By Curtis Morton

CHARLESTOWN, Nevis -- President of the Nevis Cricket Association, Ronald Powell met with his executive on Tuesday to finalise plans for the hosting of the regional match between Combined Colleges and Campuses (CCC) and Barbados.

Powell explained that his Association had to do quite a bit of work behind the scenes in order to eventually 'land' the match as, originally, Nevis was written off as one of the possible hosts of the regional series. He was high in praise for the assistance rendered by the Nevis Island Administration, especially the Ministry of Sports and also assistance received from Hospital Administrator Veta Morton.

The match will be played from Friday 15th to Monday 18th January at the Elquemedo Willet Park.

The following decisions were made:

Spectators will only be required to pay EC$5 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the game, while they will be allowed in free of cost on the final day, Monday. Vendors will be asked to pay a small entrance fee of $50 per day. Musical entertainment will be provided on all days of the match and the Nevis Cricket Association will also be operating a well stocked bar, with the additional feature of the renowned Sandy's fried chicken.

Powell is encouraging the Nevisian public to support the game as some of the top players in the Caribbean will be on show. These include Floyd Reifer, Ryan Hinds, Pedro Collins, Tino Best, Dale Richards and the exciting and really quick Kemar Roach.

Powell was happy to note that, due to an initiative taken by his Association, he now has the added assistance of four brand new and qualified Match Referees in Nevis. The four who received training in St Kitts in October 2009 and duly qualified are: Merlin Liburd, Oscar Browne, Ellison Smithen and Errol Somersall.

Teddy 'Blackman' Liburd, who previously qualified, was the only match referee on the island after the passing of Egbert Holliday. Nevis therefore now has five qualified match referees.

Preparations are well under way for the game as head grounds man 'Jabal' and his staff are working overtime to ensure that a proper track is provided for what is expected to be a competitive match up as the Combined Colleges and Campuses has shown tremendous fight in their previous encounters.

The main pitch at the Elquemedo Willet Park will receive a trial run prior to the regional match. According to Powell, there have been several fiascos pertaining to cricket pitches around the world and, due to the fact that the pitch has not been utilised for a while, his Association saw it necessary to have a practice game played on it, prior to the big regional encounter.

The match that has been organised should be a crowd pleaser as it will involve two top local teams representing the Gingerland Secondary and Charlestown Secondary schools respectively. Some of the top young players on the island will be attempting to outdo each other. The match will be played this coming Saturday, 9th January, at 1 pm.