Red Force skipper to compete at Singlewicket

The Ultimate Allrounder Singlewicket Cricket Challenge will be a day/night competition from 4-10 pm.

Allrounders from PowerGen, Queen’s Park, Merry Boys, Alescon Comets and two Tobago clubs will battle each other in three groups of four with the group winners contesting the semi-finals and, subsequently, the grand final.

The tournament winners pockets S15,000 and the losing finalists $5,000.

Other incentives are available for allrounders and fieldsmen who are selected from the top cricket clubs in Tobago. The major sponsors of Ultimate Allrounder Cricket Challenge 2017 are National Lotteries Control Board, Bmobile, First Citizens and THA (Tobago House of Assembly).

Here is a look at two of the expected participants - Marlon Richards and Navin Stewart.

MARLON RICHARDS Marlon Richards is acknowledged as a committed cricketer with great discipline in all forms of cricket. He made his debut in Singlewicket completion in 2014 in a group with Lendl Simmons and Devon Thomas. Richards battled gamely but could not edge out Simmons for a semi-final spot.

He returned in 2015, but although he did not progress to the semi-finals that year, he remains a potent force with his medium fast bowling and purposeful batting for the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force team and the Merry Boys club. This year Richards enters the competition as royalty, with a crown as captain of National T20 Club champions Merry Boys. He has also taken over leadership of the Red Force team at the age of just 26.

NAVIN STEWART Navin Stewart made his First- Class debut for Trinidad and Tobago in March 2009. He is a fast-bowling all-rounder who has played in all editions of Caribbean Premier League T20 representing Guyana Amazon Warriors and Barbados Tridents.

He is one of the most experienced players in Singlewicket cricket, having appeared in all previous competitions.

On each occasion Stewart made the semi-finals.

He knocked out tournament favourite Dwayne Bravo in the very first tournament, and then he dumped seeded players Sunil Narine and Christopher Barnwell out of the 2013 and 2014 competitions respectively. Stewart shared the award for the most sixes in the 2014 tournament with Lendl Simmons.

In 2016 he reached the final and was neck-and-neck with Marc Deyal; shockingly he lost to the first-time Singlewicket player, but will return on Saturday to battle once more.