Cricket returns to Central Broward Regional Park
Lauderhill Mayor Richard Kaplan is excited that the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) is coming back to the city for four matcheson Aug. 5-6at Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, and it is not just because he is an avid cricket fan.
Kaplan knows the economic impact of the event, and so do the businesses in the city. Having seen cricket lovers from different parts of the country flock to Lauderhill last year when the only ICC-certified cricket stadium in the country hosted six CPL games, Kaplan wants more of the same this year.
“Lauderhill has a large Caribbean population and as mayor of a city you want to provide your residents with what they are looking for,” he said. “We developed programs around their interests, and cricket is one of them.”
Kaplan has been in the forefront of efforts tomake the stadium a major venue for cricketing events, including international cricket matches. In spite of all the efforts to woo international teams, only six matches featuring international teams have taken place at the stadium, four of them featuring West Indies.
With the two matches that took place on weekdays not attracting much of a crowd last year, the organizers have decided to limit the games to the weekend. The number of games in the Lauderhill leg o the tournament has been reduced from six to four.
With the International Cricket Council expelling United States Of America Cricket Association (USACA) earlier this year, the CPL organizers have one less thing to worry about. In 2016, they had to fight off an attempt by USACA to stop the games from happening in Lauderhill.
With tickets already on sale and drawing an enthusiastic response from cricket lovers, the organizers and six Florida businesses, most of them in Lauderhill, have joined hands to give people in the community an early taste of the carnival atmosphere they can expect during the cricket weekend. In addition to various special offers, people will get a chance to take home CPLT 20 Carib merchandise and even tickets to the matches.
One of the events will take place from6 to 8 p.m. on July 28 at Joy’s Roti Delight, 1205 N.W. 40th Ave. in Lauderhill. Another one will be from 1 to 3 p.m. on July 29 at Bedessee West Indian Foods, 4000 N.W. 12th St. in Lauderhill. The other businesses that are promoting the event and selling tickets for the matches are Lauderhill Lakes-based Singh’s, Hibiscus Restaurant in Plantation, LC Roti Shopin Miami and Caribbean Delite Restaurant in Palmetto Bay.
Aday after the tournament officially kicks off 4 p.m. at the Darren Sammy national Cricket Stadium in St Lucia, the Lauderhill leg will commence with Guyana Amazon Warriors taking on St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the first game at 11 a.m. on Aug. 5. Barbados Tridents will play Jamaica Tallawahs at 3 p.m. the same day. St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots will be up against Guyana Amazon Warriors at 11 a.m. the next day while Jamaica Tallawahs will take on Barbados Tridents again at 3 p.m.
Tickets for the matches are available at kyazoonga.com/Matches/Lauderhill# For details, visit cplt20.com.