GEORGETOWN CRICKET Club’s (GCC) talented left-handed opener Jeetendra Sookdeo is currently plying his trade in neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago, representing Merry Boys Cricket Club, which boasts such players as Barbadian Ryan Hinds, along with Aneil Kanhai, Mario Belcon and Marlon Richards.In fact, it was Richards who last Friday night was named Man-of-the-Match, when he held his nerves along with Samuel Felix (7) to steer Merry Boys past Queen’s Park Cricket Club’s total of 162 for 3, scoring the 16 runs off the final over bowled by West Indies speedster Fidel Edwards, with one ball remaining.

Set 163 to win, Merry Boys reached their total for the loss of seven wickets, with Kanhai contributing 32 (20 balls, 3×4, 1×6), Sookdeo 31 (26 balls, 4×4), Amir Jangoo 28 (27 balls, 3×4) and guest player Royston Crandon of Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club 25 (18 balls, 3×4).
This was after QPCC won the toss and chose to bat first. They scored 162 for 3 off their 20 overs, led by opener Petrock Nicholas 79 (66 balls, 13×4), Darron Cruickshank 39 not out (18 balls, 3×4, 3×6) and fellow all-rounder Akeal Hosein a 21-ball 18.
When Merry Boys batted, Hosein took 2 for 18 with his left-arm spin while his skipper, Trinidad and Tobago all-rounder Kevon Cooper, got 2 for 21, but it was not enough to stop the eventual champions from picking up the silverware at the presentation ceremony which followed, in the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board/National Gas Company-sponsored tournament.
Speaking with Chronicle Sport about his performances to date, Sookdeo, who represented Guyana as an opening batsman in the West Indies Cricket Board’s Regional Under-19 tournament in 2008 alongside Trevon Griffith, said he is enjoying his stint, which is his second in the Twin Island Republic.
“With the Georgetown Cricket Association getting a hard time with clubs and their grounds to host their first division matches, I decided to take up Merry Boys’ offer for the second successive year and come over and play the sport that I love,” said Sookdeo, whom his teammates call Sonny.
And not only is he performing exceedingly well in the shorter form of the game, but he is doing so in the longer version as well. He attributed his slow start to a bout of influenza that attacked him upon his arrival.
When Merry Boys played Preysal, Sookdeo registered scores of 0 and 40 and against Powergen in his second match, he chalked up 17 and 20 but as the ‘flu bug’ deserted him, his form and appetite for scoring runs returned for the third game.
This was played against Esmeralda, the club which Kellon Carmichael represented before moving to deeper waters in England, where he is turning out for Hadleigh and Thundersley Cricket Club in the Essex County Cricket Leagues.
Sookdeo underlined his return to form, by scoring 103 and 63 against Esmeralda which was followed by 21 and 105 against Victoria in his side’s fourth game, as they are now positioned in second place, seven points behind QPCC.
He is expected back in June, where he will be looking to continue his rich vein of form for GCC, who will be contending for the GCA/Ansa McAl Carib Beer T20 cricket competition, where he is looking to score heavily and guide them to the title.

By Calvin Roberts