By Avenash Ramzan
The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) in partnership with Cricket Guyana Inc. (CGI) on Thursday unveiled the first-ever Jaguars Franchise League Three-day competition, geared at placing Guyana’s cricket on a more solid footing.
Coming off back-to-back titles in the West Indies Cricket Board’s (WICB) Professional Cricket League (PCL) Regional Four-day cricket competition, the Guyana Jaguars are looking to maintain that success, hence the GCB’s move to invest in the massive domestic programme.
Replacing the traditional Inter-county competition, the league will comprise eight franchises; four from Demerara, three from Berbice and one from Essequibo. Apart from the Three-day competition, the GCB also has in the pipeline a Jaguars 50-over League and the Jaguars Premier League T20 tournament.
The leagues will be streamlined to feed into the WICB’s Professional Cricket League Four-day competition and the Regional Super50, as well as the Caribbean Premier League T20.
At Thursday’s launch in the boardroom of the GCB, executives of the board, Secretary Anand Sanasie, President Drubahadur and Marketing Manager Raj Singh explained the finer details of the Jaguars Franchise League Three-day tournament.
The first of seven rounds of games will take place on August 26-28, with the final round set for October 7-9. Among the venues earmarked to host matches are Young Warriors Cricket Club, Wales Community Centre, Everest Cricket Club, Enterprise Busta Sports Club, Albion Community Centre, Enmore Community Centre, Port Mourant Community Centre, Georgetown Cricket Club and Imam Bacchus ground.
The franchises will play each other once, at the end of which the team with the most points will be declared champions.
POTENTIAL
Drubahaur told the gathering of media operatives and cricketers that the realisation of a Three-day League is part of a holistic plan to develop cricket at the local level.
He revealed that the initiative had been engaging the attention of the GCB executives for quite some time, and they are proud to finally move one step closer to having it materialise.
Stressing on the huge financial cost of hosting a league of this magnitude, Sanasie said the ultimate aim is to have all the franchises sponsored by corporate entities, some of whom are already onboard. Sanasie, a WICB Director, further stated that the league is set to provide opportunities for a huge pool of players, unlike the previous Inter-county which only exposed the squads of the three counties.
In giving a detailed overview of the league, Singh highlighted that the 33 players under WICB and CGI contracts have been spread across the eight franchises “in as fair and transparent a manner so that these teams could be as equitable and competitive as possible.”
He made a plea for businesses to take ownership- via sponsorship- of the franchises, preferably those within their jurisdiction.
“This franchise system is aimed at allowing interested parties to invest in the development of the team of their choice and have a greater stake in the actual composition, planning and development of their respective teams. This is a glorious opportunity for everyone to take ownership of their teams and its officials. We strongly feel that this new structure will bring more spectator interest to the game of cricket in Guyana.”
SQUADS
Each squad will consist of 18 players, five of whom are standbys, as well as a coach and manager. Among the players set to be on show are Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Leon Johnson, Assad Fudadin, Rajendra Chandrika, Veerasammy Permaul, Devendra Bishoo and Christopher Barnwell, all with international experience.
Below are the members of the eight franchises.
Nigg/Skeldon (Upper Corentyne): Arif Chan, Jason Sinclair, Joshua Ramsammy, Shawn Perriera, Eon Hooper, Rajiv Ivan, Assad Fudadin, Anthony Bramble, Clinton Pestano, Andy Mohan, Troy Gonsalves, Devendra Bishoo, Omesh Mathura, Demitri Cameron, Totaram Rajaram, Keon Sinclair, Yuvendra Harinarine and Veramootoo Senwasane. Winston Smith (Coach) and Delbert Hicks (Assistant Coach/Manager).
Albion/New Amsterdam (Lower Corentyne): Kandasammy Surujnarine, Waheid Edwards, Seon Hetmyer, Jonathon Foo, Royston Crandon, Devon Clements, David Latchaya, Gajanand Singh, Eugene La Fleur, Hakeem Hinds, Veerasammy Permaul, Nial Smith, Raun Johnson, Kassim Khan, Suresh Dhanai, Kevin Ramdeen, Sharaz Ramcharran and Anthony D’Andrade. Julian Moore (Coach) and Andre Percival (Assistant Coach/Manager).
West Berbice: Krishandat Ramoo, Sherwin McPherson, Quacy McPherson, Gudakesh Motie, Keon Joseph, Keyron Fraser, Randell Bobb, Carlston Nurse, Shimron Hetmyer, Kevin Jawahir, Chris Ramnarine, Brentnol Woolford, Raffiel Estriado, Andrew Dutchin, Avishkar Sewkarran, Renision Mitchell, Javid Karim and Steffon Adams. David Blacks (Manager) and Adrian Amsterdam (Coach).
East Coast Demerara: Kamesh Yadram, Rajendra Chandrika, Paul Wintz, Steven Sankar, Chanderpaul Hemraj, Ramnarine Chatura, Vishwanauth Ramlakhan, Jermaine Martins, Gavin Moriah, Ferron Kadir, Vivian Albert, Bhaskar Yadram, Kumar Bishundial, Gavin Boodwah, Tameshwar Motiram, Amir Khan, Rudolph Singh and Leon Morgan. Esaun Crandon (Coach) and Jitlall Jowahirlall (Assistant Coach/Manager).
Georgetown: Leon Johnson, Robin Bacchus, Andrew Lyght Jr, Sunil Singh, Christopher Barnwell, Kwame Crosse, Ronaldo Ali Mohammed, Kellon Carmichael, Dexter Solomon, Devon Lord, Andre Stoll, Gajanand Suknanan, Ovid Richardson, Joshua Wade, Jahran Byron, Mark Hamilton, Joshua Persaud and Chris Deonarine. Garvin Nedd (Coach) and Colin Stuart (Assistant Coach/Manager).
West Demerara: Akshaya Persaud, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Kemol Savory, Romario Shepherd, Raymon Reifer, Malcolm Hubbard, Ronaldo Renee, Keshram Seyhodan, Travis Persaud, Richie Loaknauth, Yutesh Dhanpaul, Mahendra Dhanpaul, Anand Bharat, Ganesh Narine, Safraz Esau, Vickash Dhaniram, Sheldon Alexander and Chabiraj Ramcharran. Rayon Griffith (Coach), Dhanpaul (Assistant Coach) and Omar Hussain (Manager).
Essequibo: Anthony Adams, Ronsford Beaton, Kevon Boodie, Keemo Paul, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ricardo Adams, Ricardo Peters, Parmesh Parsotam, Avenish Persaud, Royan Fredericks, Akinie Adams, Looknauth Chinko, Kevin Gordon, Hemchand Persaud, Sachin Persaud, Neiland Codogan, Joshua Jones and Nokta Moses. Michael Franco Hyles (Coach) and Forbes Daniels (Manager).
The contracted players on the Upper Demerara/East Bank Demerara are Trevon Griffith, Sherfane Rutherford, Tevin Imlach, Vishaul Singh and Steven Jacobs, while Clive Grimmond is the Coach and Rohan Sarjoo Manager. The other members of the team will be made public shortly.
Cover photo caption: Top executives of the GCB (seated) share a moment with some of the cricketers who will appear in the tournament (Avenash Ramzan photo)
