Nsromma Cricket Academy based in Accra successfully held a 4-day Inter Academy National Cricket Invitational tournament at the Achimota Cricket Oval C.
The 10th anniversary tournament which saw four Academies from Eastern, Central, Accra and Volta regions, engaged each other on Saturday and Monday (December 17 & 19) for the Girls U-19 Esi Mensimah Memorial championship, the Boys U-19 Vanderpuye-Orgle Memorial and Ras Bingi Memorial championships, and the Boys U-15 Comfort Asamoah memorial Championship, before the Finals on Tuesday.
Beginning from the Boys U-15 championship, Ho Cricket Academy boys saw off a stiff competition from Ninani Hope in the Eugene King Cup after both teams have beaten Good Spirit by 84 runs and 14 runs respectively in the Comfort Asamoah memorial championship.
The Ho Cricket Academy were honored with a trophy after a 9 wickets victory against Ninani in the Eugene King Cup. Ninani scored 29/1 in 5 overs, while Ho scored 30/1 in 3.4 overs.
In the Girls U-19 Championship, Akwamuman Cricket defeated Saka Homes by 28 runs, after 97/6 and 69/10 results in the Esi Mensimah Memorial championship and lost in the Patricia C. Kambarani Cup, to Saka Homes by 23 runs, after 60/3 and 37/1 in 8 overs.
Akwamuman Cricket lifted the trophy, having beaten Awisa Cricket, and Dom-Kuk earlier in the Esi Mensimah Memorial championship while Saka Homes also lifted the Kambarani Cup.
While Sbinc Lions were unstoppable in the Vanderpuye championship beating the likes of Taysec Titans, Nsoroma GPS Leopards and AD & TS College, Awisa Cricket Select XI also lifted the Ras Bingi championship, beating Ho Cricket, Dom-Kuk and Akwamuman Cricket.
Sbinc Lions were however 9 wickets victors over Awisa in the Boys U-19 Professor William Ampofo Cup. A spirited Awisa couldn’t stand the consistency of Sbinc Lions who achieved 57/1 in 6.1 overs, after the former had scored 56/7 in 15 overs.
In a brief interview with Nsromma Cricket Academy Founding Director, SNEB Asamoah told TalksenseSports, they want to give opportunity to others to exhibit their skills in Cricket.
“We celebrated what Nsromma Cricket Academy has been able to do for the last 10 years, which is be the back bone for Ghana Cricket and that is what we set up to do and we have achieved that. Been able to produce the kind of players that Ghana needs and we still have more in the pipe line. Probably, going for the next 10 years, we should be able to dominate the system. It is not just about dominating but about giving opportunities to these young ones to be able to make something out of life, not just with education or with books, but also to be able to know that their talents are useful and can be used in a good way for progress. On a scale of 1-10, I’ll rate the tournament 9, with the 1 being about finances which wasn’t complete but it has been worth it.”
SNEB Asamoah, also advised participating Academies to continue to play cricket and spread it across.
“The testimonies are there, because the kids have been excited, and they preferred cricket to soccer when they were asked to choose between the two, so I think the tournament has been good. I wish that they go and continue and make sure that a year from now, cricket is all over the place. And it is not just because it is a game, but because of the opportunities it will bring to the young ones, to get off the streets, to have something else to do with their lives apart from being on social media all the time.”
For the individual awards, Nana Boakye of Ninani Hope was adjudged the Most Valuable player, after winning the Best bowler with 4 wickets. Kevin Charnotey of Good Spirit and Michael Tsey of Ho Cricket were tied with 50 runs each for the best batter accolade.
For the Girls, Christiana Dorglo Nyameke of Saka Homes won the MVP, also after winning the best bowler accolade with 7 wickets while Emmanuel Kemevor of Sbinc Lions and Abdallah Adam stood out for the Boys U-19 in the Vanderpuye-Orgle Memorial and Ras Bingi Memorial championships respectively.
Nsromma Cricket Academy birthed in July 2012 has nurtured many cricket talents in Ghana and having organized this 10th anniversary tournament, hopes to continue to unearth more talents for the consumption of the national teams.
By: Davis Nii Attuquaye Clottey
