Usine veterans refuse to go home

Years ago, Usine was a prestigious club in the southern cricket landscape. Now they are a sorry shadow of their once mighty self.

Days of Subash Gupte, Khairool Hosein, Aaron John and Clarence Mapp making the residents proud are now replaced by a handful of “players” who can be described as “ordinary”. The management of the team are struggling to field a strong unit to tackle the opposition and this is reflected in Usine’s last place on the current South Zonal Council Division One cricket standings. The Ste Madeleine said is well-entrenched in the cellar with 34 points with half the season already completed.

The struggling team cricketers are 18 points shy of the seventh place Vijay Sports and are now doomed to relegation, unless they can revive their ageing cadre. There are some promising youngsters around but they are lost in a crowd of men in their late 30s and 40s  who refuse to “go home”. While these veterans fulfil their selfish desires, the villagers wait and wait for something to cheer about. Leading the standings are Petrotrin with a whopping 78 points. They are closely followed by Hermitage Youth Organisation on 75 and Progressive on 69. Evergreen Cricket Club are in charge of Division Two with 84 points from four matches. Keen on their heels are Piparo United with 81 points followed by Paragon of Debe. In the cellar position are OJ’s with 38 points. 

STANDINGS
AFTER 4 ROUNDS
DIVISION I
Team P W L D Pts
Petrotrin 4 2 1 1 78
HYO 4 2 1 1 75
Progressive 4 1 1 2 69
Ben Lomond 4 1 0 2 66
Young Lions 4 1 1 2 57
Diamond 4 1 2 0 54
Vijay 4 1 1 2 52
Usine 4 0 2 2 34
DIVISION II
Team P W L D Pts
Evergreen 4 2 0 2 84
Piparo 4 2 0 2 81
Paragon 4 1 1 2 62
Union Hall 4 0 1 3 60
MYO 4 1 0 3 52
Woodland 4 1 2 1 51
X-Men 4 0 1 3 40
OJ 4 0 2 2 38