The Chief Secretary Bago T10 Blast got off last evening and next Friday, 73-year old cricketer Salandy Sobers will be taking the field in an exhibition All-Star match before the final of the tournament at the Cyd Gray Complex in Tobago.
The veteran cricketer said it will crown off his career sharing the dressing room with Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo both of whom are expected to take part in the Chief Secretary Ancil Dennis' team against a Tobago XI.
"I first played for Tobago at the age of 19 which is 54 years ago. I have represented Tobago on at least 50 occasions and now sharing the dressing room with Pollard and Bravo will be the crowning aspect of my career."
Sobers is no stranger to cricket in Trinidad as well, as in the past he represented clubs like Maple and Harvard.
"I lived in Trinidad for a while and when I was there I played for Maple and Harvard. Even the past decade, I have gone to Trinidad to represent the Masters Touring cricket team.
"I will like to thank the Chief Secretary for bringing this tournament to Tobago because it will do a lot for the development of the cricketers here. Those who cannot go to Trinidad to get top-level competition can get a taste of it right here."
Sobers has hit the nets because he wants to give a good account of himself come Friday.
"We didn't have much preparation for the tournament. As a group, we have been out there and sometimes individually. I got a hit today and I felt good with what I was able to do this afternoon," said Sobers, who was at the Shaw Park facility where he got the youngsters there, to do some throw-downs at him and he looked good hitting a few off the middle.
TTCB gears for prisoners
Deputy Commissioner of Prisons Mookish Pulliah has enthusiastically welcomed the interest shown by the T&T Cricket Board (TTCB) in using the nation’s top sport to drive rehabilitation initiatives among his inmates.
Pulliah recently received on behalf of the T&T Prisons Service a timely gift of cricket equipment from the TTCB’s president Azim Bassarath and gave the confident assurance that it will go a very long way in helping the incarcerated.
Also at the recent presentation of the gear at the National Cricket Centre (NCC) in Balmain, Couva, was Imtiaz Ali, the Prisons Service Muslim chaplain who also expressed his appreciation of the renewed relationship between the national sports organisation and the Prisons Service.
TTCB president Bassarath recalled the successful programme conducted in conjunction with the Umpires’ Council which trained several officers and inmates in the laws of the game and said that the gift of the cricket equipment will further cement the collaborative effort.
Bassarath said that he was pleased with the interest shown in the umpiring course as it was a prelude to the participants being fully re-integrated into society on their release, and opened up great opportunities to pursue a career in the game.
Pulliah was in total agreement with the significant impact that cricket can have in the reformation of inmates into a productive life on their release and said it was a major part of a multi-pronged effort by the Prisons Service.
The DCOP highlighted the efforts to teach life-skills and offer training and certification in plumbing, masonry, tiling, and agriculture which have so far produced excellent results which he said contributes to the upkeep of the inmates.
He said crops of pumpkin and watermelon help to greatly supplement the diet of the guests of the state and also are sold to officers on a market day on Fridays, with the income generated going towards the maintenance of farming equipment.
Pulliah was also proud of the excellent record of the Prisons Service during the current COVID-19 pandemic as no prisoner has contracted the virus, especially so in one of the most susceptible environments.
He said the Prisons Service COVID-19 Policy involving prisoners attending courts and sanitising protocols have so far ensured an enviable record by his officers who he said was at great risk.
TTCB gets gift of Hi-lite paint
The TTCB is moving ahead with preparations for a resumption of activities as soon as the current COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.
In anticipation of the start of cricket, the TTCB was recently the recipient of five gallons of Hi-lite brand paint from Roopnarine’s Hardware.
The donation will be used to mark the pitch at the NCC ground in Balmain, the headquarters of the national cricket organisation.
Making the presentation of the Hi-lite paint was Ish Roopnarine to TTCB president Bassarath.