A local writer and musician is looking for Bermudians to accompany him on a tour of Cuba this summer to explore the link between cricket and slavery.

"We need about four more people to make up the numbers," said Ron Lightbourne, a frequent visitor to Cuba. "I hope this will be the first of an annual thing."

Mr. Lightbourne has been visiting Cuba since he was first sent there by ZBM to judge a song contest in 1999.

"I have returned to Cuba ever since, sometimes twice a year," said Mr. Lightbourne. "I have done research there. I speak the language. This will be my first tour venture."

His wife, Grisell des Los Angeles, is Cuban. She is a mathematics lecturer at the Bermuda College.

Mr. Lightbourne said Bermudians will be most interested in a place called Baraguá where cricket is played every year on July 30 and 31, just as it is played in Bermuda.

"On August 1, they have a feast to celebrate emancipation," said Mr. Lightbourne. "What's interesting is that Cuba didn't experience emancipation until much later in the 19th century."

Slaves in Bermuda were emancipated in 1834, but Cuba did not have emancipation until 1886.

"This cricket tradition was started by the offspring of British West Indian workers who went to Cuba as strike breakers," said Mr. Lightbourne. "The Americans were having labour trouble with the Cubans and they subcontracted the work out to others.

"There was a labour surplus, so the Americans could do what they wanted. They went and got British West Indians from Jamaica and Barbados, Antigua and Grenada."

Leonard Ceon Ford, arrived in Cuba in 1928 from Barbados to work in the Cuban sugar plantations. He was, in Mr. Lightbourne's words, a "cricket nut". He had been a cricket player in Barbados.

In Cuba, he started the Banes and Guantanamo Cricket Clubs. "It is still in existence today," said Mr. Lightbourne. "Today, it is run by his daughter, Leona." Leona Ford was born in 1943 in Guantanamo. As an adult, she became an English professor but then decided to write a book about the history of cricket in Cuba.

She had fond memories of Guantanamo Cricket Club meetings held in her home when she was a small child. But in recent years Cuban interest had turned more towards baseball. Thanks to interest in Ms Ford's book, and her campaigning in 2007, efforts to reestablish cricket in Cuba were ramped up. The National Sports Institute of Cuba made cricket a "recreational sport" which allowed it to be taught in schools. The local British consul also stepped in to lend its support.

"But on our trip to Cuba, we are not just going to watch cricket," said Mr. Lightbourne. "We are going to have fun. But first we are going to go to Matanzas which is known as the Athens of Cuba."

Mantanzas is located on the northern side of Cuba on the Bay of Matanzas. It is about 90 kilometres east of Havana. There are 17 bridges to Matanzas giving it the moniker 'City of Bridges'.

This region was heavily involved in the sugar industry during colonial times. As a result, there was a heavy concentration of African slaves.

It is also notable, because in the late 1890s, it saw the first action in the Spanish/American War. The city was bombarded by American Navy vessels on April 25, 1898.

"In Matanzas there is a UNESCO World Heritage site called 'The Museum of the Atlantic Slave Trade'," said Mr. Lightbourne. "It is housed in a castle. It is brand new. We will be going there. It is the link between slavery and cricket that we are exploring."

The trip will be from July 26 to August 3. The tour will consist of around 11 people. The cost of the trip including airfare and ground transportation will be about $1,700.

The group will be travelling on WestJet. The flight goes through Miami and the Bahamas before going onto Cuba.

Mr. Lightbourne is looking at the Melia Cohiba hotel in Havana, the Hotel Moron in Ciego de Avila, Cuba, or possibly the Hotel Ciego d'Avela in Ciego d'Avela.

There might also be an opportunity for tour participants to stay with host families.