Latest news with #DeCaires
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Blast from the past Zimbabwe are finally coming in out of the cold
A biting wind swept across Grace Road on Thursday and though the crowd was thin, there was just enough stardust to keep the autograph hunters happy. Andrew Flintoff was perched on the pavilion balcony, while Mark Wood, trying his hand at coaching during his latest injury layoff, patrolled the boundary's edge with a smile. Out in the middle there were also runs for Josh de Caires, son of Mike Atherton, who compiled a fluent 79 from 93 balls on a green-tinged pitch. De Caires is a player in the modern mould charting his own course but some of the old man's mannerisms were there to see. Mercifully, the lower back appears to be much less creaky. Advertisement Related: Jamie Smith: 'To win an away Ashes would be every England cricketer's dream' But more noteworthy than the Professional County Club Select XI – a team of fresh-faced rookies led by De Caires, coached by Flintoff, and with selector Luke Wright in attendance – was the identity of their opponents. Zimbabwe have arrived for a one-off, four-day Test match against England that gets under way at Trent Bridge next Thursday, their first appearance on these shores for 22 years. Much has changed since a series chiefly remembered for Jimmy Anderson, peroxide highlights in his hair, bursting out of the traps with five wickets on his debut at Lord's. Tour games have largely gone the way of the Nokia 3310 (the must-have mobile phone back then, kids) and Zimbabwe have slipped from feisty overachievers, a team laced with a good deal of quality, to the unofficial second tier of Test cricket. Indeed, after the Test next week (a warmup for England before the five-Test visit of India) Zimbabwe stick around to play South Africa in a four-day game at Arundel. That third and final game on tour is preparation for the Proteas ahead of their World Test Championship final against Australia at Lord's next month – a competition that Zimbabwe, along with Afghanistan and Ireland, are currently excluded from. Advertisement Still, truncated though it is – a far cry from 2003, when they played two Tests and took part in an ODI tri-series along with South Africa – this tour is a welcome development. And in something of a first, the England and Wales Cricket Board is also paying the visitors a tour fee in lieu of a reciprocal trip not sitting in the future tours programme. This apparent benevolence is in part driven by the England and Wales Cricket Board's broadcast deal with Sky, which is predicated on delivering six Test matches every season; in the years that bring India or Australia for their usual five-match series, an early summer opponent is still needed. Ireland fulfilled this role before the 2023 Ashes, now it is Zimbabwe's turn. But while a schedule-filler, it would not have come about had relations between the ECB and Zimbabwe Cricket not thawed considerably in recent times, nor had the green light not come from the British government. After the dark days of Robert Mugabe's brutal regime, and a period of considerable turmoil for cricket in Zimbabwe in which corruption was alleged to be rife, relative stability has returned to the country. How Zimbabwe will fare in Nottingham next week is tricky to call, with their diet of Test cricket so skinny in recent years. There are just 108 caps spread among their 15-man squad (Joe Root, by comparison, has racked up 152 on his own). As the county kids cut loose to post 330 all out inside 72 overs, including half-centuries from tailenders Sebastian Morgan and Jafer Chohan, it did not augur massively well. Advertisement Equally, there was a creditable 1-1 draw in Bangladesh last month, one that featured Zimbabwe's first away victory for seven years, and there are players of some promise in their ranks. Blessing Muzarabani, a towering 6ft 6in quick who claimed nine wickets in Sylhet, could pose some problems for England on the right surface – much as New Zealand's similarly giant Will O'Rourke did during their last outing. As well Muzarabani, who nicked off De Caires with a sharp delivery that climbed, there is Sikandar Raza, the Pakistani-born all-rounder who has been a world-class performer in the white-ball formats. Experience comes from Sean Williams and skipper Craig Ervine, both 39, while Gary Ballance, though retired after a brief return to the country of his birth, is sharing local knowledge as their batting consultant. This short tour may serve to warm up their opponents in the main but for Zimbabwe, out in the cold for more than two decades, there is sunshine breaking through.
CBS News
27-02-2025
- Health
- CBS News
CIAA Tournament summit addresses resources for health and mental wellness
BALTIMORE -- CIAA Tournament week in Baltimore is about more than basketball. There are resources and events within the community. CIAA Tournament's Health and Mental Wellness Summit, a free event to address health disparities, mental health wellness, cooking healthy meals and keeping fit through Zumba, was held on Thursday at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum. "Even though CIAA is a basketball tournament and an amazing tournament, we wanted to make sure there are other things that are happening, to include the community," said CIAA event producer Sonjie DeCaires. DeCaires hopes this event will expose visitors to community resources that will better their well-being. Thursday's event featured a panel of mental health advocates. "Go to the doctor," DeCaires said. "If something's wrong with you, advocate for yourself. Don't let them send you home because you never know what may be wrong. That's what a lot of experts are saying on the panel. We have to be proactive in our community to make sure we're ahead of the curve." CIAA organizers will host a Tech Summit at the Rita Rossi Caldwell Center from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 28. There will be a Financial Summit, presented by Bank of America, focused on financial literacy at the Rita Rossi Caldwell Center from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 1. The week-long events are a collaboration between organizers and Visit Baltimore. Spreading awareness Tamika Felder shared her story of finding out she had cervical cancer at 25 years old, and she had to endure a "radical hysterectomy." "When you're young, you don't think about getting cancer," said Felder, a cancer survivor. Felder made it her mission to spread awareness at Thursday's Health and Mental Wellness Summit. "Having this event, in this space, during Black History Month, is the chef's kiss," Felder said. "We know more than ever. If we do not talk about health and equities, that health gap will grow bigger."
