March 22, 2023, 4:23 p.m. West Indies captain Shai Hope and fast bowler Alzarri Joseph have made big strides in the ICC Men’s One-Day International plyer rankings, announced on Wednesday. Following the recent series in South Africa, Hope has moved up two places in the batting to 12th position.
He made a match-wining 128 not out – his 14th ODI century – in his first match as captain which the West Indies defeated the home side at Buffalo Park in East London. Joseph made a giant leap of eight places to 11th spot after the two matches.
He bowled with genuine pace and penetration and took 3-53 in East London which was followed up by 3-50 in the next match at JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom. He now has an impressive record of 93 wickets in 56 matches at an average of 27 runs per wicket and strike rate of just under 31.
Left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein is the other West Indies bowler in the Top 20. He took 3-59 and 2-49 in the two matches to break into the top tier. West Indies and South Africa played to a 1-1 result in the series. The first match was washed out, West Indies won the second by 48 runs while the Proteas won the third by four wickets.
The series now moves to Centurion for the first T20 International which will be played at SuperSports Park on Saturday. First ball is 2pm (8am Eastern Caribbean/7am Jamaica). The World Athletics Council also voted to reduce the amount of blood testosterone permitted for athletes with differences in sex development (DSD), such as South Africa’s Caster Semenya.
DSD athletes will be required to reduce their blood testosterone level to below 2.5 nanomoles per litre, down from five, and must remain under this threshold for two years in order to compete internationally in the female category in any track and field event. Under previous regulations, DSD athletes were only restricted in events ranging from 400m to a mile.
Interim provisions will be introduced for DSD athletes already competing in previously unrestricted events, requiring them to suppress their testosterone levels below 2.5nmol/L for a minimum of six months before they are allowed to compete again. “Decisions are always difficult when they involve conflicting needs and rights between different groups, but we continue to take the view that we must maintain fairness for female athletes above all other considerations,” said Lord Coe.“We will be guided in this by the science around physical performance and male advantage which will inevitably develop over the coming years.
As more evidence becomes available, we will review our position, but we believe the integrity of the female category in athletics is paramount.” The Council agreed to set up a working group for 12 months to “further consider the issue of transgender inclusion”.An independent chair will lead the group, while it will also include up to three council members, two athletes from the Athletes’ Commission, a transgender athlete, three representatives of World Athletics’ member federations and representatives of the World Athletics health and science department. It will consult specifically with transgender athletes, as well as review and commission research and put forward recommendations to the Council. ‘Little support’ for previous preference – World Athletics As recently as January, World Athletics said its “preferred option” was to continue to allow transgender women to compete in the female category but to tighten the sport’s eligibility rules, still using testosterone limits as the basis for inclusion.
It had proposed that transgender women would have to reduce their blood testosterone level to below 2.5nmol/L for two years, bringing it in line with amendments made last year by the UCI, cycling’s world governing body. However, World Athletics said there was “little support” for this option when it was presented to stakeholders, who included member federations, athletes, coaches, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), as well as representative transgender and human rights groups.
Many argue that transgender women should not compete in elite women’s sport because of any advantages they may retain – but others argue that sport should be more inclusive. The debate centres on the balance of inclusion, sporting fairness and safety in women’s sport – essentially, whether transgender women can compete in female categories without an unfair advantage.
The IOC’s framework on transgender athletes – released in November 2021 – states that there should be no assumption that a transgender athlete automatically has an unfair advantage in female sporting events, and places responsibility on individual federations to determine eligibility criteria in their sport.
