… Need for various leagues to cooperate

By Frederick Halley
The 2017 Guyana Softball Cup, organised by the Guyana Floodlights Softball Cricket Association (GFSCA) ended close to midnight last Sunday night at the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) ground with both GFSCA and Ariel Speedboat creating history, becoming the first teams to achieve back-to-back championships since the first tournament bowled off seven years ago.

While it was a resounding nine-wicket victory for GFSCA over nemeses and archrivals Regal Masters in the Over-45 category, Ariel Speedboat showed great resilience to overcome opponents Booths All Stars in a tense and tight finish in the Open category, a game that was decided off the last delivery of the riveting 20-over affair.

Like in any tournament of this magnitude, there were a few hiccups, more so on the final night when the generators powering the lights at the Queenstown venue acted up, causing more than a one-hour delay for the Open final. Some unruly spectators were also responsible for an injury sustained to Regal’s David Harper as he tried valiantly to prevent a four on the boundary edges.

These apart, it was another fantastic tournament, kudos to the GFSCA.
As a former Public Relations Officer for the-then Guyana Softball Cricket Association (GSCA) and attending my first Guyana Cup since migrating to Canada in 2003, I was able to witness the tremendous growth that has taken place in the grassroots sport, which has obviously been attracting tremendous financial input from the business sector in Guyana – a far cry from what is happening in the traditional hardball game.

The attendance at the matches, especially at the finals, which were boosted by the addition of an Under-13 hardball game featuring Blairmont Blazers and Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC), was fantastic. Here again the comparison with those witnessing Cricket West Indies regional cricket matches in Guyana has left much to be desired.
I kept searching for answers as to the reasons why the turnout at these tournaments, including the one staged by the Georgetown Softball League (GSL) the previous weekend, is far superior to Cricket West Indies regional matches staged at the stadium and I got mixed reactions.

The consensus, however, seemed to be the entertainment provided, with most describing the softball matches as “short and sweet”.
Former vice-president of GFSCA, Ricky Deonarine, who still plays a major role in the organising of the tournament, expressed delight at this year’s staging. He echoed the sentiments of president Ramchand Ragbeer at the launching that the tournament had reached great heights since its inception.

Chairman of the seventh edition, Anil Beharry, who also joined the commentary team headed by the experienced Inderjeet Persaud, should also be commended for an exemplary job, bringing his vast experience as former president of the Berbice Cricket Board into play.
As usual, the corporate support was fantastic and among the sponsors were STAG Beer, RUBiS Guyana, Steve’s Jewellery, Clear Waters, Busta, Rohan Auto Spares, A&R Jewanram Printery, WJ Enterprise, Mike’s Pharmacy, Ramchand Auto Spares and Survival Group of Businesses.

Special commendations to Ramesh and Devi Sunich of Trophy Stall for once again sponsoring the numerous trophies, including a towering six-footer for the Masters championships, while as is customary, Steve’s Jewellery provided the Most Valuable Player prizes for the top players in the Open and Masters categories.

This year, the prizes were two gold pendants in the shape of cricket bats.
While the tournament could once more be deemed a success, it was obvious that all is not well among the various leagues/organisations in Guyana and this was very much evident at the teams’ meeting prior to the commencement of the tournament.
Allegations surfaced as to what allegedly transpired in 2016 regarding players’ eligibility in the Over-45 category but these were denied by the organisers.

The fact that Regal, whose official made the allegations, still participated in the Masters category was a sure sign that things are on the mend and one can only hope more progress is made in this area.
From reports received, the Prime Minister’s Cup, organised by the GSL, will become an annual affair while the International Softball Cup, played simultaneously at Parika with the Guyana Softball Cup, may follow suit.

At the end of the day, there’s only one winner, softball cricket, and one can only hope that all the parties involved show respect for each other’s staging of their version.