The inaugural President’s Softball T20 Cup commences on Friday and the organising body, the Georgetown Softball Cricket League Inc. (GSCL) is anticipating a keenly contested tournament, given the match-ups in the three categories.
Ian John, President of the GSCL, indicated that all systems are in place for a successful tournament and the teams are extremely upbeat to take the field.
“Teams have been looking forward to this tournament for the past month and they have been doing preparatory work each and every weekend. Even those teams that are coming from outside [out of Guyana], most of their guys are based here already so they are very active and the teams are very keenly contested, so you can expect rivalries from day one,” John expressed on the eve of the tournament.
The competition has attracted 24 teams, with eight each in the three categories- All Stars, Over-40 and Over-50. Within each category, they are two groups of four and the top two will progress to the semi-finals.
John said they have met with the officials to ensure teams adhere to the COVID-19 protocols.
He indicated that they received a good report from the National COVID-19 Task Force after the hosting of the Prime Minister’s Cup and they will continue to adhere to the rules.
John revealed that all teams will be given masks and there will be sanitizing stations and temperature checks for all persons entering the grounds.
The three-day tournament is a collaboration between the GSCL and Guyana’s Honorary Consul – Florida, Ramzan Roshanah Ali.
Winning teams in each of the three categories will pocket $500,000 and runners-up $100,000, while prizes will be awarded to Man-of-the-Series in each division and Man-of-the-Match.
The opening matches in the Legends (Over-50) at 09:00h will feature Regal Legends versus Mike’s Legends and Enterprise Legends up against Rockaway Legends at the Demerara Cricket Club in Queenstown.
The Masters (Over-40) will have HS Masters and Trophy Stall Masters clashing, while Regal Masters face Corriverton Masters at Everest.
In the Open division, Speedboat All Stars will play Regal All Stars, and Ariel All Stars will come up against Hill Foot All Stars at Queen’s College ground.
Matches will also be played at the Guyana Defence Force, Muslim Youth Organisation and Ghandi Youth Organisation grounds.
All finals will be held on Sunday at the Everest ground. The Masters and Legends will play at the same time from 09:00h, while the All Stars final will commence at 13:00h.
Meanwhile, John is calling on all teams to be present at the Everest ground for 08:30h on Friday to witness the official opening by the President of Guyana, Dr. Irfaan Ali.