The inaugural Leeward Islands Cricket Board (LICB) T20 Festival will commence at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium (SVRS) in North Sound, Antigua, on Saturday.
Six teams, comprising all eight member territories, will participate in the sub-regional T20 tournament that is slated to finish on Sunday, June 8.
Two of the six participating teams will utilize players from two territories to form combined teams.
Players from Montserrat and St. Maarten will team up to represent the Combined Islands, while players from the British and United States Virgin Islands will join forces to compete at the Virgin Islands team.
The other four participating teams are host Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, Nevis, and St. Kitts.
Antigua and Barbuda’s 14-member squad, which is being led by captain Rahkeem “Jimbo” Cornwall, participated in a couple of practice matches at Ball Beef in Liberta in preparation for the tournament.
Nevis also released its 14-member squad, which is being captained by Theron Bussue. It also includes Leeward Islands Hurricane players Collin Archibald and Ross Powell.
Left-handed opener Jamie Cornelius and Jaden Carmichael, who represented the Leeward Islands Thunder at the recently concluded inaugural Cricket West Indies (CWI) Breakout T20 League, are also in the squad.
Tyler Martin is the head coach of the Nevis team, and Frank Monzac is the manager.
The tournament will feature triple-headers on match days, except on Sunday, June 8, when the third place playoff and the final will be contested at 3 pm and 7 pm, respectively. The encounters on all other match days will be contested at 11 am, 3 pm, and 7 pm.
The LICB T20 Festival will bowl off with the first triple-header on Saturday. The Combined Islands will take on Nevis at 11 am, Anguilla will meet the Virgin Islands, and St. Kitts will clash with host Antigua and Barbuda at 7 pm.
In the following days, Antigua and Barbuda will face Nevis on Sunday, June 1; Anguilla on Tuesday, June 3; the Combined Virgin Islands on Thursday, June 5; and the Virgin Islands on Saturday, June 7.
Each team will play five round-robin matches, at the end of which the top two will advance to the final, while the third and fourth place finishers will meet in a playoff for third place.
The nine-day tournament is being supported by the government of Antigua and Barbuda, which will provide sponsorship via LIAT 20, the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority, the Antigua and Barbuda Port Authority, and APUA Inet.
The event is also receiving sponsorship from other corporate citizens in Antigua and Barbuda. They are JOMA Caribbean, Subway, and Cool and Smooth.
