Somerset Cricket Club are about to brighten up their West End facilities ? literally!

Tomorrow will mark another momentous occasion in the club?s history when they stage their first Cup Match trial match over a two-day period under newly-installed state-of-the-art floodlights.

A president?s select led by Janeiro Tucker, who succeeded Albert Steede as skipper of the current cup holders earlier this year, will take on a vice-president?s select in an open format two-day match.

The public have been invited to attend the match free of charge on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, beginning at 6.00 p.m. each day.

?We are very excited up here,? exclaimed Somerset Cricket Club executive Anthony Bailey.

?What we are looking at is introducing a new concept to Bermuda at large. Night cricket was introduced to the Island last year on a smaller scale at the National Sports Centre to basically gauge the (public?s) response which I believe was very positive.?

Bailey said earlier plans to launch a night cricket league had fallen by the wayside due to the Island?s heavy involvement at the international level this summer. However, he did reveal that new plans were now in the works which could see the club play host to a cricket festival under the lights in August.

Bermuda are gearing up to host next week?s ICC Americas Regional Cup Competition which runs from July 5 to July 11, closely followed by the Intercontinental Cup Competition which kicks off on July 13.

?We are looking to stage a sixes cricket festival under the lights,? Bailey explained. ?We are trying to plan a cricket festival for local teams in August but we are still trying to find a date that will not conflict with any of the Island?s international commitments.

?We are looking at possibly staging a one-week cricket festival were we have 12 teams participating at the club. It could be a round-robin knockout competition with the two top teams playing for a trophy in the final. The lights are functional and ready to go. The only thing we have to do now is get the players on the field.?

The newly installed floodlights have also given Somerset an advantage, that of staging two Cup Match trials instead of one this summer, noted Bailey.

?We now have an opportunity to look at the players more than once,? he added. ?So it gives us an opportunity to look at the players over three days.?