TT Go After Stanford US$1m

Led by West Indies opening batsman Daren Ganga, Trinidad and Tobago are chasing the US$1 million first prize at stake in the shortest version of the game.

Trinidad and Tobago have so far this season captured the Carib Beer Shield and the Carib Beer Challenge regional tournaments and are heavy favourites to defeat the Caymans tonight.

Trinidad and Tobago are without the biggest stars but still possess the talent and experience to go all the way in the inaugural tournament.

Missing in the line-up are West Indies captain Brian Lara who is reportedly in the Middle East on a promotional assignment. Lara has said that he prefers Test cricket to Twenty/20 and has shown no interest in playing the game.

Trinidad and Tobago will also be without West Indies allrounder Dwayne Bravo who only recently took up a contract with Kent in the English County Championship.

Also missing is Richard Kelly, one of the most exciting allrounders in the Caribbean who is touring with the West Indies “A” team in England.

The TT team will also be without the services of penetrative left arm spinner Dave “Tadpole” Mohammed who was also picked on the reserve team.

But in their place are several players who are ready to take up the challenge and surprise their more established regional counterparts.

Among them are West Indies wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin, the experienced Mervyn Dillon, hard-hitting batsman Shazam Babwah, middle-order batsman Lendl Simmons and pugnacious batsman Ricardo Powell.

After ten matches of the Stanford 20/20 Tournament there is only one spot available in the quarter-finals. That spot will go to either Trinidad and Tobago or Cayman Islands. The winners will face Barbados in a major clash at 3 pm on Friday July 28 to determine the semi-finalists.

The Trinidadians are yet to play in the tournament while the Cayman Islands will be playing their second match, after a comprehensive win over the Bahamas on opening night on July 11.

In the other quarter-final matches Grenada will take on St Vincent and the Grenadines tomorrow, at 3 pm. And in a grudge match Antigua and Barbuda will play archrivals Nevis later that same evening at 7 pm under lights.

On Friday, the main event will be Jamaica taking on Guyana at 7 pm. Should favourites Trinidad and Tobago get past the Caymans on Friday evening could be an exciting feast for fans with all four top teams clashing in what would be two thrilling match-ups.

After the matches on Friday there will be a break in the multi-million dollar tournament for the Antigua Carnival then a return for the semi-finals and finals in August.