ST JOHN’S, CMC – West Indies Academy captain Nyeem Young said hard work paid off for his side in their seven-wicket win against Team Headley, a side that included no less than eight West Indies internationals, in their opening match of the Headley-Weekes Tri-Series in Antigua.
Destructive three-wicket bursts from Young and hometown pace bowling prospect Kelvin Pitman enabled the Academy to formalize the win on the third day of the four-day, first-class contest at the Coolidge Cricket Ground, where Team Headley, trailing by 64 on first innings, were bundled out for 122 in their second innings. The Academy – led by opener Keagan Simmons – knocked off the 58 needed to win with relative ease, though Barbados Pride off-spinner Chaim Holder added a bit of drama with a three-wicket haul of his own.
“I’m very happy, and it just shows that hard work, good dedication, and the willingness to win prevails in the end, and I thought that we fought really hard over the last three days, and we are very happy with the result,” Young told CWI Media in a post-match interview.
The result meant the Academy ended the match with a haul of 18 points and put them in a favourable position to strongly challenge for the title in the three-team tournament that also features Team Weekes, led by Windward Islands Volcanoes captain Alick Athanaze.
The result, perhaps, also gave reassurance that the depth of playing talent in the Caribbean is still there, something which before the match, Young said, his side was going to try to prove.
“Some guys have played first-class, and some were making their debut, but the main focus for us in this Tri-Series is to be as comfortable as possible and to execute how we normally play, and we did that amazingly well over the last three days and the result was good,” he said.
“The match was a bit up and down. Josh (Da Silva) played an amazing innings in the first innings (for Team Headley) and that pushed us back a bit. Then Kevlon Anderson did something you don’t see every day, he scored more than half the runs for us, and we are thankful for his innings, and a few contributions from others.” He added: “In the second innings, to come out and bowl the way we did was just amazing, and to finish it off was very good. “Yogi (Johan Layne) also played an amazing role for us. He got five wickets in the first innings for us, and he put good energy behind the ball. Then he came and scored 38 not out, and he is bragging that he has one of the best (batting) averages within the squad, so we reaped good rewards from the good practice sessions we had.”
Team Headley finished with only five points, and they will hope that Team Weekes can slow the roll of the Academy when those two sides meet in the second match of the tournament, starting next Wednesday at the same venue.
“First, we have a few days off, first-class cricket is quite hard on the body, so the next two days off will be very welcomed within the camp,” Young said. “We will get back into it next week, and we will be looking forward to get going against Team Weekes.”
The Tri-Series is an initiative of CWI to provide the best performing players in the West Indies Championship, fringe players of the West Indies Test side, and emerging players in the Academy with more playing opportunities because of a shortened first-class season due to the financial constraints of the organising body.