STANLEY, Falkland Islands, CMC- A Cricket team from the Falkland Islands is due to play six matches in three Caribbean islands during a two week tour which begins next month.
The 15-man squad of teenagers, working adults and retirees will play friendly matches against teams in Belize, Barbados and Jamaica.
The tour runs from November 27th to December 5th and a T20 match will be played against Belize’s national under 19 squad while the visitors will meet the senior national squad in a one-day match.
Two matches will be played against clubs in Barbados including one against the North stars.
And in Jamaica, the team from the Falkland Islands will play the Clarendon masters and a Jamaica invitational masters.
The Falklands cricket team, on its third International Tour following trips to Mexico and Costa Rica, are seeking to develop the sport after it was given ICC international status and funding in 2001.
Craig Paice, captain of the Barbados leg, says the Falklands’ goal is to use the tour to raise the profile of the game on the islands.
“At the moment, we are the only (cricket) team that has gone from here to mainland South America in an actual recognized international competition,” Paice said.
In the 1930s Cricket was a big sport in the islands but fizzled out during the 60s.
However it was revived in the 90s when the Islands held what they called the Falkland Islands Ashes series.
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean operating as a self- governing British overseas Territory but which continue to be claimed by Argentina.
