BERBICE and Essequibo will square off in a top-of-the-table clash over the next three days commencing today at the Enmore Community Centre ground, in the third and final round of this year’s Guyana Cricket Board/Raj Singh Insurance-sponsored Under-19 Inter-county three-day tournament.At the same time, defending champions Demerara will host the National Under-17 squad at the Everest Cricket Club ground. Both matches are set to commence at 10:00hrs each day, but certainly all eyes will be on the action at the East Coast Demerara-based Enmore ground.

Berbice, who defeated the National Under-17 by an innings in the first round, maintained their supremacy with a 216-run victory over Demerara when the two sides met at the Georgetown Cricket Club ground, thanks to Shimron Hetmyer’s ton and Balchand Baldeo’s half-century.
At the same time, Essequibo, whose chances of finishing within the top two was bolstered by the return of talented all-rounder Kemo Paul, defeated the National Under-17 by 108 runs at the Demerara Cricket Club ground, after being held to a first-round draw by Demerara.
Apart from Paul, Nathan Persaud, Parmesh Parsotam, Sachin Persaud, Travis Drakes, Keanu Harry and to an extent, Neiland Cadogan and Akini Adams, will lead the Cinderella County’s batting lineup against a game and spirited Berbice bowling attack.
Harry, the Essequibians left-arm orthodox spinner who has been their leading bowler to date, should be looking to continue in the same form that has netted him 15 wickets to date, after Paul, Cadogan, Drakes and Jewmal Hartman remove the sheen from the new ball.
Adams, Sachin Persaud and Looknauth Chinkoo will give Harry tremendous support in the spin department, against the Berbicians, whose batting lineup will certainly be brimming with confidence for this fixture.
Hetmyer, who like Paul was a member of the West Indies Under-19 camp held recently, will be looking to score heavily once again, while expecting ample support from Baldeo, fellow opener Leon Andrews, Kassim Khan, Daniel Lewis, Parmanand Ramdhan, Grisean Grant and Omar Weatherspoon.
Grant, who bowled with pace and control against Demerara in their second innings, will share the new ball with Weatherspoon, while Baldeo, Khan, Lewis and Andrews will take great care of the spin department, as was evident against the defending champions.
At Camp Road, both Demerara and the Under-17s will be looking for an improved performance in the final round, after their dismal performances with the bat handed them humiliating second-round defeats.
Skipper Travis Persaud, Ronaldo Renee, Tevin Imloch, Malcolm Hubbard, Akshaya Persaud, Tariq Dharamlall, Shurfane Rutherford, Daniel Basdeo and Mark Hamilton are all talented cricketers and were expected to perform exceedingly well in this tournament, since they did churn out creditable performances for their respective clubs at levels higher than this one.
However, weak and pathetic shot selections were the order of the day against the Berbicians, especially in Demerara’s second innings when they mustered 71 for 8 at the close of play on the penultimate day, as they chased a victory target of 298.
Carlton Jacques has been selected to penetrate the opposition’s top order with the new ball, but he is yet to make an impression as Rutherford is the bowler who has led the Demerara attack with his steady medium pacers.
Basdeo has also failed to be penetrative with his left-arm fast bowling, while an inconsistent line-and-length has plagued the spin department which consists of Hubbard, the unrelated Travis and Akshaya Persaud, Dharamlall, Mark Hamilton and Jayadev Mana.
On the other hand the Under-17 team are using this tournament as preparation for this year’s Regional Under-17 tournament, but like the Demerara lineup, they too have produced lukewarm performances in their two first-round defeats to date.
In skipper Ronaldo Ali-Mohammed, the Under-17 team possesses a highly talented all-rounder who once groomed correctly, can go a far way in the gentleman’s game, while Raymond Perez, Adrian Sukhwah, Bhaskar Yadram, Timothy McAlmont, Ashmead Nedd and Joshua Persaud are all capable batsmen in their own way.
Hence, they will be expected to put their heads together and contribute incredibly to a total, that their team’s bowlers led by Ali-Mohammed, Sylus Tyndall, McAlmont, Nedd, Sagar Hetheramani, Richie Looknauth and Kevin Sinclair can bowl to.
Moses Ramphal, Delvin Austin and Zaheer Mohammed are the three officials tasked with keeping things in order at Everest under the watchful eyes of Reon King the Match Referee, while at Enmore, Colin Stuart is the Match Referee, with Deon Feassal, Chetnarine Persaud and Ryan Banwarie the umpires.

By Calvin Roberts