Charity Twenty20 planned for Haiti victims

Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana are to play each other in a fund-raising charity Twenty20 match to aid victims of the catastrophic earthquake which struck Haiti three days ago. The match is to be held on 20 January at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

"Haiti's pain and cry for assistance cannot be over-emphasized," said Dinanath Ramnarine, president of WIPA. "It is a catastrophe of such magnitude that should stir the conscience of every individual--locally, regionally and internationally--to make a herculean effort to contribute tangibly towards the alleviation of the problems faced by this unfortunate and one of the poorest, if not the poorest, country in the world.

"The disaster in Haiti took place only three days ago. Our exercise started just this morning. You could well appreciate the challenges we have been facing in organizing this game in the middle of the regional tournament and in securing sponsorship and dealing with the logistics."

The two teams to be involved in the charity match are currently playing each other in a historic first-class four-day game at the Sir Vivian Richards Ground in Antigua. The game is the first to be played at night, under lights, using a pink ball. While the players may have been focussed on coming to terms with these innovations, their minds will also have been on the unfolding crisis in Haiti.

"The staging of this game for a noble cause enables players to appreciate the pros and cons of their own circumstances over which they sometimes have little control," said Azim Bassarath, president of the Trinidad and Tobago cricket board. "It brings them into focus with reality. It inculcates in them a certain humility and the need to be selfless. It shows them how important it is, as a team, to work together to deal with challenges and to overcome despair and defeat."

"Like a cricket game, in life there are also the ebb and flow. Let us all acknowledge that the test of character is when the chips are down. It is our hope that our effort for the Haiti cause would motivate the people of that unfortunate country to rise like the Phoenix and return to normalcy after its cataclysmic experience."

The International Red Cross estimates that about three million people were affected by the earthquake, which devastated the capital Port-au-Prince and caused an estimated 45,000-50,000 deaths.