TKR players, officials interact with Special Athletes at Oval

Some of the TKR players involved in the CPL initiative were Denesh Ramdin, Kevon Cooper, Sunil Narine and Ronsford Beaton.

TKR manager Colin Borde and coach Simon Katich also facilitated the Special Athletes, which included members of the national Special Olympic cricket team.

Katich said participating in events such as these, has become a part of cricket especially as the sport is so popular around the world. “It is obviously a huge part of the game. Cricket is such a popular sport all around the world and it is the least the players and the coaches could do,” Katich said.

The TKR coach said the participants all had a great time. “These guys and girls have had a lot of fun out here. They are obviously talented themselves in terms of participating in the Special Olympics, so it is great to see them come to the Oval and have a lot of fun playing some cricket.” Anjaana Downes, senior project officer for the Digicel Foundation, said it means a lot to the Special Athletes when international cricketers spend time with them. “It means the world to them. These (Special) Athletes have a lot of skills.

Even though some of them have disabilities they still have the capability to play sports. Just the fact the Trinbago Knight Riders have taken the opportunity to come and give of their time to train with them it means a lot to them,” Downes said.

Downes explained the Digicel Foundation and the Special Olympics have a long relationship.

“When Digicel Foundation first came to Trinidad in 2006, Special Olympics was the first partner that Digicel ever made in the country.

It’s a relationship we have had with them for the past 11 years.” Downes said not enough is done for special-needs people in TT, therefore it’s a group of people Digicel Foundation looks after. “Anytime we get an opportunity like this they are the first people that we are going to call.

The special needs community is underserved in Trinidad and Tobago, so anything that we can do for them, any opportunity that we can help them we would.” On Saturday, TKR spent time with children when Republic Bank and the Daren Ganga Cricket Academy hosted a CPL practice session at the Queen’s Park Oval