Jacobs says UWI T20 could open CPL doors for players

Jan 13, 2020 Sports

Skipper Steven Jacobs is the
leading wicket-taker for his team
as he leads from the front.

The Malteenoes All Stars has reached the Quarterfinals of this years UWI-Unicom T20 tournament at the Sir Frank Worrell Cricket Ground at UWI SPEC in Trinidad and aims to go one step further than DCC, who lost in 2017 final.
Apart from winning the Championship Trophy and the TT$40,000 prize money (approximately Guy $1 Million) Skipper Steven Jacobs feels Malteenoes participation in this tournament has many benefits for the Guyanese players.
“This is good exposure and experience for those players who have not made Guyana or Demerara teams, the GCA season has not yet started so this is excellent match practice for us, while outstanding performances here could open up CPL doors. Gajanand Singh scored heavily for DCC in this tournament and was picked for the Guyana Amazon Warriors so some of the players here are hoping to get CPL contracts,” said the 31-year old Jacobs who has played First-Class cricket for Guyana.
Jacobs, Malteenoes Sports Clubs First Division Captain, explained that this trip was organised by him and Travis Blyden who was in Trinidad and previously played in this tournament for UWI.
Apart from Jacobs, who has played 46 T20s for the Guyana Amazon Warriors, Jamaica Tallawahs in the CPL and for the Vancouver Knights in the Canadian T20 tournament, the team includes Johnathon Foo, the hero of the 2010 Caribbean T20 when Guyana qualified for the Champions League T20 in South Africa and the leading scorer for Guyana in 2019 Super50 in Trinidad.
Trevon Griffith has played for both Guyana and Jamaica in the Regional Four-Day Franchise League and is the teams leading run-scorer with 72 runs from two matches.
“This is a Malteenoes team with a few Guyanese guest players some of whom are playing club cricket in Trinidad so we have a strong team of professional Cricketers. Now that we have qualified for Tuesdays (tomorrows) quarterfinals we are confident we can go all the way,” the former West Indies U-19 Captain added.
“Playing together for the first time we have won our first two games, displayed good skill set in both batting and bowling. We have a Manager and a Coach and conditions are good here despite the rain on Friday night and we aim to get better and become the first Guyana team to bring home the Trophy after DCC ended as runners-up in 2017,” said Jacobs, who is his teams leading wicket-taker with eight scalps for two matches.
Jacobs said the standard of the tournament, which includes players like Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine, Denish Ramdin and Navin Stuart, is fairly high, while the ground at the UWI Campus is in an immaculate condition despite the weather. (Sean Devers)