The Sandals/Costley Construction St Mary T20 Blast is to bowl off on September 18 with a new formation and a number of innovations designed to improve the standard of cricket in the surging parish.

According to St Mary Cricket Association President Ian Spencer, one of the exciting aspects of the competition will be the focus on youth development as the 30 top youth players from the parish’s Under-15, Under-17, and Under-19 squads have been assigned to the teams.

Each team is required to feature at least two schoolboys every match. The schoolboy batsmen, they will have to bat in the top six and the bowlers must deliver a minimum of two overs from the 20.

“We looked at all our young players, assessed their skill sets, and determined which teams they would best fit into,” Spencer noted.

“This will be a key plank in the development of our youngsters who will be playing consistently against senior players which can only serve to improve their craft. They will also be mentored by their more senior counterparts.”

Some of the top youth players are national representatives Marlon Williams, Trevaughn Williams, and Tedain Noyan. Jevaughny Shim, the most valuable player of the recent Kingston Wharves Under-15 competition is to make his senior debut.

The competition will be divided into two sections — divisions 1 and 2, with the top four seeded clubs in the parish taking part in Division 1, while Division 2 will comprise clubs seeded five to seven and a special guest team.

Playing in Division 1 are defending champions and current Social Development Commission (SDC) Twenty20 winners Boscobel Cricket Club, former SDC champion Gayle Cricket Club, Days Mountain CC, and Port Maria CC.

In Division 2 are: Highgate CC, Mango Valley CC, United Stars CC, and Buff Bay United CC from Portland who are the guest team.

All the top parish players, including national representative Alywn Williams, former Jamaica Under-19 player Tyrone Daley, and Jermaine Chisholm will be participating in the tournament.

“We are excited to have Buff Bay participating in our tournament,” said Tournament Director Wain Lynch. “We hope this is the start of a partnership which will be mutually beneficial to both parishes.”

The competition will bowl off with the four Division 2 teams competing on a round-robin basis, and the top two advancing to a knockout round. The Division 1 teams will also participate in a round-robin format, with the two leaders advancing automatically to the semi-finals and third- and fourth-place joining the top two teams from Division 2 in the knockout phase. From there two teams will advance to the semi-finals.

“It’s a brand new ball game,” Spencer emphasised.

“It will foster more competition among the top clubs as well as the lower seeds as well as allowing the lesser seeds a chance to knock off the big guns.”

Spencer hailed Sandals Resorts for partnering for a third-straight year as title sponsor and Costley Construction, which has sponsored parish competitions for the past several years.

“It was tough to get the competition going but thanks to these two partners our talented players will get a chance to finish the year on a high note.”

The St Mary CA head says there are exciting plans for both the parish team and local cricket slated for next year. He doubled down on the call for corporate Jamaica to assist in the development of the sport in a parish that has improved by leaps and bounds.

“We are in need of sponsorship but we are confident that some companies will see our efforts and partner with us,” he said.