I do not know Brian Lewis, president of the T&T Olympic Association, but in one stroke he has earned my admiration.
According to an ad on Radio I95.5 Lewis, accompanied by a few sporting and media personalities, intends to walk the full 26 miles of the T&T marathon route next Sunday to build momentum for the 2024 Olympics.
His goal? T&T must start preparing, from now, to win ten gold medals in that world celebration of athletic prowess.
Thank you, Brian. Somebody got it, finally!
I am hoping sometime soon, someone, somewhere in the national leadership will follow Lewis’ example of strategic thinking. But the vacancy up there is just part of the overall crisis that we face; instead, we get daily doses of irresponsibility and mediocrity.
Sadly, this is on display in the Government’s responses to the world energy crisis. Successive governments have talked repeatedly of the need to diversify the economy, particularly because of our dwindling oil and gas reserves and the severe consequences the country experiences with every cyclical crisis.
This Government has been no different. What is different is its failure to explain to the population the severe impact of the crisis on T&T, and the “new normal” being created. At the policy making level, this demands structural adjustments and drastic alterations in the expectations, spending and overall lifestyles at the level of the citizen.
To the Finance Minister’s credit, in the 2015 budget, he did explain his proposals to use two state enterprises, invesTT and exporTT, to stimulate activity in other sectors.
He proposed incentives in the areas of food and beverages, the creative arts, entertainment and maritime, yachting and financial services—what he called “the re-balancing of the economy in favour of the non-oil energy sector and the development of a sustainable economy”.
But in recent weeks all this has changed; every aspect of Government activity in 2015 demands much more than even the strategic thinking that Lewis has demonstrated.
Our immediate challenge is the falling revenues from the oil and gas sector. First, the Finance Minister, admittedly under personal pressure from his alleged role in the ten-year-old TCL insider trading issue, must convince the population that the Government possesses a strategic formula to deal with the shortfall.
Unfortunately his response—asking individual ministries for a $45 million cutback each—reflects haphazard analysis and poor evaluation of state resources, with little thought about the exploitation of possible alternatives.
Then there was the Prime Minister’s response, again ill-prepared and without the necessary budgetary evaluation, that her Government’s social and make-work programmes would be untouched.
At present, the Government needs to show that it has a long-term strategic understanding, and that it possesses a comprehensive framework, a conceptual map, to diversify the economy, probably into some high-end industries.
But to date, its performance has been all about not the politics of the common good, but the retaining of power. Last week, I warned that this year will unfold in three phases, the current “Seductive” phase, to be followed by the “Intimidatory”, then the “Blunderbuss”—a friend preferred the word, “Bazooka”—in which the masks are off, and any and everything goes, because it is not about strategic, national planning—but the retention of power.
It played out last week with the AG jumping to claim victory in Emailgate, because of a possible error in the judicial system. He was right, however. The Opposition Leader’s attorneys should have been more alert in the matter.
The country has entered the phase in which anything goes. So those attorneys should have been in “red alert” mode, particularly after the statements by the family of the late Dana Seetahal and the allegations of the former assistant sports director on social media.
Probably, that red alert should extend to the anticipated legal battles when the Opposition Leader is summoned in the Las Alturas Commission of Enquiry. That sitting begins next week.
In the meantime, I continue to search for the positives, such as Sunday’s 26-mile march in the T&T marathon.

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THE SPORTS Company of Trinidad and Tobago (SPORTT) will be making an evaluation of the repairs required to make the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Bacolet, Tobago OSHA-ready.

The stadium, which falls under SPORTT, was deemed unsafe and has not been in use, although the THA recently spent $14 million to replace the Mondo track last year.

Secretary of Education, Youth Affairs and Sport (DEYAS) Assemblyman, Huey Cadette, speaking at last Wednesday’s post-Executive Council media briefing at the Administrative Complex, Calder Hall, said a meeting was held at the stadium on December 31, 2014 to discuss its closure and the way forward for the sports facility. The meeting was attended by officials of his Division, headed by Assistant Secretary Assemblyman Jomo Pitt, the Ministry of Sport, the Sport Company and OSHA.

Cadette said, coming out of the meeting, the Sports Company agreed to make an evaluation of all the work to be done at the stadium while OSHA indicated that once the plumbing, electrical and air condition works were successfully completed, they would be prepared to give approval to use the track and the wider sporting areas.

He added that the Assembly now has to keep in contact with the company to ensure the work is done in a timely manner.

He said the Assembly was still awaiting the structural engineering assessment on the integrity of the main stand.

Cadette said the primary and secondary schools zonal championship is schedule to take place in March. “We are concerned that after a significant investment in the track our student athletes and our elite athletes would not have access to train or compete especially in a year when we would have the Pan American Games and World Championships; there is a need to have that track available for our athletes,” Cadette said.

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JOHANNESBURG—Chris Gayle was again sensational as West Indies incredibly pulled off the highest ever run chase in the history of Twenty20 Internationals, to beat South Africa by four wickets with four balls to spare, and clinch a winning 2-0 lead in the three-match series here yesterday.

The big-hitting opener top-scored with a stunning 90 off 41 balls to help West Indies overhaul South Africa’s 231 for seven and silence a capacity crowd which crammed into the Wanderers.

Gayle struck nine fours and seven sixes and put on a record 152 for the second wicket with Marlon Samuels who stroked a classy 60 from a mere 39 balls, with seven fours and two sixes.

Their heroics outshone South Africa’s captain Faf du Plessis who unfurled a classic 119 off 56 balls, his maiden T20 hundred, to guide the hosts to the fourth highest T20 International total, after they were sent in.

South Africa lost two early wickets but du Plessis counted 11 fours and five sixes and combined with David Miller, who struck 47 off 26 balls with four fours and three sixes, in an up tempo 105 for the third wicket.

The partnership was finally broken when Andre Russell ran out Miller at the nonstriker’s end in the 11th over with the Windies running out of ideas, and du Plessis added a further 66 for the fifth wicket with Farhaan Behardien (8 not out), before he holed out at the end of the 19th over off pacer Jason Holder.

Seamer Dwayne Bravo (2-32) and Holder (2-40) finished with two wickets apiece.

Left with the challenge of re-writing history, the Windies seemed in danger of wasting the brilliance of Gayle and Samuels when they lost five wickets for 38 runs, slumping from 171 for one in the 14th over to 206 for six in the 18th.

But captain Darren Sammy uncorked a little cameo of 20 not out off seven balls, with two fours and a six, that lifted West Indies over the line.

The game, though, remained up for grabs with the Caribbean side requiring 21 runs from the last two overs only for Sammy and Denesh Ramdin (7 not out) to belt wayward speedster Kyle Abbott for 18 runs off the penultimate over.

With three runs needed from the last six balls and victory all but assured, Sammy finished the game in style by depositing fast bowler Marchant de Lange over the ropes at deep mid-wicket, to spark celebrations among the visitors.

Needing to score at nearly 12 an over to win, West Indies displayed their attacking intent from as early as the first over when Dwayne Smith gathered three fours off Abbott. He took another one off de Lange in the second over before missing the next delivery and falling lbw for 17.

Gayle and Samuels then launched an exhibition of stroke-play which left South Africa in disarray.

While Gayle struck the ball with brute force, Samuels was surgical in his execution, as they scored at a remarkable rate of 13 runs an over through the first ten overs.

The left-handed Gayle came to life in the third over bowled by Abbott. The first ball was a dot one but Gayle then crunched four consecutive off-side boundaries before finishing off with a six over mid-wicket.

Not to be left out, Samuels punched seamer David Wiese past mid-off for four in the next over and then struck him for a straight six to end the over—a shot that raised the Windies fifty off just 24 deliveries.

Gayle took another two fours and a six off Abbott in the fifth over that cost 15 runs while Samuels singlehandedly took another 16 from the sixth over from Wiese, as the first six overs gushed 86 runs.

A straight six off leg-spinner Imran Tahir’s third ball of the innings brought Gayle his second half-century in three days, and his 13th in T20 Internationals, and he quickly celebrated by tearing into Aaron Phangiso with two sixes and a four in the left-arm spinner’s second over.

The century stand—the best for any wicket against the Proteas in T20s—came off 43 balls in the ninth over and Samuels strolled to his half-century off 29 balls in the 13th over, before the partnership ended when Gayle missed a tired- looking dab to third man and was caught behind off Wiese (3-43).

Samuels followed nine balls later with seven runs added, holing out to long on in Wiese’s next over, and the customary collapse followed with Kieron Pollard (7), Andre Russell (14) and Bravo (10) all perishing cheaply as the game tilted South Africa’s way.

Sammy, however, kept his wits about him and pulled the innings around with a late flourish. (CMC)

SCOREBOARD

West Indies vs South Africa
SOUTH AFRICA
R Rossouw c wkp Ramdin b Holder . . . . .15
M van Wyk c Pollard b Benn . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
F du Plessis c Bravo b Holder . . . . . . . . . . .119
D Miller run out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
J Ontong c Holder b Bravo . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
F Behardien not out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
D Wiese c Smith b Bravo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
K Abbott run out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Extras (lb2, w7, nb2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
TOTAL (7 wkts, 20 overs) . . . . . . . .231
Did not bat: M de Lange, Imran Tahir, A
Phangiso
Fall of wickets: 1-5 (van Wyk, 0.5 overs),
2-21 (Rossouw, 2.2), 3-126 (Miller, 10.3), 4-
156 (Ontong, 13.3), 5-222 (du Plessis, 19), 6-
228 (Wiese, 19.2), 7-231 (Abbott, 20)
Bowling: Benn 3-0-42-1, Cottrell 3-0-47-0
(nb1), Holder 4-0-40-2 (w2), Russell 4-0-
39-0 (w4, nb1), Bravo 4-0-32-2 (w1),
Sammy 1-0-17-0, Pollard 1-0-12-0.
WEST INDIES
D Smith lbw b de Lange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
C Gayle c wkp van Wyk b Wiese . . . . . . . .90
M Samuels c Behardien b Wiese . . . . . . .60
K Pollard c Behardien b Wiese . . . . . . . . . . . 7
A Russell c Miller b Abbott . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
DJ Bravo c Ontong b Phangiso . . . . . . . . . .10
D Sammy not out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
D Ramdin not out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Extras (b4, w7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
TOTAL (6 wkts, 19.2 overs) . . . . . . .236
Did not bat: J Holder, S Benn, S Cottrell.
Fall of wickets: 1-19 (Smith, 1.5 overs), 2-
171 (Gayle, 13.4), 3-178 (Samuels, 15.1), 4-
185 (Pollard, 15.5), 5-198 (Russell, 16.4),
6-209 (Bravo, 17.4)
Bowling: Abbott 4-0-68-1 (w1), de Lange
3.2-0-42-1 (w2), Wiese 4-0-43-3 (w3),
Phangiso 3-0-33-1, Imran Tahir 4-0-29-0
(w1), Ontong 1-0-17-0.
Result: West Indies won by four wickets.
Series: West Indies lead three-match
series. Man-of-the-Match: Chris Gayle.
Toss: West Indies.
Umpires: S George, A Holdstock; TV—J
Cloete. (CMC)

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