Powell to play for North in Gerry Gomez Classic

Jamaica-born West Indies batsman Ricardo Powell is set to make his debut in Trinidad and  Tobago’s Gerry Gomez Memorial cricket match between North and South, starting at the Queen’s Park Oval, in Port-of-Spain on January 2. The match is usually a final, serious warm-up for Trinidad and Tobago’s players ahead of the West Indies First-Class championship that opens this year on January 9. The 25-year-old Powell is married to a Trinidadian and, after deciding to emigrate to TT, was granted permission by the West Indies Cricket Board to represent the twin-island republic in the upcoming Carib Beer 2004 Cricket Series, the West Indies First-Class championship. Powell, like the other TT hopefuls, will be looking to fine tune himself in the match and has been named in the North team that will be led by Imran Jan, widely tipped to lead the twin-island republic in the Carib Beer Series, alongside former Test batsman Lincoln Roberts and emerging all-rounder Dwayne Bravo.

Jonathan Augustus and Lendl Simmons, members of the Young West Indies who are preparing for the Youth World Cup in Bangladesh next February, will also line-up alongside Powell. Shazam Babwah, TT’s standout in the Red Stripe Bowl West Indies limited-overs competition in October, will lead the South. Young West Indies captain Denesh Ramdin and YWI teammate Tishan Maraj have also been included in the South team. A number of attractive monetary incentives totalling close to US $8,000 have been added to encourage all the players to lift their performances in the match.