Sandals Teen Cricket Tournament Officially Bowls Off

The eighth edition of the Sandals Under-19 50-Over Cricket Tournament is underway, with eight teams vying to dethrone five-time winners Gros Islet. The competition was officially launched on Thursday in a ceremony at Sandals Halcyon, co-hosted by the principal sponsors and the Saint Lucia National Cricket Association. 

The collaboration between the Jamaica-based resort chain and local cricket began in 2018, with an initial three-year commitment. But Sunil Ramdeen, Sandals’ regional public relations and communications manager, said that the tournament had become a staple sponsorship for Sandals. An avid cricket fan himself, Ramdeen said that he is looking forward to a long relationship with the local cricketing community going forward.

SLNCA operations officer Shaun Alcindor said games will be played at five venues before the final on June 21. He encouraged fans to come out and support the youngsters from various communities, as they seek to advance to national age-group teams and beyond. Alcindor also floated the idea of an inter-island Under-19 series, now that Sandals has a hotel in St Vincent & the Grenadines.

Wayne Auguste, SLNCA president, highlighted the beneficial outcomes of the Sandals development tournament over the past seven years. He reminded his audience that all four boys who have made the West Indies Under-19 team in recent years came through the competition.

“The Under-19 phase is critical,” Auguste said. “In cricket, this is the high-performance phase. And we have seen the benefits of supporting our young men in this phase. We had Kimani [Melius], who’s on the first-class circuit. We’ve had McKenny [Clarke], who won a title this year with Trinidad & Tobago in the Breakout League. We’ve had Ackeem Auguste, who was captain of the West Indies Under-19, like Kimani before him. And most recently, we’ve had Tarrique Edward on the West Indies Under-19s.” 

Whilst expressing his gratitude to Sandals for their support of the Under-19 boys, Auguste acknowledged that gaps in funding still exist. He agreed that more can be done to promote girls’ cricket, calling on the private sector to make the necessary interventions to elevate the game across the board.

Auguste thanked the Government for putting resources into initiatives like the High Performance Centre and the Saint Lucia Premier League. He also expressed the hope that the association can get to the stage where the national Under-19 boys are enrolled in a programme where they can train as a group immediately after the Sandals tournament. 

In the opening round of games last weekend, Babonneau lost twice. Gros Islet beat them by 31 runs at the Des Barras Playing Field. In a game reduced to 26 overs a side due to a wet wicket, Gros Islet made 155-9, with Roystan Fannis scoring 29 and Kanil Nelson and Leon Alexander 25 each. Cansius Simon took 3-43, Nathaniel Joseph 2-19, Yulieski Gustave 2-29. 

Babonneau were restricted to 124-8 thanks to 32 from Yunieski Gustave and Kenrick Louis’ 28. Bjorn Fanis took 2-9 and Leon Alexander 2-32

Babonneau were also beaten by South Castries, thanks to an unbeaten half-century from Kensley Paul. Babonneau made 119-7 in 24 overs. Cansius Simon made 49, hitting six sixes, and Zhanni Joseph took 3-17. 

Coming in at the fall of the fifth wicket, Paul smashed 63 not out from 49 balls to lift his team to 120-6. He hit five fours and five sixes.