By Neto Baptiste
Only two teams, in CUB Bethesda Golden Eagles and Empire Nation, remains perfect in the Antigua and Barbuda Cricket Association’s (ABCA) Super 40 Competition after two rounds of matches.
Bethesda dispatched of PIC Liberta Blackhawks on Saturday before keeping their winning record intact with victory over Pigotts Crushers on Sunday.
Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show, former national, Leeward and West Indies spinner Anthony Martin, praised his Bethesda players for the perfect start, adding that he is enjoying his dual role as senior player and mentor.
“As you know, we have a young squad so it’s a good start letting the young guys feel the win because winning is something you want to make a habit so I am just trying my best to get them into that sort of mindset. At the day I am teaching, I am like a coach but I am playing, so I am showing and it is easy for them to learn,” he said.
Empire Nation was in fine form as well, as they enjoyed wins over All Saints Pythons on Saturday and Jennings on Sunday.
Coach of the Empire team and former national player, Ian Title, credited the experience of some veteran players for their good start but also acknowledged the fight put up by Jennings on Sunday, a game Empire won by only two runs.
“That game was a very tough game and I think that, honestly, Jennings is improving a lot and I don’t think anyone should take Jennings for granted. I just think that the little experience that we have in terms of some of our players like Justin Athanaze, Juari Edwards and we have Shane Burton so we have a lot of experienced guys but still young,” the coach said.
Meanwhile, although not coming out of the first weekend with a perfect record after having lost their opening match to Jennings on Saturday, coach of the New Winthorpes Lions Sylvester Joseph, expressed confidence in his team’s batting and their ability to do well as the competition progresses.
“Our batting is consistent as we scored 220-plus the first day for about five or six and yesterday [Sunday] we made 230-plus for the same five or six, so the batting is really our trump card but we had made the adjustment from Saturday. We realised that our bowling and our fielding is not where we want to be. We have more confident in our batting so we decided to change the situation on Sunday,” he said.
New Winthorpes Lions amassed over 200 runs in both matches, reaching 222 for six against Jennings on Saturday before successfully chasing 236 for victory against PIC Liberta Blackhawks on Sunday.