THE Pepsi-branded Senior Inter-County 50-overs competition was launched yesterday in the pavilion of the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) coinciding with the second day of the Demerara Senior team 50-over trials on the Bourda sward.
At the launching was president of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Dru Bahadur, GCB chairman of selectors Rayon Griffith, Event manager Colin Europe and Pepsi Brand manager Larry Wills.

Wills stated that Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) was very pleased to be associated with the GCB and sponsoring the tournament over the past 15 years. Even though the tournament has now been branded by Pepsi, DDL has been a staunch supporter of the competition as the national team is usually selected from the tournament.
The Brand manager said that his company firmly supports the investment in grassroots programmes since they believe in the developmental aspect of sport.
The GCB president was very appreciative of DDL’s continued support despite the many challenges the sport has faced in the recent years.
In round one of the competition, Demerara take on Essequibo on September 21 at the GCC Ground then Demerara face Berbice at the same venue on September 24. On September 26 Berbice tackle Essequibo at the GCC Ground.
Following this, the top two teams on the points system will advance to play the final at the Albion Community Centre ground on September 29.
Meanwhile at the Demerara trials yesterday, Barnwell XI batted first and got to 320 in their allotted overs. As with the trials, more than ten batters occupied the middle for the side.
However, openers Trevon Griffith and Andrew Lyght Jr. contributed 67 and 40 respectively, while Brian Sattuar stuck around at number three and made 20.
The only other mentionable score was that of the captain who batted at nine and blasted 72 which included seven sixes and three boundaries.
Yatesh Dhanpaul was the leading bowler for Jacobs XI with 4-30 while Dennis Legay bagged 2-22 and Kellon Carmichael, Andre Stoll and Steven Jacobs picked up a wicket each.
The opposition replied with 271-5 in their allotted overs. They were restricted by Griffith and Barnwell who both picked up two wickets and Shivram Persaud who had 1-39..
Openers Robin Bacchus and Shemroy Barrington, who made 85 and 88, respectively, were the only batsmen to make substantial contributions. Shaquille Williams (26) and Rajendra Chandrika (14) were the only other batsmen to reach double figures.