– changes made to three-day title-winning team
By Calvin Roberts
Having won the three-day format of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)/GTM sponsored under-19 Inter-County cricket tournament, the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) is going all out to win the limited overs format and in so doing, has made one change to the team which won the three-day championship.
Berbice will open their quest for championship honours in this competition when they play their first game against Essequibo who lost to Demerara by 58 runs in their first match at the Police Sports Club ground, Eve Leary, on Tuesday at the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) ground, Queenstown.
West Berbice all rounder Krisendat Ramoo has replaced Rose Hall Town Michael Felix who had a lean time with the bat and is expected to strengthen the top order of the Berbice batting which will also include Seon Hetymyer, Jonathon Foo, Anthony Bramble, Alex Amsterdam, Eon Hooper and Manoj Pooranauth.
The bowling department is expected to take care of itself with fast bowlers Keon Joseph, Collis Duke and Keon Fraser all rearing to have a go on the fast DCC wicket and they should prove to be thorns in the flesh of the Cinderella County team.
Their spin bowling department will be supervised by skipper Eugene La Fleur who will receive admirable assistance from Amsterdam, Stephen Latcha and Sahadeo Somai.
On the other side, Essequibo will be looking to create an upset and end their run in this division of cricket for the year with a bang.
For that to occur, batsmen in the likes of captain Royan Fredericks who got a 50 against Demerara, Ravindra Parsram, Mark Austin, Royston Alkins and all rounders Dillon Heyliger and Oyano Sampson will have to walk with their A game today. Wicket keeper/ batsman Parmeshwar Neel is no rabbit with the bat, but will have to make a worthy contribution if Essequibo is to succeed today and emulate the triumph they had over Demerara in the first round of the three-day competition.
Their bowling was not that bad, but at times Heyliger was guilty of bowling too short in the first 30 minutes of play against Demerara. However, the DCC track should be a fast one and Heyliger, Sampson, Triston Massena, and Parsram who also bowls medium pace, can have a field day there.
The final match in this competition will pit defending champions Demerara and Berbice against each other at the Georgetown Cricket Club ground on Saturday.
Teams for today’s match which commences at 09:30 hrs are:
Berbice from Eugene La Fleur (captain), Stephen Latcha (v/captain0,Eon Hooper, Krisendat Ramoo, Seon Hetymyer, Jonathan Foo, Manoj Pooranauth, Anthony Bramble, Alex Amsterdam, Keon Joseph, Collis Duke, Sahadeo Somai, Keon Fraser and Keno Gravesande.
Essequibo from Royan Fredericks (captain), Ravindra Parsram, Royston Alkins, Dellon Heyliger, Parmeshwar Neel, Terrence Tulsiram, Brandon Cabose, Mark Austin, Herrel Greene, Oyano Sampson, Triston Massena, Floyd Henry, Edwin Burnett and Orin de Freitas.
Umpires: Shannon Crawford and Krishna Lall with Gowkarran Dindial (standby).
