Manchester High ecstatic after Headley Cup triumph
MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Manchester High Head Coach Barry Barnes did not hide his emotions after watching his team beat neighbours May Day High by 140 runs to lift the ISSA/GRACE Headley Cup on Friday.
Chasing a hugely challenging 291 runs for victory, May Day were bowled out for 150 in their second innings.
Manchester’s dominant triumph was completed shortly after lunch on the third and final day of the rural area cricket final, contested this year between the two Mandevillebased rivals.
Scores: Manchester 219 (58.2 ovs) & 189 (52.1 ovs); May Day 118 (33.4 ovs) & 150 (62.4 ovs).
Nashane Meade top-scored for May Day with 42 against Manchester High pacer Jahdae Moore, who took 4-15.
Manchester High’s Rhevon Morgan, bowling pace, took eight contest in the match, including 5-17 in the first innings, and also contributed scores of 40 and 20, to claim the player of the match award.
It was a back-to-back disappointment in a final for May Day players and staff after St Elizabeth Technical got the better of them last season.
The dejection was also reflected in the muted response of the usually festive May Day supporters, who at times over the three days outdid the home fans’ noise and energy.
The win gave Manchester High — who last won in 2019 — their third-ever Headley Cup title, having long lived in the shadow of perennial schoolboy cricket kingpins St Elizabeth Technical.
Barnes said his players had promised they would rebound after twice losing — to May Day and to St Elizabeth Technical — earlier this season.
“The boys said to me ‘we lost the games but we are going to bounce back’. And later in the tournament you could see the boys were in a different frame of mind, so I’m not surprised we won [convincingly],” he told the Jamaica Observer while wiping tears from his eyes.
“It was a good game. Well done to May Day; I think they gave it a good run. I’m proud as a supporter of Manchester cricket because it shows the talent is here in the parish,” Barnes added.
May Day Head Coach Oral Simpson was distraught even while acknowledging the accomplishment of the school which only started playing competitive cricket in 2017.
“It’s disappointing to lose a final for the second time in a row but... being there for the second time is a great achievement for the school and for the boys, and we will rebuild,” Simpson said.
For some, May Day had entered the final as favourites, given their quality and how dominant they have been this season.
But Simpson conceded Manchester were superior in this encounter.
“I think, over the two and a half days, I think the team that played the more disciplined cricket won. I believe in this final we were just not up to par, so congratulations to Manchester,” he said.
After May Day resumed from their overnight score of 66-3 — still trailing by 225 runs to pull off an improbable win — they progressed to 91 before they lost their first wicket of the day.
Left-hander Javed Williams, who was on 29 overnight, was caught by wicketkeeper Pajay Nelson off the bowling of medium pacer Rhevon Morgan for a patiently compiled 35.
Sanjay Martin fell to Rhevon Morgan for zero, and Devar Murray was sent back by pacer Rasheed Harriott for 18 as May Day slumped into further distress at 125-6.
At the other end, Meade, one of the best age-group pace bowlers in Jamaica, showed he is capable with the bat, stubbornly resisting the Manchester High surge.
Meade was eventually the seventh wicket down, caught by Brian Barnes off the bowling of seamer Jahdae Moore. Meade hit two four in his 42 from 125 deliveries.
His exit signalled the end for May Day though they did enter the lunch break at 150-7.
The final three wickets went promptly on the resumption, leaving Manchester as 2024 rural area cricket champions.