Deyal aiming to retain Singlewicket crown

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 - Mark Deyal and Akiel Cooper .

MARK DEYAL Mark Deyal is the reigning champion of Ultimate Allrounder Cricket Challenge. He made his First-Class debut for Trinidad and Tobago in the last match of the 2014/15 Regional Four-Day Competition against the Leeward Islands .

He has played for both Trinidad and Tobago and the Combined Campuses and Colleges in West Indian domestic cricket, as well as representing the Red Steel franchise at the CPL (Caribbean Premier League) .

Deyal subsequently signed with Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel for the 2015 CPL. He made his debut for the team against the Jamaica Tallawahs and scored 23 runs from 25 balls coming in sixth in the batting order. For the 2015/16 Regional Super50, Deyal switched from Trinidad and Tobago Red Force to the Combined Campuses and Colleges Marooners, making his debut for the team against the Leeward Islands Hurricanes .

Mark is determined to defend his title on Saturday .

AKIEL COOPER Former Trinidad and Tobago Under-15, Under-17, Under-19 and Under-23 player, Akiel Cooper captained the national Under- 17 team to regional glory .

Cooper has played Premiership cricket in Trinidad since he was a teenager, with clubs including First Citizens Clarke Road, Jenexcon Tableland and presently in his second stint with Powergen Sports Club. He scored a century just last weekend for his club in the final round of Premiership matches for the season .

This year Cooper made his debut with Trinidad and Tobago Red Force team at regional level, playing against Barbados Pride and the Leeward Islands Hurricanes .

He is a hard hitting middle order batsman who opens the bowling for his club in the Premiership with his wily medium pace .

Cooper made his first appearance in Singlewicket Competition in 2014 as part of the fielding unit and returned in 2015. In 2016, in Tobago for the first time he was part of the main draw and did well to get to the semi-final, eventually losing out to fan favourite, Navin Stewart .