#BTColumn – Toppin credits ‘total team effort’ for Under-17 double success

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By Keith Holder

Following the sweet success of winning both titles in the Cricket West Indies (CWI) Rising Stars Under-17 Championship in Trinidad, veteran Barbados head coach Dexter Toppin has pointed to a “total team effort”.

Barbados narrowly captured the badly, rain-hit 50-over tournament after not a ball was bowled the last three rounds of matches because of wet conditions.

The Barbadians ended with 16.2 points (NRR 1.249), followed by Trinidad & Tobago 16 (NRR 0.463), Jamaica 11.6 (NRR 0.481), Guyana 10.4 (NRR -0.174), Windward Islands 7.6 (NRR -0.838) and Leeward Islands 6.2 (NRR -1.622).

In the two-day competition, which concluded yesterday, Barbados gained 42 points, Trinidad & Tobago 37.6, Jamaica 35, Guyana 31.2, Windward Islands 24.8 and Leeward Islands 16.2.

Toppin described the pitches as “slow and low” and reckoned that a three-week camp, which was held at the Desmond Haynes Oval (home of Carlton club), was vital to the team’s preparation.

“The boys really put in the hard work. That was the starting point,” he said in an interview with this columnist.

“We also had some classroom sessions. It was a total team effort and praise must also be given to a great management team of myself, Nhamo Winn (assistant coach), Dwayne Best (manager) and Kwayne Dalrymple (physiotherapist).

“In the two-day competition, two batsmen scored half-centuries in Reviera Cottle and captain Zion Brathwaite and the bowlers were outstanding with two taking five-wicket hauls – pacer Kyron King and leg-spinner Zishan Motara,” Toppin said.

Cottle scored 54 in the first innings of the last match against Guyana and Brathwaite made 60 in the second. Brathwaite missed the opening game against Windward Islands because of illness.

King grabbed five for 27 off 8.2 overs in the first innings against Guyana and Motara picked up five for 48 off 18 overs in the second.

And in the one-day tournament, off-spinner Preston Clarke took five for 25 against Guyana.

Toppin also said that CWI should revisit the points system for the two-day competition, especially as it relates to the first innings.

Under the rules:

Completed match Points

Outright win 12 + batting + bowling points earned

Tie 6 points each team + batting + bowling points

Incomplete Match Points

Draw, no outright winner 3 points+ batting and bowling points

Abandoned Match

In the event of a match being abandoned without any play having taken place one (1) point each.

Referee Awarding Match Points

Team Match Awarded to 12

Other Team 0

Bonus Points

Bonus Points awarded only for performances in the first 90 overs of each both innings and retained

whatever the result of the match.

Bonus Points Batting first innings

(a) A maximum of five batting points to be available as under:

200 to 249 runs – 2 points; 250 to 299 runs – 3 points; 300 to 349 runs – 4 points; 350 to 400 runs – 5 points.

Bonus Points Batting second innings

100 to 149 runs – 1 point; 150 to 199 runs – 2 points; 200 to 249 runs – 3 points; 250 to 299 runs – 4 points; 300 to 350 runs – 5 points.

(b) A maximum of three (3) bowling points to be available for both the first and second innings as under:

3 to 5 wickets taken – 1 point; 6 to 8 wickets taken – 2 points; 9 to 10 wickets taken – 3 points.

Statistics for Barbados in the two-day Championship were:

Batting (in order of runs): Reviera Cottle 111 (HS: 54; Ave: 27.75); Jaden Webster 111 (HS: 39; Ave: 22.20); Zion Brathwaite 100 (HS: 60; Ave: 25.00); Gadson Bowens 83 (HS: 32; Ave: 16.60); Joshua Branch 66 (HS: 38; Ave: 22.00); Dre Springer 49 (HS: 30; Ave: 16.33); Akeem McCollin 48 (HS: 23; Ave: 12.00); Edwin Currency-Barnett 46 (HS: 23; Ave: 11.50); Zishan Motara 41 (HS: 16 not out; Ave: 20.50); Shaquan Belle 37 (HS: 37 not out: Ave: Nil); Jatario Prescod 23 (HS: 16 not out; Ave: 11.50); Preston Clarke 18 (HS: 8; Ave: 6.00); Xaundre Baptiste 14 (HS: 9; Ave: 7.00); Kyron King 5 (HS: 3; Ave: 166).

NB: Cottle, Webster, Bowens, McCollin, Motara and Prescod all played three matches; Brathwaite, Branch, Springer, Currency-Barnett, Clarke, Baptiste and King (two matches); Belle (one).

Bowling (in order of wickets): Motara 14 (BB: 5-48; Ave: 10.85); Prescod 11 (BB: 4-15; Ave: 11.54); Baptiste 6 (BB: 3-22; Ave: 16.33); King 6 (BB: 5-27; Ave: 19.83); Belle 5 (BB: 4-26; Ave: 7.40); Springer 2 (BB: 1-14; Ave: 26.00); Webster 1 (BB: 1-16; Ave: 28.00); Clarke 1 (BB: 1-22; Ave: 42.00); NB: Also bowled without taking a wicket were: Branch, McCollin and Brathwaite.

Summarised scores of Barbados matches:

50-OVER

Round 1 – August 12

At Gilbert Park: Barbados beat Guyana by four wickets.

Guyana 102 all out (35.2 overs) (Kevin Kisten 23, Nicholas Shiopersad 19, Matthew Pottaya 14, Jonathan Lange 10; Preston Clarke 5-25, Kyron King 4-13).

Barbados 103-6 (32 overs) (Akeem McCollin 35 not out – 47 balls, 3 fours, 2 sixes; Zion Brathwaite 22; Gulcharran Chulai 2-11, Salim Khan 2-19).

Round 2 – August 14

At Gilbert Park: Barbados beat Windward Islands by three wickets.

Windward Islands 123 all out (43.2 overs) (Kirt Murray 41, Devonte McDowall 25, Edmund Morancie 14; Shaquan Belle 3-21, Kyron King 3-38, Akeem McCollin 2-11).

Barbados 125-7 (33.1 overs) (Gadson Bowens 37, Jaden Webster 21, Joshua Branch 14, Shaquan Belle 10 not out; Kirt Murray 4-18, Jelani Joseph 2-27).

Rounds 3, 4 and 5 – versus Leeward Islands at Inshan Ali Park (August 16), versus Jamaica at Gilbert Park (August 18) and versus Trinidad & Tobago at National Cricket Centre (August 20) – were all washed out.

2-DAY

Round 1 – August 23, 24. At Gilbert Park: Match drawn.

Barbados 213 all out (76.4 overs) (Reviera Cottle 35 Gadson Bowens 31, Dre Springer 30, Jaden Webster 19, Akeem McCollin 19, Jatario Prescod 16 not out, Joshua Branch 13, Edwin Currency-Barnett 12; Khan Elcock 3-23, Kirt Murray 3-36) and 30-1 (10 overs) (Jaden Webster 14 not out).

Windward Islands 210 all out (89 overs)(Kirtsen Murray 40, Khan Elcock 23, Kirt Murray 20, Earsinho Fontaine 18, Jelani Joseph 16, Edmund Morancie 12, Justin John 12, Theo Edward 10; Xaundre Baptiste 3-22, Zishan Motara 3-57).

Round 2 – August 26, 27. At Inshan Ali Park: Barbados beat Leeward Islands by six wickets.

Leeward Islands 88 all out (33 overs) (T’Yanick Honore 25 not out, Israel Morton 17, Matthew Miller 16, Devanand Singh 12; Jatario Prescod 4-15, Shaquan Belle 4-26, Zishan Motara 2-12) and 169 all out (46.5 overs) (T’Yanick Honore 61 not out – 64 balls, 3 fours, 4 sixes; Hosea Pluck 36, Xaveek Toppin 28, Israel Morton 15; Jatario Prescod 3-25, Xaundre Baptiste 3-67).

Barbados 184 all out (64.4 overs) (Shaquan Belle 37 not out, Gadson Bowens 32, Edwin Currency-Barnett 23, Akeem McCollin 23, Reviera Cottle 20, Zishan Motara 14, Jaden Webster 12; Israel Morton 4-32, Jevon Manners 2-18) and 77-4 (14.2 overs) (Jaden Webster 39, Zion Brathwaite 21).

Round 3 – August 30, 31. At Inshan Ali Park. Match drawn.

Barbados 174 all out (53.2 overs) (Reviera Cottle 54 – 57 balls, 9 fours; Zion Brathwaite 19, Jaden Webster 19, Zishan Motara 16 not out, Joshua Branch 15, Dre Springer 14, Gadson Bowens 10; Mathew Pottaya 4-41, Gulcharran Chulai 3-56, Nityanand Mathura 2-23) and 152-9 declared (33 overs) (Zion Brathwaite 60 – 72 balls, 78 minutes, 8 fours, 1 six; Joshua Branch 38, Zishan Motara 11 not out; Mathew Pottaya 6-55, Gulcharran Chulai 3-41).

Guyana 90 all out (29.2 overs) (Kevin Kisten 33, Nityanand Mathura 13 not out, Romeo Deonarain 10; Kyron King 5-27, Zishan Motara 3-6) and 199-9 (57 overs) (Rampersaud Ramnauth 94 – 140 balls, 184 minutes, 10 fours; Romeo Deonarain 42, Bruce Vincent 15, Jonathan Van Lange 12; Zishan Motara 5-48, Jatario Prescod 2-39).

 Keith Holder is a veteran, award-winning freelance sports journalist, who has been covering local, regional and International cricket since 1980 as a writer and commentator. He has compiled statistics on the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) Division 1 (rebranded Elite in 2012) Championship for over four decades and provides statistics and stories for the BCA website (www.barbadoscricket.org). Email: Keithfholder@gmail.com