NAGICO-LICA Cricket One Day Tournament
St Kitts Aiming for Redemption in NAGICO Group One-Day Format Face Montserrat in Third Round Action Today
By Rawle Nelson
In Photo seated left to right: NAGICO's Marketing Manager, Jasmine Payne; NAGICO's Managing Director, Mr. Eric Ellis; President of LICA, Mr. Gregory Shillingford and President of the St. Kitts Cricket Association, Mr. Ingleton Liburd.
Although they were last year's champion dethroning the reigning four time champion Antigua, defending champions St Kitts is not traditionally known for aggressive cricket and may have thrown the race for this year's title open with their opening match defeat against Antigua. Competition is expected to be intense as already two of the teams favoured to win have suffered unexpected defeats.
Nevis enters round three after they had lost their second round match against Anguilla While St Kitts after displaying apathetic batting display was convincingly beaten by the competition's former champions Antigua in their first round encounter.
St Kitts had begun their one-day campaign in defending their title when they faced last weekend when they faced Antigua in their first round match. It was a match that many had eagerly anticipated as it was geared towards giving an indication as to who is likely go be in strong contention for the coveted title.
Despite the very pathetic batting display displayed by St Kitts in the three day game, they were optimistic about doing well in the shorter version of the game. They lost that game as well by 199 runs after being bowled out for a meager 73 runs. This resulted in significant disappointment for the many fans who were looking forward to an eagerly contested game between both teams rather than a lopsided affair which they saw.
However, with Nevis being surprisingly beaten by Anguilla in the one day it has opened the door for St Kitts to be inspired of being competitive in the limited overs version of the competition. As such, St Kitts and Nevis both enters the third round with one win and a defeat.
During last year's competition when St Kits wrestled the crown from Antigua they had depended greatly on their batting which was spearheaded by Steve Liburd, Shane Jeffers Codville Rogers and Juni Mitchum.
If the Kittitians can reproduce that positive mindset this year similar to what they did last year they, will reclaim the sixth edition of the title which saw NAGICO Insurances coming on board as the competition's sponsor in 2003. Already they have been an upset in the competition with powerhouse Nevis being disciplined by Anguilla.
Although they were last year's champions, defending 2006 three-day champions and 2007 One day champions St Kitts is not traditionally known for aggressive cricket and after their humiliating three and one day defeats this year to Antigua many are of the view that they shouldn't be viewed as one of the favorites to claim this year's Leeward Island Cricket Association NAGICO Sponsored one-day cricket title.
For the third round action they are four matches that will be played today (Wednesday August 27th) at four venues. In the first match it sees USVI who suffered a heavy lost to St Kitts in round two coming up against the mighty Antiguans at the Molyneaux ground who had demolished defending Champions St Kitts in their first round match. The other matches will see St. Kitts vs. Montserrat at Warner Park, BVI taking on Anguilla at Conaree and Nevis facing off with St Maarten at Cayon.
In an earlier interview with President of the St Kitts Cricket Association, Ingleton Liburd he expressed the view that St Kitts will be very competitive in thee competition which he noted that the team will regain the championship title.
Steve Liburd in the second round action against the USVI had unleashed a brutal attack on the USVI bowlers in which he scored an unbeaten 136 runs. If the Kittitians can reproduce that positive mindset today they, with their maiden NAGIXCO Sponsored one-day title that they won last year, can cause a few upsets and even regain the title.
Their fielding will also have to be a lot more purposeful than it was in their three-day tournament and if the batsmen can post a total close to 250, the bowlers are quite capable of defending it on what should be a good batting pitch today.
While many are of the firm opinion as to who are the thirteen players that have been selected for today's match, the final eleven will not be decided until this morning as the team aim to redeem itself after failing to win their first match in their defense of the title this year.
This team comprises a talented bunch of teenagers but inconsistent batting and a lack of mental strength and prolonged concentration under pressure plagued the side throughout the three-day format.
However, with the St Kitts team seemingly distorted, disoriented and already demonstrating inconsistency in their game it is evident that while they have won their second round encounter for them to win this year's title which is certainly proving to be one that will be very competitive their Coach and Manager will have to get the players to believe in themselves and give the batsmen the license to play their "shots" from ball one.
To date only Antigua along with defending champions St Kitts have been able to lift aloft the championship trophy with St Kitts taking their maiden title last year.
One of the big questions that would be plaguing the minds of the defending champions, St Kitts is to get past another major and fierce rival in Nevis. They are confident that once they get past Nevis that they are going to be one of the key front runners in capturing this year's title.
One of the primary objective in this year's competition for St Kitts is being able to advance first to the semi final while secondly to reach the finals and then reclaim the championship. However, while significant emphasis is being placed on the team's bowling in an effort to increase their standard of play in this year's competition, Senior players Shane Jeffers and Steve Liburd will certainly have to take their batting along with the other members of their team to a significantly higher standard if they are going to provide any real means of competition.