Defending champion St. Mary defeated St Ann by eight wickets in the opening match of the 32nd Kingston Wharves U15 Cricket Competition which was launched at the Ultimate Cricket Oval in St. Ann on Tuesday.

Under the gaze of Jamaica Cricket Association President Billy Heaven, CEO Courtney Francis, Cricket Operations Manager O’Neil Cruickshank and Corporate Services and Client Experience Manager Simone Murdock, St. Mary won the toss and invited St. Ann to take first strike.

St. Ann started shakily, losing their first wicket for 11 runs. They continued losing wickets at regular intervals and were eventually all out for 77 runs in 39.2 overs.

Only four batsmen got into double figures - Jdain Bailey (18), Deshaun Gayle (14), Oneil Lampard (11) and Brandon Mowatt (10) - against the bowling of Shavaughn Boyd who bagged 6-18. Tedain Noyan backed him up with 2-26.

St. Mary achieved the 78 runs needed for victory for the loss of two wickets in just 13.3 overs as Davantae Miller top-scored with 38 and Tyreece Saunders 22. Jadeek Walker who took 1-10 was the lone wicket taker for St Ann.

Following the match, Cruickshank revealed that there are major changes to this year's competition.

"The most fundamental change that we have made is that we have moved from the limited overs version. We will be playing a one inning one day which means that the youngsters can bat as long as they can bat or as long as their teams wants them to bat or as long as the other team allows them to bat, so there no limit on the number of overs a particular team can face,” he explained.

“We have also allowed each team to use four players who are outside the age criteria. Additionally, we have allowed any female who has not yet reached the age of 19 at the start of the competition to participate."

Cruikshank said that at the conclusion of the tournament, the JCA select 28 youngsters who will begin preparation for the national team.

“It's the first time we will be doing it but we have looked at that cohort of youngsters and we believe that they are going need more time to be ready to compete in our regional tournament," he said.

The 2023 competition will feature 19 teams playing across four zones, with three zones having five teams and one, Zone 1, having four teams. This is so because St. Thomas will sit out this year due to a number of cricket-related challenges.