OJ Pitcher “We Have Extra Incentive To Win”
[Written by Don Burgess]
St. George’s will be counting on their 12th man to help bring home the cup to the East End this year.
Talented Fiqre Crockwell, who was brutally murdered last month, will be remembered as St. George’s players will be wearing black armbands for Cup Match and before the first ball there will be a moment of silence.
St. George’s captain OJ Pitcher said Fiqre’s untimely death has been a rallying point for the Blue and Blue, who have fallen on hard times in recent Cup Match history.
“We have that extra incentive this year with the loss of Fiqre,” OJ said. “I have seen that with my league team. The players are able to dig extra deep. It will play a role in this Cup Match.
“Just as much as Somerset want to win for Janeiro [Tucker, who is retiring from Cup Match this year], we want to win twice as much for Fiqre.
“The guys are really putting in the training for the task that’s at hand. The past four or five weeks I’ve seen that extra passion coming out in the guys.”
He said the St. George’s will honour Fiqre by wearing black armbands.
“We will also have tags made up and will be wearing that to the game both days. We will also have a moment of silence before the game.”
OJ added even though their will six changes to the squad, “We have a more complete team this year and that’s not a knock on the guy’s who didn’t make it. We have guys like Rodney [Trott] back who has been on the big stage many a time.
He added having former captains Lionel Cann and Oronde Bascome back will also help make the team stronger as with Allan Douglas and Justin Pitcher being recalled.
Slideshow of last year’s Cup Match:
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“Lionel brings a lot of experience and he is someone I can turn to and for his batting — his record speaks for itself. When you’re chasing the trophy, when you have a guy like Lionel, when he gets going — as well as Treadwell or Allan Douglas, they can score runs quickly.
“Lionel trained a lot and I was impressed at how much he did train. You can see he is hungry and he wants to go out with a bang.”
This could be Cann’s final Cup Match. He hasn’t decided whether or not it will be his last one, but at 44 he knows his time is drawing to an end.
OJ said, if this is Lionel’s last year, there would be some big shoes to be filled in 2017, and hopefully that will be the only spot St George’s will have to change because “we’ve got the right balance with this team. I feel positive about it.”
He said there were a few players who could have made the squad as each selector was advocating for a player who did not make the squad.
“There were a few that we had to disregard. I was told this was one of the longest meetings we’ve ever had because we got out at 1:15am.”
There were a lot of questions about Oronde’s selection but with his situation there was a valid reason while he wasn’t at the final trial. Originally he was due to come back for it but due to his child being born a few days later than his expected [overseas], he had to change plans and stay a little while longer.”
He said Oronde helps give them another opening batsman to pair with Treadwell Gibbons.
OJ said that is crucial as “You just can’t put anybody in that position.”
As the challengers, St. George’s is going to be on “an out and out attack. We are looking to set attacking fields as we don’t have the trophy. In attacking fields we can give up runs but at the same time we have nothing to lose so we need to put that added pressure on them. We’re going to have guys around the batsmen. We’re going to have two or three slips on plays.”
Last year was his first as Cup Match captain and he said one of the things he learned from 2015 is the need to keep players fresh for that second day. “I don’t want to overdue anyone on the first day. We’re going to chuck and change the bowling to keep guys as fresh as possible so on day two they are still fairly fresh.”
Overall, OJ feels “This is one of the better chances we’ve had in a while and Somerset know we’re hungry. We’ve been through a rough patch and we’ve made a lot of changes but we do have some in form players… and we are extremely confident.”
BLUE AND BLUE ALL DAY!!!
LETS GO ST GEORGE’S!
Looking for a MAJOR UPSET team.
WE Can!!!
WE Will!!!
Let’s have it Captain. We walk into the gates as a team who are ready to play with Warrior minds and Spirit. Encourage each other at all times as we will be doing both days. That Cup will be celebrated in St. George’s. This year is the year all de Silver comes far East.
KYLE HODSOLL is THE MAN for St. GEORGE’S Cup Match team!! Shameful excuse of a reason not to pick him!!
St George’s, go. WIN.WIN.WIN.
Let’s have all of the wickets for Somerset real early!!!
It’s not gonna happen St. George’s!!