NEWS COVERAGE OF THE TERENURE WALNUT TAVERNERS TRIP TO JAMAICA FOR THE WORLD CUP 2007

& THE MATCH AGAINST MELBOURNE C.C.

SPORTS JAMAICA CRICKET COVERAGE

Melbourne to host Irish club sunday.


MELBOURNE CRICKET Club will be hosting the visiting Terenure Taverners Cricket Club of Ireland in a cricket match at the club. 17 Courtney Walsh Drive. (formally Derrymore Road) on sunday at noon.

The Melbourne Invitational XI will be captained by Club President and former Jamaica West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh and will include former Jamaica  and West Indies batting star Lawrence Rowe, former West Indies batsman Maurice Foster, former Jamaica and West Indies offspinner Nehemiah Perry, former Jamaica and West Indies batsman Robert Samuels as well as Carlton Baugh Jnr, Donovan Pagon and Xavier Marshall who have also represented Jamaica and the West Indies.

Also appearing in the match will be former Jamiacan representative Ordelmo Peters, current Jamaica left arm spin bolwers Nikita Miller and Andre Dwyer and West indies Youth rep Andre McCarthy.

The full Squad Courtney Walsh - Captain, Lawrence Rowe, Maurice Foster, Donavan Pagon, Carlton Baugh Jnr, Nikita Miller, Nehemiah Perry, Michael Bernard, Ordelmo Peters, Xavier Marshall, Andre Dwyer, Robert Samuels, Sunny Anil, Andre McCarthy, Yannick Elliot, Damion Reece,  and Damian Jacobs.

By kind Courtesy of Sports Jamaica Cricket coverage  15/03/07



RETURNING TO THEIR JAMAICAN ROOTS

by Paresh Soni

BBC World at the World Cup 2007


In a quiet corner of Kingston in Jamaica is arguably the most successful conveyor belt in cricketing history.
The 115-year-old Melbourne cricket club has produced 13 West Indies cricketers and 27 players who have represented Jamaica.
In fact it is the only such organisation in the world to unearth two men who have taken 200 or more Test wickets. Their names? Michael Holding and Courtney Walsh.
Not bad for a club that depends on the generosity of its members and friends.
" I have been a member for 53 years -as old as I am," Legendary former Windies paceman Holding told BBC sport.
"My father has been a member for many years and when I was born he registered me so this place has been a big part of my life"
"My father was a past President, my mother was a member, my sisters and my brother are now members - we're all  Melbourne people basically"
A key figure in the recent history of this magnificent Jamaican institution has been Ruddy Marzouca, the club captain for 30 years.
Hailing from one of the most affluent families in the country, he erected a house beside the ground, and the club bar is named after him.
In a city which has had it's fair share of drug related problems, Marzouca is committed to taking young boys off the streets and instilling discipline in their lives.
Andre McCarthy, a talented West Indies Under-19 batsman,said: " I've played here for the last 6 years and this club has helped me in many ways. The first thing it helped me to do was become a man, they provide a lot of counselling, telling you right from wrong. It helps your lifestyle being a member here as well as improving your cricket. You have mentors constantly motivating you and my dream is to make it into the senior West Indies team"
If he does that he will follow recent Melbourne CC success stories Marlon Samuels and Carlton Baugh.
But after dominating club cricket in Kingston for years, things have taken a turn for the worse in the new Millenium.
"it's still a pretty good club but the membership has dwindled and we're trying to revive the club and get it back to it's former standing" Holding explained.
Secretary Dennis Gordon added. "The truth is the standard of club cricket in Jamaica has dropped - it was much better in the 70s, 80s and 90s. This is a great club, we won the local competition for 7 years in a row, but we are in a slump and trying to rebuild. It costs a pretty penny to run- 5m Jamaican dollars (around £40.000 ) annually - and it's a real challenge but something we are determined to do is to keep it's rich history alive"
More than that says Holding, clubs like Melbourne need to thrive for the West Indies to re-emerge as a force in world cricket. the problem with our cricket is we need to put the infrastucture and systems in place so the game is readily acceptable to youngsters and we can get them playing from the grassroots right up to the international level. The fact of the matter is we don't have enough young people playing so don't have competition and not enough people are fighting for places"
My visit coincided with a friendly game between the club and Dublin team Terenure College Taverners.
Walsh, now President of the club where he spent his formative years, played alongside Baugh and Marlon Samuels' brother Robert and appears to relish the role of ambassador.
"This is a wonderful club and never in our wildest dreams would we have expected to face some of these players" Terenure coach Philip Whelan said.
" The hospitality and respect that they have shown to a team of nobodies has been tremendous"
When the match finished, Walsh, Holding, and two more Windies legends - Lawrence Rowe and Sir Viv Richards - posed for pictures with the visitors , played dominoes with members  and mingled with the youngsters.
It's a scene you are unlikely to see anywhere else in the world, and is one of the many reasons why it really is an unique place.

Courtesy of BBC Sport and Paresh Soni Kingston Jamaica 17/03/2007