St Jago win U-14 title

Raymond Graham, Gleaner Writer

ST Jago High were crowned urban area Grace Jackie Hendriks Under-14 cricket champions yesterday when they scored a five-wicket win over neighbours Eltham High in the final at Melbourne Oval.

The undefeated St Jago team which had a comprehensive ten-wicket semi-final victory over Camperdown High at home last Thursday came into the final, their first in 17 years, very confident and after winning the toss and asking their opponents to bat did a quick demolition job.

Led by their leading wicket taker of the season, Mark Blake, St Jago dismissed Eltham for 39. Offspinner Blake bagged six for 20 to take his tally for the season to 29.

Assistance from granston

He was ably assisted by legspinner Marco Granston who took three for eight as none of the Eltham batsmen reached double figures.

St Jago had a disastrous start to their innings as openers Khalil Johnson and Andrew Brown fell for one and zero respectively. They slipped further and at one stage were 14 for four wickets before they were rescued by Ryan Harris who top scored with 13 not out and Granston with 12 who took the total within striking distance of the winning target. Skipper Akeem McKoy was ten not out at the end.

St Jago who shared the title with Campion in 1984 will now face either Munro College or St. Elizabeth Technical in rural Jamaica next Thursday for the all-island title.

Excited about win

Winning coach Jermaine Thomas was a happy man. "I feel excited and happy that we were able to win although we did not expect to win so easily because Eltham have also been playing well all season. We have some very disciplined players who follow instructions well and I think this is a good platform for St. Jago to build in the future", said Thomas who is also the coach of the school's Manning Cup team.

Losing coach Oral Simpson blamed poor shot selection for the defeat.

"They had batted well all season but it is just one of those things and I am confident that they will regroup and come better in the future", said Simpson who was hoping to collect his second title following his team's success in the Under-16 competition.