Presentation’s Bankay delivers under pressure

Presentation College 
cricketer 
Aaron Bankay
Presentation College cricketer Aaron Bankay

NEWSDAY continues to closely follow the action in the 2019 PowerGen Secondary Schools Cricket League premiership 50-over competition. Each week a player will be selected as Newsday’s star of the week and profiled.

There were a number of top performances in the penultimate round, on Tuesday, making it difficult to select this week’s star.

After much deliberation Presentation College, Chaguanas player Aaron Bankay was chosen after a knock of 64 that almost guarantees his team will remain in the premiership division next season.

Opener Bankay, who batted almost the entire Presentation innings, helped steer his team to a six-wicket win over Fatima College.

Newsday spoke with Bankay about his effort.

Name: Aaron Bankay

School: Presentation

College, Chaguanas

Age: 15

Form: Four

Club: Queen’s Park

Cricket Club

Left-handed batsman/

wicketkeeper

Star Performance: 64 runs

Favourite Cricketer: AB

de Villiers (South Africa)

Accomplishments: TT

Under-15, TT Under-17

Newsday: When did you start playing cricket?

Bankay: At seven or eight years old at Harvard Coaching Clinic.

Newsday: Why is AB de Villiers your favourite cricketer?

Bankay: He is a very good batsman/wicketkeeper and he is able to bat under pressure very well in any format of the game – Test cricket, ODI and T20.

Newsday: Did you and the team feel pressure, on Tuesday, knowing a win was important in trying to avoid relegation?

Bankay: When I went out to bat my frame of mind was trying to keep my team up in the premiership and I was trying to bat as many overs as possible. I was hoping to get as much points as possible for the team so we could stay up in the premiership.

Newsday: Do you feel pressure to perform for Presentation being a national youth player?

Bankay: As a national player you have to live up to the standards that people expect from you.

I try to do my best and try not to take on talk from outside such as people saying, ‘He is a national player, he not making runs.’

I try to focus on what I am doing and try to perform for my team.

Newsday: What improvements do you need to make in your game?

Bankay: I think I need to be able to bat longer and rotate the strike a little bit quicker.

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