HAIL THE CHAMPS!!! U-19 cricketers return home

By Avenash Ramzan

With their signature yellow jersey neatly tucked in and accompanying silverware glittering in the afternoon sunshine, the successful National Under-19 cricketers arrived home on Tuesday afternoon to a warm welcome at the Eugene F. Corriera International Airport at Ogle.

They were greeted by newly appointed Sport Minister Dr. George Norton, Director of Sport Christopher Jones, Guyana Cricket Board Secretary and Cricket West Indies Director Anand Sanasie and Chairman of Selectors, Rayon Griffith.

Diligently led by skipper Ronaldo Ali Mohamed and coach Julian Moore, Guyana lifted both the Three-day and 50-over title in St. Kitts, completely dominating the Regional Under-19 tournament.

Of point to note, the Guyanese played unbeaten in the 50-over version, comfortably winning all six of their games. On Tuesday, Minister Norton welcomed the players and spoke on how elated he is to learn of their success.

He congratulated the players and urged them to transfer that winning mentality to the senior level, nothing that their ultimate aim should be to represent the West Indies.

Sanasie hailed the team’s success, noting that the Guyana Cricket Board has plans in place to ensure the current crop of players make the seamless transition to senior cricket.

“It definitely means the programmes that we have, despite some criticism of them, have been working, but like everything else you will have to fine tune it to some extent,” Sanasie indicated.

He noted that the players will be involved with their respective franchise in the Jaguars Franchise League Three-day tournament, starting on Saturday, as part of their development programme. 

Coach Julian Moore sought to identify the reasons for the team’s success, noting that more than anything else the boys played as a unit. He noted that the talent level was never in doubt. Moore further hailed the players for their individual brilliance that all contributed to the overall success of the team.