WOLMER’S Boys’ will test the might of perennial schoolboy cricket kingpins St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) in today’s championship match of the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) Twenty20 (T20) competition.

The encounter, which is to be played under lights at Sabina Park in Kingston, is scheduled to start at 5:00 pm.

Before that, losing semi-finalists Excelsior High and Manchester High are to contest the third-place play-off at 1:00 pm.

ISSA Vice-President Colleen Montague said both matches will be televised live on TVJ Sports Network.

STETHS, the winners of the 2022 rural area Grace Headley Cup, reached the final following their victory over this season’s urban Grace Shield champions Excelsior by six wickets, after making 154-4 in reply to 150-5 in the semi-final at STETHS Sports Complex in Santa Cruz two weeks ago.

In the opening match of the double-header at the venue, Wolmer’s Boys’ also had a six-wicket victory, cruising to 96-4 in response to Manchester’s 95 all out.

Clive Ledgister, the head coach of STETHS, embraced the “favourites” tag but noted that the compact nature of T20 cricket could benefit less-fancied Wolmer’s.

“In a T20 game you don’t even know what to expect because it’s a game in which one player can turn up and just destroy you. Wolmer’s might be the weaker team on paper, but it doesn’t mean they will roll over and play dead. I’m expecting them to play hard cricket, and one or two players can just take the game away from you — so we have to be mindful of that,” he told the Jamaica Observer on Tuesday.

“Whenever STETHS are playing in a final there is always the expectation STETHS will win. We know we are the team under pressure at all times so we are focused on the job at hand.We are pretty confident and excited about, especially the fact they will get the opportunity to play under lights,” Ledgister added.

Wolmer’s Coach Jerraine Williams was cautiously optimistic when he spoke to the Observer on the eve of the match.

“Traditionally, we know STETHS always have good quality but I must say my boys have been doing well this season. And, it’s a T20 game, plus we know cricket is a game of great uncertainty,” he said.

He said his team has concentrated squarely on T20 cricket since the defeat to Excelsior in the Grace Shield final late last month.

“We’ve been training in T20 mode since we lost the Grace Shield final so I think the boys are in good spirits and ready to go tomorrow [this] evening. I think once my boys come and put the right foot forward I think our chances are as good as anybody else’s,” Williams opined.

The 2022 schoolboy T20 cricket competition is sponsored by First Global Bank, GK Insurance and Grace Foods.

— Sanjay Myers