The triumphant Christ Church Foundation Under-19 team were honoured at a “Cricket Celebrations” dinner at the school hall on Friday.
The students were hailed for their double success in the Barbados Cricket Association’s (BCA) Under-19 Schools’ competition over the past two years as well as winning the Garfield Sobers International Schools Tournament last year.
Acting principal Yvette Mayers, in her welcome address, said the occasion was held “to honour a unique and talented group of young men” while principal Robert Cumberbatch, who is on leave, said the teams “are deserving of the commendation that we are giving them” and he was happy a function has been held to honour the boys.
“As you all know, in the West Indies, it is not our practice to honour you when we are doing well, we prefer to criticize you when you are doing badly, so hopefully, this is a turnaround that will continue,” he said.
In a dominant display, Foundation defeated Combermere in both the 2012 and 2013 BCA Under-19 finals with leg-spinning all-rounder Aaron Jones winning the Man-Of-The-Match award on both occasions.
Orlando “Gabby” Scott, chairman of the board of management, in congratulating the team, said the school has enjoyed a renaissance with an extraordinary past five years marked by the “longest stream of success” in its history.
Apart from the team success, five players – Jerome Jones, Aaron Jones, Jofra Archer, Carlos Maynard and Lee-Germon Gaskin –?were members of the Barbados Under-19 team, with this year’s school captain Joshua Drakes as a reserve. Gaskin was also captain of the Barbados Under-17 team while the diminutive Joshua Corbin was selected on the national Under-15 team.
Fast bowlers Jerome Jones and Archer also gained selection on the West Indies team to play in a seven-match One-Day series against Bangladesh in Guyana, next month.
Coach Nhamo Winn, who only joined the staff a few years ago, said he came to Foundation with a plan and a vision.
“My plan basically was to create well-rounded individuals. If you don’t make it in cricket, you must have something to fall back on,” he said.
“On the field, discipline was an issue and I addressed that seriously. Now I can say I have a disciplined team. It feels good to see that the boys have improved in every area. This is just the beginning,” Winn added.
Long-serving cricket manager Denis “Parker” Osbourne said what was even more pleasing was that the cricketers also excelled academically.
He said two members of the team are now enrolled at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill campus; three at the Barbados Community College; four have moved into Upper Sixth form and three gained scholarships, including Raynaldo Estwick who is now at St Bede’s School in England.
Dayne Doughty, who captained the cricket team in 2012, is now attached to the Barbados Coast Guard following the recent Barbados Defence Force’s passing out parade.
