By Royston Alkins
Defending champions, Demerara U15s will begin their title defence of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)/Dave West Indian Imports Inter – County 50 – overs competition at the Police Sports Club Ground, Eve Leary when they face Essequibo today.
Demerara, who defeated Berbice in last year’s final in controversial fashion after Daniel Mootoo effected a `Mankad’ to claim the last Berbice wicket, will fancy their chances against the usually undercooked Cinderella side.
The defending champions will look to skipper Shoib Shaw, who represented Guyana in last year’s Cricket West Indies Regional Under- 15 tournament, Andre Seepersaud and Chad Shivrattan who both showed promising signs in the ongoing GCB/National Secondary Schools Cricket League, to lead the way with the bat.
The team, whose strength lies in its batting, will also look for major contributions from middle-order batsman Edmond Pearson who is arguably the team’s most effective hitter.
Their bowling, however, will be led by Mootoo and the versatile Negusa Walters, who bowls off-spin and medium pace.
Essequibo, on the other hand, who had two warm-up matches to prepare for the competition, will also lean on their skipper and national player, Sheldon Charles who is in fine form after scoring two centuries in Essequibo’s two warmup matches, to inspire his troops and create a few upsets.
The other encounter on the day will see last year’s runners-up Berbice taking on the GCB/President’s XI at the Georgetown Cricket Club Ground, Bourda. Matches are expected to start at 9:30 hours and will feature some of the countries brightest talents who will look to do well and earn the pride of representing their country.
The teams are: DEMERARA: Shoib Shaw, Mahindra Dindyal, Chad Shivrattan, Edmond Pearson, Andre Seepersaud, Daniel Mootoo, Mark Ramanand , Chandrapaul Ramraj, Trevon Charles, Negusa Walters, Devanand Khemraj, Ryan Persaud, Ushardev Balgobin, and Brandon Jaikarran. The Manager is Latchman Yadram and the Coach is Dhanpaul
BERBICE: Sarwan Chaitnarine, Daniel Dharamdat, Ricardo Ramdial, Reyad Karim, Vikash Subramani, Marvan Prashad, Anthony Williams, Farouk Subhan, Andel Milne, Abdur Ramsammy, Akash Heralall, Saif Amoi, Romel Retimyah and Gourav Ramesh. The Manager is Asif Japaul and the Coach is Kwesi Maltay.
ESSEQUIBO: Sheldon Charles, Devindra Ramdahin, Oren Gibson, Ronaldo Scouten, Raphael David, Manoj Dasraat, Chaitram Seurattan, Wasim Mohamed, Ardesh Ramdial, Mark Mohabir, Sunil Persaud, Inzamam Bacchus, Shawn Monro, and Tyrone Brandon. The Manager is Vickram Ramnarine and the Coach is Forbes Daniels.
GCB PRESIDENT’S XI: Elnathan Suknandan, Shammar Yearwood, Joel Gilkes, Zachariah Mootoo, Alex Arinda, Sai Haniff, Raynaldo Mohamed, Yadesh Persaud, Ronaldo Duraws, Zamal Ramsammy, Ezana Saaziam, Pravenand Ganesh, Ken George, Danny Atkinson, and Tamone Ceasar. The Manager is Reon King and the Coach is Orin Bailey.
