Both the Cayman Islands senior men’s national football and cricket teams will be without one of their key players for the immediate future.
Cayman 27 has learned Ramon Sealy had surgery to repair both a torn medial collateral ligament (MCL), anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscus, and will be sidelined for the next twelve months. The 28-year-old said the injury occurred during a corporate league football game three weeks ago.
“It is frustrating to be missing these tournaments,” said Sealy. “I feel cricket has a good chance to spring a few upsets in Bermuda at the ICC Americas T20 tournament, and potentially moving onto the next phase. Additionally with the Nations League, I believe we have the potential to top the group which would be a huge step for Cayman football. I do believe we have the talent to overcome my injury and achieve those goals.”
The injury comes at a key time for both the senior national football and cricket programmes.
Cayman’s senior men’s football team are set for six international games in September, while the senior men’s cricket team will begin play in the International Cricket Council (ICC) T20 World Cup Qualifiers in Hamilton, Bermuda starting 18 August.
“Ramon is a big loss to the national team,” said Cricket Head Coach Peter Anderson. “His continued development as national cricket captain has been one the most satisfying things for me personally in my time here in Cayman. Not forgetting his batting, and brilliant fielding skills has really pushed our depth to find replacements to balance the team.”
Anderson says vice captain Alessandro Morris has been named interim captain in Sealy’s absence.
Meanwhile, Cayman’s senior men’s football team will be without it’s starting goaltender for the inaugural CONCACAF Nations League starting 5 September. Playing in ‘C League’ Cayman will host it’s first game 8 September versus Barbados. In total, Cayman will play six games in hopes of topping the group and gaining promotion to ‘B-League’ in the 2020/21 season.
“Unfortunately, Ramon’s injury is a serious one, and we will not only miss his impact as a player but also as a leader within the group,” said Head Coach Ben Pugh. “We are fortunate that we have a couple of really good, younger goalkeepers who will now be given an opportunity over the next few months. We will also be looking for other players to step up in terms of leadership as we will need to appoint a new captain for the upcoming games.”
Pugh says the team will choose a replacement in net from backup goalkeepers Shakur Welcome, Ronaldo McLaughlin, and Albertini Holness.
Here is a schedule of games for the Cayman Islands in the 2019/2020 CONCACAF Nations League
5 Sept: Cayman Islands at US Virgin Islands
8 Sept: Cayman Islands v Barbados
12 Oct:Cayman Islands at Saint Martin
15 Oct: Cayman Islands v Saint Martin
16 Nov: Cayman Islands v US Virgin Islands
19 Nov: Cayman Islands at Barbados
Here is a schedule of games for the Cayman Islands in the 2019 ICC T20 World Cup Americas Qualifiers:
Hamilton, Bermuda
18 August: Cayman v Canada
19 August: Cayman v United States
21 August: Cayman v Bermuda
22 August: Cayman v Canada
24 August: Cayman v United States
25 August: Cayman v Bermuda
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