A new end-of-season tournament, the Super 8 Festival, will be played on September 8 and 9 at Sea Breeze Oval.

Lloyd Smith, the Bermuda Cricket Board president, announced yesterday that the tournament will involve eight teams playing eight-over matches with eight players.

Each team will play three matches on the Saturday to determine their seedings for Sunday’s knockout stage, with matches held each day from 9am to 7.30pm.

Teams are guaranteed to play a minimum four matches and $1,000 in cash prizes will be up for grabs, for first and second-placed teams and the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.

“The festival provides a chance for everybody to have fun and enjoy a special weekend,” Smith said. “The Super 8 format provides constant excitement and compelling viewing at a beautiful venue.

“If you’re a cricket lover and would like to see 80 of Bermuda’s best players playing cricket at one field over a two-day period, this is the event for you.”

The BCB is hoping to generate an environment much like the Eastern Counties, charging $10 admission for each day and (children and seniors $5) and offering spots for purchase for $100 for both days.

Teams expressing interest in competing in the tournament will be given preference based on their positions in the league.

On Friday, September 7 the captains of the eight teams will participate in a draw for the placement of their team on the schedule. On the Saturday the teams will compete for seeding positions as they play three games each.

“We have sent out information to our clubs asking who wants to participate and then we’ll pick the top eight clubs from the standings of the leagues,” Smith explained.

“Hopefully by the end of the week we will understand who has registered for the tournament. There will be a maximum of ten players per team with eight players playing.”

Smith said the tournament calls for each of the eight players to bowl one over, including the wicketkeeper. If the wicketkeeper opts not to bowl then the opposing team will select the bowler they want to bowl the eighth over.

“That will be decided before the match starts when you have to list your bowlers,” Smith said.

The tournament will be played on the weekend before the final weekend of the Twenty20 tournament.

The BCB confirmed that the First Division, which has more teams, will play semi-final and then final matches on September 16 while the winners of the Premier Division T20 will be determined by the team finishing top of the standings after five matches. Asked about the future of the former Belco Cup, which has not been played since Belco withdrew their sponsorship in 2017, Smith said he still hopes the tournament will return with a new sponsor.

The competition, which involved the top four teams in the table from the previous season, started in 1987 as the Premier Cup before being called the Camel Cup between 1989 and 2002. Devonshire Recreation Club were the inaugural winners. Belco’s sponsorship of the two-day competition began in 2003 and ended after the 2016 tournament.

“At this point it has still been talked about but finding sponsors to create the tournament again, that’s the hard part,” Smith said. “Running a tournament without having a sponsor puts the burden on the Bermuda Cricket Board.”