The Busta Cup may be the most important first-class tournament in theCaribbean, but the 2002 edition will see few Test stars and fewerpromising juniors take the field

Staff Reporter29-Jan-2002The Busta Cup may be the most important first-class tournament in theCaribbean, but the 2002 edition will see few Test stars and fewerpromising juniors take the field. While the international playersdepart for Sharjah even as the competition begins, the under-19cricketers are already in New Zealand fighting it out for the juniorWorld Cup title.The absence of the leading lights, however, should not prevent the Cupfrom being a tight-fought contest, a forum for emerging players toestablish themselves and call the attention of national selectors tothemselves. Defending champions Barbados, for example, include ex-Testcricketers Philo Wallace, Floyd Reifer and Courtney Browne, all ofwhom will be looking to break into the national side once again.Following the unique inclusion of a non-regional side in thetournament last year, the cricket authorities are all set to try itagain. After England ‘A’ in 2001, it is the turn of the Bangladeshsecond-stringers to try their hand at some Caribbean cricket. This islikely to prove invaluable for Bangladesh cricket, for their Test andone-day performances at the international level thus far have shown aserious paucity of experience.The opening match will see Barbados take on runners-up Guyana at theKensington Oval. Guyana finished on the same number of points asBarbados but relinquished the trophy due to their fewer victories.Along with Jamaica, the winners of the inaugural Busta InternationalShield last year, Barbados and Guyana are the top contenders for thechampionship this year.A round-robin league competition will be followed by the first fourteams competing in two semi-finals for a right to play in the final…