Sport, regardless of the level it is played at, often provides some of life’s toughest lessons through crushing defeat. The young U14 cricket team from East Mucurapo Secondary came face to face with this harsh reality when they squared off against their neighbours from across the road, Fatima College, on February 23, 2015. Having convincingly beaten Tranquillity Secondary the previous week, the “Compre” boys, though new to the game and with all of one match’s worth of experience under their belts, were riding high on the elation of that debut victory. Fate and an extremely talented Fatima unit were about to bring them crashing back to Earth.
Calling correctly at the toss, Fatima’s skipper Michael Ambard had no hesitation in taking first knock. His team had been playing together for a couple of seasons and he knew that they all harboured dreams of eventually representing their school in the Premiership division of the PowerGen SSCL. To graduate to that level, however, they needed to show that not only were they talented and could play well but that they could be as clinical and ruthless as possible. His batting line up did not disappoint, as they piled up a massive 345-5 off just 35 overs, with Ambard himself making a breath-taking 168 not out. The gauntlet had been well and truly thrown down to the bowling unit but not even Ambard could have expected how well they would respond.
Opening the bowling from the school end was young pacer Jesse Butts. He found the Mucurapo batsmen in a defensive mood and a scampered 2 was the only scoring shot in the over. Whilst the onlookers were expecting another pace barrage from the pavilion end, the skipper tossed the ball to his young leg-spinner Josh Dookie. The slender, slightly-built young man had already displayed a level of proficiency with his bowling that belied his tender age of 14. He set to work immediately, delivering 2 perfectly pitched leg-breaks, and then firing in the slightly wider one that caught the batsman reaching for it and dismissed stumped to secure the opening wicket for his team. Josh would not let up, bowling 6 overs unchanged from his end of the pitch. His 2nd over was a wicket-maiden with the final delivery, a quicker straight ball, trapping the batsman plumb in front the stumps. The 3rd and 4th overs of his spell conceded only 3 runs between them but got no more wickets as the Compre boys dug in and defended for dear life. His bowling partner Butts would snare the next 2 scalps and a slick piece of fielding would secure an excellent run out so that, by the end of the 9th over, Compre had limped to 20-5.
Josh’s 5th over was the stuff that all leg-spin bowlers dream of. By now he had settled into a beautiful rhythm and was spinning the ball a veritable country mile. The over would unfold as follows – ball 1, a searing leg-break, no run; ball 2, a completely misread googly, batsman caught at mid-on; ball 3, another prodigiously spinning leg-break, no run; ball 4, quick, flat and straight, popped up for a simple return catch; ball 5, another leg-break, delivered slower in line with the leg-stump and completely missed by the batsman for a plumb LBW verdict; ball 6, a peach of a googly that must have missed the stump by a literal coat of paint. Whilst he was denied a hattrick, he had secured a triple wicket-maiden and effectively ended the Mucurapo resistance.
His 6th and final over saw him claim wicket number 6 with a sweetly-flighted delivery that drew the batsman down the wicket and beat him comprehensively to give wicketkeeper Charles his second stumping of the innings. Josh’s figures on the day read 6 overs, 2 maidens, 6 for 10. So dominant were Josh and Jesse that between them they claimed 9 wickets in just 73 deliveries to dismiss Mucurapo for 34 with the 1st ball of Jesse’s 7th over. As mesmerizing and dazzling as Josh’s bowling was for the batsmen, it was a truly beautiful sight to behold for those looking on, even getting the Mucurapo coaches to sing his praises. Skipper Ambard had presided over a dominant display and his team had proven beyond any doubts that the future of Fatima’s cricket lay in their capable hands. Few would dare question that after Josh’s spell-binding spin master class.
Josh had already been noticed as a fast-rising talent and to witness such a performance first hand was truly enjoyable. His command of flight, variation, and spin was beyond impressive for one still so early in his cricketing career. The fact that he would go on to be a major part of Fatima’s excellent track record in the Premiership Division of the SSCL was simply inevitable and just rewards for all his hard work.