History beckons in Headley Cup cricket final

By Earl Moxam

Munro College, the 159 year-old boarding, situated at Postdam in St. Elizabeth, last won the Headley Cup, symbol of rural school cricket supremacy, in 1974.

In the four decades since then, Jamaican high school cricket has been dominated by another school in the parish - St. Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS).

That dominance was underlined by Keith Wellington, Principal of STETHS, recalling that “after more than 30 years, STETHS has lost only about seven finals in the Headley Cup.”

The Munro community could be understandably intimidated by such an imposing record, ahead of the two teams meeting in this year’s final, at Treasure Beach Sports Park, from March 12-14, but according to Alcia Morgan Bromfield, acting Principal of the school, that’s definitely not the case.

“I couldn’t have been presiding over Munro College at a better time, in terms of our sporting achievements,” she said, revealing that, in her friendly conversations with the STETHS Principal, she had already asserted that Munro will not be cowering in the face of the seemingly long odds.

Orchestrated

Munro’s return to the Headley Cup final after so many years is the product of a carefully orchestrated rebuilding programme that started five years ago, according to Tedroy Bromfield, coach of the team.

That programme, he revealed, has begun to yield significant benefits, with Munro having won the all-island under 14 championship four years ago and the school also having reached the semi-finals of the under 16 tournament two years in succession.

Most of the players who will line up against STETHS in the final at Treasure Beach Sports Park are products of that five-year progression, and according to Coach Bromfield, they are full of confidence.

“I think the guys are more committed, more disciplined; they’ve decided that they want it and they are going to win it this year,” he declared.

That confidence was also reflected in the pre-match comments of Phillip Ebanks, captain of the Munro team, who, while conceding that STETHS has dominated the encounters in the past, was not shy about asserting that “in this final of the Headley Cup, we intend to overcome the challenge and come out victorious!”

Such confidence could be questioned, based on the outcome of the most recent match between the two teams, during the preliminary round of this year’s competition, which STETHS won. It was a very competitive game, however, with STETHS having to fight harder than usual to overcome the 140-odd runs made by Munro. Victory was achieved only after several dropped catches by the Munro boys, who at one point had their opponents struggling at 110/7.

Any notion of a repeat of that tension-filled climax was quickly dismissed, however, by Clive Ledgister, coach of STETHS.

He pointed out that, during that last encounter, STETHS played without two of the team’s best players, who were on duty with the West Indies under 19 team. With both players back in the team and ready for the final, he expects a much less difficult path to the victory podium on this occasion.

“Playing against Munro at Munro is always a challenge, but playing at a neutral venue should be much easier, as well,” he added.

Wellington expressed great pride in his boys reaching another Headley Cup final, and said he was “excited to be meeting Munro.”

It was well known, he said, that much of the young cricketing talent in Jamaica originates in St. Elizabeth, but that many of those students had been gone on to schools in other parishes, in the past. It was therefore quite gratifying, he said, that, along with STETHS, Munro has now managed to “bring some of that talent into this year’s final.”

Symbolic

Result aside, this Headley Cup final is filled with symbolic importance. Tedroy Bromfield, the Munro Coach, is a past student of STETHS, who played on the school’s winning teams during the 1980s. Two years ago, he received assistance at Munro from celebrated National Coach, Junior Bennett, who was his coach at STETHS when he represented the school.

Munro, for its part, claims part-credit for the leadership being provided at STETHS by its Principal, Keith Wellington, he being a Munro old boy.

And if there is any significance to be found in history, that victorious Munro team of 1974 was captained by Milton Clarke of Treasure Beach, the venue for the school’s first appearance in the final, 41 years after his success.

Back then what is now the sports park was an idyllic pasture, the stillness of the day punctuated only by the occasional “moo” from a contented cow.

Come match time on Thursday, expect a much greater mix of sounds – from bat on ball, cheers from rival fans, and the excited shouts of “Howzat!”