Champions

It took me a week to gather my thoughts after such a remarkable achievement.
It gives me great pleasure to announce that we are the BCA division 1 champions!! That's right, the persistent teamwork and diligence invested from the beginning of the calendar has indeed reaped its  benefits. Credit is due to each and everyone who has been a part of wanderers' success.

This means a lot to me. why? I've been representing the Wanderers club from the year 2005, and this is my first championship cup in my career at the club. Let me tell you, it's a fantastic feeling! I know for my teams mates, the feeling is mutual.

WanderersCC team photo- 2013 BCA division one champions 

The key to our success this year wasn't attributed to one or two players, it was an entire team effort. When it wasn't Kraigg scoring a ton, it was Diego making 5 consecutive fifties, or Jason only taking 2 wickets, Chad was with his left arm orthodox taking 6 or 7, while Sean and I were in the slips taking some sharp catches "late & low". Didn't have a good season with the bat but, with the 50 over

format starting in a couple weeks, I'm anticipating some good performances there.

'kudos' must be handed to our coach Ricky Clarke. Pretty much the orchestrator of it all. This man has worked 24/7 just to make this a reality, although at times, he could activate the "panic button" a bit too early, that just shows his passion for the club and also for the players he manages.

Many thanks to our supporters who've been present at each and every single match this season, absolutely loved the off-field passion they showed towards us, now as a reward,they have something to be proud of since 1984, the last year Wanderers won the first division title. They could go to their 9-5's and have a little something to boast about, after all, we've been stereo-typed as a club that won't make it up to the Elite Division. Let's hope the critics don't eat  their words now.

We have a 3 week break before competitive cricket resumes, which are the one days. I'll be taking a much needed week of rest but we come together again for a two week preparation leading up to the start of the tournament, which we'll be looking to end the year with some more silverware! And i'm also looking forward to having some good personal performances After all, a few of our supporters came and said to me "you owe us something". And indeed I do!

Close Battle

This season has to be one of the closest and most intriguing for Wanderers: with only one and a half games remaining, currently in second position, just a mere point from the leaders (Banks). This is going to be a close finish....but of course we anticipate being the happier squad at the end.

After playing LIME in round 7 and convincingly defeating them by 10 wickets, we were assertive in our play against Police in round 8.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature did not work in our favor which resulted in a ‘no decision’ due to rain fall on days two and three. Turning up on day one to see an outfield more suitable for the feeding of livestock was unbelievable. Grass on some parts of the ground up to your ankles, a pitch that was on the soft and slowish side.....classic example of the poor standard in our club structure. Furthermore, they sent us in to bat on the horror. At the end of day one we ended on 196-6, four runs short of two valuable batting points.

That was led by a well constructed innings by Kraigg Brathwaite, which to mention has been his standard this season, 105 to his name. Other significant scores came from our overseas player Craigg Emmanuel and myself 23 and 20 respectively.

No value for your shots at all. What would be a 4 at any other well prepared ground, was a very painful 1 or 2. Not a day for playing a cover drive and staying in the shot for the cameras.

Our upcoming match away from home-grounds, we head down to the Pine Basin Oval to play MTW. Maximum points would be just what the doctor ordered, but the weather will more than likely have a say in this round of games. Let's pray that our game isn't interrupted.

It has been a very exciting season thus far, but the way we have been playing lately are some great signs of fight and determination to be Div 1 champs. I'm still determined to produce something big, so now would be a perfect time to execute

Double Up

Not one but two consecutive wins in the league, taking us to 3rd position and two points away from the leaders. We couldn't ask for a better position just before the Crop Over break. A dominating win over YMPC is only the beginning of better things to come.

Arriving at Beckles Road to find a wicket that would guarantee a result after the 3 days of cricket. We won the toss and decided to have a bowl at our hosts. "Spinners paradise" would have been the perfect description of the wicket, so when I state that our left arm orthodox, Chad Reifer took 11 wickets in the match, don't be appalled. We bowled them out for 163 in their first innings, we replied with 209, led by a masterful knock by Diego Stuart, getting 90* on a difficult batting surface and about 60% of his runs coming with some delightful over cover six hitting. It was a gem to watch.

We had the advantage in their second innings, 165 all out leaving us with 120 to win. But the challenge came from Mother Nature, with a few interruptions by some inclement showers, and the fading light, we knew our run chase required some urgency in order to reach our target. We executed very well with just the loss of 4 wickets. Stuart again in the runs with a quick fire 23.

We returned to our home ground for the next match against Carlton. We are all aware of the benefits of playing on your home ground. You have every chance of gaining maximum batting points as we have one of the best batting wickets around the island. So I couldn't comprehend why the captain of Carlton would win the toss but choose to put us in to bat. 326 in our first and only innings of the match proved to be enough. Half centuries by Kraigg, Kirk, and the man that can't do any wrong this season, Diego who led our charge. Let's all fail to remember that I didn't even bother the scorers this time.

I think the highlight of our success this season is due to players taking great initiative to step up when it wasn't another guy’s day. This time it was one of our seasonal players Gary Belle with his off-breaks, taking his first 5'fer of the season, ending with 8 in the game. Great to see different players coming up with top performances.

1 hour & 49 minutes was all the time needed on day 3 to win by an innings and 103 runs. Enough time for myself and a few of our batters to get an afternoon net session and an early Sunday victory brew....I could taste the Guinness all over again.

Our next game will be after the Crop Over break against LIME at Dayrells Road on the 10th of August. Not like I take part in any of the events, but I do have my 26th birthday coming up. But I'll take this time away from the game to work on some weak areas in my game and be ready time our next match. It's never a break in this career for me, always work to be done!

My cuppa is on the verge of getting cold, so this is where I'll send my thanks to all reading and I'll catch you guys later!

Only A Matter Of Time

I am rather tardy with my blog this time around, but I’ll put the blame on the tennis action displayed at Wimbledon. I am also sad to affirm that we’re still seeking our first winafter our 4th 3−day match against BCL.

We got off to a relatively good start playing on our home ground with our guests winning the toss, also deciding to have first hit on the wicket which appeared to have plenty of runs. They were bowled out for 266 far under what was a decent score on that wicket.

Our openers saw the few overs for the remainder of day one, taking us into day two on a pitch flatter than a pancake after being compressed by a steam roller. We declared at 410-9, which was led by a top knock by Kraigg Brathwaite, who made 121, who always seem to score a hundred every time he plays this season. Diego Stuart and Craigg Holder supported well with half centuries to their name. I got a decent start but fell short for 29.

The highlight for us was our bowling performance in the second innings on day 3 with Jamar Layne, one of our seam bowlers, who came back into the squad after injuries kept him out since last season, and took 5 for 35.What a tremendous effort on such a good batting wicket.

We bowled them out late on day 3 but they passed our lead on first innings and added an extra 80 or so, by the time we had the chance to chase down the runs it was after 6pm, and if possible had 6 overs to get that total. Only one ball was bowled in our second innings leaving us with a draw in the bag with valuable bonus points.

We play away in our next fixture against our neighbors YMPC. One of the best teams in the tournament, so we'll have to play exceptional as anticipated in order to excel!

Taking The Positives Leaving The Negatives

To my astonishment, after concluding our last 3 day match against Barbados Youth, a game we perceived as highly attainable with nothing less than maximum points, regrettably resulted in defeat. Moreover, we solely mustered 7 points from the game. On a congratulatory note, both teams exhibited an exceptional performance and fought to the finish.

Now onto the highlights of the game:

Our first innings total was our lowest for the season despite winning the toss and positioning the young lads in the field. 190 all out on a slowish wicket and with an outfield that would be perfect for the rough on any golf field. With the experience in our batting line up, we should have done better. Our skipper Ian was probably the only one who adjusted well to the conditions with a well played 41.

It was a bit unfortunate for me, after being run out on 2 at the non strikes end after a ball being drove back by Diego Stuart, taking a hand from the bowler and hitting the stump with me about 3 feet out the crease. What a devastating way to go!

On the other hand, indubitable effort from our bowlers put us back in the game on the end of day 2, dismissing the school boys with a modest 176, giving us a lead of approximately 14, if my calculation is accurate. What more could we possibly do? The obvious! Aim to score as quickly as possible on the morning of the final day to give the lads an unreachable total to chase, while simultaneously giving our inexperienced bowlers time to take wickets.

Ian assured me that I will be going to the top! Maybe he saw something I didn’t. With my T20 strike rate this season failing to reach anywhere close to 100 in an innings thus far, you would've thought a guy like Diego would qualify for that job after being known for doing well in terms of giving it a good quick whack!

Those who know me personally can attest that I will always strive in any situation to come out on the top, so said so done! I made an unbeaten 89 from 65 balls. With some great support from our former skipper Renaldo Arthur who was there with me at our declaration just before tea with 48 to his name. Although many stated that Ian should've given us at least one more over to reach our milestone, it doesn't bother me one bit, I'll get it in my next innings!

180 to win in about 40 overs. To end what was a good run chase by the Youth team, young Roshon Primus played well for a stroke filled 82, keeping his side always in a good change in doing the unexpected.

It all ended in the 40th over 182 for 7, with a six that would've made Chris Gayle or Kieron Pollard proud of Jamaine Profit, maybe he saw it happening aforementioned.. see what I've done there?

On that note, we've got some work to do now in preparation for our next game against BCL at home. With all delight, I achieved my first decent score for the year and will build on that foundation. So expect some good news this weekend and what a better way to do it playing on home grounds.

Thanks to all for the good support and faith in me, until next write stay safe. One Love!"

Slow Start

After completing our first 3 day match for the season, being in the 2nd series, it's pretty unfortunate that we did not win against Yorkshire. Based on past meetings, we were confident that we still had the upper hand. After winning the toss and deciding to have a hit first, we made 300 batting all of day one and some on day two before being bowled out, with Kraigg Brathwaite playing one of his all so familiar "dig in" innings, resulting in a brilliant 191.

At the end of day two we had 4 of their wickets back in the hut with only 130 on the tins. We bowled them out quickly on the final morning for 218. We added another quick 97 runs before declaring at tea, gave them 180 in 44 overs. Probably a decision made on giving our young bowling attack time to take wickets, not taking into consideration that amount of time to get what would be an easy score to achieve once application at the wicket was sustained. They got to the total in the last over of the day in the darkness with a remaining 5 wickets in their dressing room. Our first defeat by Yorkshire.


Next we face the young scholars of the Barbados Youth at Waterford A. It sounds a bit harsh but the team and I have great expectations of a top performance. Not underrating the school boys, but a side that normally puts up a good fight but lacks experience at this level, gives teams like us the upper hand once we play good cricket. Furthermore, with me not having a score over 30 yet in 3 innings, I'll definitely look to cash in big time.

It's early in the season with lots of cricket to play. Stay safe everyone, and have an enjoyable weekend!

Not Just Yet

I strongly anticipated that this would have been an update on our first match against Banks, but unfortunately, this match is currently on hiatus due to the Regional 4Day Finals which was convened on the same weekend, resulting in the postponement of all club cricket in Barbados. Furthermore in light of this situation, only Day 1 of the opening match of the BCA division 1 championship was played. Its continuation is to yet to be announced. On that note, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Barbados Team in their victory against Trinidad & Tobago. Also worthy of mention is Kirk Edwards, one of my closest friends, a club mate and the captain of the Barbados Team. I also commend my team mate and Barbados opener, Kraigg Brathwaite for his excellent performance in scoring a vital ‘ton’.

To highlight some of the proceedings on Day 1 of the Banks Game, I made a score of 11. Moreover, I enjoyed the company of team mate, Sean Armstrong, one of the seniors but also one of the funniest guys in our dressing room, who scored a classy 73. We had an unfortunate batting day, which merited a score of 203, but by the end of the day we had them 32/2, which for us was a positive finish. Once the match resumes, I will provide a further update for you guys.

Tomorrow, we proceed to the Friendship Oval for our match against Yorkshire. For the past two seasons, we’ve always had the upper hand, but with their addition of some new players, we would have to assess them carefully, with the intention of remaining the dominant ones.

My next blog will disclose more positive and exciting news and updates. Have a good weekend and I hope to see our supporters at the grounds. I'll see you guys soon, one love X"

Ready For It

The upcoming season is only two days away an I'm extremely excited about the work and time dedicated to fitness as well as my batting skills during pre-season.

Nevertheless, Let us move on to more stimulating updates!

Our first test match is against Banks, an I have great expectations in my execution against them as my aim is to surpass my career best of 142, which I scored in the previous year versus the same Banks team.

More importantly, I think that this is our time (Wanderers CC) to ‘shine’ and regain our position in the Elite Division. We have excellent players; there is no question or doubt about that.

If we exert the competency and quality this season, there is no reason why the championship cannot be ours. Additionally, I look forward to playing with some new team mates in our squad such as Jerome Stuart and Craigg Holder.

Today is our last net session to sharpen our skills before the opening match. An i'll take this time to wish all the guys a fantastic season.
You can look forward to my next blog at the completion of our first game.

The Start Of A New Begining

As this is my first blog for the year, I would love to start by wishing everyone a prosperous 2013.

Last Saturday, we (WCC) conducted our first training session for the year, which allotted me the opportunity to ‘shake off the rust’, I gathered over the holidays. Although this was my first net session for the year, I’ve been working extremely hard in the gym, in addition to morning and afternoon cardio, which has attributed to fitness and strength. What an enjoyable workout!

This year the outcome may be different for the team, however, I prefer to wait and see how the situation unfolds when that time approaches, as I do not embrace rumours when it comes to player’s involvement and participation in the team.

It's another week, which means more hard work: gym, nets and running! However after it all, a fishing trip planned with a few of the boys on Sunday will be a great opportunity to relax and unwind.

So until my next blog, keep safe and always strive for greatness. PS I don’t necessarily mean to go and consume all the Guinness you could put your hands on :)