Cricket Hall of Fame, a non-profit organisation based in Hartford, Connecticut, will stage its annual Portland women’s T10 competition today and tomorrow at the Snowfield cricket ground in the parish. The competition is back after a three-year stoppage due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The competition will feature four teams, the Portland Titans, People’s Choice, Swift Rivers All Stars and the Pro’s 44. West Indies seamer Chinelle Henry and the hard-hitting Natasha McLean along with Vanessa Watts, Keneisha Fearon and Jodian Morgan are expected to showcase their talent in the competition.
Kimberley Forbes, public relations officer at the Cricket Hall of Fame, stated the tournament which had its inaugural season back in 2019, was created after a Portland women’s team had to cancel a trip to the United States after they were denied visas by the US Embassy.
“That encouraged them to help start their own league in a bid to help move women’s cricket forward in Jamaica,” Forbes said.
She added that this weekend’s competition will be looking to unearth new talent in women’s cricket in Jamaica, along with exposing some of the already established local players to a wider audience.
“The tournament is just to expose talent right across Portland and to encourage more females to start playing cricket. You have ladies out there, who love the game and want to play, but haven’t gotten a chance because there isn’t enough resources to start, so with this tournament we are looking to get women’s cricket off the ground in Jamaica,” Forbes said.
With the country being starved of continuous women’s cricket year round, Forbes believes this augurs well for the Portland women’s team whose players are expected to feature in the tournament as they will use this as preparation for the upcoming Social Development Commission (SDC) tournament, scheduled for later this year.
“The only women’s cricket tournament that is on in Jamaica is the SDC T10, which will be hosted this year as well so the Portland women’s team will be working with the SDC so that as one tournament is concluded they will start another tournament,” Forbes said.