St. Ignatius and East End secure primary school cricket titles

Friday, May 31 at the Smith Road Oval will be a day to remember for the young cricketers of St. Ignatius Catholic and East End Primary Schools as the two schools secured the coveted 2024 Inter-Primary School Cricket girls’ and boys’ championships respectively.

Sporting undefeated records going into the playoffs, both schools looked to end their seasons unbeaten and with a championship.

After seeing off Prospect Primary in the semi-finals, the young ladies from St. Ignatius Catholic faced their private school rivals Cayman Prep A, who, the week before, defeated East End Primary on their way to the final. Opening the batting, Cayman Prep A scored 44 runs in the eight allotted overs losing three wickets in the process. St. Ignatius’ response was unmerciful as their opening pair smashed the winning 46 runs on their way to securing the title.

In the girls third-place game, East End Primary out-scored Prospect Primary 50 runs to 46 runs to end their season with only one loss, which, unfortunately, came in the semi-finals.

If ever someone wanted to document the passion and excitement that is inter-primary sports, the boy’s final was the perfect anecdote. Two undefeated schools – Zone B Winners St. Ignatius Catholic and Zone A Winners East End Primary School – both determined to leave the Smith Road Oval with the winners trophy in the front seat of their bus.

Opening the batting, St. Ignatius Catholic scored a comfortable 55 runs in 12 overs with the loss of only 3 wickets, dotted with a number of singles, doubles and a few boundaries. East End’s time between the creases was an adventure to say the least. St. Ignatius’ precise bowling and excellent fielding kept the East Enders at bay for most of the game, taking a number of wickets in the top order.

Slowly, the East End bats ‘awoke’ as they clawed their way back in this intriguing and riveting final with the middle and bottom order now shouldering the responsibility for an entire school district. With the final batting pair facing two balls with only one run to win, a quick single secured the title for East End Primary and pandemonium ensued as coaches, parents, players and spectators converged on their young heroes raising them aloft as they celebrated an exhilarating victory.

Dejected, disappointed and teary-eyed, the St. Ignatius Catholic boys showed wonderful sportsmanship as they congratulated their counterparts on the victory.

In the boys third-place game, Prospect Primary defeated Cayman International School 77 runs to 76 runs.

Special thanks to umpires David Bernard, Ronnie Roach and Benjamin Maynard, who officiated the finals and third-place games and to the numerous other umpires who oversaw all the regular season games and playoffs. Special thanks also to Kimberly Kirkconnell from the Department of Education Services and Cherry Whittaker from the Department of Sports, who were on hand to present the CUC-sponsored trophies.

To round of the season, the 2024 Inter-Primary Boys Cricket Rally is scheduled for Friday, June 7 at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex.

The Inter-Primary Cricket Competition is organised and coordinated by the Department of Education Services, the Department of Sports and the Cayman Cricket Association and sponsored by CUC.