Empire Nation’s Kenrick Scott has arrived safely in the UK and will represent Cowdrey CC. The left-handed batsman was 2021 ABCA 40 Overs leading run-scorer with 465 runs at an average of 46.5. He is also the current captain of the Empire Nation Team. We’d like to wish Mr. Scott all the best for the English Season.

The ABCA Two Day Competition has been quite long but we are all grateful for the opportunity to play it again after a two-year hiatus. This year’s edition has been more competitive than those gone before. We have seen the likes of Liberta Blackhawks that continue to dominate the cricket season across all formats. They have literally pummeled almost every team they have faced in the longer format of the game.

With five rounds played thus far, it is safe to say that the top eight teams are going to be jostling for the top four positions. The team that has been turning heads after suffering heavy defeats in the first three rounds is Bolans Blasters and they should not be taken lightly. Liberta (54) sits at the top of the standings and is followed by All Saints Pythons (39) who have been playing some exciting cricket.

The Empire Nation (33) is trailing the top two in the third position with Pigotts Crushers (31) and Jennings Tigers (31) breathing down their back. In fifth place is the Rising Sun Spartans (27) who are doing much better than their recent ABCA 40 Overs campaign while Bolans Blasters (24) and New Winthopes Lions (24) are currently tied in sixth place. To round it all off, CUB Bethesda Golden Eagles (18) find themselves at the bottom of the table with Combined Schools (0).

Another strong performance by Empire Nation’s talisman Justin Athanaze in their recent encounter versus Liberta Blackhawks. The Liberta men started strongly with Uri Smith and teenage batsman Tarek Charles putting on 100 for the first wicket in their first innings before Athanaze removed the latter. Six overs later he removed Smith and continued taking wickets regularly eventually picking up 8 wickets for just 23 runs and dismissing Liberta for 176 runs. He then returned in the second innings to collect another three wickets to take his tally to 11 wickets in the match. His bowling figures read 11 for 62.

We’d like to congratulate Mr Athanaze on his recent achievement and wish him continued success for the rest of the 2022 competition. Thank you to our sponsors Velvet Touch Spa, Eric’s Construction and Heavy Equipment Services, Wayne’s Electrical Services, Zamine Shipping, Goody’s Tours and Taxi Services and Meat U Dare Eatery.

A month ago, he had no centuries just a few fifties and a few good knocks. However, he has put the past behind him and is now embracing the newfound feeling of reaching three figures, taking off his helmet and soaking up the applause from the supporters. The wicketkeeper-batsman scored his third century in a month on Sunday afternoon at home vs Evington Lion CC while wickets fell all around him in a very familiar fashion to his first hundred for Mahico CC.

Francis scored 125 with 6 fours and 9 maximums, receiving little support from the other batters to propel Grantham to 200 for 9 from their 40 overs. Moreover, his countryman Glenton Williams was also present to help restrict Evington to 169 all out. He picked up 4 for 46 as Grantham won by 31 runs. Francis also leads the run aggregates with 274 runs at an average of 137.00.

Further Afield!

Springfield CC Ishmael Peters continues to have a good season with bat and ball as he collected four scalps in his team’s loss to Ashton Ladysmith CC. He also contributed a handy 34 to help his team 163 all out which wasn’t enough to defend against their opponents.

Another allrounder has been plying his trade well as he adjusts to the English climate. Jaylen Francis of Keyworth CC made light work of the bottom order of Attenborough CC picking up 4 for 34 as his side rolled over them by some 81 runs. He also chipped in with 25 to help his team to post 256 for 8.

Finally, Pigotts Crushers Kadeem Henry representing Marshfield CC snapped up 4 for 34 also as he teamed up with fellow Antiguan fast bowler Robert Joseph who snagged 3 wickets. The two have greatly assisted Marshfield who currently sits at the top of the table for the division.

It’s often said, “when your opponent is down, keep them down!” Kofi James made an absolute mockery of the schoolboy’s report card (scorecard) on the recent weekend. The Leeward Islands player was the principal that no student wants to see, the kind that gives you nightmares. James picked up six wickets for only eleven runs with support from Karima Gore who picked up three to dismiss Combined School for a terrible score of 46 runs.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, he returned to put on a double century opening stand of 277, with Tarek Charles who scored his maiden hundred in ABCA Competitions. James played what is described by some as ‘a chanceless innings’ offering the youngsters no chances. He scored quickly and there was just no way of stopping the haemorrhaging of runs until he finally got dismissed for a brilliant knock of 172.

James and Charles really did set the platform needed to help the other batsmen flourish, and that they did. There were two additional centuries from Uri Smith (103) and Joshua Thomas (100) and half-centuries from Michael Greaves (66) and Amahl Nathaniel (64). Liberta Black Hawks declared on 690 for 7. When Combined School returned for their second innings they were scolded again by James and company, this time it was Gore doing most of the damage picking up five wickets. Congratulations to Kofi James who is our player of the week. Thank you to our sponsors for making the award possible.

They can’t keep a good man down is what the song says and Jewel, although still a youth, played a man’s innings. Imagine being the youngest member of your team with the confidence and skill to take down your opponent; David and Goliath anyone? This post may be longer than most but permit us a bit to speak to this tremendous achievement by an absolute talent of a young man.

Playing for the All Saints Pythons against his former team, Pigotts Crushers, he would have seen Gershum Phillip score a deserving century after helping to rescue his team from a precarious position of 65 for 4 to 256 all out in their first innings. In the All Saints innings, he came in to bat with the score of 3 for 2 in the second over. He readily counterattacked just as wickets fell around him and looked solid as a rock until he was run out on the second day. The Pythons were eventually bowled out for 116 and sent back in.

Batting their second time, the men from All Saints started a bit more reserved but the consistent bowling from the opening quicks of the Crushers made early inroads into their lineup. Andrew found himself back at the crease again in the sixth over, only to be hit on the helmet by a short ball from Craig Rainford. He spent 2.2 overs at the crease before retiring hurt with the score at 23 for 2, which obviously did not stop the fall of wickets.

In the 20th over after losing the sixth wicket, Andrew returned to the crease and we can refer to the rest of the afternoon as the ‘Andrew Show’. The young wicketkeeper-batsman unleashed a scything attack on the Pigotts Crushers bowlers that will never forget. Of the 60 overs batted by the Pythons after his return, Andrew faced over 200 balls and scored 170 runs. He received great support from Justin Robinson who batted valiantly at 11 facing a total of 87 balls. In fact, for the 10th wicket, these two young men put on 161 runs batting 46.1 overs.

The two not only possibly broke some sort of record in the ABCA Two Day Competition but also saved the match for their team from a sure defeat. We are happy to announce Andrew as our Player of the Week for Week 14. Congratulations to Mr. Andrew for a job well done.

We selected this team based on the performance of the players throughout the competition. Some picks were selected on a subjective basis. Here is the squad:

George Munsey (206 Runs @ 51.50 and a strike rate of 160.94)

Kofi James (198 Runs @ 39.60 and a srike rate of 142.45)

Karima Gore (148 Runs @ 49.33 and strike rate of 164.44 | 7 scalps @ 9.57 and economy rate of 3.94)

Keacy Carty (131 Runs @ 65.50 and strike rate of 137.89)

Rahkeem Cornwall (138 Runs @ 69.00 and strike rate of 137.89)

Nyeem Young (131 Runs @ 65.50 and strike rate of 137.89 | 7 scalps @ 17.29 and economy of 6.37)

Amir Jangoo (91 Runs @ 30.33 and strike rate of 142.19)

Nathan Edward (6 scalps @ 7.83 and economy of 5.88)

Hayden Walsh (6 scalps @ 12.17 and economy of 3.95)

Kelvin Pitman (4 scalps @ 28.75 and economy of 6.76)

Chammiqueko Landefort (4 scalps @ 24.75 and economy 7.62)

12th Junior Henry (140 Runs @ 35.00 and strike rate of 144.33)

13th Shadrack Descarte (83 Runs @ 27.67 and strike rate of 184.44 | 4 scalps @ 27.00 and economy of 8.00)

14th Kenroy Browne (6 scalps @ 14.67 and economy 6.29)

The most viewed and well-attended match is usually the final game of any competition. This is the game where teams are awarded their winnings, man of the match, MVP and so on. You would want to expect a good contest by what should be the best two teams in the competition, right? Well, in sports that is not always the case especially when one team is by far a better team in all aspects of the game. But you still would expect some fight especially if you paid for your ticket and had to endure the dodgy weather.

Liberta Black Hawks batted first in the final encounter of the Cool & Smooth T20 Explosion against the Bethesda Golden Eagles. They lost a wicket in the first over at a score of six runs but they steadily build partnerships as the innings progressed. Their leading run-scorer Kofi James struggled to get the ball away but USA’s Karima Gore seemed to find the middle of his bat with most of his scoring shots. He scored a very brisk 46 before he was bowled by Modani in his solitary over.

Captain Cornwall came to the middle at the halfway point of the game and knew that as long as he stayed to the end, his team could post a commanding total. He got some support from Terrance Warde (14) and Hayden Walsh (22) as he brought up his second half-century of the competition helping the team reach 165 for 5. USA’s Kenjige and Barbados Royals Young had the exact figures with 1 for 20 from their allotment.

No Show

“Well at least they showed up”, laughed a supporter of the Black Hawks after the conundrum witnessed in the very first over of the Bethesda Golden Eagles innings. Many could not understand what they were witnessing seeing the score 0 for 2 wickets with arguably the two best batsmen of the team. Captain Thomas went the first ball of the innings and so did his vice-captain Deran Benta two balls after. To add more confusion to the mix, Sushant Modani was run out with the score still on zero. If you were a betting person you would never expect such situations in the finals.

Young joined Fernandez and the two finally got off the march to which the crowd applauded. However, Young was in a ‘beat ball’ mood after smashing a high full toss from fast bowler Chammiqueko Landefort and decided to take on a pitched up delivery and was caught by K. James with the score at 9 for 4. Fernandez then got a few boundaries and put on the biggest partnership of the innings with Kenjige of 31 before he departed with the score at 40.

The next four wickets fell for 16 runs and the showers ended the game prematurely with Bethesda on 61 for 9. The DL system adjudicated that Bethesda would only be able to score 76 runs in the 20 overs provided that they batted. Liberta won by 89 runs and 22,000 XCD. There were 5 ducks in the innings of Bethesda with Karima Gore being the pick of the bowlers with some 3 wickets for 9 runs in 4 overs.

Just imagine dominating your opponent for 37.3 overs out of the possible 40 overs and absolutely mucking it up in the 2.3 left of the game. Well, this is what occurred in the second semifinal with Jennings Tigers and CUB Bethesda Golden Eagles. Jennings literally took the game out of their back pocket and gave it to the opponent.

After limiting CUB Bethesda to a paltry 128 from 20 overs, the men from the south got off to a scorcher with that man again, George Munsey. He and Cabey put on 47 for the first wicket and had things under control for the first 6 overs. When he was dismissed, the score was 69 for 2 so it meant that they were scoring at the exact rate needed to win the game.

Skipper Orlando Peters was joined by Adrian Barron and the two put on 45 in 7 overs before the latter left been caught brilliantly behind by Deran Benta. And it was just nothing but nerves and panic that set in for the remaining fifteen balls.

Miller Brothers

Paul Miller walked out and nonchalantly left the first ball faced; a ball that he could have easily taken a single and put the set batsman Orlando Peters on strike. For the second ball, he attempted a cut shot to a ball pitched back of a length with a fourth stump line; too close to cut. On his final ball, he was beaten for pace and was comprehensively bowled facing three balls and leaving his team needing now 15 runs from 12 balls.

Older brother, Cameron Miller strolled out to the crease knowing the situation at hand decided to have a brain fade at the wrong time. After Orlando Peters got them back on par with the scoring by striking a four off the first ball of the 19th over, Tigers only needed 11 from 11 balls. He then hit a ball down to long on attempting two runs which looked possible until Cameron had a second opinion and stopped on his way back to the non-striker end. It resulted in Peters passing him at the striker’s end of the pitch. Miller decided to then complete the second run but Deran Benta quickly gathered the ball and sent it to the non-striker end where Miller was run out without scoring. Peters showed his frustration immediately at the other end.

Panic Set In!

Out came Jaheim Africa, another capable batsman for the Jennings Tigers with 10 runs from 9 balls decided on drive a ball airily to midwicket and effectively caught. So in the space of seven balls, we saw five runs scored, four wickets taken, three ducks walked and just about one over left.

Jedidiah Martin and Orlando Peters batted for the remainder of the innings. In the last over, Jennings needed 8 runs and the responsibility was given to West Indies Under 19 speedster, Kelvin Pitman. Peters was able to get 3 twos from the first five balls as the youngster bowled quick not allowing the batter to score fluently as he is known to do. On the last ball of the over, the Tigers needed to score two runs to win and just one run to take the game into a super over but failed to do so ingloriously. Peters missed the ball which went straight to wicketkeeper Benta, who effected a run-out as the batsmen attempted a run.

After dominating their group and 37.3 overs of the second semifinal, Jennings Tigers will have to settle for a third-place finish. Kudos to CUB Bethesda for playing fighting and determined cricket. All the best to the tea, of Finals Day!

Bethesda vs Tigers (Semifinal 2)