5 for Fun: Gyan ties down Cunaripo as Sangre Grande Hindu take N/East title

A disciplined bowling attack reaped dividends for the Sangre Grande Hindu Primary School on Monday morning as they cruised past Cunaripo Presbyterian School, with 17 balls to spare, at the North Oropouche Recreation Ground in the North-Eastern District final of the Republic Bank Five For Fun cricket competition.

Sangre Grande Hindu are the last of eight qualifiers for the National finals, which will be held from 8.30am on Wednesday 9 July at the National Cycling Centre in Couva.

They join Bamboo Settlement Government Primary (St George East), Rosary Boys RC (Port of Spain and Environs), Longdenville Government Primary (Caroni), Rochard Douglas Presbyterian (Victoria), St Mary’s Government (South East), Dayanand Memorial Vedic (St Patrick) and Scarborough Boys RC (Tobago).

Sangre Grande Hindu coach Angad Arjoonsingh, a standard three teacher at the school, suggested that his troops benefitted from early, comprehensive preparation.

“Since the Ministry of Education, in collaboration with Republic Bank, started this competition, we were preparing from day one,” Arjoonsingh told Wired868. “There was also a [SporTT] coach, Marlon Richards, assigned to this school.

“He would come in every Wednesday and Friday to do a session. After that, I would continue sessions with them on afternoons or during the day in order to prepare them.

“They were well prepared. Some of them were playing the game before so they had the necessary skills. We had some newcomers that I had to work with. But all in all, they were well prepared.”

Steady rain over the weekend meant the outfield of the North Oropouche ground was in no condition to handle even such tiny feet running about. So, organisers shifted the affair to the adjacent basketball court.

The dimensions of the court do not match even a miniature cricket field. They improvised. Two runs would be awarded to any batter who hit the ball against the fence that bordered the court, while the batter would be awarded four runs for clearing the fence.

There was no guideline for what would constitute six runs, which was simply unattainable to batters.

It was an oversight that was arguably exposed when Cumana SDA batter, Shervin Thom, hit Cunaripo Presbyterian bowler Ronaldo Mahase out for the ground and over the roof of a nearby house.

Still, Sangre Grande Hindu scored freely enough, being first to the crease against Monte Video Government Primary School in the opening semi-final of the day.

Each school, according to tournament rules, has five players who are all required to bat and bowl for six balls each. Girls are only allowed to bowl to girls.

Sangre Grande Hindu started with their two most explosive batters. And the bespectacled Josiah Miranda set the pace from the opening over, as he hit Kamari Lee for four 4s to put 20 on the board.

With a batting score of 64 runs—and they did not lose a single wicket, which would have incurred a deduction of three runs—plus a bonus score of 50 + 8, Sangre Grande closed their innings at 122.

Monte Video Government gave it a good go, with Lee and Zarion Edwards contributing 15 and 12 runs respectively. However, Sangre Grande bowler Jaden Maloney had three dot balls in his over, as he restricted Luke Kydd to six runs.

By the time Lymiah Pamphile took the strike for the final six balls, Monte Video needed 26 runs without the possibility of a six.

Bowler Sanjana Gyan offered a single wide in that over, and Pamphile took just three runs off it. Sangre Grande Hindu won by 22 runs.

“I am proud of them. I think they performed well,” said coach Selina Balbosa, who is a second-year infants teacher. “I would like to say thank you to Republic Bank for choosing our school and giving the students that exposure. They are looking forward to more to come!”

Monte Video, a tiny village near San Souci and nine miles from Toco, is almost two hours’ drive from Sangre Grande. To say their students enjoy a road trip would be an understatement.

“They would do anything to get a day out!” Balbosa said. “Being so far away, they hardly get the chance to come out of the village in Monte Video—so they are very excited and happy to be out here.

“We were the first school on the [North Oropouche] compound.”

In Edwards, Monte Video had a natural athlete too. His cameo against Miranda included a pull for four of such poise and timing that it is unlikely that anyone matched it on the day.

Edwards is just 10 years old and a standard four pupil. He is definitely one to look out for, if he can get into a proper sporting programme.

The second semi-final, which pitted Cunaripo Presbyterian against the Cumana Seventh-Day Adventist School, was even more of a mismatch.

Cumana could not muster a single boundary in their first four overs, during which they accumulated a mere 18 runs.

Cunaripo bowler Kellise Charles conceded just two runs in the opening over—and both were no balls. It was only in the fifth and final over that Cumana got some joy, as they cashed in with 22 runs to close with a batting score of 40 and a total tally of 90.

This was thanks, in no small part, to five no-balls by Cunaripo bowler Aidon Marcano.

Cumana, to their credit, took the match into the final over. Captain Malachi Thomas restricted his namesake, Malachi Rambharath, to just six runs off the third over while Davonique Sambury conceded just four runs to Cunaripo batter Sophia Alexander.

But Charles returned with the bat to see Cunaripo home with four balls to spare.

Cumana SDA coach and standard two teacher David Thomas said it was a triumph just to play any cricket at all, after children in their district were not invited to compete in the primary school competition in 2024.

Thomas said cricket has been “more off than on” in the North-Eastern district since the Covid-19 pandemic. As such, the Republic Bank-sponsored Five For Fun competition is welcomed.

“Cricket has been inconsistent for our district for some years, […] so this has been refreshing,” said Thomas. “It was a bit of a challenge to choose the final eight players because so many of them were interested.

“[…] I am very proud of the bowling performance of the team… The ground conditions were a disadvantage—but it was good fun and a good experience.”

Bowling was crucial again in the final as Sangre Grande Hindu restricted Cunaripo Presbyterian to a batting score of 37 runs. (They also had bonus points of 50 + 3, for a combined tally of 90.)

It was not until the fifth over that Cunaripo managed a boundary, as 11-year-old Ronaldo Mahase hit three 4s but was also caught behind by Maloney off Miranda’s bowling. (Batters are guaranteed six balls while they are deducted three points on each occasion that they lose their wickets.) The final contribution from that over was 10 runs.

The 12-year-old Gyan, again, was miserly with the ball. She registered four dot balls against Charles while conceding four extras.

And Miranda and Divik Latchmansingh did not waste time with the bat, as they scored 16 and 15 runs respectively before Maloney wrapped up the final with a 4 off the first ball of the third over from Rambharath.

Cunaripo, as coach and first year infants teacher Brenda Soodeen explained, were a dominant force in primary school cricket in North-East Trinidad with three district titles (2017, 2018 and 2019) before the pandemic.

But they would not represent the district in 2025.

“The Five for Fun competition gave the children exposure and a chance to display their skills,” said Soodeen, who indicated that she holds a Cricket Australia level two coaching certificate, “and we are grateful for that.”

Sangre Hindu were too good this year, though.

“Republic Bank, joining together with SporTT, was a welcome [combination] in the north eastern education district, to bring cricket back to life here again,” said Arjoonsingh. “I hope we will have continuing support for the young children to come out and play a game that they love, which they did not have for the last couple of years.

“Primary school cricket has been on a downward slope since covid—sponsors coming forward to promote cricket throughout Trinidad and Tobago is a big plus for the youths of this nation.

“[…] Our students loved it! Every opportunity to come out to practice or prepare for this competition, they enjoyed it.”

Richards, one of two SporTT coaches who officiated in the North-East final, also praised the Five For Fun initiative, which has the support of Cricket West Indies (CWI) and Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB).

“There is a lot of talent and ability that we are seeing at the primary school level,” said Richards. “We have to continue to target this area because that is where the foundation is.

“Once we continue to have these programmes and continue to have SporTT and Republic Bank and other entities coming together to focus on the youth, this is how our cricket can eventually improve going forward in the future.

“[…] Once we can continue to have these programmes going out to places like Cumana, Toco, Salybia and Tamana, and bring those players in, that will be good for the continued growth of the sport.”

There is one match day remaining in the inaugural RBL Five For Fun competition—and it will be a big one.