BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (December 19, 2016) -- They slipped at an earlier outing on October 30 against a home team Limers (Front Street) but vowed that ‘a slip was not a fall’, and the boys from Nicholatown (better known as Christchurch) demonstrated this in style on Sunday December 18 at the Mansion Stadium when they beat Lodge by five wickets in the final game of the 2016 James Harris Cricket League.
Christchurch had reached the final by beating Limers also by five wickets in the semi-finals played on Sunday December 11, while Lodge had eliminated Back Street also by five wickets in the other semi-final played on the same day, thus effectively shutting out the two home (Mansion) teams from the 2016 James Harris Cricket League.
The meeting at the final game between Christchurch and Lodge was a repeat of their preliminary stage game on Sunday December 4 when the two met with Lodge coming on a clean winning streak but with Christchurch having suffered a defeat at the preliminary stage. At the end of the game, Christchurch had seriously bruised Lodge by inflicting them their first defeat - and a seven wicket hammering at that.
For the final game on Sunday December 18, Lodge batted first and made 58 for 8 from their 15 overs. Opening batsman Craig ‘Hammer’ Benjamin carried the heavy load for Lodge on his shoulders, facing the marauding Christchurch bowlers as his compatriots fell by the wayside. At the end of it he was 26 not out.
In their bowling, the boys from Nicholatown saw their vice-captain Sherman ‘Ice’ White taking two wickets for five runs, Leon Clarke taking two wickets for 12 runs, and Zeen Pencheon taking one for 18 runs.
When it was Christchurch turn to bat, they came out supercharged wanting to go back home early and they quickly made 59 for 5 off 9.2 overs of the allotted 15 overs. Garfield Charles made 20 and Leon Clarke made 26.
Struggling to remain relevant, as it related to the final game in the 2016 James Harris Cricket League, Lodge’s Jermaine ‘Winky’ Clarke took two for 6 runs, Leslie Davies one for 18, and Alston Johnson one for 18. They lost by five wickets to Christchurch who are the new 2016 James Harris League champions.
After the win, the small but vociferous crowd rushed onto the field, with balloons flying, vuvuzela blowing, and fireworks were lit. Speaking on behalf of the winning team, Vice-Captain Sherman ‘Ice’ White congratulated his players and said that it will be Christchurch all the way through for many years to come.
“We have won it before but we have been out of the finals like four years, so we have made a comeback in 2016 and have actually won it,” said Mr White. “We never doubted ourselves because when we look at the other teams we never really had a fight so to speak. Most of our games we won easily, with overs to spare.”
But on being reminded that they actually lost to Limers, he said: “Yes, we lost that game to Limers because we did not have our full strength team as it was the youngsters who came. We did not have players like myself, Leon Clarke, and Larry Audain. That was like our second string team and we only had three (regular) players.
“We players will get together and celebrate, as the 2016 James Harris Cricket League champions, and look forward to 2017 for bigger and better things - to take it again. We will repeat and repeat until we cannot repeat it no more and we decide to give someone a chance, but for now it is Christchurch all the way.”
The game was umpired by Fracil ‘Statemum Wasim Bari’ Augustus from Molineux, and Nigel ‘Ottis’ Browne from Tabernacle, while recording the scores was well-known female cricketer, Idela Pemberton. Among the fans that turned out to watch the game included former national, Leeward Islands and Combined Islands cricketer Luther Kelly, and former National player, Lenworth Harris.
League Coordinator John Palmer took time to thank all those who made the league possible and looks forward to their support in 2017. He offered a big ‘thank you’ to Marvin Matthew, James ‘Puncha’ Matthew, and Glen ‘Booby’ Morris who helped in the preparation of the pitch during the 2016 James Harris Cricket League season.
Six teams took part in this year’s league, Lodge, Molineux (the 2015 James Harris Cricket League champions), Christchurch, Limers (Front Street), Back Street and Tabernacle. One of the regular participants of the league which is now in its ninth year, Heights of Mansion, has dropped out, while Belle Vue who at one time was part of the league did not turn up this year as well.
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