分类： sports

As cricket fans prepare for a make-or-break second One-Day International between West Indies and Sri Lanka at Kingston’s iconic Sabina Park this Saturday, head coach Daren Sammy has pinpointed a critical area of improvement his side must deliver: a more assured, aggressive approach against Sri Lanka’s spin attack.

The series currently hangs in Sri Lanka’s favor, with the visitors holding a 1-0 advantage after a commanding 41-run win in the opening fixture on Wednesday. That result marked a historic milestone for Sri Lanka, as it was their first ever ODI victory over West Indies on the Sabina Park ground.

For the home side, the run-up to this weekend’s match carries added pressure. While West Indies have posted strong ODI results on home soil over the past 18 months, the team has now dropped five consecutive matches in the 50-over format. With the qualification cutoff for the 2025 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup rapidly approaching, this prolonged slump has emerged as a key point of concern for Sammy and the team’s coaching staff.

In pre-match comments to reporters, Sammy emphasized that adapting to Sri Lanka’s spin bowlers is non-negotiable for a win on Saturday. “I think we definitely have to play their spin much better; you know, their spinners went probably for 68 runs off 20 overs. It’s something that we have to be better at in the next game. We’ve spoken about it and it’s about getting the confidence to have all the skills they’ve been working on to implement it in the game,” Sammy explained.

Despite the recent string of losses and the series deficit, Sammy remains optimistic that his side can turn the tide over the remaining two fixtures. He urged his players to lean on past home series comebacks to find momentum, pointing to positive takeaways from the opening match despite the final result.

“I think we’ve been in positions like this before over some of the series we’ve won at home and come back stronger,” he said. “We had two new openers in John [Campbell] and Justin [Greaves] and the way they approached the game, that controlled aggression, was good. Captain Shai Hope continues to lead the batting. I thought the new ball spell was really good, Matthew [Forde] and Jayden [Seales] continue to ask questions. But like I said earlier, tomorrow is a new day.”

With the pitch conditions set to play a key role in the match outcome, Sammy confirmed the coaching staff is considering potential squad changes to optimize the team’s balance for the surface. He noted that the second match pitch appears to be in better condition than the opening game’s wicket, which featured several bare patches that increased spin variation.

“The first game there were some bare patches where the ball spun, but looking at the surface today, it looks much better and harder and I expect it to be firmer, so then I don’t expect it to spin that much. We have our 12 and will make a final call when we see the pitch tomorrow,” Sammy added.

Saturday’s match will also carry personal significance for West Indies captain Shai Hope, who is set to cap off a stellar ODI career by playing his 150th match in the format. Sammy heaped praise on Hope’s leadership and consistent performance over the past four years, calling him one of the greatest ODI batsmen in West Indies history.

“You know, I see him as one of our greatest ODI batsmen with his record and his consistency, but for me just having been here working with him and seeing him work, there’s no surprise to me the numbers he puts out there,” Sammy said. “He pays a lot of attention to details with his preparation and he works really hard to be consistent and averages 50 plus in ODI cricket. So congrats to you Shai on this milestone and hopefully you and the rest of the team could make it a victorious one.”

As the 2026 domestic football calendar in Barbados nears its final stretch, the head of the island’s governing body has delivered a largely positive assessment of the year’s campaign, pointing to strong competition, growing regional recognition, and expanding participation from international players as key highlights.

Randy Harris, president of the Barbados Football Association (BFA), told local outlet Barbados TODAY that the season has mostly exceeded or met the organization’s expectations, even as one lopsided result sparked internal review. The top-flight Premier League campaign has already wrapped up, with Weymouth Wales securing an unprecedented fifth consecutive league title. The lower-tier Divisions One and Two and the knockout-style Champions Cup are still ongoing, with key matches scheduled to move to the BFA’s Wildey Technical Center in the coming weeks.

Harris noted that the Premier League got off to a highly competitive start, with tight fights at both the top and bottom of the table for most of the campaign. The only notable blemish on the season, he said, was a 23-0 blowout that stemmed from one club fielding an incomplete roster. That outcome does nothing to advance the development of the sport in Barbados, Harris explained, adding that the BFA will launch an inquiry into the incident by sending an official letter to the club to clarify what led to the incomplete squad.

Beyond that single incident, Harris voiced full confidence in the strength of the island’s domestic competitions, particularly calling out Division One, the country’s second-tier league, for its consistently high intensity. “It is a fight every week,” Harris said of the division. “They play on community open grounds, and you get really strong local support for the teams. Right now, it’s still anyone’s guess who will take the title – that’s how competitive it is.”

The BFA will not pause ongoing domestic matches while the 2026 FIFA World Cup is being held in the region, Harris confirmed. Following the conclusion of the current competitions, the BFA will move straight into its annual calendar of flagship events, starting with the island’s popular Crop Over festival, then the Prime Minister’s Cup – widely considered the top domestic showcase for Barbadian football. “We’re pushing full steam ahead to wrap this season out properly,” Harris said.

One of the biggest wins for the Premier League this year, Harris added, is its growing positive reputation across the Caribbean. That growing profile has come largely thanks to the league’s broadcast partnership with FIFA+, which makes matches available to stream internationally, bringing Barbadian football to a much wider regional audience. This season, the top flight has already featured a number of players from other Caribbean nations, including St Vincent and the Grenadines attacker Kirtney Franklyn, who claimed the league’s Golden Boot award. Coaches and club executives across the league expect the number of incoming international players to rise next season, and Harris shares that expectation.

Harris recounted that one visiting player from St Vincent and the Grenadines he spoke with praised the competitive quality of the Barbadian league and said he enjoyed the experience of competing alongside local players. Harris noted that the Barbadian season’s schedule works in the league’s favor when attracting regional talent: it runs outside the traditional window of most other Caribbean leagues, giving out-of-contract or active players from neighboring countries an opportunity to compete while their home seasons are off.

“Our schedule lets footballers from other countries come play here on this beautiful island, get competitive minutes, and experience a different league,” Harris said. “I expect that word will keep spreading, and more talent will come our way in the coming seasons.”

Harris, who also serves as a FIFA Council member and Concacaf vice-president, is set to depart Barbados on Tuesday for the 2026 World Cup finals, with plans to return to the island on July 20. He said he is looking forward to the tournament, which is being hosted for the first time across multiple North American countries in the Concacaf region. “I’m excited to watch the best players in the world compete at the best tournament in the world,” he said. “It’s going to be a really special joyous occasion for everyone lucky enough to be there for it in the region.”

In an electrifying showdown at Rome’s iconic Stadio Olimpico on Thursday, June 4, Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia delivered a career-defining performance to secure top honors in the women’s 200m at the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea Wanda Diamond League meeting, outpacing the sport’s defending world champion to take the win.

Just one week shy of her 25th birthday, Alfred crossed the finish line with an impressive time of 21.93 seconds, aided by a 1.3 meter-per-second tailwind that gave her a slight boost throughout the final stretch. Despite a wobbly start that left her trailing early in the race, Alfred found her rhythm in the back half of the course, pulling ahead of competitor Melissa Jefferson-Wooden to claim the victory that marked her first Diamond League outing of the 2025 season.

Jefferson-Wooden, the American sprinter who swept both 100m and 200m gold medals at last year’s World Athletics Championships held in Tokyo, got off to a blistering start and led through the first 100 meters. But she could not maintain her early pace, finishing 0.24 seconds behind Alfred with a time of 22.17 seconds to take second place. Thursday’s race marked a long-awaited return to competitive action for Jefferson-Wooden, who had stepped away from the track for a nine-month hiatus. In a charming twist of fate, she spent part of her break on her honeymoon in Alfred’s home country of Saint Lucia.

Alfred enters this season as one of the most dominant sprinters on the Diamond League circuit, boasting back-to-back 100m titles from previous seasons. She already holds the world’s fastest 200m time for the 2025 calendar year, having clocked a blistering 21.86 seconds at a meet back in April. Thursday’s winning result marks the sixth-fastest 200m time of Alfred’s professional career, a remarkable achievement given her unsteady opening to the race.

Fans will not have to wait long for a rematch between the two top sprinters: the pair are already scheduled to face off again in the women’s 100m at the Prefontaine Classic, set to take place on July 4 in Eugene, Oregon. The upcoming race is already shaping up to be one of the most anticipated sprint events of the outdoor track and field season, as both athletes look to gain momentum ahead of future major championships.