By: Curtis Morton
A sell out crowd was on hand to witness a charity match played as part of the Caribbean Premier league (CPL) St.Kitts leg. The match was played on the evening of Tuesday 12th August.
One of the highlights of the evening, was the bowling of the first ball by Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas who it was reported had an extended practice session at the Len Harris Cricket Academy on Monday night.
Dressed in full cricketing garb, complete with CPL outfit, the Prime Minister marked out his run, flexed, rubbed the ball in his flannels and moved in to bowl , cheered on by the huge crowd.
His run up was smooth and as he delivered the ball to Luther Kelly, the crowd went wild. Kelly just blocked the delivery.
TV replays however, may suggest that the ICC officials may want to have a word with the Prime Minister and he may well suffer the same fate as Shane Shillingford and Saeed Ajmal.
The Prime Minister later retired to the VIP lounge to witness the game and when asked why he was not playing, he responded: ‘They did not give me a game!’
Some of the other highlights included some scintillating shots from Luther Kelly; some dropped catches which put the spectators in stitches; a royal duck by Brian Lara who received loud cheers from the crowd as he walked out to bat and Sports Minister Glenn Phillip not only bowling but picking up a wicket as well.
Brian Lara’s X1 scored 177 for 7 from 20 overs with Shane Jeffers smashing 78
Piers Morgan’s team required 21 from the final two overs.
Morgan was dropped by Lara and then responded by hitting him for six.
He led his team to six wicket win.
However, it was a game filled with fun and laughter and resulted in the presentation of $5,000.00 US to three charities: The Special Olympics St.Kitts and Nevis; The St.Kitts-Nevis Association of persons with disabilities and the Creative Youth Academy.