The Max60 Caribbean tournament wrapped up last month leaving Cayman cricket players wanting more of the fast 10-over matches.
Though the locals are turning their immediate attention to the ICC World Cup qualifiers in December, some are still savouring their experience at the August tournament with the hope of a February return to the Max60, according to organiser BMP Sports.
“Right now, I just want to encourage the local cricket board to keep this going, and ride the momentum,” Cayman national team player Romeo Dunka told the Compass.
Dunka, who played on the winning team, Caribbean Tigers, at the Max60, earned man of the match at the event. He said having the T10 competition return each year will not only provide local cricketers a chance to play with the best but also open doors for potential pro careers.
“Once we perform to the best of our ability and … it’s live streaming, other franchise buyers are out there looking on their monitors and seeing us,” he said.
The tournament featured 15 Cayman cricketers divided across five squads and playing alongside superstars like England’s Alex Hales and Australian cricket legend David Warner.
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Nearly 100 players flew to Cayman to be a part of the event, in addition to coaches, staff and media personnel, which Cayman Cricket president Courtney Myles said has benefited the local economy.
“It’s sports tourism and we are very grateful for BMP Sports who have partnered with Cayman Cricket to put on a historic and prestigious event,” Myles told the Compass. This is great for Cayman cricket because we have shown the world what Cayman cricket is all about and where we can take sports tourism within the Cayman Islands.”
Cayman’s national cricket captain Ramon Sealy, who was on the Grand Cayman Jaguars, hitting 24 off 17 balls in his first game, tried to make the most of his chance to play alongside international stars of the sport.
“It’s a huge opportunity,” he told the Compass. “It’s showing what Cayman has to offer it’s just up to us to grab our chances and hopefully there’s more franchise cricket that comes around; it will draw us in a little more and I hope we have done enough to impress some of the franchise to take us to other tournaments that they are involved in.”
Sealy went on to note that outside of the hope of getting a permanent place in the tournament set to take over the Caribbean, that his first time with some of the pros was a start of something that could be special.
“You just have to make sure that we are getting as much insight and knowledge as we can from this, so that next year we will be able to showcase what we can do a little bit more,” he said. “It’s been amazing working with all the lads, we all get along, we all have fun together.”
But for now, their dreams of playing alongside the big-time names again, and perhaps on a consistent basis, will be put on hold as they prepare for national duty.
“We are going to Argentina in December for the ICC World Cup … so we are going back to the drawing board to try and get some fitness in,” Dunka said.
Additional reporting by James Whittaker.
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