IT’S TIME to rewind the cricket clock again.
The second annual CLOBI Cup World Masters tournament bowls off at Kensington Oval today with many stars from yesteryear.
The Twenty20 competition, which is open to former international cricketers over the age of 35, will feature hosts West Indies, England, Sri Lanka and India going after a top prize of $100 000.
West Indies, led by Courtney Walsh, will seek to erase the disappointment of last year’s inaugural tournament in which they failed to make the final.
After the 3 p.m. opening ceremony, Walsh and his men will take to the field against defending champions England at 4 p.m.
The second match of the double-header features Sri Lanka and newcomers India at 8 p.m.
Last season’s tournament attracted very encouraging crowds on the three nights when West Indies were in action, but there was a considerable reduction in numbers on the evenings when the hosts were inactive.
It has led to organisers introducing three days of double-headers – with West Indies playing every day – ahead of the final in an effort to ensure good turnouts throughout.
Cricket Legends of Barbados Inc. general manager Angela Carter said yesterday that ticket sales had gone reasonably well.
“We had a drop-off during the period of mourning for the late Prime Minister. People were still buying one there, one here, but it escalated dramatically today [yesterday],” she said.
“It has picked up tremendously. We are anticipatingnreasonable crowds.
“After two weeks of mourning and the storm, we think people will want some excitement which we intend to give them.”
The tournament was originally set for October 30 to November 5, but had to be put back following the death of Prime Minister David Thompson on October 23.
West Indies have made some adjustments to their squad from last year.
While crowd-puller Carl Hooper is set to grace the field again along with the top fast bowling pair of Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, the likes of Sir Vivian Richards, Gordon Greenidge and Collis King are missing.
Their places have been taken by relatively young players in the form of Floyd Reifer, Ryan Hurley, Sherwin Campbell and Junior Murray.
Over the weekend, West Indies will play in the night-cap matches. Tomorrow, they have a date with India at 8 p.m., the same time they will meet Sri Lanka on Sunday.
Two of the other teams are also packed with several former outstanding players.
England feature the two dominant batsmen of last year, tournament MVP Mark Ramprakash and Graeme Hick, along with new captain Dominic Cork and Devon Malcolm.
Sri Lanka are boosted by the inclusion of explosive batsman Sanath Jayasuriya, the classy Aravinda da Silva and crafty left-arm fast bowler Chaminda Vaas, while India will look to fast bowler Vankatesh Prasad. (HG)
