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10 Team. 2 Zone. 1 WINNER. Who would be the last one standing when the dust submerge.

After just about 9 months since the last competitive local match between the Mahico Cricket Club and Police Sports Club, Cricket will return. The T10 Splash begins on the 5th December, 2020 with the Bethesda Golden Eagles & Pigotts Crushers opening match.

This has all been made possible made by the influence of Cricket West Indies who communicated the regional government the importance of the sport to the Caribbean’s Cricket Team. With this recent development, many local players are now extremely anxious to get the blood pumping again for the sport that they love.

The announcement was made by the Minister of Sports and Culture, Hon. Daryl Matthew. The minister stated, “Cricket is to present to the Cabinet, through support from Cricket West Indies, a full outline as to what the protocols for reopening are going to be fully supported by Cricket West Indies…”

All matches will observe Covid-19 rules and laws so that games can be played in a safe manner. The competition will be played in two groups at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Grounds.

Stay tuned for more updates or follow us on Facebook or Instagram

The 2020 ABCA Cricket Season was forced to come to a pause due to the country registering its first case of COVID-19. However, the ACB Antigua Parish League continued its scheduled games with two games not being played over concerns of the virus.

The Ministry of Sports, Culture, National Events & Arts declared that all participation and travel to games and championships have been banned until further notice. Please see the letter below that is circulating in the media.

I know we have certainly sparked interest in you with the captioned title which honestly is the aim. Are you tired of reading boring cricket posts? Like the same set of jargon all the time and well-polished English? Well you no longer have to because ‘dis ya ah arwe subben’. Anyway, forgive of us for all this chatter, it was another glorious weekend for cricket and we have alot to tell you. Lets Go!

Featured Game

Well last week we termed it as the ‘Who Run Town’ clash but beat Athanaze beat Rising Sun Spartans. Wait that was an error, it should have read Empire Nation beat Rising Sun Spartans. But who cares? Whether it be Justin ‘Amazing’ Athanaze or Empire, we enjoy good cricket.

Empire strolled over to the Rising Sun Ground not very far away from their home ground to battle. The Spartans won the toss and elected to bat but were skittled out by Athanaze and others in 41 overs for 134. Dillon Wills was the only batsman that offered some fight as he smashed 40 runs worth of boundaries in 49(73). The Amazing Athanaze picked up 6 for 23 with some top-class off-spin bowling. He was immediately able to extract bounce and turn from the track when introduced into the attack. He got some support from legspinner K. Scott and S. Burton.

Empire got off to a very rapid start as National player, Damien Lowenfield playing his first game for the season, took the attack to the bowlers very early on. He scored a faster than a run a ball half-century with 6 fours and 3 sixes before he became the second victim to fall via the run-out route at 88 for 2. However, B. Jn Baptiste and Burton steadied things and batted well for the next 12 overs adding 66. But just when Empire Nation looked on the verge of posting a massive total, Captain S. Simon gave Spartans a double strike. He removed both batsmen at the start of the 29th over causing Nation to rebuild again. T. Bemjamin and K. Scott struggled to score freely on a wicket that offered the spinners bounce prodigious turn. Benjamin was the first to go with the score at 177 for 5 before Scott followed at 181.

Athanaze batting at 7 found support from batsmen C. Payne and R. Henry. He made 49(53) balls stroking 2 fours and 3 sixes before he was bowled by G. Harillal bringing about declaration at 262 for 8 from 58 overs. It meant that Empire Nation had a 128 run advantage to play with and was not in the mood of batting again. Spartans started very solidly like they normally would in their second innings in previous games. But unfortunately, Athanaze was the first change bowler which meant runs would dry up pretty quickly as he tightened the screws on them. He was solely responsible for removing the first six batsmen as Spartans went from 29 for 1 to 87 for 6. But then he hired Burton to come and do the demolition job which he did effortlessly, taking the last three wickets. Rising Sun was bowled out for 115 in 39 overs giving the title of who ‘Run The Town’ clash to Nation who beat then convincingly to win by an innings and 13 runs.

Elsewhere

Pythons hosted the men from the east in a drama-filled encounter at the McPond Playing Field. The game had everything in it. From quality seam bowling to stumps gone walking, to runs scoring to players feuding. Having only 9 men at the start, Captain Michael Haynes-Dover won the toss and quickly elected to bat on the hard wicket in bright sunny conditions. Pythons looked solid at 27 without loss before former West Indies/Leeward Islands fast bowler Gavin Tonge was introduced into the attack. Not bowling expressed pace but with cheeky persistence, valuable experience and great consistency, he was able to skillfully removed the top order like how a brain surgeon would remove the head scalp. He was assisted greatly by National Under-19 fast bowler Tehrique Mason. The two bowled impressively for 22 consecutive overs taking 10 wickets for 51 runs. Pythons were bowled out for 71.

But just when you thought that Pythons would be rolled over in no time, their fast bowlers answered the clarion call. Seasoned bowling all-rounder Samuel Peters bowled with pace and provided some discomfort for the batsmen while the guile and consistency of Rodney Williams plugged away at the other end. Peters provided the breakthrough at in the third over leaving the Golden Eagles flapping at 4 for 1. But the Rodney Williams show begun as he continually plucked the feathers of the eagles as attempted to take flight. The two reminded onlookers a bit of Steyn and Philander just rolling over line ups. They duo shared all ten scalps between them dismissing Bethesda for 59 runs with Williams picking up 7 for 28 and Peters 3 for 31.

It was truly a day of quality seam bowling from both teams because Mason returned for the remainder of the afternoon to continue to terrorize the Pythons batsmen as he teams up with former Leeward Under-19 player, Jawakie Joseph. The two shared 5 wickets at the close of play on the first day leaving Pythons at 72-5. Michael Dover batted patiently ended the day 40 with the night watchman, Kadeem Josiah.

The night went by in a flash, it was now Sunday, a bright and sunny day. All Saints new they would have to set a decent score for them to beat Bethesda, which they did. Dover batted like a champion offering little to no chances as he brought up his first century of the season. He played a very composed inning. The kind of innings you wish to see from him every game. He put on 73 with Josiah for 6th wicket before the latter was caught. It brought Peters to the crease, who batted with a sense of purpose. The two added 75 for the 7th wicket as they gradually increased the scoring rate. After Dover was dismissed the Pythons soon declared for 244 giving Eagles to 256 to win.

With the target set, Pythons were hoping that their pacemen could repeat their first innings wonders. However, Bethesda was quite contented to watch and play every ball on its merit, thus not giving many chances. Peters removed Payne at 18 for 1 but Max Harsham walked to the crease and joined Kevin Pitman as the two literally bat Pythons out of the game. The two batted very patiently putting away bad balls when given. But then Conroy Semple provided the breakthrough much needed for the Pythons. He had Pitman caught and bowled before he removed Lawrence. Harsham then brought up his first half-century for the club before he was bowled by ‘star boy’ Kenny Sutton. From 90 for 1 to 102 for 4, Pythons was now flexing its muscle as it prepared to swallow the eagle. But it was short-lived as they face resistance from a wagging tail and to make thing no easier dropping a few difficult catches. But in spite of it all, it was an excellent game of cricket by both teams. Bethesda eventually made 118-6 at the close of play.

Pigotts Crushers welcomed New Winthorpes lions to deliver a crushing win that only the Lions can only bark about. New Winthorpes won the toss and elected to bat, and got off to a fairly decent start before Skipper Francis Jr. made the breakthrough at 30 for 1. He then removed A. Cornelius the very next ball to leave the Lions staggering at 30 for 2 but could not get the hat trick. Theophile was then introduced to the attack and he made light work of J. Otto removing him for 1. However, while all the drama unfolded at one end, J. Fernandez was gathering momentum to bring up a very conservative half-ton. He was responsible for keeping the innings together but he found little support from the other batsmen. Lions were eventually bowled out for 140. Theophile picked up 4 for 46 while fast bowler, Timmo Thomas continuing to impress since transferring to Pigotts shared the other six wickets with E. Francis.

Crushers started quite positively R. Phillip smashing a six early up before I. Peters dismissed him before he caused any more trouble. Then Fernandez with his left arm medium removed former West Indies U-15 player without scoring. Francis joined Henry and they put 59 for the third wicket before was removed by legspinner A. Cornelius for 30 with the score at 87 for 3. The Crushers struggled to build any partnerships of great significance. However, they still managed to get past the Lions score with D. Benta top-scoring with 47 (69) and Henry 46(80). Cornelius picked up 4 for 42.

Needing to set a target for Crushers, Lions had to clear a deficit of 39 runs which they did quite easily before the tenth over losing only one wicket. But then Francis removed Cornelius for the second time in the game at 46 for 2 Fernandez quickly followed and before you knew it they were collapsing at 71 for 5. But Moore and Joseph offered some fight and put on a 50 run partnership, as Joseph went on the attack just dealing in sixes as he registered another half-century for the season. After Moore was dismissed, the tail just did not wag at all as Joseph almost scored all the remaining runs to be scored. Crushers eventually bowled out Lions for 160 runs giving them 121 runs to chase. Joseph top-scored with 56 while that man again, Theophile picked up 4 for 47, thus picking up 8 wickets in the game.

It was a rather strange duo that opened the ball for Lions. We saw an offspinner and legspinner sharing the new ball which was extremely strange knowing that fast bowling all-rounder Shavorn Moore was in the ranks. However, it did not take too long for Cornelius to deliver one more bite to see what would result at 11 for 1. Fernandez removed both J. Andrew and Francis in no time to leave Crushers at 28 for 3. This brought Benta to the crease who batted patiently with Henry who has been in great form. When Benta departed, Pigotts still needed 69 runs to win with six wickets in hand. It was certainly Theophile’s turn to be in a no-nonsense mood. He made 49(39) with 4 fours and 2 sixes while Kadeem ended on 40(99) . Crushers finished the game at 122 for 4, winning the game by 6 wickets. Tyrone Theophile was voted man of the match.

There was another derby that we forgot to mention, but this one was called ‘ Ah who run da Southside”. Bolans and Jennings met at the Jennings Playing Field with the home side quickly inserting the visiting who were dismissed for 79 runs by some excellent seam bowling from O. Peters and Martin. The duo was responsible for blowing away another top order with the first seven wickets belonging to them. Williams than just mopped up the other vulnerable wickets available.

Captain Caesar and James started in a similar fashion as to how they did against Empire in their last game removing the first three batsmen inside of 11 overs for 23 runs. But then a Peters connection was made with Orlando and Elijah rebuilding the innings to 69 for 4 before the latter falling to the off-spin bowling of D. Stange. M. Browne playing in his first game of the season quickly followed and D. Francis went not to long after. W. Nelson came guns blazing as he slammed a quickfire 31(16) leaving the score at 158 for 7 when he made way for Martin. It was that duo again, but this time it was not a ball in hand, but the bat and Martin showed he certainly was no rabbit with a bat. Martin and Peters batted quite easily putting on a century run partnership with Peters bringing up his first ton for Jennings and Martin registering his first half-century in ABCA competitions. Jennings finally declared at 258-7 giving Bolans a heavy deficit to clear.

T. Tonge and S. Wallace gave Bolans the start they were looking for with a solid 40 run partnership before Williams collect his first scalp. Due to the pressure exerted by Williams, the men from Bolans never got going after the opening stand. K. Athill top-scored with 24 while Tonge and Wallace chipped in with 20 and 21 respectively. Mr. Williams would go on to pick up another 5 wicket haul with season-best of 7 for 46. Jenning won by an innings and 63 runs.

Liberta on the road again paid the schoolboys another yearly visit to scold them. But Schools gave some fight this time around batting a total of 58 overs for 104 runs scoring just under 2 runs an over. J. Norde and M. Walsh put on a valuable 45 run partnership before Phillip intervened and removed Walsh for 29 in the 16th over. This began a massive block-a-thon with the next 42 overs costing only 59 runs. It was some very tight bowling from the likes J. Benjamin who took 4 for 9 from 8.3 overs and the KKK trio. And no we are not referring to the racist sect in the USA.

Liberta started proceedings quite solidly as they put on 77 for the first wicket. A. Christian in his first game for the season was the aggressor, making 78 from 70 balls loaded with 12 fours and 2 sixes. K. James was the first to go, then Christian followed when the score was 110-2. E. Warner was responsible for taking the first two wickets. In fact, he found support in M. Harillal who tied up the other end and he kept plugging away from his end. The two shared 9 wickets between them as Warner picked up six wickets and Harillal three. K. Gore and K. James were the only two other batsmen to reach the 20 run mark. Liberta was dismissed for 171 all out.

At the resumption of the Combined Schools innings, Liberta constantly made inroads into their fragile batting line-up with the first wicket falling in the 6th over at 12 for 1. The biggest partnership was for the 2nd wicket with Warner and Walsh putting on 21 runs. However, it was short lived as Walsh was removed K. Gore with the score at 32. The school boys hardly put up a fight, as they were bundled out for 70, just three runs more than the deficit, they needed to clear. No batsmen got to 20 runs just to show the strong grip that the Blackhawks had on any progress. Gore, who played his first game of the season, teamed up with James to collect 9 wickets with the former picking up 5 for 20 and the latter got 4 for 22. Liberta needing 4 runs to win finished the game in the 2nd over with new opener M. James top scoring with 4. The player of the game was adjudged as Karima Gore.

Antigua Commercial Bank Antigua Parish League held its annual awards ceremony on the 27th of February 2020. It was a well-attended event as last year’s winners and top performers were awarded for what transpired. The ceremony started with the national anthem as most national events would do and a minute of silence to remember the great man in the late Fitzroy Brann.

Parish League’s Top Gun, Mr. Taddy Arrindell took the stage and spoke about cricket in its older days, talking about the reasons why the tournament was established. Then, Senator Richard Lewis was invited to speak about cricket and his friend the late Alvin ‘Sparrow’ Morris. He spoke about his friend’s dedication to the sport and his accomplishments.

Afterward, Mr. Hugh Gore, former Manager of the Antigua Cricket Team took the podium to speak about the current state of cricket in the country. He lambasted the youths about their attitude towards the sport and certainly ‘bowled a lot of beamers’ at those in the audience. He was direct, brash, and clear with his choice of words, without a care who was offended. But those who could see past the much needed constructive criticism were some of the first to applaud him for a job well done.

It was then time for the presentation of the awards to the top performers in the various competitions. We must add that it was the first time we saw that no one dominated last season. We believe it could have possibly been due to the unavailability of certain players possibly to ABCA competitions or work. Whatever it may have been, it was an exciting season filled with a lot of budding talent. Here is the list of the awardees for all competitions held.

ACB Curtly Ambrose 35 Over Competition

Winner

Police Sports Club

Runners Up

Pigott’s Sports Club

Semi-Finalists

Freetown Cricket Club & Newfield Sports Club

Best Batsman

Daren Dunnah

Most Runs- 182 runs @ an average of 45.50 and top score 71* vs St. Pauls

Best Bowler

Osafa Bourne

Most Wickets – 17 wickets @ an average of 11.47 with best of 5-34 vs Freetown

Player of the Final

Lynton Africa 4 wickets- 46 runs

ACB Richie Richardson Limited Overs Competition

Winner

St. Paul’s Cricket Club

Runners Up

Mahico Cricket Club

Semi-Finalist 

Newfield Sports Club & Police Cricket Club

Best Batsman

Malique Gerald

Most Runs 145 runs @ 48.33 and top score 67 vs Freetown

Best Bowler 

Trever Erskine

Most Wickets – 9 wickets @ an average of 13 with best of 3-16 vs Police Sports Club

Player of the Finals

Robert Browne 2 wickets – 6runs

ACB Dave Joseph Limited Overs Competition

Winner

St. Paul’s Cricket Club

Runners Up

Mahico Cricket Club

Semi-Finalist

Freetown Cricket Club & Police Sports Club

Best Batsman

Amahl Nathaniel

Most Runs – 226 runs @ an average of 113 with best of 103* vs Mahico Cricket Club

Best Bowler

Dwaine Fordyce 

Most Wickets – 17 wickets @ an average of 10.60 with best of 5-47 vs Pigotts Sports Club

Player of the Final

Kadeem Henry 89 runs

Sir Vivian Richards Thursday League Competition

Winner

Rising Sun Spartans

Runners Up

Pigotts Sports Club

Semi-Finalists 

Newfield Sports Club & Mahico Cricket Club

Best Batsman

Rahkeem Cornwall 

Most Runs – 210 runs @ average of 105 with 128* vs Newfield Eagles

Best Bowler

Kofi James

Most Wickets – 9 wickets @ average of 15.3 with best of 4-47 vs Rising Sun Spartans

Player of the Finals

Tyrone Theophile 89* & 3 wkts – 35 runs

Special Awardees

Ridley Jacobs Award- Most Promising Wicketkeeper- Jewel Andrew

Alvin Morris Award- Most Promising Young Batsman- Jewel Andrew

Jensen “Gunner” Joseph- Most Promising All-Rounder – Omar Francis

Winston Benjamin & Vaughn Walsh – Most Promising Young Fast Bowler- Malique Gerald

It was no doubt a weekend of glorious weather; the type of weather that is suited for cricket except the hot sun. But hey, this is the game that we love, you know where there is sun, there is fun. And fun it was for five clubs who registered their first wins for the season and five well not so much fun, but as arwe Antiguans would say ‘dem get bang off and sun bun.’ Enough of all the unnecessary talk, let’s talk cricket.

Featured Game

The Liberta Black Hawks visited the Pythons and did what hawks usually do to snakes, ‘nyam food.’ The Pythons may want to rethink their name for now until they get some wins under their belt, more like the local racer snakes (who are a bit tame and docile) because they have just not been performing like a Python would, but there again we are going off on a tangent. Back to cricket now. So Liberta won the toss and batted first and were immediately set back with the miserly bowling of ever-impressing Rodney “Bobali’ Williams. He bowled aggressively and reaped early rewards leaving Liberta at 8 for 2 in the 4th over.

However, in came former Pythons batsman Amahl ‘Baje’ Nathaniel who started nervously but steadily grew in confidence. He and Kofi James batted with some purpose as they scored quite quickly. James was a bit more watchful, but Nathaniel already in a rich vein of form from the previous game was savage to any poor bowling tossed up. He took a liking to the Python spinners, who served up dinner on a plate and he made good use of it. The batsman smashed 6 sixes and 4 fours, registering his second half century in two games. The pair put on 136 for the 3rd wicket before Nathaniel (86) was bowled on the brink of lunch by a peach from the talented off-spin bowling of Kenny Sutton. After lunch, James (54) quickly fell lbw to a straight ball from Kadeem ‘Leggie’ Josiah who has continued to dazzle with his leg spin. Montserrat player Zowandie White on debut for Black Hawks and contributed little soon followed.

But then, Captain Kadeem Phillip (60) strolled out to the crease knowing the task at hand. He found some support from Joshua Thomas and Wilden Cornwall Jr. He took over the earlier onslaught from Nathaniel and made it his own. He scored quite freely as the spinners had no clue how to ease the quick scoring. But credit must be given to the Pythons Captain Michael Haynes-Dover for persisting with Conroy Semple after he had been absolutely smashed by Nathaniel for 3 consecutive sixes over deep midwicket. He came up with the goods this time to dismiss Phillip leaving Liberta at 237 for 7. Afterwards, Cornwall Jr. put on 39 for the 8th wicket with Miandre James before the former departed. The next two wickets fell in quick succession after the Liberta Black Hawks were bowled out for 288.

At the start of The Pythons innings, there was an immediate hiccup in the 5th over, with the removal of Malik Marcellin. Then Sutton and Dover tried their best to make repairs to the early damage inflicted. But then with the arrival of Philip and James, the Pythons were no match for the skill and persistence of the duo. Sutton was caught by James off the bowling Phillip, which is believed to be one of the best of five catches in the match. After this wicket, the men from All Saints lost their next seven wickets for a paltry of 38 runs. There was literally no resistance from the middle or lower order, just Edwin Jackson scored an unbeaten 23. It just so happened at the loss of the final wicket due to the fact that Semple did not bat due to other commitments, the end of play for day one was reached.

At the start of day two, Liberta decided to bat again to continue their already massive lead. James was clearly in a no nonsense mood, attacking the fast bowlers early on. However, it was the man Williams again removing James for 25 but like in any game, one became two, two became three and three became four, very quickly. This caused the Liberta men to reassess their strategy and tactics to win the game outright. Phililp and Thomas quickly rebuilt the innings putting on 41 for the 6th wicket before Phillip was found plumb in front of wicket by Josiah. Within the same over, Cornwall Jr. was runout by Marcelin bringing the Black Hawks innings to a close.

Set a target of 324, All Saints Pythons began the chase with some purpose, as Dover and Malone Joseph put on 25 for the first wicket before Dover departed. However, Joseph found great support from Marcellin as the pair put on 100 for the second wicket. The left handed Joseph smashed 14 boundaries in a 77 ball 75 with 14 boundaries before he fell lbw to Philip. However, the score of 125-2 quickly became 127-3, when Sutton was bowled convincingly by Philip. Jackson and Marcelin started to rebuild from the earlier harm inflicted by Phillip. But it was that man again, Phillip, who broke the partnership leaving Pythons on 164-4 and Jackson fell to Nathaniel in the very next ball giving him his first wicket for the Liberta Black Hawks. Demitri Lucas quickly followed leaving the men from All Saints reeling at 156-6.

It was all or nothing now, as Pythons knew that the best thing they could do was to hold Hawks to a draw to get some points out of the game. Meaning that they would have to bat the remaining 30 overs. Former Empire Nation player Samuel Peters batted with much caution as he and Josiah defended almost everything pitched/tossed up. The two batted for 15 overs before Peters was caught behind to an excellent diving catch low to the ground by K. Philip. Another great catch. After the fall of Peters, the innings quickly folded in the space of seven overs. Therefore, Pythons were bowled out for 221, a triple improvement from their first innings that they would want to forget. K Philip was adjudged man of the match.

MATCHES ELSEWHERE

CUB Bethesda Golden Eagles hosted the ever improving SIC Jennings who won the toss and elected to field. They met with some early resistance from the Eagles openers as they quickly put on 40 for the first wicket, before J. Martin got the much needed breakthrough. He then quickly removed K. Pitman leaving the men from east reeling at 46-2. As the innings progressed, a few decent partnerships were created but they didn’t really materialize to anything of significance as G. Williams and P. Miller began their onslaught as the spin twins shared eight wickets between them. Bethesda were bundled out for 167 with M. Hiarsham top scoring with 38. P. Miller was the pick of the bowlers with 5-49.

At the start of Jennings innings, SIC Jennings were on their back foot very early as K. Pitman and J. Joseph removed the first 12 wickets. Orlando Peters 59 from 65 balls steadied the ship as he found support from other batsmen. When he department, Jennings were 123-6 then D. Francis fell in the very next over bringing together, M. Gerald and W. Nelson, who put on 56 for the 8th wicket allowing Jennings to secure the first innings win. After Gerald was dismissed, the innings quickly closed for 199 giving them a 32 run lead over Bethesda.

It was surely a calamitous start to the innings of Bethesda, as the first four wickets went for ducks, due to the impressive bowling of J Martin and O Peters, as they broke the clipped the wings of Golden Eagles. T. Mason and E. Lawrence were the only 2 batsmen to present any form of resistance to the charge of the men from Jennings. As soon as Mason fell, the innings was all wrapped up for the mere score of 82. It therefore meant that Jennings needed 51 runs to win. K Pitman removed Africa for 6 with the score on 16 before brothers Paul and Cameron Miller put on a partnership of 23 until Paul was bowled by D Joseph. J Martin was promoted up the order to see the game home, and comfortably did so as Jennings beat Bethesda by 8 wickets.

Empire Nation welcomed Bolans yet again at the King George V Ground. In their last meeting, Bolans were treated harshly as the men from Grays Green scored over 600 runs with 3 batsmen registering centuries so they kept this in mind at toss. Bolans won the toss (“Ah bey arwe ah get batting” they probably said) and elected to bat with T. Tonge top scoring with 37 runs as he batted with great courage, but it was that man again, Captain Courageous, Justin “Saki” Athanaze who destroyed, yet again, another batting lineup. The former Leeward Islands off- spinner picked up 7 for 34 as he found little resistance from Bolans.

Unfortunately, the men from Empire Nation were in for a rude awakening at the onset of their innings as Jevaughn James was all out with a vengeance. The embarrassment from the previous game between these two opponents, is probably still fresh and will probably forever will be on the mind of James, so as he took matters into his own hands. James bowled with pace and bounce, and got adequate movement off the wicket, as he was responsible for literally blowing away the top order. He and Martin Caesar reduced Empire to 27-4 inside of 8 overs.

However, Athanaze showed his dominance with the bat as he bludgeoned the bowling of the men from South. He received great support from T. Benjamin, as the two put on a 130 in 16 overs before Caesar removed Benjamin caught and bowled. Athanaze quickly followed with the score at 166-6 but Bolans, not having the killer instinct to finish off the innings, allowed Nation’s tail to wag, and wag did they, as they put on 83 for the last 4 wickets. Empire were eventually bowled out for 249 runs.

Bolans second innings started quite slowly as Athanaze opened the ball with Heyliger and as expected, he pegged them back straight away keeping them on a tight leash as they were not allowed to score freely. Caesar and D Fordyce put on 47 for the 5th wicket, before the latter fell to Rasheed Henry. With this wicket, Nation sensed an opportunity for victory as the reintroduction of Athanaze removed the remaining few batters. Bolans were bowled out for 132 which meant that Empire only had to score 5 runs to win.

And as it is widely known, here, there and everywhere, that the game of cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties. Would you believe it that needing just 5 runs to win, Empire would lose a wicket? Well you should definitely believe it! Because this was the case when T. Williams fell for a duck to the third ball of the innings to Caesar, giving the men from Bolans much hope. However, B. Jn Baptiste, was not going to be out in this innings as he smashed a 4 to end the game. Empire had won convincingly by 9 wickets, as they registered their first win of 2020. Justin Athanaze was voted man of the match for picking up 10 wickets in the game.

In another encounter, Rising Sun Spartans traveled to Blizzard to face the home team, New Winthorpes Lions. Batting first, they amassed a total of 161 with former West Indies Captain Sylvester ‘Bouncing’ Joseph smashing an unbeaten 68 from 45 balls with 8 fours and 4 ‘big ones’. Montserrat player Deno Baker available only for the first day, collected 7 scalps and left to board the next ferry back to Montserrat. Call him the ‘assassin’ if you ask us.

When Spartan turn came to bat, they started pretty steadily with S. Floyd and T. Allen before the latter was removed by Z. Otto. Then Floyd found some support from former national U-19 player X. Marshall who stoked a patient 40. However, leg-spinner A. Cornelius made the breakthrough to remove Marshall as he found backing from medium pacer, I. Peters. Floyd (64) would go on to register his first half century for Spartans but eventually departing to the bowling of the talented H. Tonge aka ‘Muscle’. The rest of the Rising Sun batting order offered little resistance as they were bundled out for 208, gaining a 47 run advantage. A. Cornelius and I. Peters were the pick of the bowlers as they collected three wickets apiece.

The men from Blizzard knew that they would need to clear the deficit in order to set a target for Spartans. So the openers made sure they got the job done as J. Fernandez (56 made light work of any poor bowling and R. Francis was content to block everything that came. After the pair was broken, S. Moore (36) scored quickly before he was dismissed. The middle order did not pose much defense as the Spartans steadily made inroads. However, Peters showed some fight with bat as he made 29 in the lower order. R. Thomas, Marshall and G. Harillal shared seven wickets between them.

Set 134 to win, the New Winthorpes Lions made some headway as they removed Floyd and D. Wills early. But then, Marshall and Allen batted valiantly as they began chipping away at the target. But after putting solid stand, Marshall fell to the bowling of Fernandez and Allen followed soon after. With just over fifty runs needed, Owen ‘Entertainer’ Graham walked out to the crease in a ‘no nonsense’ mode as he blasted a 20 ball 37 with 3 fours and 3 sixes. S. Moore had other ideas as he bowled Graham and W. Challenger in consecutive balls. With less than 15 runs to go and three wickets to win, the men from Blizzard probably thought for a minute there was a possibility they could pull off a win, but it was not to be as Melvin Charles and Dario Hodge saw them home. The wickets were shared amongst Moore, Otto and Cornelius. It was a very good victory for the town team as they now turn their attention to Empire Nation for the derby game. We will call that game “Who Run Town”.

Pigotts Crushers made light work of Combined Schools as Demari Benta stroked a brilliant 84 to register is first half ton of the season. Pigotts had a total of nine batsmen reaching double figures as the made 257 all out. Essan Warner was the pick of the bowlers picking up 3-64 in 21 overs while he received support from M. Harillal, Pollard and Clarke.

The school boys top order really and truly had no answers for pace and ferocity from the Pigotts’ quicks. When Timmo Thomas pitched the ball up, the batsmen were just too late to react and were either bowled or leg before wicket. But George Elvin (53) provided some fight as he showed great maturity recording his first half century of the season to follow up the strong performances he had in the recently held ABCA U-17+ tournament where he was voted MVP. Other than E. Warner’s 10, no other batsman reached double figures as Schools made 99 all out. Former West Indies U-19 player E. Francis Jr. picked up 3-16 as he was ably assisted by Thomas, Shadrach and Henry all taking 2 apiece.

Pigotts already having a 158 run lead decided to bat again with K. Henry making 37 and Francis Jr. got 26 before they declared at the loss of the 5th wicket for 104. Shaquan Oneil picked up 3-31 as he was the pick of the bowlers. It therefore meant that Combined Schools would have to chase 262 to win the game outright which was clearly unforeseeable. On this occasion, Captain Francis Jr. opted for left arm spin of Henry to do damage as he picked up 4-30, while Windward Islands player Tyrone Theophile grabbed 3-31. Schools were bowled out for 111 in 37 overs, giving Crusher their first win of the season. The End!

Featured Game

The 2020 ABCA Two Day Competition was off to an exciting start on Saturday 8^th February 2020. We saw the defending champions Piggots Crushers taking on the ABCA State Insurance 40 Overs champions Empire Nation at the Pigotts playing field. Batting first, the men from Grays Green posted 225 all out with ‘Captain Courageous’, Justin Athanaze, top scoring with 44, while Kenrick Scott and Tariq Benjamin ably supported with 43 and 34 respectively. 

When the champions went to bat, they started pretty solidly but youth seemed to get the best of Captain Elroy Francis. After the fall of the first wicket at 26, the second pair batted valiantly adding 52 before Hilroy Andrew was bowled by the mystery spin of Athanaze. Then, the unexpected happened. Both Benta who only faced two balls and the fearsome ‘ball beater’ Javier “Ice” Drew were also comprehensively bowled mere balls apart. It meant that three valuable wickets fell in the seventeenth over and Athanaze was on a hat trick. However, some resistance was offered by former Rising Sun batsman, Kadeem Henry who made 49.

It seemed as if the Crushers would be bowled out before the end of the day but Jewel Andrew answered the call. The 13 years old appeared to be batting on a pitch different to his other teammates. He handled both spin and pace quite comfortably, certainly showing his class above the rest. He batted with the tail, but the tail had ideas of their own or was it that Justin Athanaze (14.2-6-34-7) was just too good. They eventually were bowled out for 142. 

But let’s talk about Empire’s Second Innings. No doubt rain was around, but 8 runs per over in a Two Day game? Sounds like a nation marching towards a goal. Pigotts drew first blood when Treverson Atley removed Tyrone Williams Jr but then Mr. Burton walked out to bat and the rest was history. He slammed the bowlers to all parts of the field with little sweat before departing for 56 from 36 balls at a strike rate of 155.56. But it wasn’t over just yet. Captain Courageous came in and faced 10 balls; 4 of which somehow got over the ropes. Nation eventually declared for 163 for 6 from 21 overs.

Setting a target of 246, Omali Heyliger quickly removed Francis Jr. which definitely put a damper to the run chase. Soon after, Shane Burton took care of H. Andrew who was bowled for the second time in the match. But Henry and Benta batted until the heavens opened up and there was no more play after.

Elsewhere

SIC Jennings got first innings to PIC Liberta. Left arm spinner Glenton Williams picked up 6 wickets for 21 runs as he was well supported by former Bolans and veteran all-rounder Orlando Peters who took 4 for 14. The Liberta batsmen were simply hapless against these two bowlers as they faltered to 106 all out. Jennings then posted a total of 214 for 7 declared with Paul Miller top scoring with 73.

But amazingly, the Liberta men seemed to have gotten some good night rest and were different players on Sunday. In their second innings they posted 147 in 17 overs until the rain had other ideas. Amahl Nathaniel, a former player of the All Saints Pythons smashed 5 sixes and 5 fours in an unbeaten 68, not forgetting Kioni Greenaway who smashed 48 from 28 balls.

At the Rising Sun Grounds, All Saints Pythons were privileged to have their ace player in their ranks for a few hours. They won the toss and decided to bowl and dismissed the home team for a paltry 95 with former Rising Sun player, Rodney Williams picking up 5 scalps.

When the Pythons took their turn to bat, spectators were treated to a delight of immaculate hitting by West indies fast bowler Alzarri Joseph. The batsman toyed with the bowling of Rising Sun Spartans as he hit 7 sixes in a 40 ball 82. He was well supported by Malik Marcellin’s 32 but just when everything seemed to be going great, Joseph fell caught and bowled to G. Harillal. The pair put on 118 for the second wicket after Michael Dover went for a duck in the first over. From a solid position of 118-1, the men from All Saints were bowled out for 176.

With an 81 run lead, All Saints met up some counter attacking play from openers, Tassilo Allen and Shacoy Floyd (former CUB Bethesda Golden Eagles player) who put on 95 for the first wicket. But then they quickly tumbled to 114-5 at end of play for Day 1. At the resumption of play on Day 2, All Saints were able to reduce Rising Sun to 149-7 but Harillal and Melvin Charles had other plans. The two scored at will and put on 82 in 10 overs which increased their lead as they began to set a target for All Saints Pythons. But after Harillal fell, Pythons still could not stem the flow of runs, as Melvin Charles registered the first century of the 2020 edition.

Rising Sun was eventually bowled out for 276 setting a target of 195 for the Pythons. With many rain interruptions during the day, it was only likely that the same would occur in the end and so it did. At the close of play, Pythons were 59-3 with Harillal picking up two wickets and Xaiver Marshall picking up one. 

New Winthorpes beat Bolans by an innings and 2 runs. The game at New Winthorpes was shifted to the Sugar Factory Grounds as they were unable to have their field match fit. However, Bolans were inserted in by the men from Blizzard and got off to a solid start with the first and second wicket falling at 39 runs before Shavon Moore made a double blow to remove the openers. However, there was little resistance presented from the batting order as they were quickly bundled out for 109 in 35 overs. Zavear Otto was the pick of the bowlers as the wickets were shared amongst them. Otto and Dishon Henry picked up 3 scalps each while Moore and Asher Cornelius took two each. 

After the innings break, Bolans were able to strike back in the 3rd over but Jamaul Fernandez quickly steadied the ship as he found support from Roland Francis. Fernandez batted in one day mode smashing 9 fours and a six in a boundary laden 43. However, after the fall of Francis, the men from Bolans continually made inroads in the batting lineup. But someone forgot to remind the bowlers that Moore was no slouch with the bat. He batted with little trouble as he anchored the innings with wickets falling all around him. He top scored with 53 as the New Winthorpes mean rolled over for 178.

With a lead of 69 runs, Bolans were bowled out for 67 runs thus giving the men from Blizzard their first win of the season. It was that man again Moore who contributed to the demise of the men from south. This time he joined forces with Cornelius and both took 3 wickets each. Jevaughn James top scored with 18 as no other batsman scored more than 11. The duo were well supported by Henry, Otto and Peters. NW are now leaders after round one of the ABCA competition.

Combined Schools traveled to Bethesda for their encounter with the home team but rain disrupted proceedings on the first day. After the second day was fit for play, the schoolboys batted with some purpose as they made 45 for the first wicket. Kelvin Pitman coming back from injury made the breakthrough much desired for the country men. Schools were able to build some decent partnerships with contributions from Malique Walsh and captain Essan Warner who made 36 and 31 respectively, but fell away in the end as the pace of Jawakie Joseph seemed too much for them to handle. He picked up 4 wickets and was assisted by the unknown player of M. Hiarsham who picked up 3. Combined Schools were eventually bowled out for 173 in 49 overs.

When the innings came for the men from east, they seemed quite focused on getting the first innings before the rain disrupted the game again. However, their better than a run a ball strike rate was all in vain as the rain came down causing the match to be abandoned. Jalen Francis picked up the only two wickets as Bethesda made 67-2 from 11 overs. Kevin Pitman was left unbeaten on 34 with skipper Daren Benta. The team will now focus on round two on the weekend.

Here is how it went down. The bottom-placed teams of 2018 were the first to select players from the draft; without any hesitation, they opted for the best players, the Allrounders. New Winthorpes was first up and selected the Windward Islands Fast Bowling Allrounder Kyle Mayers who represented last year’s runner up Bolans.

Pigotts went for last year’s MVP Shamar Springer, who ended with the most runs in the competition. It was then Rising Sun’s choice and they went for Wicket-keeper batsman, Anthony Bramble who captained the West Indies B team that were runner ups in the GT20 tournament in Canada last year. All Saints Pythons picked Barbadian Fast Bowler, Keon Harding to replace West Indies Fast Bowler, Alzarri Joseph who is currently representing the Mumbai Indians.

The Liberta Blackhawks decided not to select any players from the draft and picked West Indies Wicket-keeper Batsman, Jahmar Hamilton who has represented the club in previous competitions. Moreover, Defending Champions Bethesda Golden Eagles followed suit retaining Leeward Islands Batsman, Akeem Saunders.

The Bolans Cricket Club selected West Indies Fast Bowler Ronsford Beaton to bolster their attack after they lost Mayers and Springer to earlier draft selections. To round up the draft, Super 40 Over Champions Empire Nation also retained the skilful veteran Left-arm Medium Pacer, Krishmar Santokie.

With the participating teams completing their selection, there were a few quality players who were not selected. Here is a list of the players not drafted:

• Kesrick Williams (West Indies Right-Arm Fast Bowler)
• Obed Mccoy (West Indies Left-Arm Fast Bowler)
• Aaron Jones (USA/Barbados Batsman)
• Dominic Drakes (Barbados Left-Arm Fast Bowler)
• Roland Cato (Windward Islands Batting AllRounder)
• Dennis Bulli (Jamaica Left-Arm Spin Bowling Allrounder)
• Bhaskar Yadram (Guyana Batting AllRounder)

Cool and Smooth T20 2019

Each team will be given the opportunity to draft one overseas, professional player from the Cool and Smooth T20 pool, to bolster their roster for the tournament.

The draft will be done in ascending order, in accordance with tournament seeding (ie: lowest ranked picks first; highest ranked picks last)

Any team which decides not to select a player during this drafting process, will be allowed to name one player from their preexisting squad that Cool and Smooth will accommodate from April 28 – May 12.

Please see the player listing below:

• Kesrick Williams (St. Vincent)

• Obed McCoy (St. Vincent)

• Krishmar Santokie (Jamaica)

• Keon Harding (Barbados)

• Kyle Mayers (Barbados)

• Shamar Springer (Barbados)

• Roland Cato (Grenada)

• Dennis Bulli (Jamaica)

• Ronsford Beaton (Guyana)

• Bhaskar Yadram (Guyana)

• Aaron Jones (USA/Barbados – April 30)

• Dominic Drake (Barbados)

• Anthony Bramble (Guyana)

U19 Rule

• each team must have two Under 19 (not making 19 before September 1, 2019) players registered
• for each match, each team must have one under 19 player on the field at all times

Registration

• Each team is allowed to register 16 players and 4 officials
• No person without an accreditation is allowed in the PMOA areas