Ja’Shay Trott Identified as True Pioneer of Premier Division
Trott & brother Q’shai Darrell
IslandStats.com
One year on from a landmark debut, the history books of Bermudian cricket are being rewritten following the discovery that Cleveland County’s Ja’Shay Trott preceded Brianna Ray as the first female to feature in the Premier Division.
While the sporting community recently celebrated Somerset’s Brianna Ray for her groundbreaking appearance, a deeper dive into the archives has revealed that the "glass ceiling" was actually shattered a full season earlier.
On May 11th, 2025—almost exactly a year to the day before Ray’s debut—Ja’Shay Trott made her senior top-flight debut for Cleveland County Cricket Club. In a fittingly high-stakes introduction, Trott took the field against Cleveland’s fierce Eastern County rivals, St. David’s Cricket Club, officially becoming the first female cricketer to play at Bermuda's highest level.
Trott’s journey to the Premier Division was no overnight success; she is a quintessential product of the Cleveland County development system. Her pathway through the sport has been exhaustive, beginning in the Under-7s and progressing through every age group in the club’s youth structure.
Having also featured in Junior County cricket, Trott remains a mainstay and a highly valued member of the Cleveland senior squad. Her participation was noted by the Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB) at the time, though the milestone had largely slipped under the radar of the wider public until this week, Trott was also recently crowned Miss CedarBridge Academy 2026
The clarification has been welcomed by the leadership at Harris Bay. Domain Rabain, Chairman of Cricket at Cleveland County, emphasized that the correction is not about diminishing others, but about ensuring accuracy in the island's sporting heritage.
"We are very happy for the progress of women in the game and celebrate Ray’s achievement," Rabain stated. "At the same time, we believe Trott’s milestone also deserves recognition."
The emergence of both Trott and Ray as regular features in the Premier Division highlights a significant shift in the landscape of Bermudian cricket. As the 2026 season gains momentum, the presence of female talent in traditionally male-dominated squads is increasingly seen not as a novelty, but as a testament to the strength of the island's youth development programs.
