January 22, 2019. Regional Headquarters, Jamaica. Just three months after their regional title, the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) team have copped another, carving their name in history as winners of the first ever UWI World Universities T20 Tournament. The student players defeated the Oxford Marylebone Cricket Club (Oxford MCCU) in a rousing final that brought out families and cricket fans to the Sir Frank Worrell Cricket Ground at UWI SPEC in St. Augustine on Sunday 20 January 2019.

CCC’s innings started strong with a 57 run partnership between openers Kjorn Ottley and Kyle Corbin. Kjorn Ottley departed with a top score of 36 and later, Yannick Ottley scored 31 off 30 balls. Oxford MCCU’s top bowler, Will Heathfield, took three wickets for 17 runs from three overs.  In reply, Oxford MCCU’s innings got off to a shaky start with Christopher McBride being caught behind by Wicket Keeper Amir Jangoo for no score. Zaman Akhter was their top scorer, making 27 runs off 29 balls. In the end, Oxford MCCU’s chase fell short by 20 runs with Michail Powell’s bowling of three wickets for 17 runs, which earned him “Man of the Match”. 

The inaugural tournament, led by The UWI’s Faculty of Sport, ran from January 10-20 and featured top student cricketers from The UWI itself, a combined colleges team from the US, the Tertiary Sport Association of Trinidad and Tobago (TSATT) along with the CCC and Oxford MCCU teams.

Dr. Akshai Mansingh, Dean of The UWI Faculty of Sport, said “The response to this first tournament has exceeded our expectations. This is just one example of the kind of experience and opportunities the Faculty is focused on creating for its student athletes towards building their skills and exposure. We look forward to continuing this programme and exploring how we can use the model across other sports throughout the University.”

The top five players of the tournament will now go on to participate in pre-tournament camps hosted by the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), gaining exposure and training and creating a direct route for university students to transition into professional cricket.

Speaking on the initiative, Michael Hall, Tournament Operations Director of the CPL, who also serves as Chairman of the UWI Tournament’s Cricket Committee, said: “We are pleased that this opportunity for outstanding performances in the tournament forms part of our sanctioning agreement with The UWI Faculty of Sport, and look forward to working out the details of implementing it ahead of the start of the 2019 Hero CPL.”

In addition to CPL, the tournament was supported by a range of stakeholders – including Cricket West Indies; the Office of the Prime Minister, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Sport and Culture Fund; Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board; Tertiary Sport Association of Trinidad and Tobago (TSATT); Caribbean Lifestyle Communications; Newsday; Flow/Flow Sports; UWItv; the Chalak Mitra Group; Golden Key Real Estate; Marshall Arts Solutions, Angostura Limited and Superb Caterers.

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Notes to the Editor:

Photo caption: Winners of the first ever, UWI World Universities T20 Tournament, the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) team.