Guyana and West Indies batsman Shimron Hetmyer has been named in a strong Berbice squad to contest the Guyana Cricket Board’s senior Inter-county competition, which bowls off on Monday (October 10) in Georgetown.
Hetmyer has made himself available to play in the tournament- being held for the first time in five years- after missing his rescheduled flight to join the West Indies team for the just concluded two-match T20 series against Australia and the upcoming World T20 in that country.
The Inter-county competition is making a return after being replaced with a franchise-based competition by the previous administration of the Guyana Cricket Board.
The competition will feature the three county teams- Berbice, Demerara and Essequibo- and a Guyana Cricket Board President’s XI.
It will be played over three rounds (October 10, 12 and 14), with the final set for October 16 at the Georgetown Cricket Club ground, Bourda.
Below is a release issued by the Board on Friday afternoon with regards to the composition of the teams and the fixtures.
The much anticipated return of the Male Senior Inter-county after a more than five-year absence is set for Monday, October 10 when Berbice takes on Demerara at Bourda and Essequibo faces the GCB President’s XI at Everest.
Veerassamy Permaul will lead a strong Berbice team which includes West Indies players- stroke player Shimron Hetmyer, all-rounder Romario Shepherd, left arm-spinner Gudakesh Motie and off-spinner Kevin Sinclair.
Guyana Amazon Warriors captain Hetmyer will be expected to showcase his class and dominance at this level. He will be well supported by Jonathan Foo who a few years ago was Guyana’s leading runscorer in the Regional Super50.
Talented young batsman Kevlon Anderson, national wicketkeeper/batsman Anthony Bramble, hard-hitting all-rounder Shepherd along with Permaul, the two Sinclairs (Junior and Kevin), Motie and Pestano are all expected to contribute with the bat.
West Indies opening bowler Shepherd, who many may feel should have been in the World Cup team, will spearhead a very strong and varied bowling attack with national pacers Nial Smith and Pestano, and spinners Permaul, Motie, Kevin Sinclair and Junior Sinclair.
Demerara has named a strong squad led by Guyana Harpy Eagles captain, Leon Johnson with a very strong batting line-up on paper as most of the batsmen have regional experience.
Discarded West Indies opener Chanderpaul Hemraj, fellow opener and in-form batsman Tagenarine Chanderpaul, who had a stellar year with the bat in this year’s CWI Four-day Championship, talented batsman Tevin Imlach and experienced Guyana batsman Christopher Barnwell are all expected to put sizeable totals on the board.
Economical left-arm spinner Ashmead Nedd is expected to spearhead the bowling department with support from leg-spinner Steven Sankar, off-spinner Richie Looknauth, former West Indies Under-19 all-rounder Ronaldo Ali-Mohamed and seamer Qumar Torrington.
Essequibo will be led by experienced left-arm spinner Antony Adams, a member of the Guyana Harpy Eagles team this year. West Indies pacer Keemo Paul will spearhead the bowling with support from national pacer Ronsford Beaton and skipper Adams.
Talented wicketkeeper/batsman Kemol Savory will lead the batting department with support expected from Kevon Boodie and pugnacious left-hander Ricardo Adams. Boodie is the only Essequibian batsman to have scored a double-century in senior Inter-county 50-over cricket.
The GCB President’s XI will be led by aggressive and experienced opener Trevon Griffith, who will also lead the batting. Talented and diminutive West Indies Under-19 opening batsman Matthew Nandu will serve as Griffith’s deputy, while he is also expected to give good support with the bat.
Exciting young batsman Marvendra Dindyal, who was one of the two centurions (Rampertab Ramnauth being the other) for Guyana in this year’s CWI Regional Under-19 three-day tournament, former national Under-19 batsman Garfield Benjamin, all-rounder Kwesi Mickle and wicketkeeper/batsman Ricardo Peters will make up the batting line-up.
In the bowling department, national senior team standby Shamar Joseph is expected to spearhead the bowling, which includes Guyana Under-19 leading wicket-taker, off-spinner Jonathan Rampersaud, off-spinner Kwesi Mickle, left-arm spinners Akini Adams and Raj Nannan and pacer Joshua Jones.
Any TV, YouTube coverage so Guyanese around the world can see? These technologies are not existent yet with GCB??