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By Annan Boodram |
New York, January 2002: In cricket the West Indies continued to struggle in 2001 As both coach Roger Harper and manager Ricky Skerritt have pointed out, the bowling lacks penetration, with none of the current pacers having the fire and potency of the greats of the past Roberts, Croft, Marshall, Ambrose and Walsh. And the batting is still much too dependent upon Brian Lara, who shrugged off problems and public criticism to retake the number one batting spot in the world.
Emerging from a premature retirement Carl Hooper took over the captaincy amidst much controversy. But after an initial show of promise with the bat, he too continued to fail and that plus the failure of the team in general has caused Hooper to lament that something radical needs to be done with West Indies cricket. And, as if their poor performance was not enough, the team was plagued by injuries prompting many officials and professionals to express concern and call for action.
On the plus side Darren Ganga and Chris Gayle have shown the makings of a good opening pair and Ramnaresh Sarwan continues to blossom into a potentially great batsman as acknowledged by Lara himself.
As if to emphasize the problems of the senior team the West Indies Under 19 team led by Jamaican opening batsman, Brenton Parchment had a very successful tour of England winning both the tests and one day series.
And in England Mark Ramprakash, born of a Guyanese father, clawed his way back into the English side and did well in the recent tour of India.
Soccer
In soccer no Caribbean team qualified for the World Cup. The Soca Warriors (Trinidad & Tobago) won the Copa Caribe title. The Trinis also managed to make it to the Youth World Cup but did not make any waves. Trinidadian Jack Warner continued to be controversial and flamboyant as Vice President of the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA). But he also continued to provide much assistance to the Caribbean, especially his homeland. Now, with his resignation from T&T football, fears have been expressed that the game would suffer in the twin-island republic. Another Trinidadian, former player Stephen Hart, was appointed a coach of the Canadian team.
On the field Trinidadian Stern John found himself on a goal scoring roll for Nottingham Forest. But his Trini colleagues Russell Latapy and Dwight Yorke both struggled with the latter showing glimpses of his brilliance. Both players had retired from representing Trinidad & Tobago to focus on their careers in England. Jamaican Ricardo Fuller also scored prolifically for Hearts, in the Scottish Premiere Division. St. Vincentian Ezra Hendrickson was instrumental in the Los Angeles Galaxy winning the US Open Cup.
In New York underdog Barbados won the Caribbean Soccer Cup championship after defeating Jamaica 2-1 in the final.
Track & Field
In track and field, Merlene Ottey disappointed Jamaicans worldwide when she announced plans to apply for Slovenian citizenship. Ottey's best performance in 2001 was in winning the 60 metres at Athens, Greece, falling short of the world record by six hundredths of a second. Former world and Olympic sprint star, Guadeloupean born, Marie Jose Perec announced plans to return to competition after fleeing Sydney 48 hours before the Olympic 400m heats and disappearing from the media glare. Jamaican born Canadian, former world title holder, Donovan Bailey retired after fighting pain and disappointment during the last year or so of his career. And another Canadian, Haitian born Bruny Surin, who also had a disappointing year announced that he will follow Johnson sometime this year.
On the field good peformances were put in by Bahamaians Chandra Stirrup, Debbie Ferguson (world 200 metres silver medallist) and Averd Moncur (400 meters world champion) and Jamaicans Gregory Haughton (World and Olympic medallist) and Lorraine Graham-Fenton (Olympic & world 400 metres silver medallist). Also showing good performances were Jamaicans Michelle Freeman, Deon Hemmings, Danny McFarlane, Juliet Campbell, Beverly McDonald, Debbie Ann-Parris and Sandie Richards.
Haitian hurdler, Doris Dorival continued to improve with his best performance being bronze at the World Track and Field Championships in Edmonton, Canada. Also getting bronze in Edmonton was Suriname's Letitia Vriesde in the 800 metres and Kittian Kim Collins in the 200 metres. Jamaica's Christopher Williams won silver in the 200 metres in Edmonton while Patrick Jarret created a major upset when he defeated American Maurice Greene at the Perefrotaine Classic in Oregeon. At the Primo Nebiola Memorial in Italy, Jamaica's James Beckford had the year's best long jump with a leap of 8.41 metres
T&T's Darrell Brown won gold in the Junior World Games 100 metres in record time of 10.31 seconds. He also became the youngest (at age 16) ever medallist in the World Games in Edmonton, when he anchored T&T to bronze in the 4 x 100 metres relay. Also winning gold at the Junior World Games were Jamaican Veronica Campbell in the 200 meters and Camille Robinson in the girls' 400 hurdles.
And in Santa Fe, Argentina, at the Pan-American Juniors, Janill Williams snared double gold in the 800 and 5 000 metres, becoming Antigua and Barbuda's first ever gold medallist at this meet. Trinidad and Tobago also got gold medals through Marc Burns in the boys' 100 metres; Damion Barry in the 400m and Cleavon Dillon in the long jump.
Grenada's Alleyne Francique came in second in the 400 metres at the US Colegiate track & field championships. Jamaican Allison Beckford won the women's title and got silver in the 400-hurdles. Shelly-Ann Gallimore of Jamaica gave the region an amazing seventh triple jump title in the last eight years.
Trinidadian Ato Bolden and Barbadian Obadele Thompso were both disappointing in 2001, but Bolden helped the T&T men's 4x100 metres team to bronze at the world championships.
Jamaica won the women's 4x400 metres relay at the same championships with Bahamas second. The Bahamnians had earlier in the year shocked the Americans at the Olympics by taking gold in women's 4x100 metres.
Belize born American, Marion Jones continued her dominance of the sprints and remains unrivalled.
Boxing
In boxing, Jamaican born British boxer, Lennox Lewis lost, then regained his undisputed heavyweight crown. Now he has his sights set on Mike Tyson and has said that if he wins he will hang up his gloves. British based, Guyanese born Howard Eastman proved that while he has the skills he lacks the killing instinct in his defeat at the hands of William Joppy for the middleweight crown. Another title loser was Jamaican Richard Hall who was defeated by Polish light heavyweight Dariusz Mmichalczewski in a brusing encounter that forced the referee to stop the fight after Hall got a badly swollen eye. And Guyanse Rawle Frank also lost a title bid when he was defeated by American Vernon Forrest for the International Boxing Federation welterweight title. Meanwhile Guyanese cruiserweight, Wayne Brathwaite became the number one contender for the World Boxing Council title and hopes to get his chance against champion Juan Carlos Gomez soon. Another title hopeful is Canadian based Trinidadian, Fitz Vandepol who is the WBC's number three in the super welterweight. He's looking for a shot at Oscar de la Hoya's title. And waiting in the wings is another Guyanese, Andrew Purlett who is ranked sixth in the heavyweight category by the World Boxing Organization.
Basketball
In basketball, Virgin Islands Tim Duncan took the lead in scoring for his team, the Portland Trailblazers. Jamaican born Patrick Ewing, traded by the New York Knicks to the Orlando Magic, only occasionally showed glimpses of the player he was in his prime. St. Vincent and the Grennadines born Adonal Foyle, who expressed confidence that his team, the Golden State warriors will do much better this season, came off with occasional good scores but has not been consistent. However he did make his mark outside of the basketball court when he established the organization, Democracy Matters, to lobby for finance reforms.
Another Caribbean who stayed in the headlines with occasional good performances was Bahamas born Rick Fox.
Haitian Samuel Dalembert was drafted by the Philadelphia Sixers after a being the best player at St. Patrick's High School in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Another high school player who stood out was Bahamas born Jason Stubbs who was named to a McDonalds All Amerian. He averaged 30.2 points, 17.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists as a senior while playing for Fayetteville Christian High School in Arkansas.
At the college level, four Bajans, Sherri Holder, Wanda Maynard-Morris, Astrid Best and Collymore starred in Pace University's march to the top four.
Horse Racing
In horse racing Barbadian jockey Patrick Husbands won the championships at Woodbine in Toronto for an unprecedented third time. Third in the standings was Trinidadian Emile Ramsammy, a two champion. And over in Boston at the Suffolks Downs, Jamaican Winston Thompson came in second behind Josian Hampshire. Thompson won the championship the previous season. Bajan Andy Ward finished fourth in the standings at Assiniboia Downs in Winnipeg, Canada.
In Florida, Jamaican trainer, Ralph Zaide was inducted into the Calder Race Course Hall of Fame after winning his second title in two years. At Aqueduct Race Track in New York City, Jamaican Shaun Bridgemohan continued to perform as one of the leading jockeys
Guyanese born Eddie Katrayan who was the number two trainer at Woodbine during the previous season continued to bring in the winners. And in England, Barbadian born, Sir Michael Stoute continued to churn out winners as the senior trainer for Queen Elizabeth stables.
Other Sports
In swimming Jamaican Janelle Atkinson and Trinidadian George Bovell made it to the top. Atkinson ended the year number in the 800 metres freestyle after jumping to the number one spot in both the 800 and 400 metres. Bovell placed second in the 200-metre freestyle at the US Open Swimming Championships pipping world record-holder Michael Phelps. It was part of the 18-year-old's haul of two silver and a bronze at the meet. Earlier in the year he recorded an historic fourth-place finish in 200-metre individual medle -at the World Swimming Championships in Japan after registering the fastest time for the year in the heats.
In rugby the Trinidad and Tobago made it to the penultimate qualifying round for the World Cup but were defeated by Brazil. However, up to press time they still were still in with a chance of playing in the competition.
In chess Trinidadian Frank Yee captured the World Chess Organization's Fide Master Title. He is the third Trini to do so.
Barbadian Suki King continued to dominate the international scene as the world' number one draughts player.
In motor racing, Guyanese born Peter Outarsngh won the 2001 Southwest US SCCA Road Racing Championship. He was runner-up in the previous season.
Trinidad born, Cyril Lewis captured the World Amateur Powerlifting Championship in the men's masters heavyweight category.
In golf, Trinidadian born Canadian, Stephen Ames, remains the leading Caribbean ranked player placing in the nineties with earnings of more than half a million dollars. He placed a season's best eighth at the US$4 million Compaq Classic in New Orleans.
In squash Guyanese Nicolette Fernandes made good showing at competitions in Canada where she came in second and seems destined to break into the world rankings quite soon.
In cycling Barbadian Barry Forde, a Pan Am champion and world rated cyclist is still trying to make it into the big league as he continues to be constrained by lack of financial sponsorship.
In table tennis, 16-year-old Trini Rheann Chung, became the Caribbean table tennis champion and holder of two French titles. She is world ranked and hopefully could become the first Caribbean to break into the elite of the game.
Bahams Mark Knowles remained a leading doubles tennis player with his Canadian partner.
And in karate Guyanese Tony Durjan Jr won a number of Under-10 titles in the United States.