LOCAL CRICKET ROUND-UP
January 23rd 2009

Young South Africans whitewashed

The T&T Under-23 cricket team made a clean sweep of the three-match One-day series against the East Rand Academy of South Africa, when they crushed the visitors by eight wickets in the final game yesterday at Gilbert Park in California.

The young South Africans batted first and were bowled out for a competitive 167 in 40.1 overs, with Levon Sheelds topscoring with 41. Other good contributions came from Edward Sehrander (28) and Owanye Araujo (27).

Former T&T youth spinners Magnum Nanan (3-15) and Ancil Baggan (2-17) were the top bowlers for the home team.

In response, T&T led by a blistering unbeaten 86 from David Livingston raced to victory in 29.4 overs.

Livingston struck 10 fours and three sixes in his knock which spanned 92 balls. Former T&T U-19 opener Franklyn Rouse made 39 off 34 balls with three fours.

The visitors will leave for South Africa tomorrow morning.

Summarised Scores

AT GILBERT PARK: East Rand Academy 167 all out (40.1 overs) (Levon Sheelds 41, Edward Sehrander 28, Owayne Araujo 27, Magnum Nanan 3-15, Ancil Baggan 2-17, David Livingston 2-19) v T&T Under -23 169-2 (29.4)(David Livingston 86 not out, Franklyn Rouse 39). T&T won by 8 wkts. T&T wins series 3-0.

Sookoo is Central’s 2008 ‘Player of the Year’

Bobby Sookoo of Balmain United copped the prestigious Division One ‘Player of the Year’ at the 2008 annual prize awards function of the Central Zonal and District Council of the T&T Cricket Board.

The gala ceremony took place last night at the National Cricket Centre in Balmain, Couva, and was organised by the interim committee headed by lawyers - Lennox Sankersingh and Samuel Saunders, along with Administrative Manager of the T&TCB, Rambhai Patel.

The trio earned the praises of T&TCB’s president, Deryck Murray, and CEO and General Secretary, Forbes Persaud, for a well organised function. This was after the previous executive of the zone failed to organise a prize giving ceremony in 2008.

Murray, a former T&T and West Indies wicketkeeper delivered the keynote address to a distinguished gathering which included members of the East Rand Cricket Academy of South Africa.

Central Zone 2008 Honour Roll:

Sunday League

Losing Semi-finalists - Lange Park & Bank Village
Runner-up - Perserverance Sports
Winner - Caroni Conquerors Sports

Division One Reserve

Most Runs - Akeem Hall - Chickland Progressive
Most Wkts - Chandreka Dyal - Preysal Valley Boys
Batting Ave. - Aaron McMillan - Preysal Valley Boys
Bowling Ave. - Stephen Subero - Esmeralda Sports
Player of the Division - Chandreka Dyal - Preysal Valley Boys
Third Place - Chickland Progressive
Runner-up - McBean Sports
Winner - Esmeralda Sports

Division Two

Most Runs - Khalid Mohammed - Dow Village Sports
Most Wkts - Faizool Ghanny - Caroni Conquerors Sports
Batting Ave. - Cliff Debi - Caroni Conquerors Sports
Bowling Ave. - Faizool Ghany - Caroni Conquerors Sports
Player of the Division - Cliff Debi - Caroni Conquerors Sports
Third Place - John Peter Road Insider Sports
Runner-up - Dow Village Sports
Winner - Caroni Conquerors Sports

Division One

Most Runs - Shazam Mohammed - Supersonics C.C.
Most Wkts - Bobby Sookoo - Balmain United
Batting Ave. - Desmond Ramkissoon - Preysal Valley Boys
Bowling Ave.- Fariaz Ali - Preysal Valley Boys
Player of the Division - Bobby Sookoo - Balmain United
Third Place - Esmeralda Sports
Runner-up - Brickfield C.C.
Winner - McBean Sports

‘El Do’ retains ‘Super Sixes’ title

El Dorado Secondary Comprehensive Seconday successfully defended their PowerGen Secondary Schools Cricket League ‘Super Sixes’ title, when they defeated Presentation College, Chaguanas by four wickets in the final on Thursday, at the National Cricket Centre in Balmain, Couva.

Needing two runs from the final ball by T&T Under-17 captain, Yannick Ottley, ‘El Do’ and T&T Under-19 wicketkeeper Aaron Alfred smashed the final delivery to the boundary, much to the delight of the ‘El Do’ supporters. The match was reduced to fours overs because of rain.

On their way to the final, ‘Pres’ defeated Princes Town Senior Comprehensive by seven runs, while ‘El Do’ whipped Barrackpore Secondary Comprehensive by three wickets in the semis.

Summarised Scores:

Semifinals:

Barrackpore S.C. 22-3 (3 overs) (Rickson Maniram 14, Kern Mathison 2-14) v El Dorado 25-2 (2) (Yannic Cariah 15 not out). ‘El Do’ won by 3 wkts. Presentation College, Chaguanas 62-4 (4 overs) v Princes Town Snr 55-1 (4 overs) ‘Pres’ won by 7 runs.

Final:

Presentation College, Chaguanas 33-5 (4) (Kieron Joseph 12, Yannic Cariah 1-4) v ‘El Do’ 36-4 (4) (Aaron Alfred 23 not out). ‘El Do’ won by 4 wkts. Play of the Match - Aaron Alfred (El Do). Best Bowler - Yannic Cariah (El Do). Best Batsman - Aaron Alfred (El Do).

South Africans play for Balmain in Central Zone

Two South Africans will play for Balmain in their opening game of the Central Zone 40 Over Limited Over cricket competition. Opening batsman, Graeme Smith will start at the top of the batting order for Balmain and his fellow mate Daryn Dekock will follow after. Balmain is looking forward to these overseas players to have a major impact on teams in this year’s competition.

Graeme Smith, a talented right handed opening batsman is promising as he is explosive at the start and will offset opening bowlers from ball one. Exactly like the South African Test Captain, this lad will bolster the Balmain batting line up.

Fellow batsmen Daryn Dekock will prove useful in the middle order scoring consistently and adding valuable runs to the final scorecard.

Balmain United will be firing on all cylinders this season with a wealth of youth and experience in the team`s line up. Last year, Balmain upset teams in the entire competition.

Balmain is again looking to their frontline pace bowling attack in Neil Ali and Desmond Mohammed at the top. Captain and mystery leg spin bowler Bobby Sookoo will prove a challenge to all batsmen in the zone. He is the man to look out for this season. Bobby Sookoo scored a total a 352 runs at an average of 52.3 runs per innings and captured an amazing 47 wickets for the season. Balmain will maintain their consistency from their key players Ramdeen Bidhesi, Barry Lutchmedial and Brent Morgan. Outstanding youth players from the 2008 season Keegan Ramoo and Rishi Carriah will destroy bowlers and batsmen in the League and Limited Overs competitions by their explosive nature.

Balmain will play their opening match today against Esperanza Sport Club. The match will commence at 11am at the Balmain Recreational Ground at Balmain. The line up for Balmain is as follows:

Booby Sookoo (captain), Ramdeen Bidhesi, Navin Poliah, Ronald Bisnath, Neil Ali, Keegan Ramoo, Rishi Carriah, Barry Lutchmedial, Brent Morgan, Daryn Dekock, Graeme Smith, Desmond Mohammed.

CARIB SUNDAY LEAGUE

Merry Boys on the road to Police

Defending champions Ceramic Merry Boys Sports will be looking to preserve their unbeaten run when they come up against Police Sports in an important fifth round clash of the Carib Sunday League Limited Overs competition today at the St James Barracks.

Merry Boys, whose two matches last weekend were abandoned through rain, will be looking to use today’s match to overcome the loss of executive member Anthony Gill, who was laid to rest on Wednesday. Gill died last Friday after a six-month battle with colon cancer.

Manager of Merry Boys, Patrick Rampersad in a telephone interview yesterday said: “We are still mourning the loss of Anthony (Gill). He was one of our longstanding member and had a very close relationship with all of the members of the team.”

“The ceremony on Wednesday was very large; most of our players were there because we felt it necessary to give him a good send off.”

Rampersad, however, stated that his team will not allow the tragedy to affect their performances on the field over this weekend.

“We have been practicing several days this week and while our opponents would think that we are going to come easy this weekend, I am sure that would not be the case. We are on a mission to repeat as champion this year and to do that we know we must win our next four matches,” said Rampersad.

Apart from facing Police today from 10 am Merry Boys will also come up against Sweet Revenge in Diego Martin tomorrow. (CM).

Sunday League Limited Overs Fixture - Round Five

(Group A) - Police v Merry Boys at St James; Barataria Ball Players v Caldrac at Barataria; Defence Force v Calcutta at Chaguaramas; Munroe Road v Sweet Revenge at Munroe Road.

(Group B) - Wanderers v Queen’s Park 2 at Gilbert Park; Invaders v Endeavour at Felicity; Valiants v Victoria Utd at ‘ Pres’ San Fernando; Clarke Road v Moosai at Wilson Road.

(Group C) - Comets v Caroni Savannah Road at Pierre Road; Diamond Utd v Spoilers at Kennedy Park; Bamboo v UTT at Bamboo; Preysal v MIlton at Preysal.

(Group D) - Central Sports v Powergen at ‘Pres’ Chaguanas; Couva Sports v Curepe at Couva; Queen’s Park 1 v Woodland at Q P Oval; Evergreen v Aranguez at Pluck Road