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FOR another year, Newsday will be highlighting the outstanding performances in the PowerGen Secondary Schools Cricket League (SSCL) premiership division. Every week, a player in the 50-over competition will be selected and profiled.
The league bowled off on Tuesday with five round-one matches. There were many brilliant performances by the cricketers, but in the end, Jaden Joseph of Presentation College, Chaguanas was chosen as the SSCL Star of the Week as he cracked the first century of the season.
Joseph’s innings of 108 guided Presentation to an imposing 278/7 in 50 overs against Hillview College at Honeymoon Park, Tunapuna.
Presentation wrapped up an emphatic 172-run win as Hillview were dismissed for 106 in 35.2 overs.
Newsday spoke to Joseph about his prolific start to the season.
Name: Jaden Joseph
Age: 16
Form: Five
Batting Style: Right-handed batsman
Bowling Style: Left-arm orthodox bowler
Favourite Cricketers: Brendon
McCullum, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein
Star Performance: 108 runs
Newsday: How does it feel to start the season with a century?
[caption id="attachment_1057828" align="alignnone" width="576"] Presentation College Chaguanas cricketer Jaden Joseph. - Secondary Schools Cricket League[/caption]
Joseph: First of all, I’d like to thank the Almighty. It’s a great feeling to have a positive start to the season with a century, hoping for many more.
Newsday: Luke Ali (56) and Aneal Rooplal (4/14) had strong showings. How crucial were their performances for Presentation?
Joseph: Ali played an important role in the middle, by building a 150-plus partnership together (with me) while contributing with a magnificent half-century.
Aneal’s contribution to our victory was also very important with him taking a brilliant 4/14.
Newsday: What are some of the areas you worked on before the season began to improve your game?
Joseph: I have been working on a lot of shot selection with certain balls, also working on different batting aspects of the game, but most importantly keeping fit and focused.
Newsday: Would you rate the 108 as your best inning? Was it your first century?
Joseph: I would rate my 108 as one of the better innings in my cricket career so far. No, it wasn’t my first century, but I will say it’s the most patient and focused century thus far.
Newsday: What makes Pres a strong team this year?
[caption id="attachment_1057826" align="alignnone" width="950"] -[/caption]
Joseph: I think the strength of Pres this year is that we got a lot of depth in our team. It is just to execute on the given day.
Newsday: I know Pres had a comfortable win, but what areas can the team improve on for the rest of the season?
Joseph: I think basically we got to work on building bigger partnerships, try to have less extras in our bowling and work on our fielding.
Newsday: Pres will play Fatima in round two next week. They have a few quality players like Joshua Davis, Zachary Siewah and Niall Maingot. What do you think of Presentation’s chances?
Joseph: Playing Fatima, one of the harder teams next week is going to be a tough one knowing they have the quality and also some national (youth) players. I still think our chances are good once we keep focused on the game and execute our plans correctly.
 
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