First Class Cricket to Return to Daren Sammy Cricket Ground

For the first time since January 2020, Saint Lucia will host games in the West Indies Championship, the region’s four-day men’s cricket tournament. After significant investment in the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground (DSCG) for last year’s ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup, the venue will host two matches involving the Windward Islands Volcanoes in this year’s First Class competition, which gets underway with four matches from January 29.  The eight teams, including two-time defending champions Guyana Harpy Eagles, will play a total of 28 matches over seven rounds between January and April. The first fixture for DSCG will be a Round 4 clash against the Leeward Islands Hurricanes, March 5-8. The other will be a Round 6 tilt against 2022 champions Barbados Pride, April 3-5.  “It augurs well for us to be back on track as far as regional cricket is concerned,” said Kirby Sydney, general manager of Sports Saint Lucia Inc (SSI), the organisation that operates DSCG. “It gives our regional cricketers the opportunity to showcase their talents on a good pitch.” Over the past year, SSI and the National Lotteries Authority, which owns the DSCG, have been working on a maintenance plan for the facility. Since hosting six...