Dant take lion’s share of awards after dream season

TORONTO, Canada – Primed and ready for their Guyana invasion, Dant were the centre of attraction when the Ontario Softball Cricket League (OSCL) held its glamorous and radiant 19th annual Presentation Dinner and Dance at the Eastown Banquet Hall here, last Saturday night.

In a dream debut season competing in the OSCL, Dant, who are scheduled to participate in the fourth edition of the Guyana Softball Cup this weekend, made an unprecedented clean sweep of all the major titles while their players also took home the lion’s share of the top awards.
Dant’s titles included being crowned West Division regular season champions, winning the newly-introduced T-20 tournament, West Division play-off champions, ruling the roost in the 15-over competition and carting off the prestigious Grand championship.
While Dant excelled it was another bitter-sweet season for East Coast Sports Cub who had to settle for the runners-up spot in the Grand championship for the third consecutive season, losing to Dant in a close final.
They were however crowned East Division winners, turning back the challenge of Caribbean Sensation in another nail-biting finish. East Coast also captured both the T-10 and the 15-over Consolation titles, winning from Cougars and Matrix respectively.
Dant’s success was built mainly on an all-round team effort with former Guyana Under-19 batsman Shaun Deonandan being among the outstanding performers, registering the most runs (353) in the West Division. Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards were won by Farouk Hussain (T-10), Riaz Kadir (West Division playoffs and 15-over final) and Aftab Shamshudeen (Grand championship).

For East Coast, Rakesh Dyal stood out with a hat-trick and also claimed the most wickets (25) in the East Division. Former Guyana Under-19 batsman Krishna Deosarran was one of two MVP awardees, the other being his cousin Surujpaul Deosarran who got the nod in the T-10 and 15-over finals as well as in the Grand championship.
Apart from Dyal, other outstanding awards recipients were Azeem Khan (Matrix), Jairam Ramoutar (Better Hope), Hazari Girdhari (Enmore) Robert Kanhai (Robbies) and Narindra Buchana all of who claimed hat-tricks while Better Hope’s Davendra Ramkissoon had the unique distinction of clobbering six consecutive sixes.
Richard Dias of Better Hope tallied the most runs (386) in the East Division Conference A and Ganesh Mahadeo of Rebels (507 runs) in Conference B. Sheldon Burnett of Cougars had the honour of bagging the most wickets (30) in East Division Conference A while Vijay Prashad of Cricketers Cove topped the West Division with 20 wickets.
Among the centurions were Deonandan (Dant), Anand Nirmal (Rebels) Anil Girdharry (Scarboro Angels), Azam Haniff (Masters), Iman Ghafour (Essequibo), Rishi Ram Samuel (Caribbean Sensation), Rovendra Madholall (Rems) and Surujpaul Deosarran (East Coast).
Special awards were also handed out to Guyana Chronicle Toronto’s representative Frederick Halley, OSCL executives Terry Mathura (vice-president) and Ravendra Madholall (Public Relations Officer, the league’s oldest player Oswald Kanhai, Nyssa Narine, photographer Krisho Singh Narayan, Shine Party Rentals and Fly Jamaica for their “outstanding support and contribution to softball cricket during 2014.
The 2014 Norman Sue Spirit Award, in memory of the late Guyanese businessman, went to East End Coordinator Vish Jadunauth with Sue’s daughter Kim handing over the plaque.
In brief remarks, OSCL president Albert Ramcharran lauded the efforts of his executives during a challenging season and urged players to attend the annual general meeting in order to be part of the decision-making process which includes amending and implementing the rules of the game.
The league showed its appreciation for Oswald Kanhai of Robbies, whose 70th birthday coincided with the league’s ceremony and who is credited with being the oldest participating player. Kanhai was presented with a birthday cake and stuck it with his wife who was in attendance.
Among the many sponsors were Trophy Stall Guyana Inc., Norman Sue Bakery, Mohan Singh of I Saw That On TV & More, Mark Nazir of Sweet Temptation Grill and Bar, Rajin Roopchand, Rem’s Employment Agency, DTE Industries, Hemant Misir of Hollis Wealth Financial Advisor, Twilight Family Restaurant and Bar, Remax All-Star Realty, B&B Video and Photography and Alliance Mortgage Adviser.

(By Frederick Halley)