Excitement builds for inaugural World Universities T20

THE University of the West Indies (The UWI) is embarking on a landmark sporting initiative with the launch of its inaugural UWI World Universities T20 Cricket Tournament, starting tomorrow at the Sir Frank Worrell Cricket Ground, St Augustine. The tournament will run until January 20 and consists of university cricketers from the United Kingdom, USA and the Caribbean.

Spearheading the lineup are reigning Regional Super 50 champions Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC). The four other teams involved will be UWI, Tertiary Sport Association of TT (TSATT), Oxford Marylebone Cricket Club University from England, and the USA Combined Universities.

Action bowls off with CCC playing Oxford at 2 pm, followed by UWI taking on TSATT at 6.30 pm. Regional and local T20 stars such as Yannick and Kjorn Ottley, as well as Jon-Russ Jaggesar, will be available for the CCC, UWI boast familiar faces from the domestic circuit in Steven Katwaroo, Marlon Richards, Jovan Ali and Vikash Mohan, while TSATT will bank on the likes of Mark Deyal.

Live coverage will be carried on The UWI's public information and education service, UWItv, and supported by media partner for the tournament Caribbean Lifestyle Communications. This initiative will be led by The UWI’s Faculty of Sport, with the support of Cricket West Indies (CWI), the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and the TT Cricket Board (TTCB).

All teams will take part in a round robin with the top four sides moving to the knockout phase from January 17. The top two in the group will face off for a spot in the final, with the loser of this encounter getting a second chance at the final vs the winner of the third and fourth-placed teams on January 19. The final will bowl off one day later at the same venue from 3pm.

This project has been envisioned to establish relationships with other reputable universities and build athlete relations via the sport. Former West Indian cricketer Daren Ganga is Chair of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the tournament, and indicated the competition will be hosted in a different country every year. The ambition is to expose the top five players emerging from the series to CPL pre-tournament camps, fostering a direct route for university students into professional cricket.

"This configuration will allow for the grooming of young student-athletes from local to global circuits, giving international exposure to players, officials, faculty, partners and sponsors to enhance their networking and competitiveness," Ganga said. All matches will be open to members of the public, with tickets available at the gates for $25.

Fixtures:

Jan 10

CCC vs. Oxford (2 pm)

UWI vs. TSATT (6.30 pm)

Jan 11

TSATT vs. Oxford (2 pm)

CCC vs. USA (6.30 pm)

Jan 12

UWI vs. USA (2 pm)

CCC vs. TSATT (6.30 pm)

Jan 15

UWI vs. Oxford (2 pm)

USA vs. TSATT (6.30 pm)

Jan 16

CCC vs. UWI (2 pm)

USA vs. Oxford (6.30 pm)

Jan 17

Qualifier #1: 1st Place vs. 2nd Place (2 pm)

Eliminator #1: 3rd Place vs. 4th Place (6.30 pm)

Jan 19

Qualifier #2: Loser of Qualifier #1 vs. Winner of Eliminator #1 (2 pm)

Jan 20

Final: Winner of Qualifier #1 vs. Winner of Qualifier #2 (3 pm)

Squads

CCC: Yannick Ottley, Kjorn Ottley, Nicholas Sookdeosingh, Odain McCatty, Michail Powell, Keron Cottoy, Jarlanie Seales, Kyle Corbin, Sadique Henry, Leonardo Friginette, Gian Benjamin, Johnnel Eugene, Jon-Russ Jaggesar and Pedro Collins (manager/coach)

UWI: Vikash Mohan, Al Small, Malcolm Ramlogan, Marlon Richards, Adrian Ali, Jovan Ali, Duane Cockburn, Emilio Gopaul, Daniel Williams, Sachin Seecharan, Steven Katwaroo, Nathaneal Ramcharitar, Cameron Pennyfeather, Gillion Tyson, Michal Powell, Shaquille Brown, Michael Frew, Keshava Ramphal (coach), Ryan Austin (assistant) and Stephanie Power (manager)

TSATT: Mark Deyal, Randy Mahase, Justyn Gangoo, Jason Batson, James Duncan, Saiba Batoosingh, Reinzo Trotman, Mikel Frederick, Amit Sankar, Jabari Mills, Jonathan Williams, Randy Narine, Suraj Seepaul, Ramesh Brijlal, Imran Jan (coach), Vinood Maharaj (assistant) and Inshan Ali (manager)

USA: Ram Vishwanathan, Karthk Sagar Gattepalli, Kyle Phillip, Keshav Pabbisetty, Aadam Khan, Kishan Das, Raymond Bynoe, Jerin Chacko, Derick Narine, Abhijai Mansingh, Asif Mahmud, Sagar Patel, Wahidur Rahman, Imran Ali, Shivnarine Chanderpaul (coach), Surendra Thakoorpersad (assistant) and David Ramsingh (manager)

Oxford: Christopher McBride, David Murphy Bowler, Zaman Akhter, William Rogers, Louie Shaw, Will Heathfield, William Robertson, Liam Burgess, Thomas Heathfield, James Seward, Syed Rizvi, Matthew Taylor, Henry Adair, Dominic Clutterbuck, Keith Kelly (manager), Graham Charlesworth (coach) and Luke Taylor (assistant)