Kelly shows the power of youth

Former Trinidad and Tobago Under-19 all-rounder Richard Kelly has towered above all to capture the Cricketer of the Year award for the champion club in Trinidad and Tobago, Ceramic Trinidad Merry Boys cricket team. The 20-year-old currently studying for his A Level exams at Hillview College was the top cricketer at the club that has many Trinidad and Tobago senior national cricketers on staff. Kelly hails from Orange Grove Road, Trincity and makes the trek to Diego Martin on a daily basis to practise and get himself fit for cricket. “I really love the game of cricket and I have made a lot of sacrifices for it.” When other youths tend to lime and party the hard-working Kelly mixes his studies with training as he strives to get ahead and be a cut above the rest. His father Richard Kelly Snr has taken a keen interest in his son’s development and hence accompanies him to the cricket grounds on a regular basis. Kelly is one of the most talented all-rounders in Trinidad and Tobago and his peers always look to him for help as he is a real team player with a big heart. Earlier in the year he became the first batsman in the domestic leagues to get over 1,000 runs. His runs came from the Carib National League, the PowerGen Secondary Schools League, the Carib Cup and the Carib Sunday league. Richard was very proud of this achievement and told People: “Well when I realised that I had scored over 1,000 runs I was very proud and even more so when I was told that I was the first player for the season to do so.” Kelly ended the season with 1,278 runs, 978 of which were scored for Merry Boys Cricket Club. He also scalped 15 wickets for the Diego Martin outfit to help them to the National League Division I cricket title for the second successive year.

Manager of the team Patrick Rampersad in describing Kelly said: “I am very pleased to have a player like Richard Kelly in my club. He has done us proud and his efforts has helped in a long way in bringing the fans from Patna back into the Diego Martin Recreation ground. He is a special talent and Merry Boys Cricket Club owe this youth a lot of gratitude for his efforts in taking us to the top in local cricket.” Kelly always had a special liking for the “bat and ball” and at an early age played at his home. When he entered primary school his love for the game grew, but it really reached its heights when he was accepted into Presentation College, Chaguanas. The school’s Cricket Powerhouse had him in their first team immediately and he was a star on the central side for a couple of years. Since his move to Hillview he has continued to dominate and scored a smashing 174 runs in the school’s league this past season. In 2003 he scored two centuries with the other being his magnificent 134 against Police in the limited overs tournament. His efforts for Hillview and Merry Boys didn’t go unnoticed and he was called to trials for the senior Trinidad and Tobago cricket team in October. Although he did not make the final team to play in the Red Stripe Bowl limited overs series he still impressed all who saw him play at the National Cricket Centre in Couva. Kelly has since put that disappointment behind him and is already working very hard to get into the Trinidad and Tobago team for the Carib Beer series which will be played from January 9. In the meantime, he is enjoying the fact that he has been named cricketer of the year of Merry Boys and his aim is to repeat this in 2004.