Sagicor UWI, BNOC for Masters final tomorrow

Sagicor University of the West Indies will be pulling out all the stops tomorrow as they hope to take home this year’s championship in the Barbados Masters Cricket competition.

Riding the wave of a win in 2019 and a solid season for 2020, UWI have a date against the Barbados National Oil Company at the Foursquare Oval.

With the two formidable sides set to clash in a 35-over game, spokesperson for the tournament Sam Wilkinson explained that despite the COVID-19 pandemic forcing a delayed conclusion of the competition, things are slated to be wrapped up this weekend.

“We have come to the finals for this year 2020 and this season, although you will appreciate we are way different in terms of timing, we normally would have had our finals in March. Everyone understands and everyone knows that the world has been a changed place since COVID entered. We are going to play on Saturday, God willing, at 12:00, and the two teams this year are the defending champions Sagicor University of the West Indies and the BNOC,” he said.

Stating that UWI won handsomely against Wildey in last year’s final at the BNOC ground and that the BNOC have won the championship before, Wilkinson expects a nail-biter for the final.

With both teams boasting big-billed players, he revealed that Former West Indies players Floyd Reifer and Pedro Collins are in the UWI side; while Corey Collymore starred in the BNOC side that is being helmed by Anthony Morris.

Wilkinson also highlighted who he believes could prove to be a talisman for the BNOC team.

“One player that I have often looked at very closely throughout his career [is] William Lashley, who played so very well for YMPC and has scored well for the same BNOC and LIME when they played then under that title. He is perhaps the most underscored allrounder in recent times in Barbados’ cricket. He has done well at YMPC and he does consistently good as a player up at the BNOC grounds, and I think he could be one of the more important figures on Saturday for the BNOC side against a very competitive University team.”

With BNOC getting past Conrad Hunte in their semi-final, Wilkinson said that he also expects UWI to not make it easy for their opponents.

“This season, UWI played very well in their zone and they got through and they won last weekend from Pickwick at the semi-final stage. That was a tremendously good game for them [UWI] because Pickwick last year played and they too demonstrated a keenness that they can get beyond where they were last season and the season before,” he said.

Wilkinson also said that before the start of the match there will be two minutes of silence to honour the memory of two great  Barbadians who served the country excellently, and by extension the region and the world. Speaking of Sir Everton Weekes and the Right  Honourable Professor Owen Seymour Arthur, who both passed away recently, Wilkinson said that their contributions to the tournament need to be honoured. (MP)