Stars set to explode at Pro 15/15 festival

Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

The stage is set for another exciting staging of the Chris Gayle Pro 15/15 Celebrity Cricket Festival, which will be held today at the Kaiser Bauxite Sports Club in St Ann.

The festival, which will see part proceeds going to the Heart Foundation of Jamaica and the establishment of a high school cricket scholarship fund, will again showcase a number of current and former West Indies and Jamaica players, including Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Twenty20 batting prodigy Kieron Pollard, Sulieman Benn, Pedro Collins, Nixon McLean and Ridley Jacobs.

There will also be an added attraction this year, with entertainers Beenie Man, Wayne Marshall and selectors Razz and Biggy who, along with World and Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt and rising sprint star Yohan Blake, are expected to be a hit among spectators.

Marlon Samuels, Xavier Marshall, Jerome Taylor and Daren Powell and Carlton Baugh Jr, who have all represented the West Indies, are also expected to add to the event.

Ready to go

"Everything is set and ready and the hope now is that the weather will hold up," said Whylie Jervis, one of the event's organisers.

"With the addition of players such as Pollard, and the likes of Beenie Man, we also expect this year to be bigger and better," he declared.

The event will see four teams - St Elizabeth XI, St Ann XI, Trelawny XI and a Chris Gayle XI - taking part in a knockout format.

The first game will see St Ann taking on St Elizabeth at 9 a.m., and the second will pit Gayle XI against Trelawny XI at 11 a.m.

The winners will then contest the final, which is slated for 2 p.m. The admission cost for a child is $300 and $1,000 for an adult.