Celebrating cricket’s best

2016 Cricketers of the Year Wyvonne Forbes and Troy Taylor.

The islands’ best cricketers were celebrated on Saturday night, 10 December, as they received their hardware at Cayman Cricket’s annual awards dinner.

On hand for the private event was former West Indies captain Jimmy Adams as the guest of honour. Other specially invited guests included Sports Minister Osbourne Bodden and Deputy Governor Franz Manderson.

Wyvonne Forbes cleaned up the individual awards. She was named Female Cricketer of the Year in addition to collecting trophies for scoring the most runs and taking the most wickets during the 2016 Women’s League.

Troy Taylor was the Male Cricketer of the Year. Forbes and Taylor received their awards from Adams.

The men’s Elite League was won by Renegade with Police CC the runner-up. Ainsley Hall won the Best Batter award, having scored he most runs. Kervin Ebanks took the most wickets to claim the Best Bowler award.

Ainsley Hall scored the most runs in the men's Elite League.

Ainsley Hall scored the most runs in the men’s Elite League.

In the men’s Super League, Supermix were the 2016 champions ahead of Sol Cubs. While in the Advanced League, Cayman Brac took home top honours ahead of Schools. Sadheo Sohan was the Best Batter, while Christopher Gayle (no, not that one) was the Best Bowler.

Lucas Carter was presented the Bagnall’s Youth Award. Various umpires, who completed their certification during the year, were given certificates, including 10 year-old Christon Ferguson from Cayman Brac.

Cayman Cricket President Abali Hoilett used the occasion to thank those who volunteered with the sport throughout the year.

“Without the volunteers…cricket has no future here in Cayman,” the president said. “We are but a small organisation with a very finite budget and the volunteers – the family and the fraternity – you guys make cricket what it is. We thank you guys for the amount of effort that you are putting into the game and we want to encourage you to continue going forward.”

L-R: Cayman Cricket President Abali Hoilett, Jimmy Adams, Sports Minister Osbourne Bodden, Asst. Chief Officer - Sports: Joel Francis; Dep. Governor Franz Manderson, NCB Cayman Managing Director Phillip Harrison.

L-R: Cayman Cricket President Abali Hoilett, Jimmy Adams, Sports Minister Osbourne Bodden, Asst. Chief Officer – Sports: Joel Francis; Dep. Governor Franz Manderson, NCB Cayman Managing Director Phillip Harrison.

After dinner, the gathering was regaled with stories from Jimmy Adams’ playing days, including the innings he considered to be among his best performances.

“One that means a lot to me was not a half century, it wasn’t even a hundred.  It was a game against Pakistan in Antigua that we won, where myself and Courtney Walsh batted. I think we needed about 30 or 40 runs for the last innings and we got there in the end with a bit of drama along the way,” the former Test cricketer recalled.

He also shared a few lighter moments with members of the local cricketing community after the formalities were wrapped up.

 

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