ST. ANDREW’S – The Grenville Secondary (GSS) are the winners of this year’s United Insurance sponsored Inter-Secondary School Cricket Competition. The final of the competition was played at the Progress Park playing field today between two St. Andrew’s schools – St. Andrew’s Anglican Secondary School (SAASS) and Grenville Secondary School (GSS). Batting first, GSS was bundled out for 88 runs in less than the allotted 40 overs. Thomas Lewis of SAASS bagged 5 wickets while his colleague Amikel Dubisette took 3 wickets. What seemed as an attainable score for the boys from SAASS was made impossible by the GSS bowlers. While Captain Josh Thomas was able to keep things tight at one end with his fiery spell of fast bowling, SAASS wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals at the other end as spin bowler Rudolph Paul carved his way into the SAASS inning, taking 6 for 16 in 8 overs. The SAASS team was eventually bundled out for a paltry 62 runs, giving GSS victory by 26 runs. GSS played throughout the entire tournament without losing a single game. Speaking to the cricketers at the prize giving ceremony, Mr. Lydon Lewis of the Grenada Cricket Association urged the young men to take their cricket seriously and promised that the Grenada Cricket Association will be there with them when they celebrate their breakthrough to the local, regional and international cricket arenas. Mr. Trevor Renwick of United Insurance, the sponsor for the cricket tournament for the past twenty years, commended the cricket organizers for a job well done. He made the observation that the tournament seems to suggest that there is a concentration of cricket talent in the north of the island and that organizers in the south should try to put structures in place to deal with their shortcoming in this regard. Mr. Raphael Croney from the Ministry of Sports thanked United Insurance for their two decades of sponsorship of the tournament, noting that the tournament over the years saw the likes of Junior Murray, Rawle Lewis, Devon Smith and Andre Fletcher (among others) move through the system and make their way to the top. During this year, a record number of centuries were scored – nine in total. The highest individual score being 156 by Rudolph Paul of GSS. There were also centuries scored by Delon Joseph, Josh Noel, Trevor Noel, Nikosi St. Hillaire among others. The best aggregate score of 558 runs was also scored by Rudolph Paul. Captain of SAASS, Dennis Smith, was adjudged best wicket-keeper of the tournament. Lewis of SAASS amassed a total of 24 wickets in the tournament and was given the prize for the highest wicket-taker. Captain Dennis Smith of SAASS, speaking in a post-match interview, commended his bowlers on their excellent performance to dismiss GSS for only 88 runs and identified their poor batting as the cause for their defeat. Captain Josh Thomas of GSS told interviewers that the confidence level of his team was very high and even though they made only 88 runs, his bowlers knew that they had the ability to defend that total. He said that the team was highly motivated, having played unbeaten throughout the tournament and that many of his team mates were about to leave school and wanted to leave on a high note with a victory. In addition to team medals and other prizes for both schools, the school coming 2nd in the tournament – SAASS - collected a cheque for EC$500.00 and the winning school – GSS - collected EC$1000.00. By Wallace AJ Inside Grenada News