Following a 2 day break (rest day and official day off) Team St Helena returns to action this afternoon (Monday) when they face Seychelles in a very important game for both teams.
The St Helena line-up will be changed for this game, around a number of niggling injuries that have been facing the team. Fast bowler Brendan Leo has been side-lined since Johannesburg with an ankle sprain, whilst we await late fitness tests on several players who should have recovered during the break.
Entering the team today, however, will be Dax Richards our backup wicket-keeper, who will be called into the squad for his batting experience and is likely to bat at number 3.
Veteran player Dax is well known on the cricket scene in St Helena and 10 years ago Captained St Helena in their first ever international tournament in Benoni, South Africa.
He started his cricketing life as a young scorer at the age of 11 growing up around my Dad’s (Terry Crasher) cricket team Jamestown Z. He played his first game when I was 13 for Jamestown B and the following year, formed and captained his own young team from Prince Andrew School taking on the name Jamestown Z.
Dax spent 3 years studying in Wales in the UK, where he played for the University’s 1st team. This is where he learned to play straight, not something he was well known for. It gave him lots of experience in playing on Turf all over Wales and including a season for Swindon Town in 2003.
On returning to St Helena, his old team Jamestown Z was still alive and he was able to scout out and bring through a lot of the young talent including some of the lads who are traveling on this tour.
In speaking about the team visit to Rwanda to compete for this round of qualifiers, Dax said “I’m again honored to be selected as a member of the St Helena squad and looking forward to doing whatever it is I can to help the progress and development of team St Helena at this exciting tournament in Rwanda. Looking forward to being in the middle and feeling bat on the ball”.
He added “as the oldest member of the squad, I hope the tournament will motivate some of our younger generations to sit up and take a keen interest in your development. There are opportunities here that were never available when we were younger. Don’t let an opportunity like this pass you by, you could end up playing cricket as a career. Dream big.”
In cricket Dax’s motto is “work hard and play hard, but always have respect for others around you and the game. Remember it takes a team effort to win a match helped by some good individual performances.”
