‘T&T club cricket is not far from 1st class standard’ – Jacobs

Apr 07, 2010 Sports

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By Sean Devers

Former West Indies under-19 Skipper Steven Jacobs is enjoying a productive debut season in Trinidad domestic cricket and feels the division one league in the twin-Island Republic is not far from First-Class standard.

One of two First-Class players in the Evergreen side (the other is fellow Guyanese Shemroy Barrington), the 21-year-old Jacobs is the leading run scorer in the two-day league competition with 661 runs from seven matches and the Malteenoes all-rounder says he is enjoying his first season in Trinidad.

“The cricket system in Trinidad is very professional and almost every team has overseas players. This helps to develop Trinidad’s cricket and unlike in Guyana all of the West Indies players play in the division one competition,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs, who successfully completed his ‘A’ Levels last year, is one of the few Guyanese cricketers with a sound academic background and hopes to be among those chosen for the West Indies cricket Academy in Barbados.

It is understood that Jacobs is not among the four Guyanese chosen by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) to enter the Academy although Vishaul Singh is the only present Guyanese First-Class player with more subjects than Jacobs. It is understood that Vishaul Singh, his unrelated name sake Gajanand, Verasammy Permaul and West Indies under-19 opener Trevon Griffith are the Guyanese selected for the Academy.

Jacobs, who has one fifty from eight First-Class matches, says since losing his place in the Guyana senior team, he has been working hard on his game and feels that Trinidad’s cricket has made him a more mature person.

“The main reason for playing in Trinidad was to concentrate on improving my batting and lift my confidence by getting lots of runs. I have been able to do so and playing at a high level of club cricket and being paid to play has improved especially my shot selection,” Jacobs informed.

An astute Captain, Jacobs is the last Skipper to lead Guyana to a regional title at any level (2007 U-19 three-day in St Kitts) and already had two big hundreds and three fifties in the Trinidad two-day competition.

His 161 against a Power Gen attack which included Test spinner Dave Mohamed and Trinidad and Tobago bowlers Samuel Badree and Sherwin Ganga, was described by those who saw it as ‘top class’ while his 146 against Wanderers’ Navin Stuart, Chris Barnwell and Esuan Crandon, was also another splendid innings.

The tall right-hander who played at the First-Class level before he represented his country in under-19 cricket scored 0 and 17 in his two 50-over games in Trinidad while his three 20/20 games have produced 26, 26 & 12.

“My next step is to make the Guyana 50-overs team later this year and then get back into the four-day team. I am really focusing on two-innings cricket right now and I am pleased with the way I have been batting recently after I seemed not able to really build an innings towards the end of last year, although I though I was hitting the ball well enough,” Jacobs said.

While his off-spin bowling has improved, Jacobs is a batsman who can bat and not a specialist bowler and late order batsman as he was being used by Guyana before he was dropped.

The Coaches in Trinidad understand his role and Jacobs says while he bowls a lot in the limited overs tournaments, he does not bowl much in the two-day competition although he has a five-wicket haul in the two-day competition.

Jacobs was home for the Easter Weekend and returned to Trinidad on Monday to battle in the 20/20 competition today. He has to play two more two-day games, a few 20/20s and six 50-over matches before he returns to Guyana to vie for national selection.

Jacobs says while it would be good to get into Guyana’s 20/20 team, his main focus is making the 50-over and First-Class teams.

Jacobs said Barrington has done really well in the 20/20 tournament and has scores of 103, 70 and 30 in the three 20/20 matches.

“While Shemroy has not managed really big scores in the two-day competition, he has batted brilliantly in the 20/20 and although I am batting at number three in the order I have not had much overs to bat because of the starts we have been getting,” Jacobs disclosed.

An intelligent brain or talent are not Jacobs’ problems and if as he says playing in Trinidad is helping to develop him as a more responsible and mature person, it should only be a matter of time before he is back in national colours.

While his omission from the list of recommended players for the WICB Academy is strange, it has not affected the former St Joseph and Saint Stanislaus student commitment towards improving his game to eventually realize his dream of playing for the West Indies at the highest level.

 

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