Merkala Herman Abini St. Jean
Two teenage students of the Academic School of Learning and the Northeast Comprehensive School (NECS) have been chosen to represent Dominica in cricket. Seventeen-year-old Abini St. Jean and 15-year-old Merkala Herman would play against the United States at the Windward Islands Female Under 19 cricket championship in four T-20 games.
The competition is billed to hold in St. Vincent and the Grenadines from January 21-30. It was organized by USA Cricket and Cricket West Indies to foster sporting alliances between the two continents.
A student of Academic School of Learning, St. Jean expressed joy at the prospect of representing Dominica at cricket. Although she had been training hard for several weeks under cricket coach Sam Kirnon, St. Jean said she was lucky to make the selection. She thanked her parents, friends, and coach for supporting her to the point of representing the country.
Herman revealed that playing cricket at national competitions has been a life-long aspiration for her. She said she was happy to be selected and that she had been undergoing intense training in case she was called upon for the competition. She said she looked forward to making her family, friends, and nation proud during the competition.
I’m known to be very determined and I will represent my country to the best of my ability. In cricket, my goal is to score as many runs as possible against the opponent and also learn how to cope with winning and losing. Social interaction is a great way to meet new people; so that would be awesome for me and to be acknowledged for my great work I have put into the sport I enjoy playing.
Merkala Herman
While both teenagers appreciated the opportunity to play for their country, they said it was pretty difficult combining academic work with cricket training. They said they also got very short notice of their selection and departure on January 21, but that they would give it their all to justify the confidence reposed in them by the Dominica Cricket Association Academy.
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