By Neil Barry
An Under-19 cricket tournament will be held in the memory of the late city businessman David Persaud who passed away last April.
Persaud was chairman of David Persaud Investments Limited at the time of his death.
Yesterday, the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) launched the inaugural David Persaud Investments Limited Under-19 cricket tournament at the Everest Cricket Club, Camp Road, a club where the late Persaud was a member.
Present at the simple opening ceremony were executive members of the GCA and Chris Persaud, son of the late David Persaud.
According to Chris Persaud, the company decided to sponsor the tournament in his father’s honour.
The late David Persaud was also a keen lawn tennis player and fitness conscious individual who collapsed while exercising at the gym of the Le Meridien Pegasus, Hotel last year.
He was a former president of the Everest Cricket Club and also served as its Club Captain for a number of years.
He was well known for his service to the game and his notable charitable efforts to ensure Everest developed a quality side over the years.
David Persaud worked for over 50 years at Toolsie Persaud Limited where he rose to the position of Managing Director.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Chris Persaud said that his company has confidence in the GCA led by Roger Harper. He added that Harper was known throughout the Caribbean and the cricket world as a strict disciplinarian.
Persaud said he hopes that the tournament will help to produce youth teams of standard which will play a role in taking Guyana back to the top of cricket in the region.
President of the GCA, Harper, said that youth was where the GCA places its emphasis and reminisced on his and his brother Mark’s days of youth cricket where they also rubbed shoulders with Chris Persaud.
He said that such tournaments are not only the starting blocks for future West Indian cricketers but also help to produce better citizens through the institution of the good traits that can be passed on by way of the discipline of sport.
Harper also acknowledged the late David Persaud’s role in cricket at Everest and said that the GCA hopes teams will “play with passion, purpose and compete fairly but hard.”
The GCA president promised that the tournament would be ran with the usual high standards of the GCA.
Chairman of the Competitions Committee of the GCA, Shawn Massiah, who completed the first round draw for the small audience, noted that 11 club teams will be involved in the competition as well two school teams, Queen’s College and St Stanislaus College.
The tournament will be in played two zones, with defending GCA under-19 champions Everest placed in group A and second placed GCC in group B. Matches will be played in the 100 overs format. Harper said that this format encourages teams to think more strategically.
The team batting first can bat a maximum of 55 overs while the team batting second can only bat a minimum of 45 overs.
In the event that the team batting first is bowled out or declares before 55 overs, the deficit is added to the number of overs the second team will face.
Games can be drawn provided that the team batting second does not get bowled out and a points system is in place for runs scored and wickets taken. This points system encourages batsmen to put a higher price on their wickets according, said Harper.
The Zones: `A’: Malteenoes Sports Club, Transport Sports Club ‘A’, Ace Warriors, St. Stanislaus College, Transport Sports Club ‘B’, Gandhi Youth Organisation and Everest Cricket Club.
Zone `B’: Queen’s College, Third Class, Demerara Cricket Club ‘B’, GNIC, Demerara Cricket Club ‘A’ and the Georgetown Cricket Club.
Massiah has set the start of the competition tentatively for August 13 adding that a concrete decision will be made later this week on the dates and venues of the first round.
He called on clubs to make their venues available for cricket throughout the week before the resumption of the school year at the end of August.
Round one matches:-
Zone A:
Everest CC vs. MSC
TSC ‘A’ vs. Ace Warriors
St Stanislaus vs. TSC ‘B’
Zone B:
GCC vs. QC
Third Class vs. DCC ‘B’
GNIC vs. DCC ‘A’
