The
second
Obuasi
Cricket
festival
ended
at
the
KNUST
Obuasi
campus
Cricket
Oval
on
Saturday.
The
six-day
festival
attracted
over
540
children
between
ages
of
eight
and
15
for
both
gender
and
were
trained
in
bowling,
batting,
and
fielding.
The
climax
was
a
mixed
gender
T20
game
between
Larry
Hill
Cricket
Club
and
Van
Etten
Cricket
Club.
Upshots
of
the
festival
included
the
formation
of
the
Obuasi
Cricket
Academy
with
the
motto
‘Let’s
Chase
the
Dream.’
The
event
was
graced
by
the
President
of
Georgia
Women’s
Cricket
Association,
Petal
Samuels.
Speaking
to
guests,
the
President
of
the
newly
formed
Academy,
Rhyda
Ofori
Amanfo,
who
doubles
as
the
captain
of
Ghana’s
senior
women’s
cricket
national
team,
said
series
of
activities
have
been
lined
up
for
the
Obuasi
club
as
well
as
some
other
regions.
“Obuasi
has
produced
many
players
for
the
national
team
since
cricket
begun
with
the
expatriates
many
years
back.
For
the
cricket
festival’s
success
and
the
growing
numbers,
one
can
only
hope
the
‘dream’
is
achieved
by
the
newly
formed
Obuasi
Cricket
Academy.”
On
the
trial
game,
Larry
Hill
CC
score
82/8
with
youngster,
Emmanuella
Abdulai
stunning
veteran
Eric
Manu
(Ajos)
and
Captain
Prince
Obeng
with
her
magical
bowling
to
set
the
pace
for
Van
Etten,
as
she
ended
up
with
figures
(3-0-
14-4).
Senior
national
team
captain,
Samson
Awe
Awiah,
(*52-43)
opened
the
batting
for
Van
Etten
CC
in
the
second
innings,
together
with
captain
Prince
Jula
(5-5)
as
they
achieved
86/3
in
14.1
over
and
won
by
7
wickets.
Emmanuella
walked
home
with
the
Player
of
the
Match
accolade
with
her
4
wickets,
giving
away
14
runs
in
3
overs.
The
match
which
was
played
to
offer
the
children
an
opportunity
to
learn
achieved
the
purpose,
as
commentary
on
the
game
and
incidents
were
explained
throughout
to
the
admiration
of
the
beneficiaries.
Larry
Hill
and
Oscar
Van
Etten
are
expatriates,
and
Project
&
Operations
Managers
at
the
Underground
Mining
Alliance
(UMA)
in
Obuasi,
were
the
main
sponsors
of
the
festival.
Other
sponsors
included
the
Obuasi
Municipal
Assembly,
Ghana
Mine
Workers
Union,
and
Toni-B
Drinking
Water.
The
Obuasi
Cricket
Academy
has
Rhyda
Ofori
Amanfo
as
President,
Janet
Alaare
as
Vice,
Secretary
and
Treasurer
are
Prince
Obeng
Manu
and
Ellen
Otu
Asante,
while
Head
Coach,
Physical
Trainer,
Head
of
scorers
and
Patrons
are
Williams
Kanchoba,
Isaac
Quaye,
Florence
Owusu
Ansah
and
John
Williams,
respectively
BY
TIMES
SPORTS
REPORTER