BARBADOS’ 13-and-Under cricket champions returned home on Friday night to a tumultuous reception from family and supporters after clinching the regional crown for the fourth straight year and eight out of nine times.
Coach DaCosta Atherley was obviously proud of the boys’ performance saying that 11 of the 16-member team were moving on and they had vowed to make the tournament memorable.
“Although we were disappointed that Trinidad and Tobago did not take part, we must acknowledge the hard work and focus of all the players,” he said.
“The squad would have been made up from an original 60 from the Guardian General Primary School Competition and those players who had just gone on to secondary school. With Guardian General starting soon we expect even more players to come through to keep the competition strong,” Atherley said.
Coleridge & Parry’s all-rounder Hasani Newton capped a wonderful year by taking the MVP Award, as well as the Kieran Powell Award scoring 134 runs and capturing the highest number of wickets, ten, along with a player from Dominica. Newton was a key member of Fusionz Boutique Passage Road’s three-peat and he also scored the most runs in this year’s LIME Under-15 Championships.
Newton’s awards of two bats, boots, pads, helmets and gloves, as well as trophies, spilled over into some teammates’ bags. The talented player was very happy with his performance as he wanted to be the best bowler and batsman on tour.
“I want to continue working on my cricket as I dream of making the West Indies team,” Newton said.
Newton was one of five Bajans to be selected for a provisional West Indies 13-and-under team.
The others are captain Deswin Currency, Shamar Springer, Jadeja Edwards and Danny Chesham.
The hard-hitting Chesham scored the most runs, 140, and also won the award for the highest score, 97.
Barbados were voted the Best Fielding Team and they also took the prize for the Most Sixes and Fours.
Manager Adrian Donovan was extremely grateful for the support from the Barbados Cricket Association, Guardian General, Inspire Sports, RPI Recycling Inc. and Lee’s Bistro for making the tour possible. (KB)
