Saturday 11 November will see the start of the Sierra Leone Cricket Association (SLCA) Mercury International sponsored division one Cricket league for 2017/2018 season at the Prince of Wales Secondary School grounds in Kingtom, Freetown.
The league will kick off with a symbolic traditional procession from the Siaka Stevens Stadium to Prince of Wales, thereafter; a ceremonial opening match will be played between the 2009 U19 Squad and the Rest-11 to get a unique and fascinating start to the season.
Five teams will be competing to promote to the ODI Premier League with three slots available. The participating clubs are Wonderers, Old Prince Waleans, Albert Academy, and Murry Town. All teams will be playing a total of four matches.
Having gaining an associate membership status, the Chairman of the Sierra Leone Cricket Association Board of Directors, Beresford Bournes-Coker said they are keen to set high standards in and out of the oval to match up with the international trend.
He adds, “This is a different season; we want to see the rate of competitiveness improve so that when a player is selected for national assignment he will deliver to the best of his ability”.
“We are expecting to see players working hard on the ovals to score more runs, take as many wickets as they can, field well and bowl properly like professionals”.
“These are the factors that will take them to the national team, they should take it seriously and work on it for their own good”, said the passionate Chairman.
Bournes-Coker emphasized that there should be change in the style of play to add more vigor to the game, stating the players should up their playing approach to attract competiveness amongst themselves and give their fans viable output that will help the sport to become enjoyable and friendly in the eyes of the doubters.
The League Coordinator, Cyril Panda, said the division one league is as important as the ODI premier league, so the participating teams should ensure they play well to reach the top.
Panda commented, “This league enables us to solidify the foundation for the premier division. If we have solid participants at the lower level, we will be sure of producing good players for the top tier league, and this will make the game more competitive”.
Meanwhile, the two teams are determined to face off on Saturday regardless of the fact that it is a comic match to set the pace for the league season. Both sides are envisioning registering resounding victory.
Besides the traditional open match, the awards for last season ODI Premier League will be presented to deserving winners, whiles the Champion and Runners up Prizes will as well be distributed to Mid-West and RSLAF Cricket Clubs respectively.
By Magdalene S. Konneh
Friday November 10, 2017.