IN 1993 the Malteenoes Sports Club (MSC) inaugurated the first-ever Cricket Academy in the West Indies with the Malteenoes Cricket Academy, which spanned the duration of July/August school vacation with accommodation provided for out-of-town players.
This year’s Academy is scheduled for two weeks from July 23 and MSC president Winston Semple acknowledged the importance of the Academy.
“It’s going to be a lot of hard work with short period for planning but this is important for developing young boys and girls both on and off the field. Funding the programme is the most challenging aspect and we (MSC) are currently seeking sponsorship to fund different areas of the Academy,” said Semple.
In 1992, Michael Welch who was at that time the General Manager of the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company negotiated and secured a grant from Northern Telecom and this enabled the Club to construct the accommodation on the ground floor of the building for housing the proposed Academy.
With the blessings and support of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), the Malteenoes Cricket Academy was launched in July 1993 in recognition of the Club’s motto, “Our Youth, Our Future”.
It was inspired by the fact that cricket in Guyana and the West Indies seemed to be a game where the basic skills, knowledge of the game, confidence and pride were being taken for granted in all quarters, with no apparent prescriptions or blueprints for remedial action.
MSC’s principal intention was to add to the National grid at least 150 young, proud, confident individuals on an annual basis.
The plan was for the GCB to take it over after the first three years but this did not happen, resulting in the Academy being run by the Thomas Lands club up to 2003.
The Academy produced Test players Ramnaresh Sarwan, Ryan Ramdass and Narsingh Deonarine, along with former USA captain Steve Massiah who played two ODIs for the USA while Azeemul Haniff and Ricardo Mohamed played First-Class cricket.
Karran Ganesh, Sauid Drepaul, Ravi Sarwan, Bachan Balram, Colin Murray, Karran Ganesh and Vishal Arjune all played National Youth Cricket.
After a break the Academy was reintroduced in 2016 on a much smaller scale but was again interrupted last year due to the unavalibity of coaches who were occupied with CPL duties.
Registration forms can be had from the Malteenoes Club or call 225-6509 for more information.
