LOCAL CRICKET ROUND-UP
May 14th 2008

BG T&T Under-13

North wins second straight match

A WELL-disciplined North cricket team registered their second successive victory in the BG T&T Under-13 competition when they defeated North-East in a Round Two encounter on Monday at the Fatima College, grounds.

North-East won the toss and opted for first strike and were dismissed for a paltry 52.

The destroying angels for the North team were Johnaton Hirst (2-1) and Tion Webster (2-16). Only Darion Marrique reached double figures with a pain staking ten runs.

In response, North reached their target without losing a wicket. John Barclay topscored with an unbeaten 24 while Kelly Rosales was not out on 23. In their first match against Tobago last week at the Queen’s Park Oval, North defeated the visitors by 33 runs.

North batted first and tallied 161, with Rosales leading the with 28, Barclay contributed 27 and Kwasi Fournillier made 23. Bowling for Tobago, Shaquille Duncan bagged three for 17.

Tobago in reply were bowled out for 128.

Primary Schools final today

A BUMPER crowd is expected today when the grand final of when the Atlantic LNG-sponsored Primary Schools Cricket League final takes place at the National Cricket Centre in Balmain, Couva, from 10 am.

Hundreds of school children will be in attendance in what has turned out to be a North-East /South affair, as the “Pride of the South” Siparia Boys RC, will battle the “Giant Killers” of the East-West corridor, Tunapuna Presbyterian.

Officials of the Primary Schools League and Atlantic LNG, together with dignitaries of the Ministry of Education will meet the players of the teams before the scheduled start of play.

Night cricket in Carapichaima bowls off on Saturday

THE THIRD night cricket tournament organised by the Carapichaima United Social Committee will bowl off on Saturday at the Carapichaima United Ground starting at 7 pm.

There will be two games per night with 10 overs per-side.

Attractive prizes will be at stake for the winning teams, with the first prize being $9,000 and a trophy. The runner-up will take home $6,000, while $3,000 and $2,000 will be at stake for third and fourth place respectively.

There will special prizes for the most runs and wickets.

San Francique wins in South Zone Twenty/20

San Francique United made a winning start to the 2008 South Zone Twenty/20 cricket series on Wednesday evening.

Playing against T-Birds the San Francique proved too strong and walked away with an 82-run victory. Batting first San Francique made an impressive 210 for six wickets from their allotted 20 overs. Leading the way was Kishan Gopaul with a brilliant 74. Lending good support was Kemchan Deosaran with a quick 30.

In their turn at the crease, T-Birds was restricted to 128 for nine off their 20 overs with Riad Rengo topscoring with 28. Mitra Ramesar was also among the runs and contributed 25. Deosaran enjoying a fine all-round game, grabbed three wickets for 16 runs. Jason Jairam was also in top form with the ball and took three for 18.

Eleven teams are taking part in this series and they are split into three groups. The winners will walk away with $7,500, while the runners-up take home $4,500.

The next round of matches in this tournament takes place on Wednesday May 14 with T-Birds coming up against Clarke Rochard, X-Men against San Francique, Juniors against T&TEC, Petrotrin against Hillpiece and Ben Lomond battles Poonah.

Chairman of the South Zone Leo Doodnath has come in for high praise for organizing this tournament. Secretary of the Zone Carl Birjah said with Twenty/20 cricket being the way to go, Doodnath wanted to implement such a series immediately in the Zone. He said this shows the vision of the chairman and the level he has taken the game in South.

UTT to launch coaching programme

The University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) has been awarded a Cricket Coaching grant worth AUD20,000 by the Australian Government with the intention of supporting a cadre of budding West Indian cricketers who have been selected on athletic scholarship at the Academy of Sports and Leisure at UTT.

This is in keeping with the Australian Prime Ministers’ announcement in November 2005 of a $10 million Australian Sports Outreach Programme (ASOP) aimed predominantly at Commonwealth Countries. The ASOP runs from July 2006 to June 2011 and supersedes previous Australian Government sports development programmes in the Pacific, Southern Africa and the Caribbean. In the Caribbean, the ASOP is managed by the Trinidad and Tobago alliance for Sport and Physical Education (TTASPE).

The selected cricketers are presently being coached by former West Indian cricketers, Tony Gray, Mervyn Dillon and Larry Gomes, with Brian Lara and Dinanath Ramnarine as Advisors.

The proposed ASOP Cricket Coaching Programme is intended to benefit both the players and the coaches involved in the programme. The West Indies Under-19 players, along with selected coaches from the region are also invited to participate in the programme that runs from June 4 to 13.