… Five Guyanese in COURTS Gladiators team

 A STAR-STUDDED list of ladies will do battle as squads for the two women’s T10 matches, hosted by Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL), was announced yesterday.

Set for today at 15:00hrs and Saturday at 12:30hrs at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, cricketers from Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and Leeward Islands will form the teams; NLCB Revellers and COURTS Gladiators.

Gladiators will feature cricketers from Barbados, Guyana and Windward Islands. NLCB Revellers will be captained by Windies Stafanie Taylor while her international teammate Afy Fletcher will lead COURTS Gladiators.

The two teams will feature the best cricketing talents from across the Caribbean with the likes of Anisa Mohammad, Britney Cooper, Natasha McLean, Kycia Knight, Hayley Matthews and Qiana Joseph taking part.

Taylor, commenting on the news, said, “It is very pleasing to have an initiative such as this that the CPL has done for Women’s cricket in the Caribbean. It’s a long time coming to potentially have a women’s T20 franchise tournament here in the West Indies, bringing international players here to our conditions and pitches, just as we go to their leagues. No doubt this will aid Cricket West Indies (CWI) in growing women’s cricket in the region.”

Meanwhile, Fletcher in her remarks added, “I think that it’s a great idea. Women’s cricket is rapidly growing so kudos to the persons for taking the initiative to find different avenues to expose the talent of the ladies of the Caribbean. Knowing that we have a small pool of female cricketers, I strongly believe that this is a stepping stone to move forward and also a way of attracting the eyes of the young girls across the region.”

These games have been made possible thanks to the support of the Trinidad & Tobago Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs, COURTS and the National Lottery Control Board (NLCB). Hero CPL would like to express their gratitude to these partners for making these games possible.

Events Manager at NLCB, Susan Worrell, said: “The NLCB is delighted to be supporting the initiative by CPL of Women’s Cricket for the advancement of the sport which can be an inspiration to young girls since the NLCB continues its quest to create benefits.”

Clive Fletcher, Managing Director, Unicomer (Trinidad) Ltd said: “This is a most significant partnership for us as it further supports the development of diversity in cricket. This investment pushes the envelope for the evolution of the sport to new heights, as we provide a platform to showcase the full spectrum of talent displayed by our female cricketers across the Caribbean Region”.

He continued, “At Unicomer (Trinidad) Ltd. and COURTS, we are very passionate and committed to the development of our people, and we believe in providing the opportunities to push the boundaries of innovation.”

These matches will take place before the semi-final and final of this year’s Hero CPL and ticket holders for those matches will be able to attend at no extra cost.

The teams for these matches are as follows:

 NLCB Revellers

1. Stafanie Taylor (capt.) (Jamaica)
2. Anisa Mohammed (Trinidad & Tobago)
3. Chinelle Henry (Jamaica)
4. Natasha McLean (Jamaica)
5. Chedean Nation (Jamaica)
6. Jodian Morgan (Jamaica)
7. Stacy-Ann King (Trinidad & Tobago)
8. Reniece Boyce (Trinidad & Tobago)
9. Britney Cooper (Trinidad & Tobago)
10. Felicia Walters (Trinidad & Tobago)
11. Karishma Ramharack (Trinidad & Tobago)
12. Caneisha Isaac (Trinidad & Tobago)
13. Shawnisha Hector (Leewards)

COURTS Gladiators

1. Afy Fletcher (capt.) (Windwards)
2. Kycia Knight (Barbados)
3. Kyshona Knight (Barbados)
4. Hayley Matthews (Barbados)
5. Aaliyah Alleyne (Barbados)
6. Qiana Joseph (Windwards)
7. Akeira Peters (Windwards)
8. Erva Giddings (Guyana)
9. Shabika Gajnabi (Guyana)
10. Kaysia Schultz (Guyana)
11. Cherry-Ann Fraser (Guyana)
12. Sheneta Grimmond (Guyana)
13. Shakera Selman (Barbados)