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CWI asks ICC for ‘fair and transparent’ pathway to LA28 Olympics
Cricket West Indies (CWI) has implored the ICC to provide a fair and transparent pathway for at least one of the Caribbean’s sovereign nations to represent West indies at the Los Angeles Olympics.
The heart of the problem here is that while in cricket many countries compete under the name the West Indies are administered by the same cricket board (CWI), the Olympics only allows sovereign nations to contest. There can be no team in which for instance, Barbadans, Jamaicans, Trinidadians, Guyanese, St. Lucians play in the same team, even though that is how regular cricket is organised.
So in the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, an event in which six nations will compete in cricket, the region hopes to have at least one of its sovereign states in play. Currently, West Indies women are ranked sixth on the T20I ICC rankings, and the men are fifth. West Indies men have won the T20 World Cup twice, and the women once. It is up to the ICC to nominate the teams that will participate in the Olympics.
There is also the additional complication that the United States, as the host nation of these Olympics, may be a frontrunner to gain automatic qualification despite their low rankings, though that has not been confirmed by the ICC. This means only five further spots are available.
“The Caribbean has always punched above its weight at the Olympics, inspiring the world with our athletic brilliance,” CWI president Kishore Swallow said. “Cricket’s return to the Games in 2028 must not exclude our young cricketers from the same dream that has inspired our athletes. The Olympic Charter emphasizes fairness, transparency, and universality. We are simply asking that these principles be upheld–not just in spirit, but in structure. West Indies cricket must have a pathway, and fully deserves an opportunity to compete.”
CWI has provided the ICC with two possible ways forward. To quote from the CWI release:
- If rankings are used and West Indies men and women teams technically qualify, an internal qualifying tournament among its Olympic affiliated member countries will determine which country represents the West Indies; or
- A global qualifying pathway that includes associate ICC members in the five ICC Development Regions plus member countries of the West Indies.
The first of these options would have the CWI, through domestic tournaments, pick their champions for the LA Olympics. The second would involve a more rigorous selection process, in which the sovereign nations that are members of the West Indies board compete alongside a host of other nations for Olympics spots.
What the CWI board stresses to ICC, however, is that qualification criteria must be “fair and transparent”, citing a bylaw in the Olympic Charter. Caribbean nations are accustomed to Olympic success, as several of them are frequently atop Olympics leaderboards for medals per capita. Their collective achievements in track events in particular, are recognised almost universally as extraordinary.
CWI CEO Chris Dehring said: “Our nations have proudly flown their individual flags atop Olympic podiums as perennial gold medalists. Now, with cricket’s inclusion, we must ensure that our cricketers are not shut out of history. We are ready to collaborate. We are ready to compete. But above all, we are asking for fairness.”
The ICC has made no announcement on what the Olympics qualification process will be, so far.
Cricket has only once been played in the Olympics, way back in 1900. On that occasion, France and Great Britain competed, with Great Britan winning the two day match by 158 runs. The highest individual score for France in the second innings was 8.
[Cricinfo]
Airbus has struck a deal with Vietnamese budget airline Vietjet for up to 150 single-aisle jets at the Paris Air Show as the aviation industry’s hopes to return to a tariff-free trade agreement were given a boost by United States Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
The French plane maker announced the deal on Tuesday.
Airbus is the main supplier of jets to Vietnam, accounting for 86 percent of the planes currently operated by Vietnamese airlines. The export-dependent Southeast Asian country is under pressure from Washington to buy more US goods.
Vietjet Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao said the scale of the airline’s orders was backed by plans to develop a major aviation hub in Vietnam, which Airbus says has seen its aviation market grow by 7.5 percent a year.
A deal for 150 A321neos could be worth around $9.4bn, according to estimated prices provided by Cirium Ascend.
The agreement was the latest in a flurry of business announced by Airbus at the world’s biggest aviation trade fair in Paris, France.
Airbus has made gains against its chief competitor Boeing as airlines reconsider purchases of the US-made jets amid ongoing tariff threats in recent months. In May, budget airline Ryanair threatened to pull orders of Boeing aircraft amid tariff threats.
Duffy said he wanted civil aviation to return to a 1979 zero-tariff trade agreement, in one of the clearest signs yet that the administration of US President Donald Trump might favour such a move. However, Duffy added that while the White House was aware that the US is a net exporter in aerospace, it was also dealing with a complex tariff situation.
“Now, again, you look at what free trade has done for aviation. It’s been remarkable for them. It’s a great space of net exporters,” Duffy said. “And so the White House understands that, but if you go over there and you see the moving parts of what they’re dealing with, it is pretty intense and it’s a lot.”
Trump’s sweeping 10 percent import tariffs are a headache for an industry already battling supply chain challenges and facing fresh turbulence from last week’s deadly Air India crash and conflict in the Middle East.
In early May, the US Commerce Department launched a “Section 232” national security investigation into imports of commercial aircraft, jet engines and parts that could form the basis for even higher tariffs on such imports.
Airlines, plane makers and several US trading partners have been lobbying Trump to restore the tariff-free regime under the 1979 agreement.
Boeing was having a subdued show and parking announcements while focusing on the probe into last week’s fatal crash of an Air India Boeing 787 and after it racked up huge deals during Trump’s recent tour of the Middle East.
Attention turned to another big Airbus customer, AirAsia, long associated with buzzy show finales and looking at buying 100 A220s, with Brazil’s Embraer seeking to wrest away the deal after losing a key contest in Poland, delegates said. Airbus was also expected to reveal Egyptair as the airline behind a recent unidentified order for six more A350s.
Even so, Airbus’s hopes of using the event as a showcase for its first significant deal with Royal Air Maroc faded after the airline postponed plans to announce a larger Boeing deal, delegates said.
[Aljazeera]
One of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes spewed a huge ash cloud more than 11 kilometres into the sky on Tuesday after officials issued the country’s highest alert.
Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, erupted at 17:35 local time (10:35 BST), the country’s volcanology agency said, sending the vast cloud above the tourist island of Flores.
A 7km exclusion zone was in place around the crater of the 1,584m (one mile) high twin-peaked volcano. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
The volcano erupted multiple times in November, killing nine people and forcing thousands to flee. The ash cloud also forced flight cancellations.
Geology agency head Muhammad Wafid said no one should carry out any activities within 7km of the eruption, and warned of potential lahar floods – a type of mud or debris flow of volcanic materials – if heavy rain occurs.
Residents were also urged to wear face masks to protect themselves from volcanic ash.
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency meanwhile said that at least one village had been evacuated, and ash rain was reported in several others outside the exclusion zone.
A spokesman called on residents around the volcano “to evacuate to safe locations” as tremors were still being detected, which indicated ongoing volcanic activity.
Lewotobi Laki-laki’s last eruption was in May, when authorities also raised the level to the most severe.
Laki-Laki, which means “man” in Indonesian, is twinned with the calmer but taller 1,703m named Perempuan, the Indonesian word for “woman”.
[BBC]
Business
Cabinet nod to celebrate centenary of Tea Research Institute from 9th November to 14th November 2025
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure Facilities to hold the 26th Session of the Intergovernmental Group on Tea of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the 4th Annual Meeting of the Asian Tea Alliance to commemorate the Centenary Anniversary of the Tea Research Institute in Colombo from 9th November to 14th November in 2025 and to take necessary steps in that respect.
Airbus strikes Vietjet deal at Paris Air Show, hopes for tariff rollback
Indonesia issues highest alert as volcano erupts
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