The Guyana Cricket Board at the weekend announced the return of the Senior Inter-County Four-Day Championship, featuring the three traditional counties- Berbice, Demerara and Essequibo- and a GCB Select XI.
Matches are carded for February 25-28, March 3-6 and March 9-12, with the venues being the National Stadium at Providence, Enmore Community Centre Ground and the GCC ground, Bourda.
SEE PRESS RELEASE BY THE GUYANA CRICKET BOARD (Amended to include Berbice squad)
The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) announces the return of the Senior Inter-County 4-Day Tournament. This tournament will commence on Saturday, February 25, 2023, and would be used as preparation for the Guyana Harpy Eagles (GHE) prior to the resumption of the West Indies Championship which is scheduled for March 15.
Last October, the GCB held the first senior Inter-county tournament after more than a five-year absence when the Super50 tournament was played. Berbice were crowned champions after they defeated Essequibo in the final which was played at Providence.
The re-introduction of the 4-Day format in the GCB’s calendar of activities is a major step for the GCB as these matches will give the players the opportunity to stake a claim for selection on the GHE team.
It is expected that a strong team would be named with GHE leading the points table at the end of the second round.
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.
The in-form Matthew Nandu, who scored a century on debut against Barbados Pride in Round 1 of the West Indies Championship, will lead the batting along with talented batsman Tevin Imlach and experienced batsman Christopher Barnwell.
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 pacer Ronaldo Ali-Mohamed and seamer Qumar Torrington.
Essequibo will be led by experienced left-arm spinner Antony Adams. 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.
Berbice squad includes Shimron Hetmyer, Veerasammy Permaul, Romario Shepherd, Jonathan Foo and Anthony Bramble.
Demerara squad: Leon Johnson (Captain), Matthew Nandu, Raymond Perez, Tevin Imlach, Akshaya Persaud, Shamar Yearwood, Christopher Barnwell, Ronaldo Ali Mohamed, Richie Looknauth, Ashmead Nedd, Steven Sankar, Qumar Torrington, Sachin Singh and Sachin Balgobin. The Manager is Puneet Jaigopaul and Head Coach is Garvin Need. The reserves are Nehemiah Hohenkirk, Chris Balgobin, Navendra Persaud, Kishan Tracy, Ronaldo Renee, Riyad Latiff and Jermain Ramroop.
Essequibo squad: Antony Adams (Captain), Kevon Boodie, Sheldon Charles, Kemol Savory, Neland Codogan, Ricardo Adams, Keemo Paul, Quentin Sampson, Ronaldo Renn, Leon Swamy, Avinash Persaud, Malcolm Hubbard, Wazim Mohamed, Ronsford Beaton. The Manager is Yogeshwar Lall and Head Coach is Ryan Hercules. The reserves are Ricardo Peters, Rajendra Ramballi, Shane Wong, Carl Gilgeous, Beesham Moses and Garfield Phillips.
Berbice squad: Shimron Hetmyer, Tommani Ceasar, Adrian Sukwah, Kevlon Anderson, Junior Sinclair, Jonathan Foo, Anthony Bramble, Kevin Sinclair, Veerasammy Permaul, Romario Shepherd, Nial Smith, Shamar Joseph, Garfield Benjamin and Shamar Angel. The reserves are Jonathan Rampersaud, Demetri Cameron, Clinton Pestano, Zeynul Ramsammy, Kelvin Umroa and Sylus Tyndall. The Head Coach is Julian Moore and Manager Travis Hardcourt
The GCB Select XI will be named shortly.
Teams will commence training in their respective counties on Tuesday, February 21.
Demerara will be at GCC from 09:00h to 13:00h; Berbice will be at Port Mourant from 14:30h to 18:00h; Essequibo at Imam Bacchus 09:00h to 13:00h, while the Select XI will be at Malteenoes from 15:00h to 18:00h.
Live streaming will be available for both matches of each round, which would be shared on the GCB Facebook page.
GCB Senior 4-Day Inter-County schedule
Round 1 – February 25-28, 2023
Berbice vs Demerara at Providence
Essequibo vs Select XI at Enmore
Round 2 – March 3-6, 2023
Berbice vs Essequibo at GCC, Bourda
Demerara vs Select XI at Enmore
Round 3- March 9-12, 2023
Essequibo vs Demerara at GCC, Bourda
Berbice vs Select XI at Enmore
