The North Zone Academy Cricket Team won their first points of their debut season in the Trinidad and Tobago Women’s Cricket Association’s (TTWCA) Championship Division after their opponents Sital Youngstars played unregistered players in their match on Sunday.
Sital Youngstars initially won the game by 79 runs but, upon appeal, the TTWCA ruled that they had played two unregistered players, Nisha Ali and Gigi Rampaul.
“The match has been deemed a forfeit in favor of North Zone Academy Women,” TTWCA Cricket Competitions Committee Secretary, Devika Jenny Singh, stated.
The TTWCA also awarded the team 12 points—four points for the win and eight bonus points, per the league rules.
The league stated that players must be registered at least five full days prior to the day of the match.
“It has been confirmed that at the time of the match played on Sunday, January 12, 2025, the players Nisha Ali and Gigi Rampaul from Sital Youngstars were unregistered and not qualified to participate,” Singh stated.
“All players from the North Zone Academy Cricket Team were verified as duly registered and qualified for play,” she added.
The match was the opening fixture for both teams in the tournament and it was the first-ever match for the fledgling North Zone Academy Cricket Team since its formation in 2023.
Remarkably, the North Zone team contained only one player who had previously played hard-ball cricket.
Sarah Sahadath’s experience showed as she snared 3 for 45 even as Sital Youngstars rang up 163 for 3 in 20 overs in the game, which was played in Felicity.
Natalie Ninah top-scored with 59 not out off 42 balls for Sital Youngstars, with Ali contributing 24 not out in an unbroken fourth-wicket partnership of 103 off only 68 balls.
The North Zone team then had a torrid time with the bat, subsiding to 13 for 5 and then 29 for 6.
However, debutant wicketkeeper-batter Seraiah Kawalsingh spared her team’s blushes with an enterprising 39 off 30 balls with four fours and two sixes.
The North Zone women’s team fell for 84 off 15.2 overs with Shanmatie Nowrang (3/13) and Crystal Hanslal (2/5) doing the damage for Sital Youngstars with the ball.
North Zone team manager Indra Ramsingh-Geoffroy was happy with the team’s performances in their first-ever match.
“What we thought was that the girls played well. We played a team that was made up of a lot of experienced players,” she told the North Zonal Council’s website.
“The team is a mixture of very young girls and older girls. The youngest player was 15. All but one had not played hard-ball cricket before,” Ramsingh-Geoffroy added.
Sahadath, 16, of ASJA Girls’ College Charlieville, is the newest member of the team and brought much-needed experience to the team.
“Sarah Sahadath joined our club about four weeks ago. She is the only one (on the team) that actually played hard-ball cricket before,” Ramsingh-Geoffroy said.
Kawalsingh’s performance gave the team management great joy as the 15-year-old Corpus Christi College student was new to the sport when she joined the North Zone team in 2023.
“When Seraiah joined us in 2023, she knew nothing about hard-ball cricket. She was very, very green. All she had was her interest and commitment. Seraiah never missed a practice session and she has shown a lot of dedication. She has improved a lot. She has changed from then to now,” the team manager said.
Kawalsingh was part of a group of 32 players that commenced training with the newly formed North Zone Academy of Cricket in 2023.
“The North Zone Cricket Council had made a decision to open a North Zone Academy of Cricket. They were actually supposed to start with the boys, however, the girls’ program got off the ground earlier,” Ramsingh-Geoffroy said.
“Quite a few of the girls on the team now started in September (2024). We still have some players from 2023. That cohort is still with the club. The program was funded mostly by NGC (National Gas Company) in 2023 and 2024,” she added.
In the nascent period of team development, the North Zone Cricket Council did a 10-week program in 2023 which taught the girls basic cricketing skills as well as engaging in team building and imparting knowledge on athlete psychology, and food awareness.
The program built on their early work with two more training phases in December 2023 and September 2024.
“The objective of the Academy was to focus on the development towards the preparation of a team to compete in the 2024 competition. But at the end of 2023, the advice from the coaches was that we were not ready. So, we continued with development, and we continued getting new girls,” Ramsingh-Geoffroy said.
“It is for the development of women’s cricket in North Zone because there was no formal coaching program to develop women’s cricket,” she added.
The North Zone women’s team manager was especially pleased with the fan support already coalesced around her team.
“We wanted to thank the family and friends of the girls, their supporters. They have been really fantastic. I wanted to thank them for their support to the girls,” Ramsingh-Geoffroy said.
The North Zone women’s team is back in action on 19 January on home turf when they battle the Brenda Solozano Cricket Academy at the Brian Lara Recreation Ground in Santa Cruz.
The action begins at noon on Sunday.
Summarized scores: Sital Youngstars 163 for 3 in 20.0 overs (Natalie Ninah 59*, Nisha Ali 24*, Samantha Ramgoolam 19; Sarah Sahadath 3/45, Angel Jada Bishop 0/12, Aishani Ramsewak 0/12) vs. North Zone 84 all out in 15.2 overs (Seraiah Kawalsingh 39, Quinel Joseph 6, Sarah Sahadath 4; Shanmatie Mowrang 3/13, Crystal Hanslal 2/5, Gigi Rampal 1/5). The match was deemed a forfeit in favor of North Zone Academy Women.
