'It was a surprise'

Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

Young batsman Nkrumah Bonner says he is looking forward to grabbing the opportunity of representing the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) in the upcoming Caribbean Twenty20 (CT20) the tournament, after being overlooked by Jamaica.

The 21-year-old, who narrowly missed out on making Jamaica's 14-man squad for the tournament, was given a second lease on life when he was named in the CCC squad for the January 10-23 tournament, which will be hosted jointly by Barbados and Antigua and Barbuda.

"It was a surprise to some extent when I got the call that I was selected to represent the CCC, as there were no trial matches this year and no one knew what was going to happen," said Bonner, who is a third-year student at The Mico University College.

Last season, he missed out on making the CCC team despite scoring a century in the team's only trial match.

Good opportunity

"I think that I have been playing some good cricket of late and I see playing for the CCC as a good opportunity to further showcase my talent and getting selected for Jamaica and the West Indies teams in the future," he added.

Bonner, who also bowls part-time leg spin, has been in good form in recent times, as apart from being a standout with the West Indies Under-19 team two seasons ago, he was one of the top players for the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB)/Sagicor High Performance Centre team, during the regional 50-over tournament.

However, his batting was not electrifying enough to force the hand of Jamaica's selectors during recent trial matches, and facing stiff competition from a host of established players, including captain Wavell Hinds, Marlon Samuels, Xavier Marshall, Danza Hyatt and Shawn Findlay, as well as his equally outstanding peer, Horace Miller, he was left out.

But having got the call from CCC, Bonner, who was a standout during yesterday's third Jamaica practice match at Sabina Park, is looking forward to the challenge, albeit one of the CCC matches in the group stages of the CT20 will be against Jamaica.

"One would like to play for one's country, but having said that, one just has to maximise any given opportunity.

"It should be a good test playing against my regular teammates, but it's cricket and I will just have to put my best foot forward," he said.

Jamaica will open their account against defending champions Guyana on January 10, while the CCC, which also include two other Jamaicans - wicketkeeper Chadwick Walton and fast bowler Brian Hutchinson - will open against the Darren Sammy-led Windward Islands, also on the same day.

Meanwhile, in yesterday's practice match that Chris Gayle's XI won by one run, Bonner took 2-21 off his maximum four overs to help restrict Hinds' XI to 125 for six off 20 overs.

Samuels, 43 not out off 40 balls, and Findlay, 33 off 36 balls, led the way for Hinds' XI, while young leg-spinner Akeem Dewar took two for 16 off three overs.

Gayle's XI then scraped home off the second-to-last delivery to end on 126 for six, with Gayle smashing a whirlwind 89 off 52 balls, including eight sixes and six fours.

Young left-arm pacer, Sheldon Cotterel, in a blistering spell in which he troubled all the batsmen, including Gayle, ended with three for 10 off his maximum allotment of four overs, while Odean Brown also took three for 10 off his maximum.

The fourth and fifth of seven practice matches will be played on December 30 and 31, respectively, also at the same venue.