Five members of the 14-man national U17 team were honoured on Friday by the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) ahead of the West Indies Cricket Board’s Regional tournament in Trinidad and Tobago.
The five DCC players are skipper Travis Persaud, Ronaldo Reenee, Kemo Paul, Keanu Harry and Sherfane Rutherford.
The competition gets underway this morning and will end on July 8.
At the ceremony DCC President Alfred Mentore hailed the players for continuing the rich tradition of the club and said that if they continue applying themselves they will achieve greater things.
Mentore told the players to strive to emulate the examples set by some of the world’s greatest cricketers who also hailed from DCC such as former World record holder for the most test wickets Lance Gibbs and Clive `Supercat’ Lloyd who led the West Indies to two World Cup triumphs and to being the best test side in the world.
“You are not only representing Guyana, you are representing DCC and most importantly yourself and family and I urge you to stick to the formula of success that we have imparted in you at DCC,” Mentore told the young cricketers.
A former national youth player himself having represented Guyana at the U19 level, Mentore said it has always been his club’s tradition to assist players whenever they are selected to represent Guyana and thanked several companies and individuals for coming on board.
“We are very proud of what our under 17 players have achieved and are equally proud of the under 15 players also as we have another five that has been selected on the national Under 15 team,” he said.
“You are going off to Trinidad representing not only Guyana but also DCC and it’s our desire that you will do your best as we remain committed towards helping you in achieving your goals,” he added.
DCC player Travis Dowlin who also represented the West Indies test side, told the players to stick to their game.
“Remember while the on field performance is important, the off field performance is equally important as socializing and interacting with the other teams will help in getting you to learn new things and new cultures,” he said.
Coach of the U17 team Garvin Nedd said the five are among the better players on the team.
“You must make your country, teammates, players and yourself proud as that responsibility lies in your hands,” Nedd said.
There were also some donations made to the cricketers with Mentore donating two boots and one bat; Bish Panday two bats; Cell Phone Shack one pair of boots and Richard Kanhai two bats.
The Guyana team, which placed fourth, last year with two wins and two losses and a rained out game against the Windward Islands will face the Windward Islands in their opening match today.
Jamaica are the defending champions.
