The Bahamas' Under-15 cricket squad is not too worried about losing the opening match in their best-of-four games series with Cayman Islands. In fact the young cricketers used Sunday's encounter to 'brush off the cobwebs' and prepare for an exciting game today.
In the 30-over match, played at Windsor Park yesterday, The Bahamas scored 122 runs for the lost of eight wickets in 30 overs. The visiting Caymanian squad posted 124 runs with the loss of four wickets, made in 25 overs. Top batter for the host country was Jamaal Rolle who scored 21 runs. Gregory Davis and David Lee scored 35 and 25 runs, respectively, in the win for Cayman Islands. Lee emerged as the best bowler on the day. He took three wickets for 15 runs in six overs.
The Under-15 Tournament, which is a developmental program under the International Cricket Council (ICC) Americas region is designed to encourage and spark the interest of young boys, to the sport. It is a friendly tournament played during the summer months between three countries. The Bahamas is paired with Cayman Islands and Belize, which were unable to attend because of visa problems. The Bahamas Cricket Association (BCA) welcomed Cayman Islands on Saturday night, to the tournament which will run until Thursday. The executive members in the local body expressed disappointment after learning that Belize was not attending. They were hoping that the team members would get a little more play in before the start of the BCA Under-15 league.
"So far so good," said Greg Taylor Sr., an executive in the BCA. "The Bahamas batted first and we were looking to score a lot of runs probably 150 or 160 and put us in good contention to win the match.

So far, Cayman is batting and they have 52 runs in eight overs. We are playing a 30 over match, so it looks like Cayman is well on their way to setting up a victory, unless The Bahamas breaks through with some good bowling and stop it. But everything is going fine. It is very competitive, good comradery between both countries.
"After watching the match we need to improve on both batting and field. I am sure Cayman Islands is facing the same problem like us, where the guys just started and are into other sports like basketball, soccer and track and field. We are finding it kind of hard to keep players of this age 15 and under together. What we need to do is start from age eight and up, working with them from the primary school level. So when they grow you would find that they will stick with cricket. We just need to put more programs in place, starting from the young primary school level and everything will be okay."
Head coach for the Cayman Island team Theo Cuffy said training for the group had started over a year ago. He believes that the rigorous workouts on Saturdays has prepared the boys and that they should do well in the friendly matches.
He said: "This is the first game and we have done well so far, even though we started off very poorly. We gave up to many overs, but we were able to come back. Now we are batting and I see us doing very well. I've seen significant improvements on a particular area, which is the spin bowling. The fast bowling still seems to be here and there, but I think that they will settle down by the time we play by Wednesday. By then, we will actually see if it is working.
"I anticipate that they will do well, but what will be more pleasing to me is seeing them actually put  what we have been teaching them in practice into the games. There are different coaches who have worked with them who have helped them along the way. All coaches will like to have winners, I am no exception. But winning is not the most important thing. I would like to see them execute the things they have learned in the program and to see that they are not making the same mistakes from the past.
"At home they train every Saturday, but then we have the secondary school competition that caters to the guys Under-15. They get in about three months of matches. There is also a tournament where they are able to get some experience and exposure."
Creating a league is the only way Taylor Sr. see the young men getting the extra playing time. The Under-15 league should commence shortly after the conclusion of the BCA regular season Twenty/20 league. The BCA has other programs in the works. Details will be released in the upcoming weeks.

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