As the country grapples with fresh flooding across the Southland, the nation’s top cricketers are hoping for good weather so that they can take to the field to raise funds for those affected.
Two weeks ago, massive flooding affected citizens living in East Trinidad with many of them losing all of their possessions. The cricketers under the “Cricket with a Heart” Foundation decided to play this match at the Queen’s Park Oval in St Clair, Port-of-Spain this evening from 6.30 pm, to raise funds.
The Red Force cricketers had already done their part in donating their match fees from the abandoned Canada clash to the victims. This was some TT$60,000 but they want to do more and in collaboration with the T&T Cricket Board (TTCB), the Sports Company of T&T and the Queen’s Park Cricket Club (QPCC), they are staging this match.
The North versus South clash will see players of the calibre of Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Nicholas Pooran, Lendl Simmons, Evin Lewis, Jason Mohammed and Sunil Narine. The match, a Twenty20 (T20) clash is expected to renew the North/South rivalry as well and the players are taking this affair very seriously.
The foundation held a similar match last year to assist hurricane victims from Dominica and was able to raise TT$878,000.
Colin Borde, a senior member of the committee that has been put in place to organise the match, is making a plea for supporters to show up.
“I know that the weather has around this week but we are hoping that things are back to normal on Saturday (today) in terms of the sunshine peeping out in order for us to have a game at the Oval. The drainage at the Oval is fantastic, so once we get a break in the weather there will be cricket.
“We want people excited about this and coming down to support. Our last effort was a tremendous success when we were helping our Caribbean brothers and sisters. Now we are helping our own and hence we are hoping that the response is even greater.”
All funds raised from this project will be handed over to the United Way for distribution to those affected.