Omar Willis loves cricket with a passion so it’s not surprising that he is another youngster hoping to break into the Stanford 20/20.
Willis works on his game all the time Photo: Ron Shillingford |
The West Bay resident, 20, is a talented all rounder. He bowls leg breaks and is a useful middle order batsman.
To prove the point, Willis took 5-26 in eight overs for Cable & Wireless Schools as they easily beat Caledonian at the Smith Road Oval on Saturday. He also plays for By Rite.
Cayman’s Stanford 20/20 team plays St Lucia in the regional tournament in Antigua on 25 January. The team will be selected by 1 November and Willis hopes to be one of the lucky 16.
So how realistic are his chances considering the side is packed with seasoned seniors who are looking over their shoulders at the teenage hopefuls pushing to make the breakthrough?
‘I’m very keen to get into the Stanford side and looking to give a 100 per cent effort and hopefully will come up with the goods for the selectors,’ he said. ‘Right now it’s a very tough, tough group of players, so it’s a very challenging time.
‘My chances are not great but I won’t rule myself out of it and will still put up a 100 per cent effort.’
Willis works in the support department at Cayman National Bank and would willingly give it up to be a full-time cricketer. ‘The incentives are there so that I could go back to school and still play cricket. I would be paid for it so what more would I want than that?
‘I’ve always dreamed of being a full-time player but the reality of it was that being on this island and knowing that West Indies selectors don’t really come here meant that the chances of getting noticed would involve going abroad to do so. That kind of ruled it out but Stanford’s given me a new hope and I’m looking forward to the challenge.
‘I’m only 20 and won’t stop trying in the future if I don’t get in this time.’
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