A who’s who of West Indies cricket luminaries will visit South Florida in January to participate in a friendly match and charity banquet.
Former West Indies cricket star Lawrence Rowe – a South Florida resident for 30 years – is one of the organizers of the event, which will feature legends such as Brian Lara, Sir Garfield Sobers, Lance Gibbs, Clive Lloyd, Andy Roberts, Gordon Greenidge and Courtney Walsh.
The event kicks off with a “Dinner with the Legends†banquet Saturday, Jan. 24 in Margate. The following day, a 30-over friendly match will be played at Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill featuring a Legends team vs. a Cavaliers XI squad comprised of local players. The match begins at 3 p.m.
Lara, who retired in 2007 as the all-time leading run-scorer in West Indies cricket history, is expected to captain the Legends team. Other former West Indies players expected to participate include Collis King, Faoud Bacchus, Gus Logie, Nixon McClean, Wavell Hinds, Mervyn Dillon and Daren Ganga.
Some of the older legends such as Sobers, 78, Lloyd, 70, and Gibbs, 80, won’t play but will be available for photos and autographs.
“This is a perfect opportunity for people who followed West Indies cricket but never got a chance to meet some of these legends,†Rowe said. “We don’t know how long a lot of these guys will be around.â€
Central Broward Regional Park has the only cricket field in the United States that has been approved by the International Cricket Council – the sport’s world governing body. Several matches have been held at the park since it opened in 2007, including 20/20 matches between West Indies and New Zealand on June 30 and July 1, 2012.
Tickets for the banquet are $150 a plate. For the match, prices are $15 for the grounds and $25 for the stands. Tickets are available via Eventbrite.
Some proceeds from the weekend will be geared toward assisting former West Indies cricket players who are struggling physically or financially.
The West Indies cricket team dominated the sport internationally during the late 1970s and 1980s. Sobers, who retired in 1974 and was knighted the following year, is widely considered the best all-around player in the sport’s history. Lara gained international acclaim in the 1990s and 2000s for his prolific run-scoring, including a record 400 runs (not out) in a Test match against England in 2004.
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Miami Herald
