The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

The youthful and less experienced Bahamas national team didn’t get the start head coach Greg Taylor Jr wanted as the International Cricket Association’s Pepsi Americas Under-19 Division II Championship Tournament kicked off on Thursday.

In the first game played at Haynes Oval, the Bahamas batted first and scored 37 runs in 16.2 overs. That wasn’t enough to hold off the Cayman Islands, who responded with 38 runs in just 3.2 overs for the win.

“Our guys are a little inexperienced and younger than the other teams,” Taylor Jr said. “We won this tournament about two years ago right here, but this year we are rebuilding.”

Taylor Jr, a captain on the men’s national team, said they just simply have to regroup, adjust their batting line-up and they should be in good position to turn things around in the rest of the round robin tournament that wraps up on Saturday.

Over the next two days, each team will have to play each other twice to determine the winner of the tournament. The winner will earn the right to advance to the second round in 2015 in division one in a bid to qualify for the World Cup in 2016.

Cayman Islands def. Bahamas

The Bahamas bowled out for 37 runs in 16.2 overs as Marcus Bowe led the way with seven. But 11-year-old Ravaughn Johnson needed just three wickets for no runs to keep the Bahamas in check in the first innings.

In the second innings, the Caymans responded with 38 in 4.2 overs as Tauren Cox had 17. None of the Bahamas bowlers - Sharano Kemp and Nandkumar Jagroo - were effective against the Caymans.

Johnson, by the way, was named the Man of the Match.

“Theo Cuffy, head coach of the Cayman Islands, said once his team shook off the jitterbugs, they settled down and played up to their potential.

“We still have some areas that we need to work on and tighten up, like our field placing, but generally I was pleased with the way the boys performed,” Cuffy said. “This is a totally new group. Only three of them have any experience playing at the regional level, so it was very encouraging.

“And I was really pleased with my youngster. He is only 11, but he had three wickets and made two catches. We want to win the tournament, which is the ultimate goal. But I really want them to execute their plays properly. If they can do that, we stand a chance to win the tournament,”

Cayman’s captain Edward Bodden, a 17-year-old sixth year member of their national team, said it was just what the doctor prescribed for their team.

“The Bahamas really didn’t get the start they were looking for and we capitalised on their mistakes,” Bodden said. “But it was a good cricket game. We just played a lot better than they did.

“We have a fairly young team with an 11-year-old who made three wickets. If we can continue to get that kind of performance from him and the other members of the team, we will be in a good position to win the tournament.”

But despite losing their opener, Bahamas team captain Nandkumar Jagroo, a 16-year-old student of St John’s College, said they are confident that the team can bounce back.

“Today was practically a warm-up match for us. We had to start over with a new team,” said Jagroo, a native of Guyana who has been living in the Bahamas with his parents for the past 13 years, two of which was dedicated to playing on the national team.

“We have another five games to go, so we can bounce back and still win the tournament.”

The Bahamas was scheduled to play Argentina in their second match yesterday, while the Cayman Islands faced Suriname at Windsor Field. In the earlier game at Windsor Field, Argentina played Suriname. Unfortunately, those scores were not available up to press time last night.

Starting 10am today at Haynes Oval, the Bahamas is slated to play Suriname and over at Windsor Field, Argentina is set to face the Cayman Islands. Then at 3pm, the Bahamas is in line to play the Cayman Islands at Windsor Field, while Argentina looks to take on Suriname at Haynes Oval.

On Saturday at 10am, Suriname is matched up against the Cayman Islands at Haynes Oval and the Bahamas is to meet Argentina at Windsor Field. At 3pm, the tournament will close out with the Cayman Islands playing Argentina at Haynes Oval and the Bahamas taking on Suriname at Windsor Field.