By Frederick Halley

TORONTO, Canada – With Toronto Cup 11 just three weeks away, several players are aiming to use Saturday’s big Inter-county tournament as a form of dress rehearsal for the Caribana weekend extravaganza here.
Of much significance is the fact that Saturday’s inaugural event, set for Keele Top, North York here, featuring Demerara, Berbice, Essequibo and a selected All Stars combination, is being contested with the white ball, similar to what will be used in the Toronto Cup.
The brainchild of former Guyana captain and Canadian national Damodar Daesrath, in association with Dent Wizard and PGI Limited, the 20-over affair, which is set to get underway at 10:30hrs, is expected to provide much excitement and spectacular performances.
According to the released fixtures, Berbice will clash with Essequibo while Demerara and All Stars battle simultaneously on adjoining grounds. The two winners will then meet in the grand final.

Organiser Daesrath, who pointed out that a lot of planning has gone into the tournament, is quite confident of its success and intends to make it an annual affair.
He disclosed that most of the players are quite eager to play with the white ball since it’s the preferred version used in all international tournaments in Guyana, Florida, New York and also in the Toronto Cup.
Daesrath himself will be part of the strong Berbice lineup which is being led by his Dant counterpart and skipper Loaknauth Ramsuchit and includes former Guyana and West Indies Under-19 player Hemnarine Chattergoon, former Canadian player Aftab Shamshudeen and Riaz Kadir.
Seasoned campaigner Mahendranauth ‘Bobby’ Parasnauth takes charge of Demerara with the likes of former Guyana Under-19 players Eyaaz Mohamed, Troy Gobin and Zaheer Haniff featuring in the squad.
Among the big names in the All Stars squad are Guyana and former West Indies One-day player Royston Crandon and former Guyana Under-19 players Harrienarine Chattergoon and Farouk Hussein.
While not possessing many big names, Essequibo will feature burly all-rounder and Canadian player Dillon Heyliger, former national player Trevon Garraway in the capable hands of Abdool Azeez.
It should also be noted that several of the players were part of the Essequibo team who carted off the recent Ontario Masters Cricket Clubs Softball (OMSCC) Inter-county tournament.

The tournament, which follows closely on the heels of the Apollo Super Bash, has as its main sponsors, Caribbean Heat Restaurant, JDG Tooling, Caribbean Lyme Restaurant, 24 Hrs Glass System, Canadian Surplus, Hawaiian Arctic, I&R Constructions and T&S Enterprise.
The winners are set to take away Cdn$2 000 and a trophy while the runners-up will take home Cdm$1 000 and a trophy. Several other cash incentives and trophies are also up for grabs.

The teams will be selected from: Demerara: Bobby Parasnauth (captain), Avinash Sookdeo, Anil Mahadeo, Eyaaz Mohamed, Shaun Deonadan, Surujpaul Deosarran, Zaheer Haniff, Azam Haniff, Krishna Deosarran, Satrohan Balkarran, Troy Gobin and Sunil Ramkissoon. The manager is Zanil Jumarally with Orin O’Neil as the Technical Director.
All-stars: Royston Crandon, Harrienarine Chattergoon, Farouk Hussain, Rawle Scott, Rakesh Dyal, Anil Ramotar, Zakir Khan, Bholonauth Sukhu, Anand Gurdial, Rabindra Diaram and Randy Roopnarine. Manager is Pramchand Punwasi and his assistant is Archie Mohan.

Berbice: Looknauth Ramsuchit (captain), Muniram Karran, Hemnarine Chattergoon, Yadram Bogh, Riaz Kadir, Aftab Shamsudeen, Damodar Daesrath, Jeetendra Beharry, Linden Persaud, Davindra Sukhdeo and Daven Parsram.
Essequibo: Azeez Baksh (captain), Wasim Parasram, Dillon Heyliger, Rabindra Persaud, Javed Gaznabie, Abdool Azeez, Andy Monasar, Ahmed Bradshaw, Javed Mohammed, Trevon Garraway, Rickey Bradshaw and Ravi Madholall (manager/player). Bobby Ramlagan (assistant manager).