00:00On Thursday afternoon, these female cricketers were busy putting in the hard yards ahead
00:06of their next assignment on Sunday.
00:09The players represent the North Zone Academy of Cricket, with Brenda Solizano Cricket Academy
00:13being the next opponent at the Brian Lara Recreation Ground in Santa Cruz.
00:17Better known as NZAC, the team is participating in the Trinidad and Tobago Women's Cricket
00:21Association Championship Division for the first time.
00:25Also playing with them is Angel Bishop, who is the daughter of former West Indies pacer
00:28Ian Bishop.
00:30Speaking of past players who represented the men in maroon, the side is captained by all-rounder
00:34Jessica Davis, who is the granddaughter of erstwhile Windies batsman Brian Davis.
00:39Well, firstly, on the field we just try to have as much fun and positivity as possible.
00:45Like Christmas time at the end of the year, after training we have a gathering, talk and
00:49chat and yeah.
00:52And where did it all start for the 17-year-old player?
00:55Well I started with William Convent playing wind ball and then I wanted to do some more
01:00with cricket so I thought maybe trying to go hardball would be best and you know I have
01:04my brother to help me and my dad and all that.
01:07The club is relatively new, therefore team manager Indra Ram Singh Jofor was extremely
01:13proud when NZAC made it to the championship division for the first time in 2025.
01:18We started the academy since 2023, September.
01:24We wanted to start to play last year but we were not ready as yet.
01:29So we are very, very happy to be able to participate this year because we feel our girls are ready
01:35for that kind of movement.
01:38It took a lot of work for the club to get to where it is today.
01:42And it's a team of women who have done their part which sees NZAC playing in the prestigious
01:4630-over tournament.
01:48Well I have been coordinating the academy since 2023 and we have changed coaches in
01:55between.
01:56At this point, our main coach is Miss Cynthia Joseph.
02:00We have an assistant, Dr. Sherelle Betrew-Ramsewak.
02:03So we have two female coaches working with our team.
02:07NZAC won their opening match against Seattle Young Stars in Felicity because the opposition
02:12fielded two unregistered players.
02:15The team manager is grateful for the experience but has warned the others that NZAC will not
02:20be just making up numbers.
02:22We expect our girls to win a few games.
02:25We may not win the competition based on the teams that are participating.
02:34However, we know that we are going to give a good account of ourselves and if we win
02:39a few games, we are playing this year for the experience, next year we are going to
02:46come out to win.
02:47NZAC is the brainchild of the North Zone Cricket Council headed by Chairman Winston Sobers.
02:53Vinod Nawani, Chiefs Export.
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