As Cayman’s cricketers prepare to showcase their skills for the Stanford 20/20 team, one studious young man has a burning desire to test himself at the highest level.
Ricardo Roach may be only 20 but he’s already spent many years honing skills as an all rounder. He’s represented Cayman at all the youth levels and hopes his versatility will help get him the nod from the legends – Reverend Wesley Hall, Joel ‘Big Bird’ Garner and Courtney Walsh – when they soon return to pick a team. When they watched the Cayman squad last month, much of the two-day trials were rained off which is why they’re coming back.
‘I’ve been waiting a very long time to step up to senior level,’ Roach said. ‘At the trials the pitch was a bit difficult so I just tried to concentrate on playing the right shots. The legends basically have seen cricket at every level. They know shots so I guess they can tell quickly if somebody can bat or not. A few shots I got to play with some drives I thought they were pretty impressed with. There’s always room for improvement when you’re playing cricket. I’m only 20 so improvement is always a big option – but I don’t think there’s that much to be done!’
Roach has two years left of his degree in computer science at UCCI. He feels that if he can work around that to be a professional would be fine but he’s not too enamoured about putting his education on hold to play full-time.
The strenuous work outs the Antigua team fitness coach Evans ‘Jawakie’ Jones put them through was not to Roach’s liking either. ‘That was extremely tiring. I’m not used to that kind of warm-up and intense training. They say that if you do it for a week or so, you get used to it. Fitness is something I’m trying to work on personally now. Jawakie’s sessions were a good test. Showed us where we are and where we need to be.
‘I was trying to get fitter anyway, for the Cayman national team purposes and other competitions and for the 20/20 that’s a definite must. The running and intense pace of the game, you have to be fit. At least I’ve got a bit of time to work on it. I’ve been in the gym now every day since last week.’
Until recently the Cayman team more or less picked itself but with the emergence of brilliant teenagers Zach McLaughlin, Darren Cato, Kervin Ebanks, Patrick McConvey and Ramon Sealy, the seniors know it’s only a matter of time before they’re ousted.
Roach too, is now a serious threat to the established order. He added: ‘We have a load of youngsters coming up who will definitely replace people in the team now. In terms of excitement the 20/20 is a very big thing. I would love to test myself against one of the big teams, say Trinidad who have Test players. It’s a great opportunity for you personally to see how good you are and how far you think you can go as a cricketer.’
Cayman play St Lucia on 25 January in Antigua and if they beat them it’s the formidable Trinis in the next round. Roach is convinced Cayman can see off the Lucians. ‘The 20/20 team that went last year beat St Lucia and they had Darren Sammy (West Indies Test batsman) in their side. Our team is talented and if we play as well as I know we all can, we can beat anybody. We probably have some of the best cricketers in the region here. I’m basing that on players I’ve seen worldwide, for example players I’ve seen Bermuda who went to the World Cup. There’s no difference between our guys and them, we just need to play more serious cricket and apply ourselves more.’
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