A new format for championship cricket was introduced for the 2010 season which saw the top 16 teams being divided into two groups of 8, called Division 1 and Division 2. St Marys were placed in Division 2 along with 7 other teams from North, East and South. The idea behind this change was to improve the standard of cricket played by the Championship schools, rather than in the past when the teams play only in their geographic regions. In this way, schools would play teams from across the country.

The Saints started the season in fine style against St Augustine Secondary piling up an impressive 207 in 50 overs . Main scorers were Stefan Balgobin with 55,skipper David Clarke 21, J’keem Lawrence 25 and Jesse Bootan 19. St Augustine were then bowled out for 67, Balgobin grabbing 3-6 and Marsena Moseley 3-12. Our most exciting game was our second game against Union Claxton Bay played away in Couva. CIC lost the toss and were put in to bat on a sticky wicket and managed only 89 with young Form 3 student Cyprian Votor topscoring on debut with a well played 22. In their chase, UCB were cruising at 76 for 3 , the Saints staring defeat in the face. However form 4 student David Lee and Balgobin had not given up in true Saints style. UCB lost their next 7 wickets for 8 runs as they were skittled out for 84, CIC grabbing an amazing victory . Lee took 4-9 and Balgobin continued his fine form with 4-20. Saints had won their first two games.

Our next game was at home to Manzanilla Secondary and we tasted our first defeat of the season making only 113 with Bootan 34 the only real contribution, but the opposition comfortably knocked off the runs for the loss of 4 wickets . In game 4, we found ourselves travelling deep south to Princes Town West Secondary . It was however an exciting journey as the team travelled in fine style in the College’s new 30 seater bus donated by the Past Students Union in association with Republic Bank Limited . The players were absolutely thrilled to be transported by their ‘own’ bus and they expressed joy at having it to use. Unfortunately , we couldn’t complete the trip with a victory, but it was a hard fought game. Princes Town batted first and compiled 228. In our turn at the crease ,we were well placed at one stage on 131 for 4 wickets , but some careless running between the wickets cost us the game and we were all out for 183, 45 runs short.

We travelled again, this time to Sangre Grande to play Swaha Hindu College totalling 174 with good scores from Balgobin 44 and Lawrence 37. Balgobin then spun his way through the opposition taking 5-9 with Swaha making only 76. This was our third victory in 5 games and we were third in the standings.

Our next game was at home to San Fernando Central Secondary . We were sent in to bat on a slow pitch and found the runs hard to come by , only Vishwanath Parmesar 28, Lawrence 22 and Bootan 18 saw us through to a score of 134. San Fernando in their run chase slumped to 20 for 3 , but recovered to reach their target of 135 for 4. At the time of writing, there is still one more game to play to complete the league season , against the front runners Shiva Boys Hindu College. Our team however is comprised of some form 5 and Upper six students who will be in Mock Exams the week of the game and as such we may field some new players from the Under 16 division and hope for the best.

All in all, there were some good performances so far, namely Stefan Balgobin with 3 half centuries and 19 wickets , Marsena Moseley’s 12 wickets and young Jesse Bootan’s selection on the national Under 15 team for the upcoming regional tournament in April. Our concern however still remains the hard task of getting the best team to play on game days which is whole day on a Tuesday, as in some cases the players who can certainly strengthen the team are unable to play due to academic concerns and parental decisions . It is only on game day when the team turns up can the coach really determine the final playing eleven, certainly not the ideal situation for any sporting team. On the bright side, our junior teams Under 14 and Under 16 are still in contention in their respective age group competitions. We look forward to their results in the upcoming weeks.

Rudy Balwant
Cricket Co-ordinator