Scotiabank Kiddy Cricketers to Light Up Warner Park on 4th ODI between West Indies and New Zealand

Basseterre, St. Kitts…July 13 2012 — As West Indies and New Zealand continue their ding dong battle in the 2012 Digicel International One Day series, Warner Park will come alive as young promising cricket talent from the Scotiabank Kiddy Cricket Programme in St Kitts and Nevis take centre stage for the spectacular lunch time interval displays, organised by the West Indies Cricket Board and Scotiabank.

Eight (80) Kiddy Cricket boys and girls from locally primary schools will take to the field and share the international stage with their favourite West Indies and New Zealand players on Saturday, 14th of July, to display their Batting, Fielding, Catching and Bowling skills which they have learnt in school through the programme.

The featured schools from St Kitts will include the Tucker-Clarke, Violet Petty, Dean Glasford and St Pauls Primary Schools. Meanwhile the schools from the sister isle of Nevis will include St Thomas, St Pauls, VOJN, St James, St Johns, Gingerland, Ivor Walters and Maude Cross primary schools.

The talented Kiddy Cricketers also had the pleasure of welcoming their brand new mascot, Chirpy the Cricket, who made his debut on field with the students to demonstrate his exceptional batting and bowling skills. Chirpy will also be moving through the stands to excite and treat fans to special Scotiabank promotional items, and sharing the excitement of great cricket moments with spectators in the Park.

Chirpy entered the Kiddy Cricket programme after he was submitted as the winning design among submissions sent in by students in the Scotiabank Regional Kiddy Cricket Design a Mascot Competition, which ran throughout the region last year.

Keithly Esdaille, Kiddy Cricket Coach for St Kitts said the students always enjoy their opportunity to be on the field and this is crucial in keeping them motivated as they are groomed to become future players. “The Kiddy Cricketers are so excited about their upcoming display on Saturday. They have been training real hard at their schools and have even been practising their drills at Warner Park. We have seen some talented students in the programme and we know that opportunities like this on the international stage give them real encouragement to be even more committed and work hard at their game.”

“The Kiddy Cricket Programme has been and continues to be available to young Cricketers who aspire to play for their country and the region. The Kiddy Cricketers participating in this year’s Interval Display will definitely draw inspiration from their Caribbean and international cricketing heroes as they share the field with them,” Esdaille added.

Simone Hull, Scotiabank’s Regional Sponsorship Manager said, “Scotiabank is proud of the progress that Kiddy Cricket has made in St Kitts and around the region. We see more young people becoming more seriously engaged and active in the developmental cricket programmes of Kiddy Cricket and we know that once we expose them to this fun and exciting sport which is a huge part of our heritage we will be able to return west Indies Cricket to its rightful prestige.”

“We have seen the success of the programme over the 13 years and as an official sponsor we share in the vision of the WICB to invest firmly in the early development of cricketers at the foundation level. We at Scotiabank feel that a good balance between academics and cricket at this primary level is essential for the development of good cricketers, but more so good corporate citizens of the Caribbean. We are proud to be a part of the programme and support Kiddy Cricket as we head into the future.”