With less than 60 days remaining before they wing out for South Africa to participate in the second Over 50s World Cup being played there from March 11th to 25th, West Indies Over 50s team arrive in TT this Sunday to play 4 practice matches, starting on Monday.
The West Indies
West Indies have had 2 practice matches at the Broward Stadium in Ft Lauderdale, but those were severely curtailed by the weather, and the organisers have been forced to arrange the four other practice matches in TT.
WI compete in ‘Pool B’ of the tournament, playing New Zealand in their opening match, then facing Australia a few days after.
West Indies have announced a 22-man squad that would be trimmed down to 16 at the conclusion of these practice matches next weekend.
Since this tournament is a non-ICC one, the organizers have secured the blessings of CWI, and will be using the maroon colours of the West Indies team, but not the logo.
In his message to the team and organizers, President Ricky Skerritt wished the Chairman and the team the very best in this project and its future endeavours. In his message for the magazine, Mr Skerritt wrote: “Raj’s current project to pioneer Caribbean participation in the Over-50s World Cup in 2020 is a private initiative that Cricket West Indies applauds. Although CWI’s resources are now more focused on developing younger players, we commend any project that seeks to directly engage past regional players in cricket-related activities.
“On behalf of Cricket West Indies, I wish Raj and his colleagues a most successful cricket adventure. The best wishes of all West Indians should be with them in South Africa”.
The WI Over 50s Organizing Committee is headed by cricket administrator Raj Singh, who will also manage the team in SA. Raj will be ably assisted by Dave Narine. Joseph Reds Perreira serves as the PRO, while John Ramsingh serves as the Media Officer. Rick Ali and Ian Allen round out the Organizing Committee.
“Reds Perreira and John Ramsingh will form the nucleus of the Live Streaming commentary panel, and may be joined by some guest commentators in TT. The link will be publicized on our Face Book page.
In an effort to have the squad fully acclimatized with the conditions and each other, 4 guest players from TT will join 18 members of the WI party to play the first practice match among themselves at the National Cricket Centre at Balmain.
The second match, on Tuesday, will be played against a star-studded Clarke Road United Masters team which features a lot of former National TT players and former National TT youth cricketers.
On Wednesday, NAS Masters team will pit their skills against the WI Over 50s team, and the final match would be played against the Queen’s Park Masters at the Queen’s Park Oval on Thursday.
