Clea Hoyte aiming for West Indies cricket spot

Clea Hoyte, voted as the Most Valuable Player of the 2005 Cavalier’s national women’s cricket competition, is eagerly looking forward to next year’s competitions. The 24-year-old Richland Park resident has her eyes set on maintaining her place on the St.Vincent and the Grenadines team in the first instance.{{more}}

But her goal is to put herself in contention for selection to the West Indies team.

Hoyte was part of the regional training squad to this year’s World Cup in South Africa, but was sidelined because of a shoulder injury.

A multi- talented sportswoman, Hoyte plays basketball, football and netball, but admitted that her entry to cricket was more by accident than design.

“I was never interested in cricket,” Hoyte said.

A former Vice- Captain of the national team, she disclosed that she was spotted while bowling at some guys at the ‘Oval’, the main playing field in her village.

The rest she said just fell into place. In 2000, Hoyte made her debut in the local competition representing a team made up mainly of members of a religious organisation. The following year, Hoyte moved to JG Tigress, where she has become the fulcrum of her team’s batting and bowling.

Currently employed with the Youth Empowerment Service (YES) programme, Hoyte gets an opportunity to impart her knowledge to the youngsters at the Marriaqua Government School.

She has benefitted from the current Unity Labour Party administration’s policy of ensuring that all national players are employed or involved in studies at a tertiary institution.

She was awarded the top accolade on the back of her performance that helped her team JG Tigress capture both the league and knock out titles.

Hoyte copped the best batting average award having scored 61 runs in total, without being dismissed.

Saving her best for the big occasions, Hoyte hit 25 not out in the league final, to guide her team to victory. She repeated this feat, scoring 22, in finals of the Knock-Out with her team staring defeat in the face.

Her efforts with the ball were equally impressive as she proved to be most difficult to get away.

Hoyte grabbed 13 wickets for 76 runs at an average of 5.84.