MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Manchester High School face defending champions Wolmer’s Boys’ in the two-day, all-island final of the ISSA /Grace Under-16 cricket competition at the Melbourne Oval in Kingston starting tomorrow (Tuesday, June 4) full of optimism.

“We are confident,” Manchester High’s cricket manager, Patrick Reid, told The Jamaica Observer Central.

Reid explained that Manchester High started the 2019 cricket season believing they would carry all before them in Under-16 cricket having retained most of their players (in that age category) from last season.

He said the school actually over-achieved by beating traditional rural kingpins St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) earlier this year to take the all-rural under-19 ISSA/Grace Headley Cup title, since the bulk of that team was under sixteen.

Manchester High again defeated STETHS two weeks ago — this time to claim the 2019 Under-16 title.

Last year Wolmer’s Boys’ took the all-island Under-16 title — getting the better of Manchester High by virtue of first innings advantage in a drawn game.

But Reid said his squad was undaunted by that memory.

“We have a strong team and we know we will do well,” he said.

— Garfield Myers