Four teams, three matches and $1M in prizes
GUYANA celebrates her 46th Independence Anniversary today and in observance of the event, the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB), in collaboration with the Berbice Chamber of Commerce (BCC), will be hosting an Independence Cup t20 tournament at the Albion Sports Complex ground. Reigning t20 champions Universal DVD Club Berbice Titans, former champs Hotel Tower New Line Cavaliers, Karibee Rice Elephant Boyz and Hits and Jams Superstars are the four teams who will be battling for supremacy and a chance to win the top prize of $400 000.
West Indies ‘A’ team skipper Veerasammy Permaul will lead the Titans instead of national T20 selectee Rajiv Ivan, as was previously announced, while West Indies leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo remains the vice-captain of the team, when they take on the Elephant Boyz in the first match at 11:00hrs.
Added support will come from the hard-hitting Jonathan Foo and Delbert Hicks while the temperamental Richard Ramdeen, Khemraj Mahadeo and fast bowler Michael Newland, will lend support to the top guns in both the batting and bowling departments.
Rose Hall Town Gizmos and Gadgets first division captain Shawn Pereira will be leading the Berbice Karibee Rice Elephant Boyz and he will have as his deputy, discarded national fast bowler Keon Joseph who bowled impressively in the semifinals of the yet-to-be-completed Universal DVD and Solutions T20 championships.
Pereira can turn to his pugnacious openers in Harrinarine Chattergoon and Kandasammy Surujnarine to give their team a start, especially in the first six overs when the fielding restriction is on, leaving room for Keith Fraser, Renwick Batson and Jason Sinclair to have a go in the depth of their innings.
The Georgetown-based Hits and Jams team will be captained by former Guyana T20 wicketkeeper/batsman Tyrell Tull with the pugnacious opener Robin Bacchus as his deputy, while Andrew Lyght, Shemroy Barrington, Andre Stoll, Vishal Singh and Trevon Griffith are named in the squad.
They are forced to compete in the tournament against Hotel Tower Cavaliers from 1430hrs, without the services of West Indies T20 all-rounder Christopher Barnwell, along with his national colleague off-spinning all-rounder Steven Jacobs, who are in Trinidad and Tobago honouring professional t20 contracts.
Gajanand Singh is no stranger to the venue, irrespective of the team he is playing for and with players of the calibre of Andre Percival, Cohen Ismond, Paul Wintz and Anthony Ifill to call on for support, he will certainly be looking to book a place in the final which will be played under lights.
Apart from the top prize, the losing finalists will pocket $200 000, while the two losing semifinalists will receive $100,000 each. The top four prizes are sponsored by Gilgeous Pawn Shop, Nand Persaud Karibee Rice, Universal DVD Club and Digicel.
Several gate prizes such as one antique chair, MP3 player, Lazy Boy, two cell phones and two pairs of Nike boots will be up for grabs during the day’s proceedings, with the man-of-the-match in the finals taking home $10,000 and a cell phone.
Funds raised from the match would be used for charity and cricket development in Berbice. The full teams are:

Berbice Titans: – Veerasammy Permaul (captain), Richard Ramdeen, Joemal La Fleur, Khemraj Mahadeo, Keon De Jesus, Jonathan Foo, Rajiv Ivan, Delbert Hicks, Devendra Bishoo, Michael Newland, Brendon Bess, Sewnarine Chattergoon and Stephen Latcha. The manager is Mark Lyte with Hubern Evans the coach)

Karibee Elephant Boyz: –  Shawn Pereira (captain), Harrinarine Chattergoon, Kandasammy Surujnarine, Keith Fraser, Veerapen Permaul, Kevin Ramdeen, Eon Hooper, Jason Sinclair, Clinton Pestano, Keon Joseph, Mark Lionel, Daneshwari Prashad, Renwick Batson and Linden Austin. Anil Beharry (manager) and Julian Moore (coach).

Hits and Jams: –  Tyrell Tull (captain),  Andrew Lyght, Jeetendra Sookhdeo, Robin Bacchus, Shemroy Barrington, Amir Khan, Vishal Singh, Zaheer Mohammed, Carlos La Rose, Elton Baker, Ronsford Beaton, Wasim Haslim Andre Stoll and Trevon Griffith. Sherlock Atwell (manager) and Orin Bailey (coach).

Hotel Tower Cavaliers: – Gajanand Singh (captain), Andre Percival, Paul Wintz, Ishwar Singh, Waheid Edwards, Farouk Hussain, Balram Samaroo, Dayanand Roopnarine, Cohen Ismond, Budhan Baksh and Anthony Ifill.