In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. All praise and thanks be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon Prophet Muhammad, his family and his Companions.

Master of Ceremonies, Bro. Javid Khan, President of the Trinidad Muslim League, Bro. Farz Khan, T&T & WI cricket commentator and feature speaker tonight, Bro. Fazeer Mohammed, Brothers and Sisters,  Assalamu Alaikum.

It gives me great pleasure to welcome each and every one of you to our 14th edition of TML Cricket.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims of the horrendous event in New Zealand earlier today, in the city of Christchurch. Fifty of our muslim brothers, sisters and children were mercilessly shot and killed during Jumaah Salaah. May Allah grant them all place in Janat-ul Firdaus, Ameen.

The members of the Bangladesh Cricket Team were just arriving for Jumaah Salaah when they heard the shots and ran directly from their bus to the nearby Hagley Oval. Alhamdulillah, they are all safe. Wicketkeeper batsman, Mushfiqur Rahim, tweeted that the entire team got saved from the active shooter. He said “it was a frightening experience, we are extremely lucky, Alhamdulilah, keep us in you prayers…”. The 3rd test between Bangladesh and New Zealand, which was to begin tomorrow, is now cancelled.

Our 2019 season is off to a late start. We had, in my view, the TML version of a “Savannah Grass” issue! This was due, in part, to the heavy rains and floods of last October, which resulted in the play field being totally bare of grass. The TML Lands and Building Committee, led Bro. Sean Hosein, explored many options to resuscitate the filed, and eventually decided to re-plant it with Bermuda Grass Seeds imported from Texas USA. The Committee also installed 6 sprinklers and ensured that the 400 plus school children were kept off the field for the 10-week period when the grass was being established. Today, alhamdulillah, they have handed over the field in a pristine condition enabling the TML Cricket Committee to begin our tournament.

I wish to express my sincere thanks to the TML Lands and Building Committee for their unwavering support and dedication to the resuscitation of the playing field. Special thanks are extended to our local Councillor for Valsayn/St. Joseph, Seema Ramsaran Agostine, who has joined us for today’s opening ceremony, and who was instrumental in providing support for the cleaning of the outside drains and supplying heavy equipment to roll the field.

The 2019 TML Cricket will include games in the Fun and Championship Leagues over the next 8 weeks. We shall then pause during the month of May in observance of the Holy Month of Ramadan and recommence from 8th June with the TML Premier and TML Masters Leagues.

I hereby thank our title sponsors, for providing players of all 36 teams with full branded uniforms kits, bats, trophies, medals and prize monies. In this challenging economic climate, we are indeed very, very thankful to our title sponsors.

I wish to recognise them as follows:

  • The 2019 TML Fun League is now sponsored by Mohammed Electrical of San Juan, Mohammed Electrical Co Ltd, for all your domestic and industrial Electrical needs.
  • The 2019 TML Championship Leagues is now sponsored by Metaluxries, manufacturers of stainless steel, aluminium and steel railing & Spike Sport, for affordable sport clothing.
  • The 2019 TML Premier League will be sponsored by Executive Upholsterers
  • The 2019 TML Masters League will be sponsored by Eniaths Printing Co Ltd.
  • Other sponsors include: Nestle, Max Grill House, Nikki Imports, AMR Signs, Price Club, Uzary’s Marketing, Jumans Roti Shop, National Muslim Women Association, Kameel Hosein, Nadeem Ali

You would have also noticed that we have removed one of the bleacher stands, as it was no longer safe for seating. Our intention is to replace it with a more permanent concrete bleacher type stand. Hopefully with all approvals necessary, we may have it in the post Ramadan period, in sha Allah.

Our website, tmlcricket.com, has been further developed and we have an active Facebook page, TML Cricket. They will provide up-to-date information, including fixtures, results, score sheets, standings, and even live streaming on selected games. We are very proud of our website which now includes information from as far back as 2011 on for TML Cricket history and data.

This year, we also have a new cafe concessionaire in Shazam’s Cafe. We urge you to support our café. Part proceeds from the sales will assist in offsetting some of our expenses. We acknowledge, with gratitude, Terrence and his family, Terrence Terrace, for providing us with sumptuous meals and snacks over the past 14 years.

As you would no doubt appreciate, a lot of committed and dedicated effort was made in the planning of 2019 TML Cricket. I wish to thank all who participated in the regular committee and team meetings to examine how we can improve each area of the competition, including the rehabilitation of the playing field, the update the website and the upgrade of third umpire cameras. We are now ready and rearing to go!

I urge you, the players and supporters, men and women, young and not so young, to come out in your large numbers in this family oriented and safe surroundings to enjoy the games, have a sumptuous meal and win a door prize or two for 28 nights of exciting and competitive cricket, every Friday and Saturday from 5 p.m. to midnight, in sha Allah.

Tonight’s feature games showcase Tunapuna Jamaat, with T&T and WI all-rounder Rayad Emrit in its line-up, against an ever strong ASJA Markaz, which is desperate to do better than finishing second to Endeavour Jamaat last year.

May the best team win! I thank you.

Naim Khan
Chairman,
TML Cricket Committee

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