Jaggernauth named QPCC’s top cricketer

Spinner Amit Jaggernauth emerged the Queen’s Park Cricket Club’s (QPCC) Cricketer of the Year at the Club’s Annual Cricket End of Season Presentation of Awards at the Pavilion on Friday night. He was named along with Justin Guillen, Anthony Balgobin, Akeil Hosein, Amit Jaggernath and Carrie Pierre, who was also the Youth Of the Year, as the top five cricketers of the year. Guillen, still a teenager, captained QPCC to unprecedented, consecutive winning sweeps of championships of the T&T Cricket Board in 2011 and 2012. The occasion was graced by the presence of members of the diplomatic corps, members of the T&T Cricket Board and by Rev Sir Wes Hall, former West Indies, Barbados and Harvard fast bowler, famed for his Pace Like Fire and his performance in the final over in the first Tied Test against Australia in 1961.

 

Present too, was the widow of Runako Morton, the recently deceased former QPCC Cricketer of the Year. She donated a trophy commemorating her husband’s love for the game and his club. This was presented to the Most Promising Young Player and it was won on its introduction by Jeremy Solozano. QPCC has benefited from a strong development programme which has been run by former national, Glamorgan and West Indies Test player, Bryan Davis, who has been the Club’s cricket administrator and technical director for more than 35 years. Davis stressed that millions are spent on development in the leading cricket countries in the world and if we wanted to again be a dominant force in the game, we must be more concerned with development of the players from clubs, right up to eventual national and international levels. QPCC does not just think of it. Already, there is a development programme alongside training of coaches.

 

Money is a concern in implementing these ideals and Queen’s Park has a sponsor who thinks along the same lines. The ideal is to emulate the Jamaicans, keep the players at home, have high school programmes, train coaches and for this, there is the suggestion that a percentage of National Lottery money should be allocated. There is loyalty that was evident when several of the club’s players who were playing in the IPL (Indian Premier League) came all the way back to represent their club in the T20 final. The Phil Thompson Award, made to the Most Promising Youth Personality, whose attitude, approach and good example were exemplary, went to Zavion Lara and a special award was made to coach Lincoln Roberts for his outstanding performance. Masterful skill and conduct were demonstrated by Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Daren Bravo and Sunil Narine, who all went on to international level and so they were recognised at the function.