Published 24 May 2018
Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
Cricket: Development Bank giving women in the Leeward Islands an equal opportunity
Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 24, 2018 (DBSKN) — As the Leeward Islands Women Cricket team prepares for the forthcoming West Indies Women Cricket Championship that will be held in Jamaica next month, Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis (DBSKN) has been commended for the support it continues to offer to cricket.
“Let me thank the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis for their continued support to women’s cricket in the Leeward Islands and also the West Indies,” said Mr Vernon Springer, Director of Cricket Operations for the Leeward Islands Cricket Board. “The importance of the bank participating with us came on board about two years, and the programme has grown from strength to strength.”
Mr Springer made the remarks on Wednesday May 16 when he received from the Marketing Officer at the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis Ms Vernitha Maynard, the bank’s sponsorship cheque of US$5,000.00 for the Leeward Islands Women Cricket team.
“The support from the Development Bank is in the form of assisting with the uniforms and training camp and everything else that comes with preparing their team for a cricket West Indies tournament which will be held in Jamaica,” said Mr Springer.
“This tournament will run from June 7 to June 25 and it will be a two-format tournament where there will be a T-20 phase of the tournament and then there will be a Super-50 phase of the tournament. The Leeward Islands will be competing against their counterparts, the Windward Islands, Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana.”
The Leeward Islands Women Cricket team is currently in Antigua where, according to Mr Springer, they will have two T-20 trial games and three 50 over trial games. A selection panel chaired by Mr Stuart Williams, who is also the assistant coach for the Cricket West Indies Women’s team, will name the squad to travel to Jamaica. St. Kitts has eight players and Nevis has three players at the camp.
The Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis (DBSKN) first came on board in 2016 when it sponsored the Leeward Islands Women Cricket team which competed for the first time in the West Indies Women Cricket Championship that was held in Guyana. A Nevisian, Senaldo Willett, was the vice-captain and is expected to hold the same position this year.
While making the presentation, Ms Vernitha Maynard said that the Development Bank was proud of the giant strides women in the Leeward Islands and in particular the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis are making in the game of cricket which had largely been dominated by men.
“At the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis we believe in giving equal opportunity to all and so far we are pleased that our contribution has been making a sustained difference in the field of cricket,” said Ms Maynard. “Women have made great contributions in other spheres of development and the Board of Directors and Management at the Development Bank would have given them support in every step of the way, and cricket should be no exception.”
The Marketing Officer noted that the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis has been supporting the game of cricket over the years as it saw the positive effect it had on the youth who engaged in the game, as many of them have risen and are playing cricket at higher levels. She concluded by saying: “Our boys have done it, and now it is time for our girls to be given the chance to do it. We are with them all the way.”
ENDS
Pix captions:
1: Ms Vernitha Maynard presents Development Bank’s sponsorship cheque to Mr Vernon Springer.
2: Flashback: The first Leeward Islands Women Cricket team pictured at the RLB International Airport in 2016 on its way to Guyana.
