There are many who believe the single most exciting sprinting event this season may be the Jamaican Nationals. Jamaica currently has the world’s two fastest athletes over 100M competing for spots on the roster. Additionally you have the fastest woman this year running against her main local rival who seems bent on getting the best of her. Veronica Campbell-Brown is arguably Jamaica’s most consistent athlete for some time and has seen many challenges against her fail but there are those who will tell you Sherone Simpson may be her strongest yet. All those questions will be put to the test and answered on June 28th when Jamaica’s Olympic Trials gets underway.

With only 11 overs available because of rain, the West Indies took full advantage. Xavier Marshall and stand in skipper Dwayne Bravo put on quite the show in the contest, hitting sixes and fours everywhere to establish the team at 102 with an 11.12 run rate per over. Marshall posted a stupendous 36 runs off 15 balls to be the pick of the batsmen, with the distinction of hitting Brett Lee for six off the opening ball. Though the Aussies would mount a spirited comeback they only could manage 97 runs at 8.81 runs per over.

Final scores:

Australia innings (11 overs maximum) R B 4s 6s SR
SE Marsh c Marshall b Roach 29 22 1 2 131.81
wicketkeeper L Ronchi c Taylor b Roach 36 22 6 1 163.63
SR Watson not out 17 15 1 1 113.33
DJ Hussey c Perkins b Bravo 0 2 0 0 0.00
CL White not out 10 6 1 0 166.66
Extras (lb 2, w 2, nb 1) 5

Total (3 wickets; 11 overs) 97 (8.81 runs per over)

Did not bat captainRT Ponting, MJ Clarke, MEK Hussey, B Lee, MG Johnson, JR Hopes

Fall of wickets1-57 (Ronchi, 5.6 ov), 2-72 (Marsh, 7.5 ov), 3-72 (DJ Hussey, 8.2 ov)

Bowling O M R W Econ
JE Taylor 2 0 23 0 11.50 (1w)
SJ Benn 2 0 19 0 9.50 (1w)
FH Edwards 2 0 12 0 6.00
KAJ Roach 3 0 29 2 9.66 (1nb)
DJ Bravo 2 0 12 1 6.00

West Indies innings (target: 98 runs from 11 overs) R B 4s 6s SR
XM Marshall run out (Watson) 36 15 3 3 240.00
WKD Perkins run out (Ponting) 9 11 1 0 81.81
wicketkeeper D Ramdin c Johnson b Watson 8 6 1 0 133.33
captain DJ Bravo not out 28 15 1 3 186.66
ADS Fletcher not out 7 8 1 0 87.50
Extras (b 6, lb 1, w 7) 14

Total (3 wickets; 9.1 overs) 102 (11.12 runs per over)

Did not bat KA Pollard, DJG Sammy, SJ Benn, KAJ Roach, FH Edwards, JE Taylor

Fall of wickets1-53 (Marshall, 3.3 ov), 2-59 (Perkins, 4.6 ov), 3-64 (Ramdin, 5.3 ov)

Bowling O M R W Econ
B Lee 2 0 26 0 13.00 (1w)
MG Johnson 2 0 30 0 15.00 (1w)
SR Watson 2.1 0 17 1 7.84
JR Hopes 2 0 14 0 7.00
CL White 1 0 8 0 8.00 (2w)

Their last hope of qualifying were dashed yesterday in Puebla, Mexico when the Jamaicans went down 3-1 to Canada in their Under 20 World Cup qualifier. The girls needed the win in order to have a chance of advancing and seemed to have dug deep but not deep enough to get over a strong Canadian offense.

With just 12 minutes on the clock Monica Lam-Fiest gave the Canadians the advantage. Shakira Duncan leveled the score in the 27th but the Canadians would have none of it as they retook the lead in the 42nd through Chelsea Stewart. The Jamaicans tried to pull level only to have the effort ruled offside. The crippling blow came from Stewart again in the 76th who tapped passed McClur to make it 3-1.
Xavier Gilbert, coach of the Reggae Girlz said, “I think the girls played really well, putting Canada on the back foot on a number of occasions. We pressed and got a number of chances and of course the conditions took its toll today on both teams. We were tired and they were gasping. I think they are fitter than us and they made some adjustments to their game, bringing in three of their senior players that went to Australia and that was a boost for them.”

Close though the score may be, Cuba is still 3 points the richer after a win over Antigua in St. Johns on June 17. The hosts seemed intent on upsetting the apple cart with two strikes from Kerry Skepple but Jaine Valencia and Yoel Colome would have none of it, and drew the visitors level before the half. Valencia produced another beauty and Leonal Pla added a fourth before Tyio Simon got a consolation goal for the home side. At the end of the day the score was Cuba 4, Antigua and Barbuda 3. The second leg is to be played on Sunday in Cuba.

It was a mirror performance of the first leg it seemed. Jamaica punished the lack of will on the part of the Bahamians who looked as if they hadn’t come to play football at all. When the dust settled, the Jamaicans were 6-0 ahead, winning 13-0 on aggregate. Luton Shelton took the opportunity to score his hat-trick. Also on the score cards were Deon Burton, and Tyrone Marshall.

An early strike by Shakira Duncan was not enough as the Reggae Girlz squandered an early lead to go down 3-1 to Costa Rica in a CONCACAF Group B U-20 Women’s qualifying game played at the Cuauthemoc Stadium. The Jamaicans started well with a goal in the 11th minute but the Costa Ricans struck back through Racquel Rodriquz in the 42nd to level the score. Not long after, Katherine Alvarado put Costa Rica in front with a shot from inside the box. The Costa Ricans sealed the deal in the 82nd with Rodriguez beating the offside trap to score. Costa Rica shares the lead of the group with Canada on three points, Nicaragua and Jamaica share the bottom with 0.

Much ado is made of Jamaica’s other sprint sensations. The names Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell are household names the world over but few pay attention to one of Jamaica’s dark horses. Nesta Carter is surpassed only by Usain Bolt in the number of wins this season.

With Powell out with an injury, Carter has been a ever present force on the world stage, filling the void with strong performances. Even running a personal best this season of 10.08s to win the ISTAF Berlin 100M. He thinks he can run below 10 seconds and that it is only a matter of time, optimistically placing it in this season and there is no reason to doubt him. At 22 years, he still has a lot of run left in him.

The West Indies made a valiant attempt to save face but eventually the hill was too high to climb. They failed in their bid to capture the last test by 87 runs. At the end of play Australia had registered 251 & 439 declared and the West Indian team could only muster 216 and 387 all out.

Gayle was gracious in defeat: “Congratulations to Ricky and his team. Well done to all our guys, but unfortunately we came out on the losing side.”

For further details of the match check out information at Cricinfo

Young athletes in the British Virgin islands (BVI) continue to display form that show the deep talent pool in the Caribbean.  Athletes to watch from the BVI include Ashley Kelly, Tahesia Harrigan, Samantha John, Britney Wattley, and Darnetia Robinson.  Kelly, who already qualified for the 200m at the July World Junior Championship in Poland, is showing good form at other distances, with times of 12.16s in the 100m and 55.26s in the 400m.  Kelly currently holds the BVI national record in 400m.

It wasn’t enough to be the fastest man over 100M, Bolt wants to be the fastest over 200M as well. He took a step in the right direction at the recent Golden Spike event in Ostrava by clocking the fastest time this season. The Jamaican finished in 19.83s with a +0.3m/s wind to easily win the race ahead of Brian Dzingal of Zimbabwe.