Quote of the week
“I am so happy to have contributed with both bat and ball in a hard-fought game. And at last, this is for my angel, my father. I am sure he is somewhere up there, watching me and blessing me every step of the way. Papa, I hope I make you proud, always” – Sneh Rana after her Test debut where she scored 80 not out to ensure India finished with a draw.
Warning from the Caribbean
The Hit for Six report, measuring the effect of the climate crisis on cricket, was published in September 2019. More striking than almost anything in its hard-hitting pages was the foreword, written by Kevin Mitchell, the prime minister of Grenada. “Climate change is real,” he wrote. “It’s as simple as that. Every ball bowled at us is currently a bouncer. We’re ducking so much we’re struggling to build an innings that will ensure a safe, secure and sustainable future for our people.”
Twenty-one months later and Grenada, savaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, continues to suffer along with other Caribbean islands. As the number and intensity of hurricanes and tropical storms hitting the Caribbean increases, the islands are also very vulnerable to rising sea levels and at risk of salt water intruding into freshwater sources.
Mitchell, who is in his second spell as prime minister and was a keen cricketer, captaining Grenada in 1973, is not about to let anything rest. On Monday, he will deliver the 21st Frank Worrell Memorial lecture on “Sport and Climate Change.” It will be live streamed on www.uwitv.org (at an antisocial 1.30am BST).
Previous speakers at the lecture series have included Prof Sir Hilary Beckles; John Major; Wes Hall and Michael Holding. The inaugural lecture took place in 1994, in memory of Worrell who joined the University of West Indies after retirement as the Warden of the Irvine Hall of the Mona Campus. He went on to become the UWI director of sports before developing leukaemia and dying at 42.
Still want more?
The cricket authorities have failed the black community for years, says former Surrey player Lonsdale Skinner.
Gary Naylor finds the T20 Blast is hitting the heights, especially in the north.
And Ali Martin hears that Jos Buttler is troubled by England’s rotation policy and busy 2021 schedule.
