By Frederick Halley
THE touring Tranzac Cricket Academy Under-17 team will open their hectic one-week tour of Guyana at the Everest Cricket Club ground today, against the hosts.
The 13-member squad, under Guyana-born coach, Sheriff Bodhoo, left Toronto, Canada, on Thursday morning and according to Bodhoo his charges are extremely confident of success in the scheduled nine matches.

Among the squad are Ashtan Deosammy, who recently represented Canada at the Under-19 ICC World Cup, staged in New Zealand and Raqib Shamsudeen, one of three standby players.
According to Bodhoo, Deosammy has been one of the brightest prospects in his academy which has a reputation for producing quality players over the years.

Apart from representing the academy, Deosammy also plays for Tranzac Sports Club in the Toronto & District Cricket Association in both the senior and junior competitions – the Under-16, Under-18, Second and Elite divisions.
An all-rounder, Deosammy is credited with almost single-handedly winning the Under-13 title for his team, blasting an undefeated 142 not out against Malton Sports Club in the 2013 final. He was also the top scorer (81) against Australasia Cricket Academy in last year’s Under-18 semi-finals

Deosammy, who is of Guyanese parentage, was also part of the Canadian Under-19 side which captured the ICC Americas Under-19 title in matches against the United States and Bermuda last year. He also participated in the one-day version of Cricket West Indies Under-19 tournament in the Caribbean.

Meanwhile, many felt that 16-year-old Shamsudeen, whose parents are also Guyanese, should have been part of the squad that travelled to New Zealand based on his statistics over the past few years,

Tranzac has seven teams in the Toronto District Cricket Association (TDCA) Cricket League which is the official cricket league in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) recognised by Cricket Canada. The teams include: three junior teams: Under-13, Under-15 and Under-19; four senior teams: second division men’s, fourth division men’s, fifth division coed and the women’s team.

The 13-man squad comprises: Manav Patel, Aman Patel, Naman Bhavsar, Raqib Shamsudeen, Anthony Player, Nicholas Manbohar, Ramanvir Dhaliwal, Ashtan Deosammy, Jash Shah, Rushil Patel, Junit Kansara, Marcus Nandu and Mathew Nandu.

Details of itinerary: today, March 10 vs Everest at Everest; tomorrow, March 11 vs Gandhi Cricket Club at Gandhi; Monday, March 12 vs GCC at Bourda; Tuesday, March 13 vs Lusignan at Lusignan; Wednesday, March 14 vs Albion at Albion; Thursday, March 15 vs Blairmont at Blairmont; Friday, March 16 vs D’Edward and Rose Hall Town (T20s); Saturday, March 17 vs Ogle at Ogle; Sunday, March 18 – game to be decided.