By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

AS countries around the Caribbean make a concentrated effort to reinvigorate the development of cricket in the region, the Bahamas will be a major part of that process when they host the Nagico T20 tournament for the second consecutive year.

The Nagico T20 Cricket Tournament is all set for this weekend (May 24-25) at Windsor Field.

The two-day event, which is now expected to become a permanent fixture on the Bahamas Cricket Association calendar, will be held in conjunction with the Guyana-Bahamas Association.

Tournament play is slated to kick off this Sunday at 11am when Guyana takes on the “Rest Of The World” side, followed by the Bahamas against Jamaica at 3pm.

On Monday at 11am, the tourney will feature the loser’s bracket semi-final while the winners bracket in the other semi-final is set for 3pm.

This year, Nagico will present cash prizes of $1,800 to the winning team, $1,000 for second place and $700 for third.

The Bahamas will look to repeat as champions in this year’s event. In the 2014 finals, the Bahamas topped Guyana to keep the trophy at home. Jonathon Barry and Mark Taylor combined for 150 runs as the Bahamas batted first and posted an overall 206 runs in the allotted 20 overs. Guyana responded with just 164 as they fell short and The Bahamas emerged as winners.

BCA president Greg Taylor said they welcome Nagico on board once again as their principal sponsor of the tournament.

“We haven’t had something like this since the Benson and Hedges Tournament a couple years ago, so the Bahamas Cricket Association is extremely proud and excited to form this alliance with Nagico.”

Vibert Williams, of Nagico Insurance, said the organisation is known as a cricketing company with the majority of its senior managers having played some form of the sport. They are best known for their sponsorship of the Nagico Super 60 Tournament in Trinidad and Tobago.

“Nagico puts a tremendous amount of money into cricket and before cricket because one of the main reasons is we see it as an avenue where people can get together and expend some energy, build some camaraderie and a good corporate event for us to get involved in,” Williams said.

Just last month, Prime Minister Perry Christie alongside Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell attended a special meeting in St George’s, Grenada, regarding the crisis in West Indian cricket.

Mr Mitchell reported it had been convened to seek a way forward for West Indian cricket which is in crisis.

“The issue facing the region is that the cultural life of the region and the history of the game are intimately tied up with the region’s reputation, image and sense of self,” Mr Mitchell said. “This was a sport which the region dominated in the latter half of the 20th century. It provides a sense of identity for young people throughout the region and provides a good living for scores of West Indian youngsters around the globe. The prime minister was asked in his capacity as chair of CARICOM to lend the weight of his office to a call to the West Indies Cricket Board, the operating entity for West Indies Cricket to change the way of doing business in order to reverse the losing trend and rescue the game from disaffection from young people.”