North Zone U15 duo Maleek Lewis and Dominic Redhead will head to Grenada for the CWI Regional Under-15 Tournament in August. The two players excelled in the recently concluded Scotiabank NextGen Tournament to gain the selectors’ nod.
Maleek captained the North team to the semi-final of this year’s tournament, losing to South-East at Inshan Ali Park in Preysal.
As captain, he led from the front, scoring a brilliant 121 against Tobago at the St. Mary’s Ground, St. Clair. That innings helped secure the semi-final spot for his team.
Dominic was also a consistent campaigner. He bowled with pace and accuracy and was always among the wickets. Coach of the North team Aaron Kurbanali said, “Congrats to both Maleek and Dominic on making the team. Both worked very hard in the lead-up to the tournament and so are justly rewarded. Maleek, as captain, was always willing to learn and really played a captain’s knock when he made his hundred against Tobago and consistently bowled well. Dominic (the gentle giant, as we called him) was consistent throughout the tournament as the opening bowler, as he always picked up early wickets and kept things very economical. He was also handy with the bat in the middle order. Both have a bright future ahead of them once they continue to work hard.”
Family Support
The importance of family support was clearly evident as parents of the U15 team were on hand at every game. Marlon Redhead, father of pacer Dominic Redhead, beamed with pride when asked how he felt about his son’s national selection, “Firstly I would like to congratulate him on his selection and am very gratified that he has been given this opportunity to represent his country in the sport that he is most passionate about, nothing is possible without faith, hard work and believe. I know he would give a good account of himself.”
The parents of Maleek Lewis were also very proud of their son’s achievement.
“What an honor! We are extremely proud of our son Maleek. To represent Trinidad and Tobago has been a dream of his since he was 4 years old. It’s an awesome feeling to see your child achieve their goals, especially when it was backed with hard work, consistency, dedication, and most importantly prayer–the key ingredients we’ve always instilled in him that will lead to success. We are excited to be on this journey with him and we look forward to the tournament in Grenada and the many opportunities that this achievement will bring,” said Maleek’s parents.
The world awaits
On achieving his goal, Maleek said, “Making the National U15 team was undoubtedly one of my greatest achievements, but this didn’t come easy. Hard work, paired with dedication and time, was quite challenging to sustain. Success is sweetest when worked hard for, that’s why when my parents broke the news to me it felt so amazing to hear. Representing my country at a youth level is definitely something to be proud of especially with having my entire career ahead of me. Of course, none of this was possible without prayer and faith in the Almighty – not giving up on my goals due to the pandemic and pressing on it when the going got tough. All in all, I am grateful for the opportunity and look forward to the chapter ahead.”
The manager of the team, John Barkley, also heaped praise on the boys selected as well as the rest of the team. He made special mention of Varisht Ramdeen and Mikaeel Ali, who were also members of the North/South trial game but did not make it to the national team. He indicated that both players have bright futures ahead of them. Barkley said Varisht is an excellent bowler and composed batter, who he thinks was quite unlucky to not have gained the selectors’ nod for a national team pick, given his stats for the competition.
Player Maturity
Barkley said, “It’s great to see when a young player has the maturity to set goals and work hard to achieve those goals. That is exactly what Maleek did this season. From the first training session, he stated he wanted to be on the national team. He knew what was needed and did everything to realise his goal. During the tournament, he scored a brilliant century, took wickets, and captained the team well. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of a successful career. I wish him well at the regional tournament.”
“Dominic has natural ability and has the look and build of a good bowler, he gets good pace and bounce and was always going to succeed in the Interzone competition. I think he has a good cricketing brain and takes training and advice well. Dominic led the North bowling attack and picked up important wickets. He will be an important player for the National team and I wish him well.” said Barkley.
The North Zone Cricket Council continues to provide a pathway for our young cricketers to achieve their goals. We wish continued success to Maleek and Dominic and all the other players of our youth teams.
Trinidad and Tobago Squad
Brendan Boodoo – Captain Yasir Chan Deen – Vice-Captain Darrius Batoosingh Dimitri Ramjattan Christian Lall Zane Maraj Maleek Jamal Lewis Aadi Ramsaran Ashmir Singh Renaldo Fournillier Ganesh Gobin Israel Gonzales Dominic Redhead Scyon Charles
Reserves -:Tyler Ramroop Ethan Ramcharan Qadeer Juman
Manager – Kelvin Mohammed Coach – Brian Browne
