Byam set on playing for Cuba

The next occasion Denis Byam appears in a first class cricket match, it may just be for the Spanish Caribbean country of Cuba.

Byam, a former St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Windwards and Mymms Cricket Club in the English leagues top order batsman, expressed his interest in playing for that country in the second edition of the Stanford 20/20 tournament set for early next year.{{more}}

A final year student at the International School of Sports in Cuba, Byam is one of the leading lights in cricket there.

“I would really like to represent them next year in the 20/20 competition,” Byam told SEARCHLIGHT last Tuesday.

If Cuba accepts the invitation to participate, it will be their debut year. But Byam, 30, said he was no longer interested in representing St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

On his last leg in pursuit of a master’s degree in Physical Education and Physical Rehabilitation, Byam is specializing in Baseball.

He has a vision of using baseball techniques in the area of fielding in cricket.

“In terms of baseball, I want to apply the bio-mechanics of fielding, which has been used extensively by the South Africans and Australians,” Byam stated.

And his input as a player/coach is taking shape as his school triumphed in a cricket tournament that involved teams from England, India and Cuba. And he made his mark being the lone player to score a century.

At present Byam is the coach of an Under-15 unit.

“Cricket in Cuba is on the rise and the interest is growing,” he added.

Back home on vacation, Byam said that the cricket programme is being assisted by the presence of Jamaican descendants in Cuba.

While here Byam will not be idle with the sport as he plans to turn out for his local club Victors One in the RBTT Premier Division of the national cricket competition.