All of Cayman’s top cricketers were glued to their TV screens to watch the Stanford Superstars snatch their $1 million a head prize.
It inspired teenager Zach McLaughlin who one day hopes to be earning that sort of money.
McLaughlin, 18, is a business studies undergraduate at UCCI and once he gets his degree in a couple of years’ time hopes to pursue a full-time cricket career. ‘I would like to be a full-time pro if the opportunity presents itself,’ he said.
‘The Stanford team played brilliantly and deserved to win. I didn’t expect it to be so easy but I really thought they would win.
‘This win inspires the fans to give more support and gives the players a lot more determination because once they know that they’re playing together they can win.’
All-rounder Ryan Bovell is the former captain of the Cayman national side. The 34-year-old police officer said: ‘I think the West Indies team were far superior.
‘I think them going into training camp for six weeks made a significant difference. You could see from the way they were moving around the field and taking the catches, it made a huge difference to this side.’
Until a couple of years ago the Bajan still harboured ambitions of playing pro cricket and even breaking into the West Indies side.
He is resigned to never fulfilling that ambition now but still has a lot to give back to the game.
‘Maybe two or three years ago, yes, but now I’ve got different priorities so I’m just here to offer a helping hand to the younger guys.’
There has been a lot of criticism of Sir Allen Stanford’s input into the West Indies set up but Bovell feels he is good for the game.
‘I think Stanford is the best thing for West Indies cricket. He’s definitely a blessing. What he is doing, is showing the West Indies Board how it should be done at that level.
‘Even though the board haven’t got his kind of money, they could have. He has shown them how to go about and get it. What he’s done is got young people back interested in the game and that’s a big plus.’
What about the fact that Stanford seems to be using cricket to raise his profile and boost his companies’ revenue?
‘Any person getting involved in anything wants something back. He’s a businessman. I don’t think he’s trying to trick anybody into anything. He is definitely a blessing.’
Bovell made his debut in the Stanford 20/20 tournament in Antigua in January but did not have a great game. If selected for Cayman, he hopes to do better next year.
‘The first Stanford didn’t go as well as I’d like it to have so I definitely want to make up for that.’
Alistair Ifill is another talented all-rounder based in Cayman. He watched England being crushed with glee.
Ifill said: ‘It was a good match. We showed that if we come together as one we can beat anybody. We had a good six week camp, everything went well for the players and it showed.
‘It’s hard to say how this will improve West Indies in One-Day and Test cricket because everybody has gone their separate ways.
‘Some are playing club cricket or for their countries as the regional tournament is starting in the next two weeks. That six week camp made a lot of difference to some players, especially Ramnaresh Sarwan who was moving more freely in the field. His running and throwing arm was weak a couple of years ago but now he’s moving much better.
‘Everything was good. They were bowling to a plan at a certain stage and everything was alright.’
But will this victory boost the West Indies team?
Ifill added: ‘I see things going different because the One Day team and the Test team are going to be changed. We’re going to be playing people who can hit the ball especially in the late overs or in the first 15 when we have the power play.
‘Instead in the one day game we’re going to be looking at people like Daren Ganga who could be stabilising the innings at the top, or Xavier Marshall.
‘Andre Fletcher has been doing well in the 20/20 but right now he’s having selection problems with his country, Grenada because he’s been playing in the Jamaican domestic league and there’s been domestic cricket back home and he hasn’t been playing in it.
‘He hasn’t been selected to play for Grenada starting in a couple of weeks. He wants to play but due to selection policy he may not play.’
Guyanese Ifill wants unity in the West Indies team and noticed that Shivnarine Chanderpaul did not attend the training camp at all. Even if he is the world’s No.1 batsman, that could lead to resentment.
‘Chanderpaul didn’t go to the camp at all because he was playing county cricket in England. I don’t know if that is Stanford policy because of his commitments in England but if it’s going to improve West Indies cricket he should be playing for Guyana and it would be better for the whole Caribbean and the West Indies to be as one.’
Ifill, 30, wants to play for Cayman in the next Stanford tournament too but is not taking selection for granted.
‘Basically, I would really love to play in the next Stanford but right now cricket in Cayman is getting very competitive.
‘There are a lot of young guys coming up and you have to play for your spot right now. I would love to win something for Cayman to let people know where our cricket is going from here.
‘We have some really talented players here but we get caught up in the moment, I guess and we don’t really shine to our potential, as a unit.
‘Everybody is looking for the glory for themselves. We don’t want to be individuals. We must work as one like the Stanford Superstars did. We come from all over – Guyana, Barbados and Jamaica – but we want to take Cayman forward. So if we look at it from a cricketing perspective and not just a personal point of view we can go far.’
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