By Rawle Toney

WITH the likes of Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Lendl Simmons and Andre Fletcher all set to play in today’s Unity Cricket at the Guyana National Stadium, West Indies T20 captain Darren Sammy is promising ticket-holders ‘fireworks’ at the venue.“What do you think will happen when some of the best players in the world go against each other? You will have one of the best cricket matches ever seen,” Sammy said speaking at a Press Conference yesterday, hosted by organisers of the event, 007 and Legacy Promotions.
Guyana’s Ramnaresh Sarwan will captain the Legacy All-Stars that also features the world’s most feared T20 batsman Gayle, Rajendra Chandrika, Fletcher, Narsingh Deonarine, Jonathon Foo, Nicholas Pooran, Evin Lewis, Devendra Bishoo, Sulieman Benn, Assad Fudadin, Robin Bacchus, Gajanand Singh, Royston Crandon and Bravo.
Attorney-at-Law James Bond’s 007 Warriors will be piloted by Chris Barnwell and will have West Indies Test team skipper Jason Holder along with Dwayne Smith, Simmons, Anthony Bramble, Shemroy Barrington, Sammy, Steven Jacobs, Sherfane Rutherford, Reyad Emrit, Veerasammy Permaul, Ronsford Beaton, Samuel Badree and Gudakesh Motie.
That match gets underway at 19:00hrs.
“This should be something annual,” said Sammy, who was last week named captain of the West Indies T20 squad for the ICC’s tournament in India in March.
Sammy told the gathering at 704 Sports Bar, that some of the players selected have a busy International schedule and named the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and the World T20 event as important engagements, but, despite such, fans could expect a great game.
“We all have a busy season but that wouldn’t stop us from giving the people a great match. The guys all have a competitive nature and as such, everyone will play to win, so I can promise everyone that this will be a good game of cricket and fun for the family,” said Sammy.
Every fan in the stands who take a one-handed catch will be US$500 richer and if Gayle cuts loose they could have plenty of opportunity to do so.
Meanwhile, organisers said that the early-bird tickets ($2 000) are all sold out, and patrons will now have to pay $3 000 to enter the ground. Children under 12 years will be admitted free providing they do not use a seat in the stands.
Five softball matches will be played by Berbice Masters and Female teams, who will oppose their Demerara counterparts.
The semi-finals of the Open 10/10 between Berbice, Essequibo, Wolf Warriors and Regal will also be contested, where the winners of the semis will clash in the final from 16:30hrs for $500 000.
Tickets are on sale at M&M Snackette (Demerara Harbour Bridge), Tiyo’s Future Store (Anna Catherina and Parika), Andrew’s Pharmacy (South Ruimveldt) GCC’s bar at Bourda pavilion, Shoppers Pharmacy (Giftland Mall), Lenny’s (Mon Repos), Deb’s Bar (East Coast), Little Rock Hotel (New Amsterdam) and Poonai’s Pharmacy (Rose Hall Town).