The Belize National Cricket Association (BNCA) wishes to inform the general public that the Belize National Team won the Central American Championships (CAC) 2019 tournament in Mexico City, April 25-28. Team Belize defeated Mexico, Panama and Costa Rica, and lost to Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) during the regular games. In the heated and exciting championship game, Team Belize defeated MCC. MCC batted 137 runs, and Team Belize scored 138 in the nineteenth over.

The games against the Central American countries and the championship game were official T20Is matches. That means that the games are recognized by the International Council for Cricket (ICC), and the stats on them are available online.

The Belize National Team comprised of the following players: Kenton Young (batter/wicket keeper), Aaron Muslar (batter/all-arounder), Herbert Banner (bowler/batter), Garrett Joseph (all-arounder), George Hyde (bowler), Glenroy Reynolds (bowler), Aaron Arnold (fielder/batter), Bernan Stephenson (batter), Ian Broaster (batter), Andrew Banner, Jr. (batter/bowler), Glenford Banner (batter), Travis Stephenson (bowler), Keenan Flowers (batter/bowler), Kenroy Reynolds, Jr. (bowler), and Garrett Banner, Jr. (all-arounder).

The team was managed by the President of the Association, Dr. Roy Young, and coached by Conway Young. The captain was Kenton Young, and the vice-captain was Herbert Banner.

Four of our players got individual awards. Three got Man-of-the Match awards as follows: Bernan Stephenson for the game against Mexico; Glenford Banner for the game against Panama; and Andrew Banner, Jr. for the games against Costa Rica and MCC (England).

Garrett Banner, Jr. was awarded for the "Best Catch" in the championship game against MCC (England). Garrett was also recognized with a gift from the Costa Rica team for his performance in the game against Costa Rica and being the youngest player in the tournament (17 years). In the championship game, he bowled four overs and got two wickets that were bowled and caught.

Team Belize had 4 players (Andrew Banner, Jr., Bernan Stephenson, Glenford Banner and Aaron Muslar) in the top 10 for most runs scored, and 3 players (Aaron Muslar, Kenroy Reynolds and Herbert Banner) in the top 10 for most wickets, with Aaron Muslar taking 13 wickets (most in the tournament).

The President of the BNCA expresses his greatest satisfaction with the outstanding performance and effort of all the players. The ICC umpires and teams complimented our team for its youthfulness and motivation to win. The average age of the squad was 24 years. Most of the players networked with players from other teams and exchanged gifts.

Belize cricket's next goal is to compete against South American champions to further elevate our international ranking. To do this, the Association will be working with primary and secondary school children to further expose them to the game, and have under 15 and under 19 competitions. It will also be training coaches and umpires.

One of the Association's next effort will be to develop the National Women's Team. Our women's team was invited to participate in the CAC 2019, but it was not ready for this level of competition. However, Mexico Women's Team is coming to Belize in August to play friendly matches. The team is also expected to play next year in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Marylebone Cricket Club (the MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St. John's Wood, London, England. The MCC first visited Belize in the 1960's, at which time they built a cricket pitch and developed the MCC Cricket Ground in Belize City, which adopted the club's name. The MCC is internationally recognized for its development of cricket, and holds the copyright for the Laws of Cricket.

Through this medium, the Belize National Cricket Association wants to thank all the supporters and sponsors for helping to bring this victory for Belize.