and argue and do everything,” he said. “Five of the players were instrumental and were there at the onset, so at this point, I’m hoping that the players will sign and take advantage of the other benefits that are there.”

He said that players would receive half of any shirt sponsorship the board negotiates in addition to a portion of prize money.

Although West Indies cricket has fallen on hard times in the test format, it remains a major player in the shortest form of the game. West Indies won the 2012 World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka and are currently ranked second in the world. This year’s squad includes dashing batsmen Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard.

Sammy, who requested an urgent meeting before Sunday’s deadline, has proposed the players participate in the World Twenty20 under the same conditions as at previous tournaments.

He said players were facing a pay cut of nearly 80% and stood to earn only $21,000 apiece this year, compared to $135,000 at the last tournament.

The latest impasse between WICB and the players comes some 18 months after the premature end of West Indies’ tour of India because of a longstanding payment dispute.

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Rankin Returns to Ireland Twenty20

Boyd Rankin and Tim Murtagh will lead the attack for Ireland at next month’s World Twenty20 after both were named in an experienced 15-man squad.

The paceman Rankin recently switched his allegiance back to Ireland after representing England since August 2012 and took six wickets in an ICC Intercontinental Cup win over Papua New Guinea last month.

Murtagh has reversed last May’s decision to retire from the shortest format of the game at international level and will be back on the biggest stage after missing last year’s World Cup with a foot injury.

William Porterfield will lead the side and he is one of five players playing in their fifth World Twenty20, alongside Kevin and Niall O’Brien, Paul Stirling and Gary Wilson.

“We are really looking forward to this World Cup, particularly with the return of Boyd Rankin,” said the Ireland chairman of selectors, Alan Lewis. “He gives our attack so much more balance and potency.

“As such a consistent performer, I am also delighted to see Tim Murtagh in the squad for an event like this, particularly as he missed the 2015 World Cup is such disappointing circumstances.

“These are the events that players want to excel in so hopefully with the lead time involved and the energy the team always shows, we can emerge out on top of the group in the first phase.”

Ireland will face Holland, Oman and Bangladesh in the group stage in India, with the winners advancing to the Super 10.

“Everyone has been given a real boost by the return of Boyd Rankin and Tim Murtagh’s rethink on retirement in this format,” said the head coach, John Bracewell.

“Porty [Porterfield] has plenty of options with the ball as so many of the squad are genuine all-rounders.

“It’s another great chance for the squad to showcase Irish cricket to a global audience and the guys are determined to prove they belong at the top level of the sport.”

Ireland squad for World Twenty20: William Porterfield (capt), Andrew Balbirnie, George Dockrell, Andy McBrine, Tim Murtagh, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Andrew Poynter, Stuart Poynter, Boyd Rankin, Max Sorensen, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Gary Wilson, Craig Young.

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