Staff at the island’s prison are looking forward to the visit of fellow prison staff from Bermuda this weekend for a series of cricket matches.
The Cayman Islands Prison Service Sports Club will host this year’s annual tournament which is normally played among three regional prison services, the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and Jamaica. Unfortunately, the Jamaicans had to pull out at the last minute but the competition goes ahead from Monday.
This tournament started in November 2002 with Cayman visiting Jamaica to play a series of games against the Jamaica Correctional Service team. The aim was to build a bond among prison officers through the sharing of ideas and resources. Since then Bermuda joined in. Last year Bermuda hosted the tournament and really entertained the visitors. But they haven’t won it yet. Cayman have won it three times. Prison boasts some of the best players on the island, including Saheed Mohamed, Kevin Bazil, Steve Gordon, Laurie Cunningham and captain Troy David so Bermuda will have a tough task in the four games.
Alton McDonald, president of the Prison Staff Sports Club, said: ‘Although the focus will be on cricket we have incorporated in our itinerary a series of events that will showcase the Cayman Islands. Among the things to be included are a cultural evening, tours of Pedro Castle, Boatswain Beach and the Eastern District.’
Another feature of this year’s tournament is the presentation of donation to the Cayman Islands Cricket Association Youth Development programme. McDonald added: ‘We believe that in order to have a future in the game we must pay close attention to the development of the youths and we would like to play our part by contributing to this aspect of the programme.’
The matches against the Bermuda Correctional Service are 40 over games and the final one is a 20/20. The 40 over games are on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of next week from 11am. The tournament will culminate with a 20/20 game on the Saturday (29 September). All matches are at the Smith Road Oval. McDonald said: ‘We really want support from the public to come down and watch.’
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