MANDEVILLE, Manchester — St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) cricket Captain Anil Braham and Coach Clive Ledgister are in agreement.

They say they never had doubts about claiming the 2022 Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/ Grace Headley Cup even after a dramatic clatter of wickets jangled nerves late in their second-innings chase of 70 runs against Manchester High in Mandeville, on Friday’s last day of their rain-affected three-day final.

“My team has batting all the way down as you saw in the semi-finals when the last pair added 90-odd,” said Braham by way of explanation for his confidence.

In the semi-final against Garvey Maceo High in Santa Cruz, STETHS were reeling at 134-7 in their first innings when strong lower-order batting, including a last-wicket stand of 92 between Kevin Graham and Demar Freeburn, carried them to 288.

Ledgister said a lifetime of experience had taught him to expect anything in cricket but he knew even as pressure mounted in those final minutes, that his team had what was required to overcome adversity.

“I have been around for many, many years. I used to play this game. I have been coaching for quite a number of years and I have been in positions like this before … I know cricket is the game of glorious uncertainty… but I always believe in my players,” said Ledgister.

After Manchester High were dismissed in their second innings for 104, a lead of just 69, STETHS openers Sean Roye (35) and Tyriek Bryan (12) were in total command carrying their team to 49-0 at tea, with victory a seeming certain after the break.

But a battling Manchester High turned the tables. They claimed six wickets for 15 runs as STETHS collapsed from 50 without loss to 65-6 in rising tension and excitement. In the end, lower- to middle-order batters, Odel Samuels, four, and Kevin Graham, five, resisted the intense pressure to carry STETHS over the line.

Manchester High’s experienced left-arm spinner Jaheem Bartley, who has played age-group cricket for Jamaica, and the medium pacer Densil Lee shared the six wickets equally.

Manchester High’s Coach Barry Barnes hailed his players for their heroic effort at the end to secure the all-rural trophy which is named in honour of the legendary Jamaica and West Indies batsman of the 1930s, George Headley.

“I knew we had … problems [having not made enough runs] but I think we gave a good account of ourselves,” said Barnes.

“I wanted [Manchester High] to put pressure on STETHS because I knew there would be nerves…Congratulations to STETHS, I think they played extremely well and they outplayed us…but I am proud of my boys because they gave it a good shot and made this look like a true Headley Cup final,” said Barnes.

Ledgister hailed a 102-run, fourth-wicket partnership between Braham (64) and opener Roye (34) as crucial to the eventual outcome of the game. That partnership ensured STETHS recovered from 12-3 to make 175 in reply to Manchester High’s 140 in their first innings.

“We were under pressure and they (Braham and Roye) dealt well with the pressure,” said Ledgister. “They showed guts, they showed determination”.

He also had praise for fast bowler Govasta Edmond who captured nine wickets in the match. Ledgister said the 18 year-old fast bowler did really well “in patches” though he felt he could have relied more on a “hard length” rather than over using the yorker which, while it worked well at times, also made him too predictable.

For Manchester High, Captain Sanjay Walker was the top scorer in the game with a composed 78, and pacer Rasheed Harriott also impressed with a first-innings’ five-wicket haul.

A disappointing aspect of the 2022 schoolboy cricket season is the scrapping of the traditional all-island final, the Spalding Cup, between the rural winners and the urban champions. That fell victim to the novel coronavirus pandemic which forced a late start to the cricket season.

Schoolboy cricket was called off late in the 2020 season because of the onset of the pandemic in March 2020 and there was no competition in 2021.

ISSA President Keith Wellington explained last week that the start of external exams meant there was no time to schedule the Spalding Cup.

“It’s a three-day game, not like limited overs’ games which allow you to schedule in one day,” explained Wellington, who is also principal of STETHS.

“That’s one reason we had to schedule both the semi-finals and the final of the Grace Headley Cup and Grace Shield over the Easter break,” he added.

Wellington said ISSA was in discussions with the Jamaica Cricket Association to organise an All-Grace Headley Cup vs All Grace Shield game featuring the top rural and urban players as part of preparation for the regional under-19 tournament after external exams close to the end of the school term.

A disappointed Ledgister wondered whether more thinking at the start of the season aimed at a “tighter schedule” may not have made the Spalding Cup possible. “But,” said he, “all in all, they (ISSA) are in charge, they have everything in front of them, they are the best people to make that decision”.

A schools Twenty20 tournament will now resume this Wednesday. STETHS, Manchester High, Holmwood Technical, Garvey Maceo, Vere Technical, Tacky High, Excelsior High and Wolmer’s Boys’ remain in contention for that title.