Brooks praises women’s cricket team for historic Bolivarian Games gold

In a story of resilience, Jamaica’s women’s cricket team etched its name in history books, overcoming a mountain of adversity to clinch the inaugural cricket title at the Bolivarian Games with a commanding six-wicket victory over Trinidad and Tobago in the final in Lima, Peru, recently.

The scorecard tells a tale of dominance: Jamaica’s bowlers strangled Trinidad and Tobago, restricting them to a meagre 94 for eight before clinically chasing down the target with 15 balls to spare. But the numbers barely scratch the surface of a campaign forged in hardship, a fact laid bare by an emotional head coach, Shane Brooks.

“This means a lot to us,” Brooks said, reflecting on a victory that seemed improbable just days prior. “We had so many challenges.”

The hurdles began before a ball was bowled. The squad arrived in Peru at 3:30 a.m. and was thrust straight into a 9:30 a.m. match against Trinidad and Tobago, with no time to acclimatise to the cold or the matting wickets. Unsurprisingly, they lost that game and again to the same opponents in the preliminaries.

“Trinidad were there a few days before, so they got acclimatised and had been training. We had only two sessions before leaving Jamaica. I believe that is not sufficient at this level,” Brooks said.

Worse was to come on the eve of the final. The squad was stripped of its captain and its number six batter, both forced to return home due to ticketing issues. This left a threadbare squad reliant on youth.

“To pull out a win with eight ladies that are under 20, three of them making their debut, it means a lot,” Brooks stated.

For Brooks, the triumph was a testament to character. He singled out captain Rashada Williams, who led the team admirably with both bat and gloves behind the wicket.

Brooks, a former Kingston College player, said veteran Chedean Nation also stood tall with her performances with both bat and ball.

Nation took two wickets and hit an unbeaten 35 runs to steer Jamaica to the title.

“We are a group of winners. These girls fought like their lives depended on it,” said Brooks.

He revealed that the team drew motivation from a desire to bring positivity to a nation recently battered by Hurricane Melissa, with many players hailing from severely affected parishes like Hanover and Westmoreland.

“We thought we would try and use it as a motivation to give the country something positive to celebrate. It was heart-wrenching and a very touching moment. We are happy that we were able to come home victorious,” Brooks said.