( L - R ) Gayle, Sarwan, Samuels, Morton, Richardson

The second annual staging of CJ Sports Pro Fifteen15 Cricket Classic will be held on Sunday, October 18, the pre-Heroes Day weekend, at St Ann Bauxite Sports Club.

The 15-over-per-side event, which is being organised by the Chris Gayle-led CJ Sports, will again feature past and present West Indies players including Richie Richardson, Curtly Ambrose, Keith Arthurton, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Pedro Collins, Ridley Jacobs, Marlon Samuels, Dinanath Ramnarine, Wavell Hinds, Daren Powell, Corey Collymore, Runako Martin, Xavier Marshall, Carlton Baugh Jr and Jerome Taylor.

"It's my way of giving back to a sport that has given me so much," said Gayle, who stages the event in aid of charity, with a number of high-school cricket pro-grammmes slated to benefit from the extravanganza in cricket gear, equipment and computers.

"The concept was held in Trinidad and Tobago a few years back and last year I said to myself, whenever I have some time on my hand I would put on a similar event. A number of schools are struggling with their cricket programmes and I want to do whatever I can to help," he added.

Live music and entertainment

The Classic, which was held at Uprising Sports Club in St Elizabeth last year, will feature live music and entertainment throughout the day and will have four teams participating - Helium, Hercules, Lethal and CJ Sports.

The teams, which hail from the parishes of Trelawny, St Elizabeth, Kingston and St Andrew and St Ann, will include at least two high-school players, who both have already been confirmed. They are regional and national Under-19 standouts, Kingston College leg-spinner Akeem Dewar and Tacky High opener John Campbell.

The teams will each play one preliminary round knockout match, beginning at 9 a.m., with the winners progressing to the final, which is slated to start at 3 p.m.

Personal touch

"In addition to giving back, we want spectators and communities to get a bit more up close and personal with their superstars and regional cricket heroes," said Whilie Jervis, managing director of CJ Sports. "It will be non-stop entertainment for the entire family and we want to encourage everybody to come out an have a fun day."

Other players down to participate in the event include Andrew Richardson, Krishmar Santokie, Brenton Parchment, Nikita Miller and Shawn Findlay.

Eight schools will benefit from the initiative, all of which will come from the parishes of Kingston and St Andrew and St Ann.