A SPECIALLY arranged T20 friendly match, organised by friends of the late Morris Persaud and Chitnarine “Tony” Birbal, will be held at the New Oval, Schenectady, New York, USA on Saturday, June 22.

Morris, a former Guyana Under-19 cricketer, migrated to the USA and adopted the town of Schenectady as his new home. Before he passed six years ago, Persaud was one of the founders of the Tri-City Cricket Club, and mentored many youths in that community. He was also a coach, and did volunteer work for the schools in the district.

Born in the cricket-crazy village of Canefield Settlement, East Canje, Berbice, he came from a cricketing background, and rubbed shoulders with the likes of Len Baichan, Lall Munilall, Kamal Singh, Romain and Reginald Etwaroo, Hubern Evans, and Milton Pydanna among others.

Birbal, popularly known as Tony and De King, was born and grew up in Williamsburg, Corentyne, Berbice before he migrated to Canada, where he died at the age of 56. The right-arm medium fast bowler was an outstanding cricketer who will be remembered for his politeness, sense of humour and service to humanity.

The organisers are calling on fans in the New York, Boston, Connecticut and Canada areas to turn out in large numbers to support this gesture. Players with the calibre of former West Indies ‘B’ team classy opener Sudesh Dhaniram, Tony Kallicharran, Shazam Hussein, Verasammy Veerapen, Kumar Dindyal, Johnoo and Mike Persaud, brothers of the late Morris, will be on show.

Venue is located at 4281 Amsterdam Road. Contact can be made with the organisers on 518 526 6451.