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Key knocks from Taylor, Matthews, and Campbelle as West Indies clinch T20 series win over Sri Lanka Jun 29, 2024 Sports Hayley Matthews top scored with 49. SportsMax – The West Indies Women clinched a six-wicket victory in the third T20 International against Sri Lanka Women, securing a come-from-behind 2-1 series win in Hambantota yesterday. The top three of Stafanie Taylor, Hayley Matthews, and Shemaine Campbelle were instrumental in this triumphant end to a challenging tour. Chasing a target of 142, the West Indies reached 142 for 4 with just one ball to spare, but the margin of victory belies the control they exuded throughout the chase. Campbelle remained unbeaten at the end, scoring a crucial 30-ball 41, guiding the visitors home. The innings began with Taylor and Matthews putting on a 60-run opening stand in just 48 deliveries. Their partnership set the foundation for the chase, with Matthews then pairing up with Campbelle for a 44-ball 51-run stand. Matthews fell for a well-played 49, trapped leg before attempting to swipe one from Kawya Kavindi across the line, leaving West Indies at 111 for 2. Shemaine Campbelle stayed unbeaten on 41. (PCB) With the requirement at roughly a run-a-ball, Campbelle expertly navigated the remainder of the chase. Despite the late wickets of Chedean Nation and Aaliyah Alleyne in the 18th and 19th overs, which added some drama, smart running in the final over ensured there were no further blips, sealing the victory for the West Indies. Earlier, the West Indies bowlers had put in a commendable performance after opting to field first. They got off to an ideal start by dismissing Vishmi Gunaratne off just the second ball of the innings, as the aggressive 18-year-old top-edged an attempted pull off Chinelle Henry. Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama responded well to the early setback with a partnership of 55 off 54 balls. However, Samarawickrama’s dismissal, chipping one back to Afy Fletcher, and Athapaththu’s departure, caught excellently in the deep by Shamilia Connell, who made up for an earlier drop, came at crucial moments. Athapaththu’s 38 and Dilhari’s 26 off 22 provided some resistance, but their wickets stunted Sri Lanka’s momentum. Some late blows from Ama Kanchana and Nilakshi de Silva pushed Sri Lanka’s total to a competitive 141 for 7. However, Player of the Series Matthews and her teammates ensured that the chase was completed with precision, making light work of what could have been a tricky target. Scores: West Indies women 142 for 4 (Matthews 49, Campbelle 41*, Taylor 33, Kavindi 2-27) beat Sri Lanka 141 for 7 (Athapaththu 38, Fletcher 2-25, Alleyne 2-25) by six wickets. Related Similar Articles

Exciting Finale: champion school to be crowned tomorrow teams ready for quarter and semi finals action today Jun 29, 2024 Sports Blue Water Shipping Under-15 Girls’ National Secondary School Championship Kaieteur Sports – The Guyana Football Federation-Blue Water Shipping Under-15 Girls’ National Secondary School Championship concludes this weekend with the eight top teams fiercely battling in the quarter-finals and semi-finals for spots in the final showdown tomorrow, Sunday. The action-packed schedule today, June 29, kicks off with St Ignatius Secondary facing President’s College, and Bartica Secondary squaring off against Queen’s College in the initial quarter-finals, starting at 10:00 a.m. Following these encounters, the day continues with a clash between the losers of the first two games at 12:00 p.m. Waramuri Primary will then challenge Tucville Secondary, while Santa Rose battle Bush Lot at 2:00 p.m., followed by the final fixture of the day at 3:30 p.m. featuring the losers from the latter games. GFF President Wayne Forde said “this is a historic moment for the Federation. We will crown our first champions of the national tournament on Sunday, and I can assure you these young committed players will give their all on the field.” “Our top eight teams have tremendous talent and have all earned their spots in the quarter and semi-finals. I eagerly anticipate the matches ahead.” The Ministry of Education-supported competition commenced nationwide on May 4, involving over a thousand student athletes and marking the start of the competitive phase of the FIFA Football For School Programme (F4S), designed to promote life skills through football. This is the largest girls’ tournament in Guyana. Throughout the past few weeks, student athletes from nine administrative regions took part in the competition. Although Region Eight did not participate this year, preparations are underway to include them in the next edition of the tournament. Forde encourages football enthusiasts to attend and support Guyana’s emerging national talents on Saturday and Sunday at the GFF National Training Centre in Providence, East Bank Demerara. Tomorrow’s action is set to start at 2:00 p.m., culminating in the crowning of the inaugural champion of the GFF-Blue Water Shipping Under-15 Girls’ National Secondary School Championship. The top three schools will receive trophies and medals, with the champions awarded equipment valued at over $600,000. The second-placed team will secure equipment worth slightly more than $450,000, while the third-placed team will receive football gear valued at just over $379,000. The prize package includes essential football equipment such as balls, goals, jerseys, shin guards, goalkeeper gloves, training arches, agility ladders and more. Related Similar Articles

Royals up against Jets for title and $400,000 and bragging rights in Nigel Hinds/ LABA Senior Basketball final Jun 29, 2024 Sports Victory Valley Royals celebrate their GBF Big 4 Championship in 2023. Kaieteur Sports – The final of the Nigel Hinds/ Linden Amateur Basketball Association’s (LABA) Senior League final takes place tonight with Victory Valley Royals, arguably Guyana’s top club, facing the challenge of host team Amelia’s Ward Jets at the Amelia’s Ward Hard Court from 8.30pm. At stake for that title match is a whopping $400,000 and a trophy, with the losing finalist getting $200,000 and a trophy, with the third place playoff game which bounces off at 6.30pm featuring Retrieve Raiders and Block 22 Flames, where that winner collects $200,000 and the loser $50,000. Royals, who have been the top ranked club in Linden in recent years took their game to another level when they won the Joseph ‘Reds’ Perreira Big 4 Championship which was staged by the Guyana Basketball Federation last year, where Royals rallied to topple Colts in the final, 77-70, at the Burnham Court in Georgetown. They will be heavily favoured to cart off this championship trophy and the winners’ prize of $400,000 as their best players have been senior nationals Harold Adams, Yannick Tappin and Orlan Glasgow who have been consistent in their play. The Jets are now building a team which has shown promise but will find this task an uphill one going against this polished Royals unit. Their best payers so far have been Quincy Easton, Dennis Niles (Jr.) and Leon Benjamin. The home team certainly will not want to disappoint their fans and as such they are hoping to overturn their earlier round, 84-59, defeat to Royals. Nigel Hinds, the former President of the GBF is the main sponsor for this tournament along with James Brusche and Gary Stephens, who are based in the United States, Aubrey ‘Shanghai’ Major and the 20/20 Bar. Half time entertainment will be at the break between the two matches and admission is $1,000. Related Similar Articles

Leadership = PPP Govt. style   Jun 29, 2024 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column Hard Truths by GHK Lall Kaieteur News – The world of literature was blown away by Charles Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities.  Guyana is the only country that tries to impress as A Nation with Two Presidents.  When citizens get tired of the buffoonish, there is relief coming in the form of the cartoonish.  It is Sluggo and Boffo all over again.  One character stops just short of blowing up and blowing away those who make his passage difficult, the other comes up with every excuse imaginable to excuse his dereliction of duty, chronic leadership failures.  Think of the former as Daffy Duck with a stick of dynamite, and the latter as Yosemite Sam riding a horse to nowhere.  Man! Are the natives in for a sumptuous political treat. GHK Lall In the world of today all are excited about the possibilities of wi-fi.  Meanwhile, thanks to what the PPP calls its governance hierarchy, the Guyanese people are forced to live with what is stuck in the dark ages of political hi-fi.  It is the equivalent of having to endure two jukeboxes going at full blast in a small, enclosed space.  Each has its own battlefield lyrics, and both are representative of supercharged efforts to drown Guyanese in a wall of thunderous sound.  It is not Phil Spector, but is this not what Guyanese have been forced to live with, to absorb anyhow they can? Put two crabs in a barrel and it is a rat race and a catfight.  Put two scorpions in a bottle and the resulting toxins are more potent than formalin and malathion combined.  Yet, what the PPP has delivered to locals is nothing short of the unorthodox and miraculous: two presidents in a packet, and there is no expiry date.  The crisis is that, notwithstanding the helpful label, Guyanese are getting sicker and sicker from being around the two cartoon characters that rule the roost here with and iron hand and a backbone made from elastic and caustic soda.  The twin-headed governing apparatus can thrash and bash dissenting Guyanese deemed to be deniers and deviationists, and rabble rousers and agitators, with the iron hand very visible and tangible.  However, when it must stand up and face up to the characters at Exxon, the PPP leadership elastic backbone stretches like the best of contortionists, while the detergent power of the caustic soda erodes any willpower or courage for the fight that they must wage. In terms of who can put on the biggest show and make the loudest noise, one head of the two-headed leadership beast is pleased to be a circus ringmaster.  The other is getting better at each outing in the role of a carnival barker.  Come one, come all!  this is the best place to be, the big tent that is One Guyana.  Cecil B. DeMille had his Greatest Show on Earth, but that spectacular takes second place before the extravaganza that the local emperor and his governor put on daily.  One makes the rules and lays out the territory; the other is the enforcer, and with both bulk and brawn to match.  I label it the X-rated version of good governance, Guyana style.  I have long been asking myself how the hell that Guyana can be called a country, when it is nothing but comedy central.  For those who are offended, I extend a peace pipe with the substitute of a raging national lunatic asylum.  How Guyanese have survived so long is more than a mystery without a solution.  It is a mirage that not even the people who live in the Sahara have encountered before. These are among the machinations that the prince of Guyana’s politics has foisted on Guyanese.  In PPP land, the conviction is of some legendary king taking advantage of the naivete and trust of the simple folks.  Reality has forced me to believe that what Guyanese have succumbed to is not a noble prince of the realm. A jingle from history jogs the memory and I recall not a benevolent prince, but a treacherous princess Dona “La Malinche” Marina who coddled up to the Spanish conqueror Hernan Cortes and condemned her people to slavery. Before long, that betrayal led to the ruination and eventual fall of the mighty Aztec Empire.  The rapacious Spanish carted away all the yellow gold.  History does repeat itself, doesn’t it?  For although Guyana cannot lay claim to being an empire, it certainly does have an underwater oil Atlantis.  Black gold is the chic expression that sophisticates favor.  When the oil came, it was not long before Jim Crow also came running to Guyana.  Substitute some local and foreign here and there, and the Guyana connections to what happened to the Aztecs can be made, is now more understood by being lived. Guyanese need leadership to be in the vanguard of the charge for a better life.  It is not going to happen by leaders making themselves into the poodles of the foreign invaders.  Then, rising full length, to play at being the big local badmen bent on taming the town of dissenters and detractors.  Frankly, the more this PPP leadership combo pretend at being courageous men, the more they come across as whimpering cartoon characters.  I pity them and the spectacle they make of themselves, to Guyana’s loss. Related Similar Articles

Gold Smuggling Jun 29, 2024 Editorial Kaieteur News – Gold mining has been a blessing for Guyanese.  Gold smuggling is a curse on this country.  The close friends of gold smuggling are tax evasion and money laundering, some lesser ones, are bribery and corruption with all contributing to a criminal stew.  Recent US Treasury Department developments have brought Guyana the kind of attention that it abhors at any time, especially now with many foreign presence and favorable investment sentiment.  Corruption on the scale alleged by the US Treasury Department makes investors question themselves about what Guyana is at the core, what is required to succeed here.  Though unspecified, and perhaps unintended, the reputation of this country, from top to bottom, has been tarnished.  These are the circumstances that have prompted well-meaning resident Guyanese, and others in the diaspora, to offer helpful ideas and measures that they believe could make a difference.  That is, a material reduction in gold smuggling, and more of the benefits of the sector flowing into the national treasury. Recommendations include camp visits, marking the gold and greater use of technology, among some constructive proposals.  The latter involves blockchain technology and drones.  We, at this paper, believe that these are sound recommendations; all have some level of merit.  It would be helpful if a few, and more from the same menu, could become part of the policies and procedures of the relevant state agencies, and then enforced diligently, without fear or favor.  Unfortunately, this is where great ideas and suggestions run into the reality of unhelpful circumstances on the ground.  A Sicilian proverb captures what goes on at different levels in Guyana, and which forms part of the widespread perception, throughout Guyana.  The proverb has a definite and profound texture to it: to wit, a fish rots from the head.  This is the fundamental Guyana problem that seeps from head to trunk to tail, with only a handful standing in the way, fighting a tough fight in a culture that is diminished and dragged down by corruption. The US Treasury Department’s allegations spoke repeatedly of corruption by “government officials.”  For sure, it is bland but has lots of teeth that go deep in gold and many other public sectors.  Given what the US has alleged, government officials, as a practical issue, could rope in public servants at the Guyana Revenue Authority, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, the Guyana Gold Board, and various supporting law enforcement agencies.  It is a wide net that ensnares more than a few.  Also, there is reason to believe that the Treasury Department’s careful use of “government officials” stretches beyond compromised public servants.  Politicians are also a major part of government, which begs the question about whether the Treasury Department’s use of “government officials” extended to them, and to what heights. It is obvious that politics and business in Guyana enjoy a close relationship.  It shouldn’t surprise that a top government politician found it necessary to issue a statement indicating that his relationship with two of the three Guyana named by the US Treasury Department does not have any taint. It is soothing to hear that political disclaimer.  But there are doubts about how many Guyanese take that defensive posture without considerable misgiving.  In contrast, government leaders did not instill much confidence in their handling of the senior Guyanese public servant now burdened by the sinister identifier of ‘Specially Designated National.’ The fact that this now former official, was among the highest-ranking Guyanese public servants when this matter first surfaced reflects poorly on this country.  The fact that over a year later, she emerged even stronger (politically) and seemingly highly favored puts a pall on the ruling politicians in the Guyana Government.  It was only when the US Government showed its hand (blacklisting) that the PPPC Government rushed to take action to put a good face on a bad situation. The handling of this sensitive matter, the belated public postures, and the slipshod ethics of leading politicians, provide glimpses into the corruption culture that reigns in Guyana.  This culture puts the gold sector in the worst light.  Unless the PPPC Government is honest about cleaning house and then the mindsets of its inner circle, then the best recommendations all mean nothing. Related Similar Articles

The elephant is in the room Jun 29, 2024 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom Kaieteur News – Aubrey Norton’s address at the Opening Ceremony of the 22nd Congress of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) left many with unanswered questions. He focused heavily on the state of the country’s economy, critiquing the PPPC government as “corrupt and incompetent.” This is likely to be the PNCR’s tagline going into to next year’s General and Regional Elections. The issue of corruption has always been the Achilles Heel of the PPPC government but it can hardly be cited for being incompetent relative to the performance of the PNCR during its tenure in government. The Leader of the PNCR outlined his party’s plans for a just, inclusive, and prosperous future for Guyana. It was a well-articulated presentation. But there was a glaring omission in his speech. Norton barely touched on the serious internal divisions within his own party. His failure to effectively address these issues was a significant shortcoming of his address to the Congress. Factionalism within the PNCR is not new. It has been a persistent problem that has plagued the party for years. Norton’s attempt to downplay this issue by suggesting that the party should be careful about airing its business in public is not enough. Ignoring these divisions will not help the party achieve its ultimate goal: winning the next general and regional elections.  In fact, the opposite is true. Unless the factionalism is addressed, it can weaken the party. In a previous column I had suggested that the factionalism can be transformed for the benefit of the party which is yet to clarify its ideological position. The current Congress has been besieged by accusations regarding the transparency of the election process. Concerns over the delegates’ list have been particularly troubling. Two candidates for leadership withdrew at the last moment, citing transparency issues. The party has promised a fair and transparent voting process, but it has not effectively addressed the concerns about how delegates were selected and identified. This has been a recurring issue at previous congresses and remains a sore point. The controversy surrounding this congress was further fueled by the resignation of the General Secretary on the eve of the event. She alleged that she was being alienated from certain processes leading up to the Congress. She also made other troubling allegations. In such a contentious atmosphere, it was expected that Norton would spend more time in his address discussing what needs to be done to forge a strong and united party. Unfortunately, this was not the case. It was surprising that Norton did not address the issue of the PNCR’s role within A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), especially considering the recent events where APNU held elections without the involvement of the PNCR, its main political constituency. This significant exclusion raised questions about the unity and collaboration between the coalition partners, and it was expected that Norton would shed light on this matter and outline steps to ensure stronger cohesion within the alliance. Ignoring such a critical issue only adds to the perception of division and lack of clear direction within the party. Addressing internal divisions is crucial for any political party. The PNCR cannot afford to ignore this issue if it hopes to be successful in future elections. Norton’s speech should have focused more on how to bring the party together. The divisions within the party could potentially weaken it and undermine its chances of winning at the polls. But factionalism could also be used to transform the party into a more ideologically-plural party. The leadership had promised that the voting process will be transparent and fair. However, it has not done enough to address concerns about the delegates’ representation. The same issue was a major problem at previous congresses. The PNCR needs to learn from past mistakes and ensure that the process is transparent from start to finish, and not just in terms of the voting. For a party which wants a new national voters’ list not to address concerns about its delegates’ list reeks of double standards. If the elections to positions of leadership are going to be mired in controversy, it will affect the legitimacy and credibility of the new executive. One solution could be to postpone the elections to a separate special congress There is no reason why the present Congress cannot today move a resolution to have elections postponed to a special congress, pending a forensic audit of the membership list and the process of identifying delegates to the Congress. This would allow more time to address the concerns about delegates’ representation. It would also provide an opportunity to ensure that the entire congress process is fair and transparent. The Council of Elders was asked to investigate an allegation against the party’s leader. It is surprising that it has not intervened to ensure that the concerns of the candidates are addressed. This is not too late to do so. The congress can still make a decision to postpone the elections and take the necessary steps to ensure transparency. The PNCR’s goal is to win the next general and regional elections. The divisions within the party are a significant obstacle. Downplaying this issue will not make it go away. It will only fester and potentially weaken the party’s chances of success. The PNCR, however, cannot win the next general and regional elections. The ‘jumbie bird’ of its attempt to rig the 2020 general and regional elections will hover over and haunt the party’s electoral path. But at least it can make a break with its past conduct of electoral shenanigans at both the national level and at the level of the party. Related Similar Articles

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