… Action bowls off this weekend

YESTERDAY morning and for the third successive year, the Roger Harper-steward Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA), joined forces with the New Building Society (NBS) for the successful hosting of another 40 overs second division competition for teams within the capital city.

Present at the simple handing-over ceremony where Harper received a cheque for an undisclosed sum towards the sponsorship were NBS Chairman Floyd McDonald, Chief Executive Officer Amad Khan, and with other executives from both NBS and the GCA.
Prior to the presentation of the cheque, McDonald in his remarks said his entity was pleased to be associated with the GCA, adding that it was fitting for the NBS to include Georgetown in its programme, having fostered a relationship with Berbice and Essequibo.
“On behalf of the Board of Directors, we are very happy to be a part of this very important event today. The NBS is an organisation that is involved in the promotion of housing development in Guyana, especially affordable housing, but as a corporate entity we are of the view that we should make other contributions to society.
We are also of the view that sport plays an integral part of a person’s development, especially young people and with cricket being so popular, I think that we have made the right decision to respond positively to the request of the GCA to sponsor this competition once again,” said McDonald.
According to McDonald, NBS is of the view that they must contribute towards the development of cricket in Guyana, not only to enhance the image of the country and the West Indies, but also assist with the molding of young persons who are in need of guidance.
“….We have to be careful in Guyana that we do not allow ourselves to go down the drain in terms of cricket talent and we must work together to ensure we rekindle the days of the type of enthusiasm we are accustomed to in the days of Clive Lloyd, Rohan Kanhai, Lance Gibbs and so many others.
“We welcome the opportunity and we at NBS are looking forward to the day when we see cricket as an event that brings all Guyanese together and call on all the elements in the cricket fraternity, to work together to ensure Guyana performs better in the field of cricket in the future and NBS is willing to support the development of cricket in Guyana,” said McDonald.
In his acceptance speech, Harper thanked NBS for continuing the partnership which began in 2012, saying that they saw and recognised the opportunity to further develop the talents of Guyanese youths through cricket.
“Cricket offers lots of important lifestyles and we hope to pass on the importance of discipline and working together, while at the same time improving healthy lifestyles amongst our youths, through the playing of this and all of our competitions at the various levels,” said Harper.
He said NBS sees the need to recognise the grassroots of cricket in Guyana, since players from outside of Georgetown compete with teams affiliated to the GCA – a strong testament on the good administration of cricket that is being done by the GCA.
Meanwhile, the GCA Competitions Committee Chairman Shaun Massiah informed that 16 teams including two-time defending champions Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) and last year’s runners-up Muslim Youth Organisation (MYO) would be doing battle for supremacy in this year’s tournament.
According to Massiah, the action is set to bowl off this weekend depending on the availability of grounds, with the teams being divided into two groups of eight each, from which the two top teams of each group will contest the semifinals and into the final.

(By Calvin Roberts)