Harper: The region can follow T&T.

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Harper: The region can follow T&T.
By Vinode Mamchan (Guardian).

Chair­man of the Crick­et West In­dies (CWI) se­nior se­lec­tion pan­el, Roger Harp­er, says that the re­gion can take an ex­am­ple from T&T when it comes to its youth de­vel­op­ment pro­grammes.

The for­mer West In­dies off-spin­ner com­ment­ed while speak­ing at the open­ing of the Price Club T&T Crick­et Board (TTCB) Un­der-17 In­ter­zone Tour­na­ment at the Na­tion­al Crick­et Cen­tre (NCC) in Bal­main, Cou­va on Wednes­day.

Harp­er said: "I am hap­py to be here to wit­ness this youth crick­et match. Trinidad and To­ba­go has been do­ing good things with their de­vel­op­ment and we in the re­gion can take an ex­am­ple from them. Ob­vi­ous­ly, you guys are here to­day (yes­ter­day) be­cause you have some tal­ent and I am keen to see the match. We need you guys to take this op­por­tu­ni­ty pre­sent­ed to you and make full use of it. You must work hard to har­ness that tal­ent that you have and be dis­ci­plined and fo­cused. Work hard, (it) will get you there but you must be will­ing to put it out."

Pres­i­dent of the TTCB Az­im Bas­sarath was al­so on hand and thanked spon­sor Price Club for its con­tin­ued in­volve­ment in T&T's crick­et.

"Price Club was the spon­sor of the North/South U-15 game and now they have in­vest­ed in the U-17 In­ter­zone se­ries. We are tru­ly grate­ful for their as­sis­tance as we work to­geth­er to build T&T through crick­et. We at the TTCB con­tin­ue to work hard to bring tremen­dous op­por­tu­ni­ties to the youths and there is a lot more to come."

Af­ter the of­fi­cial open­ing de­fend­ing U-17 cham­pi­on Cen­tral Zone squared off against South Zone in the first match of the tour­na­ment. Cen­tral emerged with a 59-run vic­to­ry.

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Samaroo hits unbeaten ton in U-17 Interzone
BY JELANI BECKLES (NEWSDAY).

AIDAN Samaroo belted an unbeaten 125 to guide North zone to an emphatic 194-run victory over North East in the opening round of the Price Club/TT Cricket Board Under-17 50-over Interzone tournament, on Wednesday.

Batting first at the Queen’s Park Oval in St Clair, Samaroo smashed 125 not out to propel North to a massive 326/2 in 50 overs in the group A clash. Kyle Ramdoo and Zachary Siewah also showed form on the day with 77 and 68 not out respectively.

In reply, North East could only score 132 all out in 43.5 overs with Amraav Kistow scoring 23 and Tyrese Boodoo contributing 22 not out. Bowling for North, spinner Joshua Davis grabbed 4/15 and Abdur Rahmaan Juman snatched 2/14.

At the National Cricket Centre in Couva, defending champions Central also made a winning start playing in group B. Central scored a competitive 205/6 in 50 overs with Kyle Kissoondath cracking 49 and Rajeev Ramnath making 37. Kendall Poochoon and Covid Bispath were the top bowlers for South, ending with 3/51 and 2/33 respectively.

In their turn at the crease South were dismissed for 146 in 47.2 overs with Alix Gopaul hitting 35 and Matthius Komal contributing 32. Ravi Sanker’s 3/29 and Nick Ramlal’s 2/29 limited the South batsmen. In other matches, South East eased to a 161-run win over South West and Tobago got past East by 46 runs. The tournament is being used to select the national Under-17 team for the upcoming Cricket West Indies Regional tournament in T&T from June 28 to July 10.

Round two will be played next week Wednesday.

SUMMARISED SCORES

CENTRAL 205/6 (50 overs) (Kyle Kissoondath 49, Rajeev Ramnath 37; Kendall Poochoon 3/51, Covid Bispath 2/33) vs SOUTH 146 (47.2 overs) (Alix Gopaul 35, Matthius Komal 32; Ravi Sanker 3/29, Nick Ramlal 2/29) Central won by 59 runs

SOUTH EAST 228 (47.2 overs) (Denesh Balkissoon 46, Ruben Seepersad 3/43) vs SOUTH WEST 67 (24.4 overs) (Rajin Jangoo 17; Jonathan Ramkissoon 4/7) South East won by 161 runs

NORTH 326/2 (50 overs) (Aidan Samaroo 125 not out, Kyle Ramdoo 77, Zachary Siewah 68 not out) vs NORTH EAST 132 (43.5 overs) (Amraav Kistow 23, Tyrese Boodoo 22 not out; Joshua Davis 4/15, Abdur Rahmaan Juman 2/14) North won by 194 runs

TOBAGO 226/5 (40 overs) (Akel Quashie 89, Orlando James 67, Jaden Kent 42; Kavir Boodoosingh 2/32) vs EAST 180 (Verran Batchu 67, K Boodoosingh 52, Keal Ross 3/29, O James 3/33, Jaden Kent 2/35) Tobago won by 46 runs