THE local governing body for cricket here, the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), has just concluded two youth Inter-county cricket tournaments, at the Under-15 and Under-17 levels, and, based on some personal performances, there is definitely a promising future for Guyana’s cricket.

According to chairman of the GCB’s junior selectors, Nazimul Drepaul, there’s no shortage of cricketing talent within Guyana’s junior ranks, adding that Guyana’s cricket looks good for the future.
Drepaul made the comment on Sunday in an exclusive interview following the conclusion of the Inter-county Under-17 one-day tournament.

“Talent’s not our problem in Guyana. We’ve got plenty of talented young cricketers as you can see during the Under-15 and Under-17 tournaments,” Drepaul said.
He added, “While there were a number of players we see have that raw talent, I feel that Mavendra Dindyal, Jonathan Rampersaud, Isia Thorne, Mahendra Gopilall and Nicholas Rajpat, just to name a few of the Under-15s, are extremely talented cricketers,”
Further Drepaul pointed out that from the Under-17 tournament the likes of: Sachin Singh, Navendra Persaud, Andre Seepersaud, Nyron Bissu, Jevon Schultz, Nigel Deodat, Seon Glasgow, Badesh Parsotam and Sylvain, Williams are all for the future.

Meanwhile, a 14-man national Under-15 squad is expected to be released shortly for the regional tournament, which will run from March 26 to April 5 in Jamaica.
Drepaul is optimistic of Guyana’s chances, saying while there’s plenty of talk about a ‘war on talent’, preparation is the key.

“What the GCB has done over the years is to include the national Under-15 squad into the Inter-county Under-17 tournament in order for continuous preparation. This has definitely helped us in terms of domination at the regional level.

The Guyana Under-15s have reached a high level, winning the regional tournament in Jamaica 2014 and in Guyana 2015 while ending as runners-up in 2016.
The Under-15 tournament – in its 23rd year – will be contested under a round-robin format, featuring five rounds of matches with the team accumulating the most points being declared champions.