Photo Credit: Cricket West Indies
International umpire Gregory Brathwaite will be among the match officials for the upcoming CG United Super 50 tournament in Antigua and Trinidad. Cricket West Indies (CWI) unveiled the list of umpires and match referees for the three-week event to be played from October 29 to November 19.
Brathwaite is the most experienced official having stood in eight Test matches, 50 One-Day Internationals and 44 T20 International since his first match back in 2011. He said it is an honour to be part of the game-management panel for the region’s marquee 50-over tournament.
“As umpires, the regional tournaments such as the CG United Super50 are important to the development of our officials. Over the past decade in particular we have seen tremendous growth and maturing of the regional umpires. The impact of those who have gone on from these opportunities at regional level to international level, on the other regional umpires can be seen in those regional umpires who get and have had opportunities to showcase their talents,” Brathwaite said. “The CG United Super 50 is the one televised tournament produced and managed by CWI and this provides a forum/platform for our umpires who otherwise have little to no other opportunities for this exposure and so this is a very important developmental tool for our umpires.”
Brathwaite was speaking to CWI Media ahead of the start of the event. He will have assignments in Group A in Trinidad. His first match is between Windward Islands Volcanoes and Guyana Harpy Eagles at Queen’s Park Oval on Monday 31, October.
On that same day defending champs Trinidad & Tobago Red Force open their campaign on against Combined Campuses & Colleges at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy. The tournament officially bowls off in Antigua on Saturday when Leeward Islands Hurricanes face West Indies Academy at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium. This match will be television on ESPN Caribbean for viewers in the region.
The other umpires are: Jacqueline Williams, Christopher Taylor, Christopher Wright, Jonathan Blades, Leslie Reifer jr., Patrick Gustard, Nigel Duguid, Zahid Bassarth, Danesh Ramdhanie, Shannon Crawford, and former West Indies players Carl Tuckett and Deighton Butler. The match referees are: Michael Ragoonath, Denavon Hayles, Vanroy Burnes and Reon King, the former West Indies fast bowler.
“Regional cricket provides the foundation for players to showcase their talents with the desire to move onto the international level and one of the joys for us as umpires at the regional level is that we get to see these players first before they launch. We get to follow the development of a career building before our eyes,” Brathwaite said.
“The rivalry and relationships of the players are second to none and to be in the middle of that can be an enthralling experience. The opportunity to experience the various cultures that make us who we are as a people helps us to have a better understanding of some of the team dynamics and to appreciate the blended product produced from the regional tournaments.”
