Left arm spinner Raymond Coker, wicket-keeper Jonathan Bundu, all-rounder Michael Tommy and opening batsman Alusine Turay are set to make their senior team debut for Kent against newly promoted Division One side Wanderers Cricket Club in the Mercury T20 Premier League at the Prince of Wales Secondary School ground in Kingtom, Freetown on Sunday 7th January, 2018 at 2pm.
All four were introduced to cricket some six years ago by the Kent coaching team and with their positive attitude to the game, their willingness to listen to advice and their natural talents they were given the opportunity to join the Kent Junior team in 2013.
These are not the first junior players to breakthrough to the Kent senior team and they hope to have many more in years to come.
The Kent junior section was set up in 2013, with the aim of giving opportunity to youngsters to progress into the senior team and to further represent Sierra Leone in international competitions.
Many players have progress through the Kent junior section and some have eventually represented Sierra Leone in U19, Men's senior and Women's senior national teams respectively.
John Bangura who was part of the Kent junior section in 2013 to 2014 has progress to represent Sierra Leone in ICC-Africa U-19 World Cup Qualifier in 2016 and in April 2017 he made his senior debut for Sierra Leone. Also Ann Marie Kamara and Fatu Pessima both Captain and Vice-Captain of the Kent Women's team were part of the Sierra Leone Women's National team that won the inaugural North-West Africa Women's Championship hosted in Banjul, The Gambia in 2015.
Commenting on the transition into senior cricket, Emmanuel Pessima, Chief Executive Officer, Kent Cricket Club said: "we are excited and this is a proud moment for our junior section and our grassroots coaching team. It’s a testament to the hard work and commitment put in by our volunteer coaches".
Full squad to play against Wanderers Cricket Club:
1. James Bundu -Captain
2. Michael Tommy
3. Alusine Turay
4. Ibrahim S Kamara
5. Idrissa Bah
6. Kaiwandi Pessima
7. Nabeel Shahzad
8. Richard Tengbeh
9. George Sesay
10. Jonathan Bundu - Wicket Keeper
11. Mohamed Lamin Kamara
12. Raymond Coker