By Orville Hall
The Island of St. Maarten is getting ready for a star-studded line-up of marquee players as they prepare to participate in the Annual Adam Sanford Cricket for Life MaqCricket 59 tournament which kicks off at the Carib Lumber Park in St. Maarten from November 8 to 10.
The line-up will be spear-headed by former West Indies captain Darren Sammy, and will include other stars such as former West Indies left-arm fast bowler, Krishmar Santokie, West Indies hard-hitting batsman, Andre Fletcher, West Indies allrounder, Dwayne Smith, and former West Indies left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn. Also in the line-up will be North American players Jeremy Gordon and Zishawn Qureshi, who participated in the recently-concluded T20 tournament in Canada, along with USA superstar Steven Taylor.
Former West Indies fast-bowler Adam Sanford, who is spearheading this event said,” I, along with several of my colleagues, am trying to bring International cricket back to St Maarten. It has been a while since the Leeward Islands took on the Windward Islands in the Carib Cup, and we want to have that level of cricket return to St. Maarten. We are in the revival process, and the local cricketers, along with our sponsors, can make it happen. The inaugural event was held in March with resounding success, and I am committed to making this even bigger.”
Sanford is getting high-powered assistance from some well-known International partners, as Mahammad Qureshi, founder and CEO of the Maq group of companies and Jefferson Miller, CEO of the CPL franchise, the Jamaica Tallawahs, are fully on board and supporting this project. Sanford is also getting major support from local companies as well, including CaniTV, Nagico Insurance, Carib and Lucozade.
There are six franchises: Marigot Tigers, Simpsonbay Pelicans, Pilipsburg Rhinos, Ebenezer Wolves, Orientbay Bulls and the DutchQuarter Eagles. Player-registration, which is now open, will run until October 10, and the “Draft” will take place on October 15. The tournament runs from November 8 to 10.