Chairman of the Big Man Cricket Committee, Raj Singh, said despite their tournament targeting players Over-45, it will develop to be a feeder for the Over-50 World Cups. The competition is set to bowl off today (March 13).
Singh was questioned at the official launch on Friday, about the rationale behind hosting an Over-45 tournament when the ultimate aim is to select a squad for the Over-50 World Cup in 2022.
“What we are trying to do now is build a pool of players,” Singh explained. “If you look at the team list that we have, quite a few of them will be Over-50 in March 2022. We don’t want to run an Over-50 tournament and just leave back the others behind, we want to get a pool up, so even those who do not qualify for the March 2022 World Cup age-wise, could qualify in the next two years.”
At the conclusion of the launch, the organisers revealed that former West Indies captain, Ramnaresh Sarwan, will represent Timothy Motorcycle Masters.
One of the rules of the tournament allows any of the eight teams to pick one player per match, who is between ages 40 and 44. Sarwan turns 41 in June.
The tournament has attracted numerous sponsors, with the major one being Banks DIH Limited. The company’s Communications Manager, Troy Peters, said they are most elated to be onboard this tournament through Maximum Ultra refine premium Vodka along with the flagship Banks Beer.
Weather permitting, the inaugural tournament will bowl off this weekend across grounds countrywide and will be contested by eight Over-45 teams.
Singh said the 25-over per side tournament will have a double-header at the Georgetown Cricket Club, Bourda, and matches will also be played at the Enmore (East Coast Demerara) and Imam Bacchus (Essequibo) grounds.
The other venues to be used are: Meten-Meer-Zorg ground, Farm ground on the East Bank of Demerara, Jai Hind ground in Berbice and Number 72 ground.
The tournament will take a round-robin format with the top four teams qualifying for the semi-finals. The winning team will pocket G$400,000 and the runners-up G$250,000.
This tournament will be used as the yardstick to select a Guyana team to compete at the Regional tournament, which be held in October and is expected to feature Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Windward Islands along with teams from Canada and the Americas.
Thereafter, players will be selected to a West Indies Over-50 squad to participate at the Over-50 World Cup in South Africa 2022.
