The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) has, for the third straight year teamed up with the Hand-in-Hand Mutual Fire and Life Insurance Company (HIH) to stage the 2018 Under-19 Inter-County, three-day and one-day tournaments.
The launch of the tournaments took place yesterday at a simple ceremony at the sponsor’s boardroom, Lot 1-4 Avenue of the Republic.
At the launch, members of the GCB and HIH expressed their views on the collaborative efforts with Business Development Officer, Savita Singh, reminding those in attendance that the collaboration was in its third year.
Singh revealed that sponsorship for the two tournaments will include branded sshirts, meals and transportation, just to name a few. According to Honorary Secretary of the GCB, Anand Sanasie, the tournaments play a vital role in the development of young cricketers.
Sanasie made reference to the exploits of the National U15 team currently playing in the Regional U15 tournament adding that he was delighted to have the company on board as they viewed it as a vital part of development.
Sanasie said that it is through this competition that the young cricketers will be selected to represent Guyana at the Under-19 level. The competition will also aid the preparation of the national U17 team which is the fourth team in the competition.
Sanasie ventured into the statistical representation of the dominance by Guyanese at this level stating that…”our record is unmatched.”
Director of HIH and Fire ssManager, Howard Cox, said winners pick HIH and HIH pick winners. He pointed out that only two years ago Shimron Hetmyer and Keemo Paul played in the U19 tournament and they were now representing the West Indies Senior side.
Similarly, Bhaskar Yadram, Ashmead Nedd and Joshua Persaud who were in attendance have represented West Indies at the Under-19 level.
“We have seen the rewards from these competitions,” said Cox while vowing to continue with the development of youth cricket in Guyana.
Sanasie said that the three-day tournament will run from April 10-20 while the one day format will begin April 22 with the finals set for April 28.
