TT play Leewards first in Carib Beer series

ST JOHN’S: Reigning champions Barbados will tackle Guyana in their first round match when the Carib Beer Series begins its 2004 season on January 9. The fixture, one of four in the opening round, will be a home game for the Barbadians at famous Kensington Oval. Barbados became the first ever regional four-day double champions in April when they beat Jamaica by seven wickets in the Carib Beer International Challenge final after easily securing the league-format Carib Beer Cup. Guyana’s last four-day title was the Busta International Shield last year.

In other first round matches confirmed by the West Indies Cricket Board Inc (WICB) on Friday, 2002 Busta Cup champions Jamaica play the Windward Islands at the Beausejour Stadium in St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago tackle the Leeward Islands at Guaracara Park, and West Indies “B” play Kenya at the Edgar Gilbert Park in St Kitts. The final for the Carib Beer International Challenge will be played either on the weekend of March 4-7 or March 25-28 2004. St Maarten, who became a full-fledged affiliate of the Leeward Islands Cricket Association (LICA) this year, will host its first ever West Indies regional four-day match, the fifth round fixture between the Windwards and Leewards from February 6-9.

Fixtures:

Round 1 (January 9 to 12): Barbados vs Guyana at Kensington Oval, Barbados.
Windward Islands vs Jamaica at Beausejour, St Lucia.
Trinidad & Tobago vs Leeward Islands at Guaracara Park, Trinidad.
West Indies “B” vs Kenya at Edgar Gilbert Park, St Kitts.

Round 2 (January 16 to 19): Jamaica vs Guyana at Sabina Park, Jamaica.
Barbados vs Windward Islands at Northstar, Barbados.
Trinidad & Tobago vs West Indies “B” at Frank Worrell Centre, Trinidad.
Leeward Islands vs Kenya at Webster Park, Anguilla.

Round 3 (January 23 to 26):
Jamaica vs Barbados at Sabina Park, Jamaica.
Windward Islands vs Guyana at Botanical Gardens, Dominica.
Leeward Islands vs West Indies “B” at Grove Park, Nevis.
Trinidad and Tobago vs Kenya at Tobago.

Round 4 (January 30 to February 2):
Jamaica vs Kenya at National Stadium, Grenada.
Barbados vs West Indies “B” at Cave Hill Campus, Barbados.
Trinidad and Tobago vs Windward Islands at Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad.
Guyana vs Leeward Islands at Essequibo, Guyana.

Round 5 (February 6 to February 9):
Leeward Islands vs Windward Islands at Carib Grounds, St Maarten.
West Indies “B” vs Jamaica at Stanford Cricket Grounds, Antigua.
Guyana vs Trinidad at Berbice, Guyana.
Barbados vs Kenya at Windward Grounds, Barbados.

Round 6 (February 12 to 15):
Leeward Islands vs Barbados at St Thomas, USVI.
Jamaica vs Trinidad and Tobago at Alpart, Jamaica.
Guyana vs West Indies “B” at Enmore, Guyana.
Windward Islands vs Kenya at Arnos Vale, St Vincent.

Round 7 (February 19 to 22):
Trinidad and Tobago vs Barbados (February 18 to 21) at Guaracara Park, Trinidad.
Guyana vs Kenya at Bourda, Guyana.
Jamaica vs Leeward Islands at Alpart, Jamaica.
Windward Islands vs West Indies “B” at National Stadium, Grenada.
Semi-finals (February 26 to 29): TBA.
Finals: TBA.