Akeem Dewar - "The stone that the builder refused"
By Basil Waite
Akeem Dewar (left)
Jamaican all-rounder and KC Old Boy, Akeem Dewar (left), collects the Most Valuable Player award from WICB Operations Manager, Derrick Nicholas, at Wednesday's TCL Group West Indies U-19 Cricket Challenge presentation ceremony at Sabina Park.
The stone that the builder refused shall one day become the main corner stone
The above biblical injunction is so true as in the recent case of 17 year old KC lanky all-rounder, Akeem Dewar.
Originally relegated to carrying the towel in Jamaica’s opening three day match against Trinidad & Tobago, the selectors were forced to promote him to the first eleven following a howl of protest from his Kensington club mates on the heels of a humiliating innings defeat by the twin island republic.
Pinky as he is affectionately called in the Rollington Town neighbourhood , has not looked back since and effectively went on to play a leading role in carrying Jamaica to four subsequent victories and the three day title in the 2009 TCL Group WICB U19 Cup.
In his first three games, Dewar’s performance was so impressive that he was awarded the man of the match titles in succession as he led Jamaica to decisive victories against Guyana, the Leeward Islands and Windward Islands in that order. Up to then he had taken 22 wickets with a measly average of 7.30and amassed an unbeaten 225 runs with an immaculate average of 225. In the final and decisive game against Barbados, although the KC 5th former did not cop the man of the match award, he played a crucial role with an aggregate of 5 wickets. He finished the three day segment of the completion with 27 wickets at an average of 11.48.
Dewar’s Statistics:
Batting
Match inns n.o. HS 100 50 total av
4 4 3 118 1 1 241 241
Bowling
Match inns. av O M R W 5w 10w b/b
4 8 11.48 174 58 310 27 1 1 7-43
In the limited overs one day segment of the tournament, Dewar continued his impressive performance with the bat and the ball and Jamaica went on to capture both titles. For his distinguished performance, Akeem Dewar was named MVP of the tournament. He was also amongst seven Jamaicans included in a provisional West Indies squad for participation in next year’s Under 19 World Cup in New Zealand.
Akeem Dewar entered the hallowed portals of Kingston College, fresh out of Rollington Town Primary, in the Michaelmas term of 2004. He looked on in awe at his more illustrious colleagues such as Jamie Trenchfield, Christie Jones and Marvin Darlington ruled the cricket roost at the college. He longed to play for Jamaica and follow in the footsteps where the record has shown that over 50 of his alma mater have represented the country at either the junior and senior level since 1925.
In the earlier years, he never make the cut although he was called to U15 trials. However it wasn’t until 2009 that the selector took notice, when in his second year in the Grace Shield competition area and alongside his team mates such as Ricardo Bartley and Hussein McKenzie, KC qualified for the quarter finals. Dewar made a century and captured 64 wickets to be the leading Urban wicket taker and was grudgingly called to the U19 trials. The rest is history and Dewar is now the talk of the Town over his astounding achievement in the 2009 TCL Group WICB U19 cricket competitions. He fosters ambition to represent Jamaica at the senior level and ultimately the West Indies senior team.
