LOCAL-BASED players of the Jamaica Tallawahs franchise on Wednesday commenced a high school tour in Kingston where they shared their wealth of experience and offered encouraging words to young, aspiring cricketers.

All-rounder David Bernard Jr, Nkrumah Bonner and wicketkeeper/batsman Horace Miller, along with team manager Andrew Richardson, headlined the tour, which is aimed at spreading the team’s brand ahead of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) Twenty20 tournament set for June 20-July 26.

Grace Shield champions Campion College, St George’s College and Papine High were the selected schools that received a bat signed by members of the winning team of the inaugural season, along with branded T-shirts.

The tour will continue next Thursday in St Catherine and is expected to end in St Elizabeth the following week.

Vishnu Kumar, marketing manager of the Tallawahs and Caribbean Premier League, was delighted with the day’s proceedings.

“It has been fantastic so far; the children are the future, and I know it is great for the players to interact with them. The Jamaica Tallawahs and CPL really want to build a personal connection with the fans and this is a great opportunity for the players to do that.

“It is good to see the kids enjoying it and it is also a fantastic opportunity for all of us as these young players have a great platform to prove themselves, and it’s a

fantastic opportunity to enjoy themselves as well,” Kumar told the Jamaica Observer at Papine High yesterday.

Richardson shared similar sentiments.

“The tour is all about spreading the Tallawahs brand but while doing that the guys have also passed on some knowledge to the younger players which we hope will be put into practice.

“The feedback has been tremendous; all the schools want to be a part of it and I know that some schools might be jealous, but we can’t go to all schools. So we handpicked a few schools that have been doing very well in cricket, and this is sort of a reward for the good work that they have been doing at their level,” he explained.

The younger players were very receptive as they asked various questions about the rudiments of the game and quizzed the stars about their expectations heading into the CPL season.

One such frequent question was how they felt about the team’s chances of reclaiming the title to which Richardson responded: “It is how we play on the day that will determine where we will finish this season.”

The fast-bowler ended by urging the young players to work harder and remain mentally focused.

“Keep that goal in mind if you want to represent the Tallawahs in years to come. Once you put in the work and good performances from school level, you will be recognised and hopefully your potential will bear fruit in the future,” he said.

The Jamaica Tallawahs will start their campaign against champions Barbados on June 23 at Kensington Oval. They will then come to Sabina Park where they will contest three day/night games from July 7-12.