Latest update May 13th, 2024 12:59 AM
Aug 22, 2010 Sports
All-rounder ready for Guyana’s Campaign in S/Africa
By Sean Devers
It has been a wonderful year so far for the versatile Lennox Cush and the Guyanese all-rounder is hoping that his success continues next month when he aims to help Guyana create one of the biggest cricketing upsets by winning the Champions League 20/20 cricket title in South Africa.
While the other 14 Guyana players preparing for the South Africa trip are training hard in Guyana, Cush was busy spearheading his adopted country USA to the ICC World Cricket League (WCL) Division 4 title in Italy with a magnificent century yesterday in the Final against the home team.
USA have now qualified for the Division 3 competition next year in Hong Kong as they move closer to qualifying for the 2015 World Cup and the USA players will now have a break as they return to the ‘States’ today.
But not so for the 35-year-old Cush who first represented USA in 2006 after scoring 2 hundreds and 2 fifties for Guyana in 38 First-Class matches.
Cush, who took a hat-trick against CCC in Barbados in this year’s Caribbean 20/20 Championships to follow up a similar feat against Jamaica in the Stanford 20/20 tournament in Antigua in 2008, will now return to Guyana on Wednesday in time for the two practice matches against Trinidad and Tobago at the Providence Stadium on Saturday and Sunday.
Cush, who opened the batting, smashed 14 fours and 4 sixes in a murderous 101 from just 57 balls before Guyanese-born USA Skipper Steve Massiah (28*) saw the North Americans to an emphatic 8-wicket win as they finished on 188-2 in 21.4 overs replying to Italy’s 185-9 in 50 overs.
Cush played a crucial role opening the bowling with his off-spin as Guyana won the Caribbean 20/20 Championship to qualify for South Africa and although he had a rare expensive spell in the Final, he will be a key player in Guyana’s four first round Champion League games starting with their tough clash against Royal Challengers Bangalore on September 12.
Cush’s form with the bat also gives the Guyanese options since if the openers struggled in the first couple of games on the hard bouncy tracks in South Africa, Cush could also be asked to open.
Like T&T were in last year’s Champions League in India, Guyana start as underdogs but the disparity among teams in 20/20 cricket is not as huge as in other formats and like T&T showed by playing unbeaten until they lost to New South Wales in the final, Guyana’s chances are as good any other team.
“Once we play with the togetherness we had in the Caribbean Championships and everyone pulls their weight I know we can surprise a lot of people. Playing in this competition for the USA has given me important high-level match practice and I am looking forward to returning home. Let the guys know I miss them and I can’t wait to be back,” Cush told Kaieteur Sport yesterday after the USA victory.
Cush is scheduled to arrive home on Wednesday after passing through New York to pick up his Visa and says he happy to have played a Man-of-the-Match role in the final to help USA win the title. He added that he is now fully focused on giving his best for Guyana.
“It was a real happy feeling today for us (USA team) and I am glad I contributed with a century. I want to thank the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) for allowing me to show some loyalty for the USA team. Guyana is my homeland and I love playing for my country. I hope to play my part in motivating especially the younger guys to come out against some of the big name players we will face in South Africa and believe in ourselves as we work towards keeping the Golden Arrow Head flying proudly,” Cush said.
The Malteenoes player said the standard of competition in Italy was high and says that former Guyana pacer, 38-year-old Kevin Darlington who took 2-27 from his 10 overs in yesterday’s Final also played a big part in the USA win.
“This has been a good tournament for the USA and excellent preparation for me also since the competition in South Africa should be much higher than in the Caribbean Championships. We have players like Ronnie
(Ramnaresh Sarwan), Travis (Dowlin), Chattergoon (Sewnarine) and Narsingh (Deonarine) who have all played at the highest level. Plus we can’t forget the other guys and youngsters like (Davendra) Bishoo and Foo (Jonathon) who is capable of being another Pollard. Boy I am so looking forward to this (S/A trip) and I really believe we can make the entire West Indies proud,” Cush said before rushing off to a team meeting last evening.
USA Skipper Massiah, who was Guyana’s outstanding player in the first ever Regional under-19 One-Day competition in 1998 in Trinidad said he was elated with the win and was confident that USA could go on to qualify for the 2015 World Cup.USA last played in a global International cricket tournament in 2004 when the West Indies won their last multi-nation competition by winning the Champions Trophy in England that year and Massiah, a former team mate of Dowlin at DCC, says yesterday’s win should do a lot for the game in a country whose main sports are Baseball and Basketball. “Cush played a splendid innings today and I hope he continues his fine form as Guyana head to South Africa. I urge the Guyana team to stay focused and play hard to know that Guyanese all over the world and especially in the United States will fully behind them in the Champions League tournament,” Massiah, who played under Sarwan’s captaincy in 1998, said.
WIPA rejects ICC/FICA intervention; prefers arbitration
St John’s, Antigua – In a release, the West Indies Cricket Board has stated that it has noticed comments emanating from the West Indies Players Association that “the WICB instead prefers to expend large sums of money in pursuing arbitration.”
The WICB finds this comment strange and disingenuous, particularly in light of recent events.
The WICB can confirm that it was approached to sanction an attempt by the global governing body for cricket – the International Cricket Council – who, in conjunction with the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) would assist in the ongoing dispute between WICB and WIPA.
The ICC/FICA’s offer was to specifically facilitate a final resolution to the matter of image rights which is presently the subject of arbitration. It was clear that the arbitration was not progressing smoothly and that the relationship between WIPA and WICB remained strained on that matter.
The WICB was enthused by this offer and agreed, in full, to the joint ICC and FICA offer to intervene.
WIPA, when contacted by both FICA – its parent body – and the then ICC President David Morgan, refused to agree to the assistance of the two parent bodies. WIPA expressly stated that it prefers to pursue arbitration.
Therefore the WICB finds it shocking that after it agreed to avoid arbitration and WIPA refused the collaborative intervention and assistance of ICC and FICA and insisted on pursuing arbitration that WIPA can accuse the WICB of preferring the route of arbitration.
The WICB calls on WIPA to review its rejection of the joint ICC/FICA offer which is a golden opportunity for the two parties to reach final resolution after years of acrimonious relations.
Further the WICB calls on WIPA to join in acting in the best interest of the game in the West Indies by dealing with the issues in a fair and balanced manner and to avoid an insistence on an antagonistic and confrontational approach to resolving the outstanding issues.
Should WIPA insist on maintaining its rejection of the joint ICC/FICA offer the WICB will be left with no choice but to leave the public to judge – on the basis of the facts – and to determine which party actually prefers “to expend large sums of money in pursuing arbitration.”
20/20 cricket stars commit to monetary donation to the club of their birth
Only recently Christopher Barnwell and Travis Dowlin were mere tots honing their cricketing skills at the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC). Inadequate funding is a crucial bugbear and these cricket stalwarts would have obviously been bogged down by such setbacks.
Like so many of their contemporary colleagues these cricketers would have dispatched letters to the corporate community beseeching its help to offset their training programmes. Such help coupled with that of the executive of their club would have acted as the catalyst to the success of the aforementioned players.
The situation has taken a dramatic twist following the intervention of embattled billionaire Allen Sanford who poured millions of dollars into a Caribbean 20/20 cricket tournament in 2006. Guyana won the inaugural tournament after Narsingh Deonarine struck the winning six in the match against Trinidad and Tobago. Dowlin was a part of the squad that became instant millionaires.
Just recently, the Guyanese cricketers repeated the feat after defeating Barbados to once again claim the glory. Earlier in that tournament, they had dished out a similar drubbing to their nemesis, Trinidad and Tobago. The victory earned the local cricketers the accolade of Caribbean 20/20 champions plus the right to represent the region in the upcoming Champions League 20/20 tournament in South Africa next month.
Barnwell would have joined this elite squad in the 2008 series when he was a part of the team that contested for similar honours. The local team was ousted by the Jamaicans who went on to lose to Trinidad and Tobago. However, the flamboyant batsman was a member of the victorious team and is preparing ardently for national duties.
Friday afternoon, the two batsmen returned to their roots to support the young cricketers who now are in a similar position of need. The occasion was the closing ceremony of the DCC Summer Camp where several potential cricketers, under the tutelage of Gavin Nedd, were tutored on the intricacies of the sport.
Both principals offered consoling and encouraging words to the youngsters and Barnwell even donated a bat to Tevin Imlach as encouragement for his proficient performance during the sessions.
It was following this presentation that the two cricketers made an all important commitment to the President and members of the DCC. They have been so grateful for the benefits derived from their membership of the DCC that they decided to not only say thanks but to do so in the most tangible of ways.
Each of the cricketing stalwarts have committed to donate a minimum of half a million dollars to the club that molded them into the product they are today. This commitment came after President of the DCC; Alfred Mentore intimated plans to construct a concrete surfaced area to facilitate practice sessions when it rained. The two cricketers willingly obliged to part with the above mentioned sum after they return to these shores. The promise would also serve as the impetus to go on and win the Champion’s league title.
SEALED DEAL: President of the DCC, Alfred Mentore accepts the envelope containing the signed commitment of the CLT 20/20 league duo Chris Barnwell and Travis Dowlin. Others in photo from left are Coach Gavin Nedd, Club executive Terry Cadogan, Trevon Griffith and Vice President Patrick Hardin.
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