– semifinals and finals at Bourda
The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)/Gafsons Industries Limited (Gafoors) national first division 20/20 cricket competition was launched with a simple ceremony at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) pavilion yesterday, and the semifinals and finals will be played at the same venue.
Prior to the handing over of the $3M sponsorship cheque, from which $1.1M will be used as cash prizes for the various winners, president of the GCB Chetram Singh informed those gathered including chief executive officer of Gafoors Mohammed Ali and company secretary Afzal Khan, that the game of 20/20 cricket is here to stay in the world.
“It is evident that 20/20 cricket is here to stay in the world. At the moment, it seems to be the most popular kind of cricket being played, and the form of the game that is really attracting the crowds at the moment. I think it is the one that will spread cricket to those areas that normally don’t play cricket.”
“This is something that is here to stay. A few months ago, Mr. Khan approached me and said that they wanted to get involved with cricket again, having sponsored previous tournaments with the GCB before. A budget to the tune of $43M was provided and approved by the board of directors of Gafoors, hence today’s launching.”
The GCB head further stated that the competition will take the normal format of 20/20 in Guyana and will be played in the three counties separately, among first division clubs and in some cases, separate divisions in the county. However, at the end of the day it will be a round robin format, with each county coming up with their winners to participate in the semifinals.
In a brief statement, Ali said that his company was pleased to be associated with the GCB on this venture, and promised to look at further sponsorship in their budget next year.
A new feature of the competition will be the sharing of the prize money between the players and the club they represent, and this year the first place prize of $500,000 and a trophy would see the players getting $400,000 and the club $100,000.
According to Singh, this request was made by the sponsor who feels the clubs need to be recognized for their superlative efforts.
“Clubs do put out a lot of money for the players to participate in competitions of this nature and it is only fair that the competition rule dictates and not at the whim and fancy of the players, that clubs benefit in some way or the other from the winnings and I must congratulate Mr. Khan for this suggestion,” Singh stated.
By virtue of Malteenoes Sports Club winning last year’s tournament and playing out of Demerara, the county which will have 17 of the 37 teams competing in the tournament, it will be fielding two teams for the semifinals with the other two semifinalists coming from Berbice and Essequibo.
Apart from the first place cash prize, the runner-up will receive $200,000 with $50,000 going towards the club. The two losing semifinalists will each receive $75,000 while the clubs will pocket $25,000. The losing zone winners and their club will also pocket $25,000 each respectively.
The GCB will also be providing balls and umpire fees throughout the competition, and they will also stand the cost of the lunch along with the aforementioned for the semifinals and finals which will be played at the GCC ground Bourda.
