By: CUrtis Morton
Ross Powell the son of Ronald Powell, former Leeward Islands off spinning allrounder and Joan Powell, is a young man who knows where his head and his heart are.
He has set himself some really high goals which he has every intention to achieve. His first goal is to be selected to the West Indies under 19 team, which he is confident he will achieve, based on his recent performances and ultimately, he intends to make it into the West Indies senior team.
The Leeward Islands under 19 batsman, who recently returned from participating in the WICB under 19 tournament in Guyana, noted in an interview on Monday that he thinks that he performed creditably in the under 19 tournament.
Powell scored one brilliant century and some other scores in the twenties and thirties during the three day tournament and had one half century as his major score in the one day tournament.
He pointed out however that his returns could have been even better but noted that he was involved in a couple of run outs.
He indicated that the pitches were somewhat slow and sometimes difficult to bat on but was generally pleased with the manner in which he dealt with the rich vein of spin bowling that he had to face, especially from the Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago teams
‘I am a lot better at dealing with pace bowling but I am pretty good at handling spin bowling,’ he said.
As regards the fortunes of his fellow Nevisians in the Leewards under 19 team, Powell stated:
‘Saeed (Williams) is very talented but he did not really get the opportunity to showcase his skills. Kezzie (Kezron Archibald) had some good spells. There was one match when he had three wickets for four runs and Theron (Bussue) got a couple of big wickets as well.’
An article in the Daily Herald of July 24th gave this vivid description of Powell’s century in the under 19 tournament:
“The diminutive left-handed opening batsman hit the ball well through the off side. Quite interestingly, Powell who was the captain of the Leeward Islands U17 team for the regional tournament which was held two weeks ago batted with a level head and a high degree of maturity that easily camouflage his age. He batted for 16 minutes short of six hours. Although he was dropped twice before he reached 50, he was often very comfortable at the crease against both the spinners and the lively fast bowler in Kemo Paul.’
Powell is16 years old, going on 17 and knows that he still has a few years left at the under 19 level and expects that his team mates who also have a few years left will also make a name for themselves in the short term.
He is also looking forward to more Nevisian young players like Philo Wallace, Shelton Forbes and others to make their way into the team next year as well.
He was also quick to point out that he has made some friends during the under 19 tournament. One of them is Tagenarine Chanderpaul, the son of Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
Powell had words of gratitude for his parents.
‘My mother, Joan Powell is always there for me. She makes sure that I get out of bed to run and exercise. My Dad has taught me a lot. I want to thank him. We play a lot of cricket right home here in the yard. I also thank my coaches—Stuart Williams, Carl Tuckett and others who have helped me along the way.’
His mother Joan Powell was smiling as she pointed to the glass windows. ‘We have had to replace a few,’ she said.
By the look of things, Ronald and Joan Powell will have quite some more glass to replace because young Ross Powell will be breaking more than glass in the not too distant future. Some records may well get broken in his journey to stardom.