CHARLESTOWN Nevis, March 30th 2011 - It is one thing to have impressive opening ceremonies but it is quite another to see programs properly executed. The good news is that the WICB Grass roots program, sponsored by DIGICEL, which was officially launched on Friday last in Nevis, is actually off and running.
This was confirmed yesterday as young cricketers from the two main Secondary Schools on the island, showed up in their numbers for training with some of the top Coaches on the island. Present were:
Deryck Parry; Stuart Williams; Carl Tuckett and Livingstone Lawrence.
Chief Coach Deryck Parry indicated that the sessions started on Monday and the emphasis will be placed on the basics of the game:
Batting, bowling and fielding. He however noted that due to the fact that both schools are expected to compete against their Kittitian counterparts today in the semi finals of the 2011 High Schools championships, emphasis was being placed on getting both teams ready.
The Gingerland Secondary School due to the fact that they won the Nevis leg of the tournament will play their opponents at the Ramsbury grounds while the Charlestown Secondary School will journey to St.Kitts to play their encounter.
Training sessions will be three hours daily on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
Part of the training will be the exposure of the young cricketers to the media and developing confidence in conducting interviews. Three of the cricketers spoke yesterday:
Vijay Harinarine noted he was enjoying the sessions especially as his team prepared for the crucial semi final match today. He indicated that the GSS team beat an under strength CSS team but is confident that he will ‘catch them in the finals’.
Shawn Hanley noted that he too has been enjoying the sessions and indicated that he will be giving his all for his school in the semi final match today. Asked about what may become of a CSS v GSS finals, he quickly responded: ‘Same licking”.
Colin Archibald for his part is pleased with his personal form leading up to the semis and is confident that GSS will take the Schools’ championships this year. He is also looking forward to representing Brown Hill in the 1st division competition this year. In response to Vijay’s comment, he responded: “Under strength or no strength –a win is a win!”
