Four teams in July-August Emancipation Cricket Festival

A cricket festival, billed as the Emancipation Cricket Festival was officially launched on Tuesday evening, July 15, 2025 at the Arnos Vale Cricket Ground, with the Players’ Draft also taking place for the four teams scheduled to do battle in the July 31 to August, 3, 2025 event.

Addressing invitees as they relaxed on the party mound, President of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Cricket Association, Dougal James said: “We like to recognize the effort that is placed in showcasing St Vincent as a sporting and tourist destination. This activity should be seen as not just a celebration but as a movement towards bringing back cricket in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the West Indies to its rightful place that was created by the sweat and tears, hard work, motivation of persons like Sir Frank Worrell, Sir Wes Hall, Sir Viv Richards, and those guys”.

He declared confidence regarding the success of the festival, and urged that this year’s emancipation activity will serve for people “to refocus and also invigorate… and let it be all embracing and inclusive”.

Former St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Windward Islands, Combined Islands, and West Indies Test wicketkeeper, Michael Findlay, gave a glimpse into some of the encounters he and other team members faced when on tour.

“Quite often, we used to get fan mails, and a lot of people in the fan mails asked for autographs. One day, I was opening these mails. And when we got those mails, we would get the autographs and send it back to the people …,” he said, noting that this was around 1976.

“… when I opened one of those letters … in big, broad, handwriting, capital letters … GO BACK TO THE TREES WHERE YOU BELONG. That again drove us on to dominate world cricket, Findlay shared, commenting on the sadness of such occurrences, “because people would show you a good face”.

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