Dominica's Shillingford says thank you to TT

STEPHON NICHOLAS

Dominican off-spinner Shane Shillingford was a grateful man on Saturday and thanked profusely the organisers and fans that turned up for the Hurricane Relief T20 between the Red Force and a Caribbean Select XI at the Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain. All proceeds from gate receipts are going towards providing assistance to Dominica, Barbuda and St Martin who were badly hit by hurricanes last month. Carib Brewery also also indicated that they would be pouring all profits from sales on the day at the venue to relief efforts.

Shillingford said he was humbled by the initiative and generosity of Trinbagonians thanked this country from the bottom of his heart.

“That was so great on such a short notice how ‘Ramas’ (Sport Company Chairman Dinanath Ramnarine) and the other guys (Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board and Queen’s Park) organised the game and bring the guys together. I felt Trinidad was one of the best place to hold the game with how they run their cricket and the support. Also the Trinidad Government is also doing a lot of supporting in terms of sending relief to the country (Dominica) and the turnout was tremendous. It will be tremendously appreciated by the Dominican people and the Government. I felt happy. When we came out we were looking at the weather and we were saying ‘I hope the weather doesn’t spoil’ but it held up.”

Shillingford, recalling the night Hurricane Maria hit his country said he cannot put into words the horror that gripped Dominicans as the terrifying winds and rain destroyed everything in its path.

“Honestly I try my best not to really talk about the experience but even if I explain it doesn’t do it justice. I never really experienced anything like that in my life so it’s really hard to explain. It was very, very frightening. It’s very bad what I went through during the storm. In the first part and when the eye got over us and the second part when the ceiling lifting up and all the debris outside, it’s just... unexplainable. It really was.”

He said sport in Dominica will be on hold for the foreseeable future as people are just trying to get some semblance of normalcy back in their lives. “I honestly not sure how difficult it would be (for sport to get back on track). I know the stadium (Windsor Park) got some lash as well and so many local grounds, the river was literally flowing on my local ground. It’s going to be a challenge. Obviously the Government are going to put things in perspective and try to get back life as normal then they can look into that. The process is going to be a slow one and by the grace of God we are going to get there.”