THE 24th Kingston Wharves Under-15 Cricket Competition was launched on Friday at Lucas Cricket Club in Kingston with St Andrew and Portmore teams in attendance.
O’neil Cruickshank, the competition coordinator who spoke at the launch, explained that this year’s competition comprises the 14 parishes, including Portmore.Portland will not compete this year as they pulled out at the last minute. Each team will now play five preliminary matches, while the top four will play the semi-finals and them the final, which is scheduled for Friday, August 30. The teams are divided into four zones.The top 30 cricketers will be invited to a camp to be held during the Heroes holiday later this year. The camp will cover cricket skills, along with media training, personal etiquette and cricket history, among other topics such as doping control.Grantley Stephenson, chairman and chief executive officer of Kingston Wharves, indicated that the company was more than happy and proud to renew its sponsorship of the competition because it continues to achieve a number of objectives, including the further development of cricket skills, instilling discipline, strengthening concentration, fostering sportsmanship and camaraderie among the young cricketers.He also said that they are seriously committed to the development of the young men selected for the competition.Milton Henry, first vice-president of the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA), welcomed Kingston Wharves’ sponsorship, heaping praise on the fact that it was the longest sponsored competition in the JCA. He said that it represented a valuable training tool for the young cricketers and was one of the pillars on which Jamaica’s Under-15 cricket stood.He also indicated that every national player in recent times had passed through the Kingston Wharves Under-15 Cricket Competition and this augured well for the competition, as well as the cricketers who benefited from participating in it.He also said that there was an alignment of the competition with the regional one organised by the WICB and that this would make it more valuable to the JCA’s preparation of the Jamaica team in the future.In the day’s feature match, defending champions St Andrew defeated Portmore by nine wickets in a low- scoring game. Portmore won the toss and batted, making just 78 all out in 20.1 overs with captain Kirk McKenzie, 33 top scoring. Keffin Murray, 13, was the only other batsman to get into double figures. The bulk of the wickets went to Raewin Senior, who took 4 for 10 in 4 overs, and Kyle Pottinger, who bagged 3 for 3 in 3.3 overs. Portmore lost their first wicket for 20 runs and continued to lose wickets at regular intervals throughout the innings.St Andrew, in reply, made light work of the total after reaching 79 for 1 in just 11.4 overs on the back of Okarchi Brown, 26 not out, Raewin Senior, 20 not out, and captain Dominik Samuels, 18. The lone wicket to fall went when the score was on 42. Sachin Simms got the wicket for 13 runs.The next set of matches are scheduled for Monday with several matches across the island.Grantley Stephenson (right), chairman and chief executive officer of Kingston Wharves, in discussion (from left), Milton Henry, first vice-president of the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA), Kirk McKenzie, captain of Portmore, and Domink Samuels, captain of St Andrew, during the launch of the 24th Kingston Wharves Under-15 Cricket Competition at Lucas Cricket Club last Friday. (PHOTO: MICHAEL GORDON)
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24th Kingston Wharves U15 Cricket Competition launched
