Continuous inclement weather has left the Wales and Enmore ground waterlogged, thus forcing today’s start of the 2015 Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Inter-County Senior 4-Day tournament to be put on hold until further notice.
The rain had affected the Demerara trials but nonetheless the team was raring to go with national captain Leon Johnson at the helm of the Demerara team and Ronsford Beaton, the promising West Indies A fast bowler leading Essequibo.
When the tournament finally gets underway both teams will be looking for a win.
Johnson, the West Indies Test and One Day player will call upon the services of his most senior batsmen to give Demerara a solid first innings total or to gun down a possible victory target.
On the other hand his bowlers will have the unenviable task of collecting 20 wickets or defending a total.
Apart from the eye-catching technique of the skipper and the at times impregnable presence of Shiv Chanderpaul, coupled with the young determined quota of players the likes of; Shemroy Barrington, Rajindra Chandrika, Chris Barnwell, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Steven Jacobs, Trevon Griffith and others, Demerara will want to take full advantage of their batting-heavy line-up.
From a bowling Perspective, Demerara is expected to field a team littered with spinners such as Raj Nannan, who was exceptional last season, Steven Sankar, who continues to improve as another young spinner for the future and the off spin of Jacobs while they will rely on the experience of seamer Paul Wintz and new draft Gavin Moriah who will obviously be looking to impress along with Barnwell.
Essequibo, if they approach the tournament responsibly, have a bevy of top local batters and bowlers who are experienced enough to challenge any of the three other teams in the competition.
Kevon Boodie, who holds the record for the only double-century in an inter-county fixture will be a force to reckon with.
Vice-Captain Ricardo Adams’s hard-hitting prowess and his part-time left-arm spin and players like Royan Fredericks, Hemchand Persaud and young wicket-keeper Kemol
Savory make for a good batting line-up while Raymon Reifer, the Bajan born Guyana Jaguars all-rounder will play as a feature players
The Cinderella County boys will fancy their top-line quality of bowlers to be led by the fiery Beaton. The all-rounder Adams, last season’s MVP spinner Anthony Adams and slow bowler Ricardo Peters, Wayne Osborne and other complete a notorious bowling pack.
In the second opening match West Indies Test batsman Assad Fudadin will lead Berbice into action against the brash and talented National Under-19 team led by batsman Travis Persaud.
Berbice will flex big guns the likes of; Veerasammy Permaul, Devendra Bishoo, Gudakesh Moti-Kanhai, Rajiv Ivan, Jonathan Foo, Anthony Bramble, Keon Joseph among others. The U19 ‘s have a bountiful supply of firepower, Sherfane Rutherford, Ronaldo Alimohamed, Kemo Paul, Shimron Hetmyer, Robin Bacchus, Akini Adams, Nathan Persaud and the lists goes on of players who are the country’s future ambassadors that will seek to step up to their more senior teammates.
That is providing the weather and the post-election climate improves!
