BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – BEEFY’S BASH, the all-star charity T20 game organised by Sir Ian ‘Beefy’ Botham to take place at Warner Park, St. Kitts, on Tuesday (Aug. 12), is expected to feature a number of past and present cricketers in the history of St. Kitts and Nevis as well as regional and international heroes.
The match will bring together a host of celebrity personalities, cricketing legends and current stars, and will form part of an exhilarating week in St. Kitts, building up to the Final of the Limacol CPL 2014.
Proceeds will go to charity.
In an exclusive interview with SKNVibes, Senior Sports Officer in the Ministry of Sports, Vernon Springer gave some of the plans that are being considered for Beefy’s Bash.
“That game will have people like Brian Charles Lara captaining one side. We want to have a conversation with Elquemedo Willet because he would have paved the way for a number of those cricketers in the Leeward Islands. He was the first cricketer from the Leeward Islands to play Test Cricket and we would really like to honour him and have him manage one of the teams. We think that would be a fitting honour.”
He then mentioned some players who could make an appearance at the game, including present and past legends of the sports discipline.
“We are also going to have a couple of youngsters from St. Kitts and Nevis. We might have somebody like Stuart Williams, Luther Kelly, Livingston Harris and Kieth Athurton; maybe a Bret Lee, Sir Vivian Richards and Curtly Ambrose are just some of the names that are being bandied about.
“We have not finalised a pool but a lot of players will be coming to St. Kitts and Nevis for that game. One celebrity coming here is Piers Morgan and he is excited and will be playing the game. So the sky is the limit.”
Springer also spoke about what fans could expect to see at the game.
“It will bring out some of the older folks who would have witnessed cricket over the years, and it also gives the young cricketers to see Brian Lara. You might have read about Lara or saw him in videos but this is an opportunity to see him in living colour.”
At a press conference last month, Sir Ian Botham stated that proceeds from the game would go toward numerous charities in the Federation, though he has not decided which would be the beneficiaries.
He also declared some of the plans for the fixture.
“We will have this game which will be a charity event for a local charity here on the island. There will be a lot of international players. I am trying to get Viv Richards, Piers Morgan, Shane Warne, Kevin Pietersen, Wasim Akram and Brett Lee.
“It will be exciting…it will be a proper game! Brian Lara will be captaining the other side. I am looking forward to it and I think the island should look forward to it, and I think you should embrace it because it is special.
“These kinds of fixtures you expect to go to Barbados, Trinidad and Jamaica. No...it will be here in St. Kitts!”
