Photo: Shelley Sykes-Coley and Maurice Foster hand over the Maurice Foster Trophy to Quest Prep who were getting their first hold on the Scotia Bank Prep School Cricket Trophy after they turned back the challenge of defending champions Hydel Prep at the Lucas Oval on Friday.
First time winners Quest Prep School overthrew contenders HydelPrep, 121 all-out, to take the Scotiabank/Jamaica Cricket Association Prep School Cricket Competition trophy in the finals on Friday.
In a nail biting finish, Quest managed to hold their own to the end from former two time winners Hydel, taking the championships. 672 boys and girls from 48 Prep schools participated in this year’s competition, playing 121 matches between May 1 and June 19.
“I believe that we are continuing to see the development of young people throughout this program. Prior to this youngsters would not have been as exposed to the fundamentals of cricket or have benefited from good coaches” said Coordinator O’neilCruickshank. “The Sponsorship of Scotiabank has allowed the continuity of the program, which is vital for the development of the game, he continued.
Nine year old Gabriel Bryan created history as the first girl to be named as one of the three Most Valuable Players (MVP). Gabriel plays with St. James Prep who have won the Cornwall leg of the completion almost every year. She is one of two youngsters who has scored half centuries in the competition doing both batting and bowling and earned a trophy and a bursary of $50,000 from Scotiabank for being the most valuable player for county of Cornwall.
Other MVP award recipients are Brian Barnes for Middlesex representing Mount St. Joseph Prep and Nahjair Byfield, for Surrey, playing for Hydel Prep. Byfield was also awarded with the trophy for most runs.MVP’s from each county were presented with a $50,000 bursary as a reward for outstanding performance.
Outstanding plays of note were the two centuries by Norris Tenn of Hydel Prep and Christopher Chrighton of Hopefield Prep who delivered 110, and 102 respectively. Tenn was also awarded with the trophy for Highest Individual batting performance. Demarco Darling of Hydel prep was awarded for Most Wickets, Chad Bent of Belair for Best Bowling Performance and Odane Ximinies of Lannamans Prep for a Hatrick.
Team County Champions were St. James Prep for Cornwall, Mt. St. Joseph Prep for Middlesex and Quest Prep for Surrey.
The All Prep School Eleven, chosen for outstanding performances throughout the competition are: from Surrey Blaine Byam (Quest Prep), NahjairByfield (Hydel Prep), Christopher Crichton (Hopefield Prep), Damarco Darling (Hydel Prep), Hannibal D’Aguilar (St. Andrew Prep), Daquan Forbes (Our Lady of the Angels Prep), Taymali Haywood (Meadowbrook Prep), Alex Hinds (Vaz Prep), Norris Tenn (Hydel Prep). From Cornwall Anil Braham (St. James Prep), Gabrielle Bryan (St. James Prep) and from Middlesex Brian Barnes (Mount St. Joseph Prep) and Chadwick Bent (Belair Prep).
Scotiabank/JCA Prep School Cricket caters to thousands of children interested in the sport many of whom have ambitions to play at the club level. According to Cruickshank, “we have been seeing the impact of the program on the young people, since 2013, 11 of the 30 members selected for the Jamaica U-15 team, were Prep School cricketers” he said. The last two captains – Brad Barnes (2013) and Raewin Senior (2014) were also Prep School Cricket graduates. Senior, who was captain of the Under 16 Team, also boasts a record of over 400 runs. Brandon King has also done very well playing with West Indies Under-19 team, and this year he made his debut on the senior Jamaica team. He is also now the captain of Kingston Cricket Club”.
Scotiabank has been sponsoring the sport since 2005 and this year gave $4M to stage the series.
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