Bonner set for first-class debut
FORMER West Indies and national youth player Nkrumah Bonner is set to make his regional first-class debut in Jamaica’s forthcoming match against the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC).
Bonner, 21, has been drafted into the senior team by the selectors following the departure of Wavell Hinds and Brendan Nash — both off with the West Indies team currently in Australia.
He’s among the 13-man squad that will depart today for Guyana, where Jamaica will play their first ever day/night first-class game starting Friday.
And from all indications, the former Dinthill Technical standout is set to take one of the two vacant middle-order spots in the absence of Hinds and Nash.
“We have lost some key players in Wavell Hinds and Brendan Nash who have been a stabilising force in the middle. In terms of the batting yes, it will be difficult to get players come in and play the role of a Hinds and Nash.
“But I think in (Nkrumah) Bonner… who is a promising youngster, we just hope he comes in and hold his nerve and play some good consistent cricket,” coach Junior Bennett told the Observer after Sunday’s final training session on home soil at Chedwin Park.
An attractive right-handed batsman and slow bowler, Bonner has been a fringe player in the national set up after graduating from the youth system. He is an influential player for his second division club St Catherine CA and has won consecutive national awards for best all-rounder as well as top wicket-taker.
Ironically, Bonner was recently called to the CCC team, but failed to make the starting 11 against Guyana.
He now turns his attention against them, as Jamaica go in search of their fourth straight win in defence of the regional crown.
Asked about Bonner’s chances of making the final 11, Bennett was diplomatic in his response. “Anything is possible. We just have to go down there see what the conditions look like. He (Bonner) has been doing well so far in training so we just hope that it stays that way.”
Bonner represented the West Indies during the 2008 ICC Under-19 World Cup and in a team including Adrian Barath and Daren Bravo.
