England’s fiery wicketkeeper batsman Johnny Bairstow and Australia’s brash big-hitting opener David Warner have been fierce foes on the biggest stages in cricket.
Now the pair – two of the biggest names in the sport for the past decade – are preparing to renew their rivalry in the Cayman Islands.
The Max60 Caribbean tournament – a 10-over slog fest under the Cayman sun – is back after a successful pilot edition in August.
The tournament – a quantum leap for the sport on the islands in terms of the stature of players – will take place at West Bay’s Jimmy Powell Oval in March.
Among the elite cricketers signed up this time are a host of internationals including Bairstow, his erstwhile opening partner Jason Roy, one of the all-time Twenty20 greats Dawid Malan, current England internationals Dan Lawrence and James Vince, and returning stars Ravi Bopara and Alex Hales.
Beyond the English contingent, there is a smattering of international greats led by Warner – one of the MVPs at the last Max60 – fellow Aussies Josh Brown and Chris Lynn and West Indies all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite.
A new tweak to the tournament means each of the five squads – selected in a draft – must field at least two Cayman players in the starting XI.
Fresh off their success in Argentina – reaching the next phase of the World Cup qualifiers – Cayman’s cricketers will be looking to make the most of the opportunity.
Cayman international Romeo Dunka – who starred last time, showing he can mix it with the best in the world – lines up alongside Malan and Vince for the Grand Cayman Jaguars.
Sacha de Alwis – who smashed a memorable century for Cayman in Argentina last year – will be part of the Cayman Bay Stingrays led by Jason Roy.
Cayman skipper Conroy Wright and all-rounder Ramon Sealy were both selected into Bairstow’s Rajasthan Kings.
Tournament CEO Dario Barthley said the event was a chance for those Cayman players to put themselves in the shop window.
“It gives that opportunity for local players to showcase their skills in front of the world and possibly kick start their own careers,” he said.
Wright echoed those sentiments, urging his players to make the most of the chance to rub shoulders with the best in the business.
“There’s a lot of franchise cricket worldwide and as long as it televised and you go there and put in an extremely good performance you never know. I always tell my guys, you just go there and play to your best ability, no matter the circumstances.”
A sports tourism venture
Groundsmen are already on the island preparing the surface for the tournament and work is ongoing to improve the West Bay stadium. Learning from the first tournament, Barthley said there would be increased shade, a better VIP experience and more opportunities for local vendors.
He said the aim was for Max60 to be a tourism event, embedded in the Cayman community, as well as a sporting festival.
“You could go and play T10 cricket anywhere but you want to come and play it in the Cayman Islands, where you can bring your family, where you can enjoy the beautiful backdrop, where each night there’s activities. We’ve intentionally built the tournament like this to be a tourism product for the Cayman Islands.”
He said the tournament was “power packed” with star players and more wanted to take part in what will become an annual fixture of the sporting calendar each March.
He added that the organisers would be investing in youth development and infrastructure to help take cricket in Cayman to a higher level.
Eventually, he hopes Cayman talent can develop to the point where franchises are competing to have more island players on their squads.
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