Longville Park cop Cream of the Crop T20 trophy

It was jubilation and celebration on Sunday in Longville Park as the community cricket team walked away with the inaugural National Housing Trust's (NHT) Cream of the Crop T20 cricket trophy.

The weekend carnival affair saw the top four NHT schemes which emerged out of the Social Development Commission (SDC) T20 cricket competition heading into a showdown.

The top two teams from Clarendon, Longville, and Bushy Park played the top two from St Catherine, Angels and Claremont respectively, in the semi-finals at the Longville Park Community Centre last Saturday.

Longville took on Claremont in the final the following day, coming out victorious.

Manager for the victorious team, Patrick Mitchell, told the CENTRAL STAR that his team had been in preparation mode since they heard about the competition six weeks ago.

He said making it out of the semi-final stage was harder than he had anticipated and said the final was even more difficult.

"We only made 104 and I thought that it wouldn't have been enough to secure victory for us. But thankfully Romario Edwards bagged five wickets for just 14 runs and that helped in putting us in the driver's seat," said Mitchell. "We were bent on winning the prize as we didn't want a match to be held on our grounds and we didn't come out the victor."

He said he started to play against other cricket clubs in the parish in a bid to get the team well-needed practice.

"It didn't matter if they won or lost, it was about preparation and getting practice. We also ensured that they were ready physically and mentally," said Mitchell, who is also sports coordinator for the community.

PRIZE MONEY

For their victory, the Longville Park cricket team received a trophy and a cash prize of $80,000, while Claremont got a runner-up trophy and $50,000.

The third-place winner Bushy Park also copped $20,000.

With the first-ever staging an overwhelming success, teams are already looking forward to next year's event, which is expected to be opened to more schemes.