MASTER PLAY

by EZRA STUART

A NEW International Masters (Over-35) Twenty20 Tournament involving England, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies will be held under floodlights at Kensington Oval from November 27 to December 5.

Plans for the CLOBI Cup, which carries a winners-take-all first prize of US$50 000, were unveiled yesterday by the organisers - Cricket Legends of Barbados Inc. - at their headquarters in Fontabelle, St Michael.

Speaking on behalf of the Legends, West Indies' fast-bowling icon Joel Garner said the tournament was restricted to retired Test cricketers over 35 years.

He said it would be expanded next year to include the other Test-playing countries - Australia, India, New Zealand and Pakistan.

Sri Lanka have a formidable line-up with players such as Arjuna Rantunga, Marvan Atapattu, Hashan Tillakaratne, Asanka Gurisinghe, Russel Arnold and wicketkeeper Romesh Kaluwitharana.

England will be represented by Mark Ramprakash, Graham Thorpe, Devon Malcolm, Philip Defreitas, Dominic Cork, Neil Fairbrother, Dean Headley, wicketkeeper Paul Nixon, Craig White, Martin Bicknell, John Emburey and Mark Alleyne.

South Africa will have players such as Lance Klusener, Dave Callaghan, Brian McMillan, Dale Benkenstein, Paul Adams, Myerick Pringle and Pat Symcock.

Sir Vivian Richards, Courtney Walsh and Gordon Greenidge headline the West Indies side that also include Jimmy Adams, Collis King, Courtney Browne, Sherwin Campbell and Stuart Williams. Rawl Lewis, Vasbert Drakes, Nehemiah Perry and Ian Bradshaw are also expected to feature.

Efforts are still being made to contact crowd favourite Carl Hooper, who now lives in Australia. But, according to Garner, it appears Brian Lara won't be playing.

Garner said even though the players involved had retired from Test cricket, many of them were still active, either playing at the first-class level, club or league cricket.

"We are bringing a certain level of cricket to the public. We don't want to water it down. We want a product that is marketable and you can resell," he said.

Garner, who is also president of the Barbados Cricket Association, said negotiations were taking place with a company in Dubai for television coverage.

There will be a double header each night with the winners of the three Sagicor-sponsored local competitions participating in a separate competition.

Garner said recently retired Test umpire Jamaican Steve Bucknor would be invited to officiate, alongside a pool of local umpires in the round-robin quadrangular tournament.

New Shield champions Old Brigand Dover will oppose the Cricket Legends of Barbados in the opening game on November 26. This will be followed by an encounter between Twenty20 champions TeleBarbados Carlton and the winners of the ongoing Sagicor Super Cup.