THE Guyana Softball League (GSL) last Tuesday spent close to three hours selecting the local team who will engage their Canadian counterparts in a 10/10 softball affair at the Guyana National Stadium on Saturday, for which the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) International Cup and $1M in cash are up for grabs.
All-rounder Fazal Rafeek will lead the team and he will have Latchman Rohit as his deputy, with support from John Percival, Gary Singh, Surujpaul Deosarran, Devendra Thakurdeen and Safraz Esau, just to name a few.
The members of the team were drawn from those whose team faltered at some point during the present GT&T 10/10 competition, which culminates on the same day with the finals in both the male and female categories.
Prior to the announcing of the squad, Executive Secretary of the GSL, Leonard Harriprashad, complimented all the players for the high level of play during the tournament, while he regrettably informed them that not all could have been selected for the match.
The concept of the match was born last year, following consultations between GT&T’s Chief Executive Officer Yog Mahadeo and 10/10 organising committee officials, where the idea of spreading the game across the Caribbean region and more particularly Canada and the United States of America, was raised.
Following other discussions between Mahadeo and GT&T’s Senior Systems Analyst, Richard Sukhdeo, it was agreed that the sum of G$1M will be awarded to the winner of the GT&T International Cup, which will be played before the male final on Saturday.
The GSL International team reads: Fazal Rafeek (captain), Latchman Rohit, Leon Moseley, Christopher Pollydore, Marvin Babb, John Percival, Gary Singh, Sharmendra Hardyal, Raul Reid, Lincoln Leander, Greg Singh, Khemraj Ramsundar, Devendra Thakurdeen, Surujpaul Deosarran and Safraz Esau.
Six standby players were also named and they are Chandrasekhar Arjune, Shalendra Ramnauth, Delon Williams, Narine Bailey, Mahendra Singh and Vickash Dhaniram, while David Harper will execute the duties of manager/coach for the team.