The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) hosted its first tournament since the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic swept the globe and according to honorary secretary, Anand Sanasie, the tournament was a success.
The tournament, sponsored under the Tropical Spring brand saw veterans of the sport taking part in an over-40 T20 competition.
Regal Master emerged champions after beating WD Masters in the final on Saturday at the Everest Cricket Club ground.
Matches were also played at the Enmore Community Centre ground for the Demerara Zone, Jai Hind Ground for the Berbice Zone and Imam Bacchus Ground for the Essequibo Zone.
“The 2020 cricket season as you know was very truncated and, as we decided to restart, it was obvious that we had to do so in a responsible way and I must thank those responsible who passed around and ensured everyone had their masks on,” Sanasie stated.The Cricket West Indies Director, praised everyone involved for their commitment in the way they conducted themselves in keeping with the COVID-19 guidelines.
“One thing I must congratulate everyone in this tournament for, we went through this tournament adhering to all the precautions and we had no incidents.”
Sanasie pointed out that he witnessed first-hand the high level of interest for the sport, particularly at Jai Hind Ground in Berbice where he played in the zone stage for Sarjoo Tigers.
“This tournament was quite revealing even though we had this tournament for probably three years in Demerara.
“This is certainly going be a tournament for us to reckon with in terms of competitiveness.
What I saw throughout the country, you go up to Jai Hind, it was revealing to see the interest in the game,” he noted.
The GCB secretary added that at the executive level, there are talks to have the tournament expanded to twice annually as well as have the age range revised.
He also suggested that each county could have their individual tournaments for this category to serve as a feeder and give the players adequate preparation and practice before they reach this stage.
Additionally, Sanasie indicated that with this tournament being a successful one, the 2021 season is expected to be packed with tournaments beginning with the under-19 Inter-County tournament.
“As we progress to next year and a COVID-free year I hope, we go straight into the under-19 tournament…We have a lot of cricket coming up,” he stated.
