Black Immigrant Daily News

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Nicholai Manswell of St Mary’s (right) tries to control the ball despite the challenge of Miracle Ministries’ Jordan Thorne, during the teams’ match in the Secondary Schools Football League Big 5 Championship competition, on Saturday, at the St Mary’s Ground, St Clair. – ROGER JACOB

JAMAL THOMAS and Daylon Riley scored two goals apiece as St Mary’s hammered Miracle Ministries 5-0 on Saturday, in the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Big 5 Championship competition.

In front of their home fans at the St Mary’s Ground, St Clair, Thomas got his name on the scoresheet in the 35th and 90th minutes, with Riley chipping in with goals in the 65th and 83rd minutes. Josiah Connell was the other goal-getter for St Mary’s, in the 37th.

Miracle Ministries’ lone strike came from a 40th minute penalty from Daniel Hope.

The other scheduled game on Saturday, between Siparia West and Arima North, was postponed due to an unsuitable surface at the Siparia West Ground.

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DAVID Furlonge has been placed in a very challenging and arduous situation as the chairman of selectors for the TT team for the Super 50 Regional series while being the head coach of the squad. It is not the best circumstance for a head coach or a selector, especially the chairman.

That decision seems to have been a hasty one, and it is beyond me how cricket administrators could arrive at that conclusion. And I’m surprised that Furlonge himself, as an experienced administrator, is unaware of the numerous psychological pitfalls into which the heavy responsibilities of both jobs may lead him.

Outside of being a player, they are the two most significant and essential duties for a cricket team. Just imagine the number of awkward situations into which one can stumble.

In cricket, there are many challenges that a selector faces, and the chairman’s would treble those. The impact on all selectors, is powerful, but the responsibility that lies on the chairman’s shoulders is burdensome.

Cricket, more than any other team sport, has many factors to consider, and a minimum of three selectors is necessary. Five should be the absolute maximum, or else the committee becomes unwieldy.

A suitable appropriate committee covers many aspects. A team striving to win must have various attributes to adjust to any situation in which it finds itself. Due consideration must be given to the format of the game.

TT Red Force coach David Furlonge –

In a two-inning, measured by the number of days in which to win, one needs to bowl out the opposing team twice. Hence, in that match, one needs bowlers who are penetrative and a bowling team with depth and variety, plus a captain who is capable of reading a game in order to manage correct decisions. Then there’s the limited 50-over and 20-over competitions.

There are many issues of magnitude that require a variety of opinions from various cricket personalities with impactful ideas, in addition to the experience of past players who could fit into the strategy of the team, based on the opposition and one’s own strength.

Choosing cricket teams at high levels of the first-class game will rely on a strong intellectual input.

My belief, therefore, is that the head coach, as a knowledgeable person, has the ability to select teams at any level. However, it is wrong to ask him to also be the chairman of selectors.

Selection is tough enough as it is. Adding the mental strain of the head coach’s preparation of the team, plus his evaluation of performances, over and above having to chair the meeting to finalise the 11, can create conflict. One man alone with the information, hence the answers, cannot be questioned.

One must also consider the human side of contact with players. The efficient selector ought to be a bit aloof from the players, as being chummy can easily be misconstrued. The selector has to be objective at all times and must appear that way to earn the players’ respect.

As for the coach, he should be close to the players and must not be aloof. He has to motivate and encourage his cricketers to play properly and with passion.

However, as the chairman of selectors, the player may read the head coach’s decisions wrongly and quietly object to the chairman of the selectors leaning towards and favouring particular players.

This attitude alone can poison a team and spoil its efficiency through an envious player whispering to his colleagues bad thoughts about the coach as a selector.

A coach has to be close to his players and is a good man to be a selector. Nevertheless, he should never be the chairman of selectors while also being a head coach. The TTCB is looking for trouble.

Furlonge is a stable coach, and there’s no doubt about his knowledge. He would also make a fine selector, and would be highly successful in either position.

But I believe it’s asking too much of the man to handle the positions of both head coach and chairman of selectors.

The burden of responsibility is heavy and the psychological effect of one man handling both could be detrimental to the team or even the squad on the whole. That decision could have the reverse effect from what’s intended.

Leave Furlonge as head coach. Leave him as a selector. But remove him as chairman of selectors, as it’s a very sensitive area that could cause dissent, with all due respect. Good luck.

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NCB (Cayman) Limited (NCBKY) has announced that it has been granted a Category A banking license by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA), the body responsible for the regulation and supervision of the financial services industry in the Cayman Islands.

NCBKY said in a press release that the Category A banking license means that it can now offer its bespoke private banking services to high-net-worth residents of Cayman and local businesses for the first time.

NCBKY previously held a Category B banking licence in Cayman, since it was established in Cayman almost 30 years ago, which permitted only non-resident business.

Tuula Jalasjaa, acting managing director of NCBKY, said: “We are pleased to now provide our private banking services to help high-net-worth individuals locally, as well as globally, to grow and preserve their wealth.

“We can now also service local companies and look forward to supporting and financing some exciting projects and developments in the Cayman Islands.

“The upgraded license demonstrates NCBKY’s continued strong commitment to growing our business in the Caribbean, and our belief in the Cayman Islands as the jurisdiction of choice for high-net-worth clients in the region and beyond. We are here to support the ongoing success of Cayman for the long term.”

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Opposition leader Allen Chastanet, who announced plans for a peaceful protest on Tuesday, November 1, declared that there would be no change if citizens continued to sit idly by and urged them to let their voices be heard.

“Our silence is being interpreted by this labour party as support. And while there are many Saint Lucians who I meet and say: ‘Well, I am going to wait for the day of election’, that’s too long,” the former Prime Minister asserted.

Chastanet spoke during a news conference on Monday

“We’d better let our voices be heard,” the United Workers Party (UWP) leader declared.

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Chastanet’s incumbent party lost all but two of its 11 seats in the 17-seat House of Assembly after the July 26, 2021, general elections.

However, he said twenty-six percent of the eligible voters elected the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP).

As a result, he indicated that seventy-four percent either did not vote for the SLP or did not vote.

“If you don’t  allow your voices not to be heard at this particular time, we’re in trouble and I for one will be standing in front of the line,” the Micoud South MP told reporters.

On Facebook last week, Chastanet invited citizens who are fed up with the SLP’s ‘ incompetence and abuse of power’ to join Tuesday’s protest from 8:30 am at Derek Walcott Square.

He called attention to the bad roads, the high cost of living, the out-of-control crime rate, the incomplete St. Jude Hospital, the ‘sale of Port Castries and Soufriere waterfront’, and all the social issues created by the SLP administration.

However, during Monday’s news conference, he also raised the matter of recent comments by House of Assembly Speaker Claudius Francis during his television talk show.

Francis had urged labour party supporters to fight fire with fire.

“You see me right now, I taking them head-on,” he said.

“No more Mr. Nice Guy. You want to interfere with me, and I keep telling you I don’t care when I’m fighting if my opponent is a giant or a dwarf. I am fighting with all the ammunition at my disposal – all. I (am)not saying because he is a dwarf, let me use a catapult, and because he is a giant, I will use a bazooka. Dwarf to giant getting bazooka,” Francis had declared.

Chastanet said he would not refer to the Speaker’s comments in parliament or question decisions Francis makes in the House of Assembly since that would be inappropriate.

But he described it as a declaration of war against UWP members, remarks Francis made during his recent television show.

“If the Speaker did not remember, let me remind him that I am an MP elected under the banner of the United Workers Party. I also happen to be the leader of the United Workers Party,” Chastanet stated.

“When he says he is going to come after people of the United Workers Party with a bazooka, that I would not include myself?” The UWP leader said.

He questioned whether Francis could be impartial and how, as a Speaker, he had dealt with the House Privileges Committee matter.

“I know the House is who has to fire him, but if he is a better person and he genuinely cares about the democracy and the image of Saint Lucia he would do the right thing and resign,” Chastanet declared.

In this regard, the UWP leader stated that Tuesday’s planned protest would allow people to show up and declare that the ‘ayes have it’.

“This is the first step, and if, in fact, the Speaker cannot see it fit to resign himself we have seen historically that another Speaker who, despite the evidence and had the support of the House remained in the House,” he recalled.

“It was the people’s parliament that caused him to resign,” Chastanet told reporters.

“We need to begin that process,” he said.

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