By Marlon Munroe
The ninth annual Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Inter-County Castrol Under-15 limited overs round robin tournament begins today with Demerara coming up against Essequibo at the Anna Regina Community Centre ground.
Both teams were involved in light practice sessions yesterday with the objective of working out match scenarios.
Demerara Coach Garvin Nedd said that his players will be looking to play as a unit and stick to the fundamentals of the game for today’s fixture.
Nedd said he wanted the players to perform on all levels and therefore it was important for them to be given psychological conditioning before the game.
He said that the players were told to help each other out and to remember the strategies of the team.
They were also urged to put a price on their wickets which would eventually ensure a large total for the bowlers to defend.
Demerara will be led by the talented opening batsman Brian Sattaur while West Demerara skipper Chandrika Persaud is the vice captain.
Also in the Demerara lineup is opening batsman Tagenarine Chanderpaul, who recently played creditably in the Demerara Cricket Board (DCB) NALICO/NAFICO 50-over tournament.
Demerara also has the hard hitting Marvin Pestano-Bell at the top while there are Georgetown players Andrew Gibson, wicketkeeper Prince Roberts, who has shown the ability to bat, Vishan Narayan and Terrence Alstrom who have all played creditably in the recent DCB tournament.
Spinner Devon Lord, who last year took eight wickets in a Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) tournament, spinner Kamesh Yadram, 13-year-old pacer from East Coast Demerara Ryan Chichester and Odiri Reid will bolster the Demerara bowling. Meanwhile, ECD’s opening bowler, pacer Steven Sankar has been chosen as one of the six Demerara reserves for the tournament.
Essequibo on the other hand, will be led by Ricardo Adams with Henry Green, brother of national under-19 batsman Herell Green, as his deputy. On paper, the Essequibo team looks solid but many are waiting to see the Cinderella County’s nursery of players perform, especially since cricket in the county has been plagued by problems of leadership and the exodus of top players to the city.
Demerara team: Brian Sattaur (captain), Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Martin Pestano-Bell, Dexter George, Vishan Narayan, Andrew Gibson, Chandrika Persaud (vice captain), Prince Roberts (wicketkeeper), Terrance Alstrom, Kamesh Yadram, Premraj Lall, Devon Lord, Ryan Chichester and Odiri Reid.
Manager: Raymond Barton and Coach: Garvin Nedd.
Reserves: Aksasha Persaud, David Mohamed, Michael Mathura, Travis Persaud, Abdool Salim and Steven Sankar.
Essequibo team: Ricardo Adams (captain), Henry Green (vice captain), Mark Gonsalves, Shivindra Hemraj, Andy Dass, Raj Parbattie, Tameshwar Dhanpaul, Hassan Mohamed, Devon George, Dexter Williams, Travis Johnson, Hemraj Kowlessar and Mikel Garraway.
Manager: Elroy Stephney and Coach: Forbes Daniels