By Delvon Mc Ewan
Young players will have a chance to showcase their talent for national selection when the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)/Sterling Products Limited 2014 Inter-County U15 competition bowls off today at the Demerara Cricket Club and Everest Cricket Club Grounds.
The tournament will see four teams,Demerara, Berbice, Essequibo and the President’s XI, competing and according to Garvin `Tibbsy’ Nedd, coach of defending champions, Demerara, who will face the President’s Xi in their opening encounter, once his players don’t get over confident, play good all-round cricket, be unified and execute what they have practiced then they can gain success.
Julian Moore, coach of the President’s XI side which finished third in last year’s tournament after completing an outright victory against Essequibo, said that the challenge is very much anticipated by his team. “Demerara is traditionally a very strong team and with them being the defending champions, we will have to play tough cricket in order to come out on top,” said Moore. He added his team will not be a walk over since the players are involved in competitive cricket in their respective counties and possess the ability to perform well throughout the tournament.
Former West Indies under 19 captain, Andre Percival who will be in charge of Berbice said that with the kindness of Mother Nature his team was able to undergo sufficient training ahead of the tournament and with the talent and ability within his unit, Berbice can be successful.
Action will commence today and tomorrow from 10:00 hrs with the President’s XI taking on defending champions Demerara at the Demerara Cricket Club ground, while Essequibo and Berbice will clash at the Everest Cricket Club ground.
While the second round of the competition is slated for April 2-3, 2014. Essequibo will go up against Demerara at the Enmore Community Centre ground, while Berbice will meet President Xi at the Wales Community Centre ground.
The third and final round will be held from April 5-6, 2014. Berbice and Demerara will do battle at Everest Cricket Club ground while Essequibo and President XI contest will go down at Demerara Cricket Club ground.
Below is a list of the four teams:
President XI: Stephon Williams, Khemchand Hardyal, Robin Williams, Mark Ramsammy, Danesh Kowlessar, Junior Phillips, Anil Singh, Azim Alli, Joel Fortune, Shivnarine Chattergoon, Quintin Sampson, Christopher Campbelle, Chandrat Veerasammy, Brandon Corlette. The Manager is Clive Grimmond and the Coach is Julian Moore.
Demerara: Bhaskar Yadram, Paul Thomas, Alphius Bookie, Joshua Persaud, Kurt Lovell, Ganesh Jitlall, Ramdeo Basdeo, Ashmead Nedd, Sagar Hiathiramani, Bhojnarine Singh, Colin Barlow, Mark Baptise, Pradesh Balkishun, and Anthony Antonio. The Manager is Robert Adonis and the Coach is Gavin Nedd.
Berbice: Kevin Sinclair, Surendra Budhoo, Alex Algu, Junior Sinclair, Steve Deonarine, Keith Simphson, Kris Ramnarine (Vice Captain), Seon Glasgow, Javid Karim, Dinishwar Budhoo, Kevon Anderson, Steven Kalamudin, Junior Williams, and Haifa Walters. The Manager is Rabindranauth Saywack and the Coach is Andre Percival.
Essequibo: Punraj Coldhar, Shane Wonge, Vishal Singh, Arnold Adams, Besham Moses, Joshua Jones, Ronaldo McPherson, Daeshan Indar, Orlando Jailall, Shamar Dhasrat, Govindra Gobin, Bomesh Ramgobin, Leanardo Bennette, and Wasim Mohamed. The Manager is Vickram Ramnarine and the Coach is Festus Benn.
The tournament will be played under the Igloo Ice Cream brand which is manufactured by Sterling Products Ltd situated at Providence, East Bank Demerara.
