A PLETHORA of stars both present and future are expected to throng the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) and Ministry of Education grounds tomorrow, as quarter-final action in the inaugural Kares Engineering and Bushy Park Sawmill-sponsored 10/10 nationwide tapeball tournament bowls off. Eight matches in the Male and Female categories are billed for the GCC ground tomorrow, while seven games will be played in the Schools competition at the Ministry of Education ground on Carifesta Avenue the following day.
In the Male Open division, Firelinks will take on Invaders XI, Cotton Field Wild Oats will challenge Georgetown Pitbulls, Albion Community Centre will collide with Young Warriors, and Dyna’s Bravados will face Cotton Tree Die Hard XI.
On the distaff side, Rising Stars XI are up against Mike’s Wellwoman, All Stars Conquerors will look to conquer 4R Lioness, Karibee Strikers will be coming with full force to strike out Trophy Stall XI, and Rose Hall Town Metro Females will trade skills with Gas XI Females.
On Sunday, the school teams will be in action on Carifesta Avenue and the action is expected to be just as riveting as the Open competition.
In the Boys’ category, Leguan Young Blood will play New Amsterdam Technical Institute, Charity Secondary will do battle with Leonora All Stars, JC Chandisingh Secondary will meet Shivita Business College, and St Rose’s High and IPE All Stars will battle for semi-final spots.
In the Girls’ division, L’Aventure Secondary will tackle Corentyne Comprehensive High, San Souci Primary will engage IPE Divas XI, and Shivita Business College will play Royal All Stars.
The winners from these matches will advance to the semi-finals and finals, billed for September 4 and will be contested at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.
Along with cash prizes which amount to $10M, scooters as well as laptops will be at stake as the organisers have injected close to $25M into the tournament. It is understood that a similar amount has been spent on the concert.
After the cricket, a ‘Giga’ concert, dubbed Kares Caribbean Bacchanal, will be staged on the tarmac of the national stadium. A ticket for the cricket only is $1 000, while entry to the concert alone is $3 000.
Patrons wishing to attend the concert which will be headlined by Jamaican Grammy artiste Shaggy, after viewing the cricket can do so at an additional cost of just $500. Those tickets will be sold exclusively on the day of the final.
To date, the event has been able to draw massive crowds at the playing venues, and Managing Director of Kares Engineering/Bushy Park Sawmills, Radesh Rameshwar, is hoping that favourable weather will prevail over the next two weekends so as to avoid a delay in the competition.
“Everything is on stream right now; our only concern is the weather over which we have no control. We’re generally satisfied with the way things have gone. There were a few hiccups along the way which we have ironed out, and we hope to learn from them and make it better next year,” said Rameshwar.
Additionally, all the Super Eight teams will be presented with free tickets to witness the eight games that are billed for the stadium.
Meanwhile, Rameshwar said that tickets for the after-cricket ‘Giga’ concert are already on sale and the response has been overwhelming. “It has been amazing, beyond our expectation … we’re actually printing more tickets for the show.”
“What we are trying to do is pack the stadium. We want people to come out and have a great time. The cricket will be great and the concert will be Giga, where we have a good blend of artistes to cater to the fusion of people we have here in Guyana,” Rameshwar declared.
He added that 200 tickets for the cricket have been given to the Guyana National Blood Transfusion Centre, while lucky persons can win tickets through the various television and radio programmes that are currently on stream.
Apart from Shaggy, chutney king Rikki Jai, soca sensation Peter Ram, chutney artiste De Hunter, and the Melobugz Band are the overseas performers to appear on the show along with some local artistes including Mahendra Ramkellawan.