The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) announced yesterday, the return of the senior Inter-County four-day tournament commencing Friday while naming the Demerara and Essequibo sides.
The tournament is expected to feature four teams, the others being Berbice and a Select XI, with action across three rounds.
According to a press release from the GCB, the intention is to use the tournament as preparation for the Guyana Harpy Eagles (GHE) final three rounds in the West Indies Championship. Round one will see Berbice and Demerara clashing at the National Stadium while Essequibo and the Select XI will face off at the Enmore Community Centre Cricket Club.
From March 3-6, Berbice and Essequibo will lock horns at the Georgetown Cricket Club ground, Bourda as Demerara go up against Select XI at Enmore in round two. The third and final round from March 9-12, will see Essequibo versus Demerara at Bourda and Berbice versus the Select XI at Enmore.
Demerara will be led by experienced national captain, Leon Johnson, while will have the services of national players, Tevin Imlach, Matthew Nandu, Akshaya Persaud and Ronaldo Alimohamed. Notably, Christopher Barnwell was named in the side that also features his Demerara Cricket Club teammates, Shamar Yearwood, Ahsmead Need, Steven Sankar, Qumar Torrington and Sachin Singh. West Demerara’s Richie Looknauth and Sachin Balgobin have also been named in the squad that will be coached by Garvin Need. Puneet Jaigopaul was named manager of the side.
The reserves are Nehemiah Hohenkirk, Christ Balgobin, Navendra Persaud, Kishan Tracy, Ronaldo Renee, Riyad Latiff and Jermain Ramroop. No mention was made of national opener, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Vishaul Singh, Assad Fuddadin, Trevon Griffith, Sherfaine Rutherford nor, Mavindra Dindyal and Alvin Mohabir who both featured in the Eagles practice matches earlier this year. Essequibo will be spearheaded by longstanding skipper, Antony Adams and will feature all-rounder Keemo Paul along with national players, Ronsford Beaton and Kemol Savory. The squad also features Kevon Boodie, Sheldon Charles, Neiland Codogan, Ricardo Adams, Quinten Sampson, Ronaldo Renn, Leon Swamy, Avinash Persaud, Malcolm Hubbard and Wazim Mohammed. The reserves are Ricardo Peters, Rajendra Ramballi, Shane Wong, Carl Gilgeous, Beesham Moses and Garfield Phillips. National head coach, Ryan Hercules will take up the role as coach along with Yogeshwar Lall as Manager. According to the GCB, “The re-introduction of the 4-Day format in the GCB’s calendar of activities is a major step for the GCB as these matches will give the players the opportunity to stake a claim for selection on the GHE team. It is expected that a strong team would be named with GHE leading the points table at the end of the second round.”
The GCB noted that Berbice is still to submit their squad but expects Shimron Hetmyer and Romario Shepherd to feature since they are available. The Berbice Cricket Board has announced Julian Moore as coach and Travis Harcourt as manager. The GCB also indicated that the Select XI will be named shortly.
Demerara will begin training from Tuesday at GCC while Berbice will train at Port Mourant. Essequibo will train at Imam Bacchus Ground and Select XI will train at Malteenoes Sports Club.
Live streaming will be available for both matches of each round which would be shared on the GCB Facebook page.
