Sports

West Indies wicketkeeper/batsman, Shai Hope has gained some invaluable time at the wicket during the first day of the Cricket West Indies Best versus Best four-day match.

GROS ISLET, St Lucia, CMC – Stylish right-hander Shai Hope struck an imperious hundred here yesterday which all but secured his return to West Indies’ squad for next week’s start of the two-Test series against South Africa.

(Reuters) – The Men’s Cricket World Cup and Men’s T20 World Cup will be expanded to include more teams and matches from 2027 and 2024 respectively, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced yesterday.

(Cricinfo) Twenty-three months on from a day of agony and ecstasy, New Zealand are back at Lord’s.

PARIS, (Reuters) – Seventh seed Serena Williams is back in action on day four of the French Open, where she takes on unseeded Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu in the second round today.

PARIS, (Reuters) – Claycourt master Rafael Nadal and world number one Novak Djokovic cantered into the second round of the French Open where the shockwaves of Naomi Osaka’s withdrawal were still felt.

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – As the Indian cricket board seeks to complete this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) in the United Arab Emirates, it appears to have accepted that the UAE leg may not feature several of the league’s star foreign players.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – Regional nation grouping, CARICOM, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with football’s world governing body, FIFA, aimed at using the sport to enhance social development across its states and further develop communities through youth involvement.

CASTRIES, St Lucia, CMC – South Africa touched down here yesterday for the two-Test series against West Indies starting next week, marking  only the second international series in the Caribbean since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

TOKYO/PARIS, (Reuters) – Naomi Osaka received support from her country Japan, her sponsors, leading sporting figures and tennis fans yesterday after the world number two withdrew from the French Open in a row about media duties, saying she had been suffering from depression and anxiety.

Team Guyana’s 12-athlete contingent wrapped up its Senior South American Championship campaign in Guayaquil, Ecuador yesterday with five medals including a bronze in the Men’s 4x100m relay.

Junior Pan American Games-bound badminton Akili Haynes has already commenced training under top seed, Narayan Ramdhani.

GROS ISLET, St Lucia, CMC – Test outcast Shai Hope pressed his case for a recall with an attacking half-century while Jermaine Blackwood struck a typically breezy fifty, but bowlers dominated as 14 wickets tumbled on the opening day of the four-day practice match here yesterday.

(BBC) The 2021 Copa America will be hosted by Brazil, after Argentina was stripped of the tournament just two weeks before it starts.

Chris Paul collected 18 points and nine assists to lift the visiting Phoenix Suns to a 100-92 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday afternoon in Game 4 of their Western Conference first-round series.

(Reuters) – Brooklyn Nets’ Kyrie Irving said NBA arenas had become like “human zoos” after a fan was arrested for throwing a water bottle at the former Celtic guard on Sunday.

A 21-year-old man from suburban Braintree, Mass., is awaiting arraignment on assault and battery charges by means of a dangerous weapon after allegedly throwing a water bottle in the direction of Kyrie Irving following the Boston Celtics’ Game 4 playoff loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.

PARIS, (Reuters) – Japan’s Naomi Osaka stunned the French Open yesterday when she announced she was withdrawing from the tournament in the wake of her decision to boycott post-match media duties, explaining she had been suffering from depression for almost three years.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Legendary captain Sir Clive Lloyd has urged under-fire stroke-maker Shimron Hetmyer to “produce the runs” and remove any debate over his eligibility for a central retainer contract.

MELBOURNE,  (Reuters) – Nick Hockley has been confirmed as Cricket Australia’s permanent Chief Executive after steering the game through an “impossible summer” during the COVID-19 pandemic.