January 22, 2019. Regional Headquarters, Jamaica. Just three months after their regional title, the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) team have copped another, carving their name in history as winners of the first ever UWI World Universities T20 Tournament. The student players defeated the Oxford Marylebone Cricket Club (Oxford MCCU) in a rousing final that brought out families and cricket fans to the Sir Frank Worrell Cricket Ground at UWI SPEC in St. Augustine on Sunday 20 January 2019.
CCC’s innings started strong with a 57 run partnership between openers Kjorn Ottley and Kyle Corbin. Kjorn Ottley departed with a top score of 36 and later, Yannick Ottley scored 31 off 30 balls. Oxford MCCU’s top bowler, Will Heathfield, took three wickets for 17 runs from three overs. In reply, Oxford MCCU’s innings got off to a shaky start with Christopher McBride being caught behind by Wicket Keeper Amir Jangoo for no score. Zaman Akhter was their top scorer, making 27 runs off 29 balls. In the end, Oxford MCCU’s chase fell short by 20 runs with Michail Powell’s bowling of three wickets for 17 runs, which earned him “Man of the Match”.
The inaugural tournament, led by The UWI’s Faculty of Sport, ran from January 10-20 and featured top student cricketers from The UWI itself, a combined colleges team from the US, the Tertiary Sport Association of Trinidad and Tobago (TSATT) along with the CCC and Oxford MCCU teams.
Dr. Akshai Mansingh, Dean of The UWI Faculty of Sport, said “The response to this first tournament has exceeded our expectations. This is just one example of the kind of experience and opportunities the Faculty is focused on creating for its student athletes towards building their skills and exposure. We look forward to continuing this programme and exploring how we can use the model across other sports throughout the University.”
The top five players of the tournament will now go on to participate in pre-tournament camps hosted by the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), gaining exposure and training and creating a direct route for university students to transition into professional cricket.
Speaking on the initiative, Michael Hall, Tournament Operations Director of the CPL, who also serves as Chairman of the UWI Tournament’s Cricket Committee, said: “We are pleased that this opportunity for outstanding performances in the tournament forms part of our sanctioning agreement with The UWI Faculty of Sport, and look forward to working out the details of implementing it ahead of the start of the 2019 Hero CPL.”
In addition to CPL, the tournament was supported by a range of stakeholders – including Cricket West Indies; the Office of the Prime Minister, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Sport and Culture Fund; Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board; Tertiary Sport Association of Trinidad and Tobago (TSATT); Caribbean Lifestyle Communications; Newsday; Flow/Flow Sports; UWItv; the Chalak Mitra Group; Golden Key Real Estate; Marshall Arts Solutions, Angostura Limited and Superb Caterers.
Photo caption: Winners of the first ever, UWI World Universities T20 Tournament, the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) team.
More photos available for download via: https://www.flickr.com/photos/theuwi/albums/72157704548873141
More about the Tournament:
This inaugural UWI World Universities T20 Tournament allows The UWI to establish relationships with other reputable universities using cricket as a conduit to produce many more world class student-athletes. It brings to the fore new talent and along with The UWI’s advanced sporting facility, helps expand a pool of ‘thinking cricketers’ and build the region’s dominance in cricket. The UWI World Universities T20 Tournament is the only one of its kind at the tertiary tier, providing much needed exposure and competitive grooming to facilitate the immediate advancement of players into professional cricket; while showcasing what has become the most popular and dominant format of the sport. Former West Indian Cricketer, Daren Ganga served as Chair of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) leading the planning, coordination, promotion, execution of the tournament.
More about The UWI Faculty of Sport
Launched in 2017, the UWI Faculty of Sport integrates teaching and research, professional development, community partnerships, and co- and extra-curricular student sport through three main units: Professional Programmes, Outreach & Projects Unit, Co-curricular & Intramural-Activity Unit and the Academic Programme & Activity Unit. The faculty is made up of four Academies of Sport: Cave Hill Academy of Sport, Open Campus Academy of Sport, Mona Academy of Sport and St Augustine Academy of Sport. For more information visit www.uwi.edu/sport
