Hand-in-Hand Mutual Fire and Life Insurance Companies has once again partnered with the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) to stage the annual Under-19 Inter-county competition, set to start later this month.
The tournament will once again feature the traditional county teams- Berbice, Demerara and Essequibo- as well as the Select National Under-17 team. This is the third year Hand-in-Hand has thrown its support behind the tournament, which will run from April 10 to 28.
The Three-day version will take place from April 10-18, while the 50-over segment will run from April 22-28.
At the tournament launch on Wednesday, representatives of Hand-in-Hand and the GCB said they view the tournament as a vital part of players’ development. It is from this tournament that the Guyana Under-19 side will be selected to participate in Cricket West Indies’ Regional Youth tournament in Barbados later this year.
Secretary of the GCB, Anand Sanasie, expressed gratitude to Hand-in-Hand for its continued support of the youth tournament, while Director and Fire Manager, Howard Cox, said the company is pleased to embrace the growth of young players by providing an avenue for them to showcase their skills.
Cox noted that two years ago, Hand-in-Hand and GCB were praising the efforts of Shimron Hetmyer and Keemo Paul, who were part of the West Indies Under-19 team that won the Youth World Cup, and today both players are part of the West Indies senior set-up.
In 2017, Demerara won the Inter-county competition, while Guyana subsequently carted off the ‘double’, winning both the Regional Three-day and 50-over titles.
Five Guyanese were later selected to the West Indies World Cup Under-19 squad, namely Bhaskar Yadram, Joshua Persaud, Raymond Perez, Ronaldo AliMohamed and Ashmead Nedd. Three of those players- Yadram, Persaud and Nedd- were at the launch on Wednesday.
“These achievements are a direct reflection of the GCB’s development structures that are in place to assist with the growth of our players. The GCB would like to thank Hand-in-Hand for their continued support to the development of cricket. Clearly Hand-in-Hand’s contribution has given the GCB a great opportunity to provide the Under-19 players with an ideal preparation ground, where players are exposed to both the Three-day and One Day 50-over format of competitions,” the GCB said in a release.
