Barbados will host both the women’s and men’s finals of the ICC World 20/20 cricket matches in 2010. The Super Eight matches and the final will be played at the Kensington Oval ground. Along with the finals, ten other matches will be played on the island between Friday, April 30 and Sunday, May 9, 2010. Other matches in the competition will be played in St. Lucia, Guyana, and St. Kitts, with the latter hosting the entire first round of the women’s group. Among the nations that have already confirmed female teams are England, New Zealand, Australia, India, West Indies, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Pakistan.
Barbados is one of the international capitals of cricket and always contributes a large contingent to the West Indies team. The sport is so popular in Barbados that it produced Hit for Six, a feature film about “cricket, love, and scandal” directed by Alison Saunders-Franklyn, which coincided with the 2007 World Cricket Cup held on the island that year.
One of the most famous Barbadian players is Sir Garfield Sobers, whose birthday it is today. Cricketer par excellence, Sir Garfield distinguished himself as a superior cricketer, classified as the greatest all rounder ever. He is considered to be an embodiment of excellence and a symbol of West Indian pride. In 1998, he was made National Hero of Barbados, also receiving the honor of the honor of the Order of the Caribbean Community.
For more information, see http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/barbados/barbados.php?news_id=17883&start=0&category_id=26 and http://www.barbados.org/crick.htm
Photo of Sir Garfield Sobers from http://www.grenadianconnection.com/blkheroes/blackHistory.asp?headline=2
