By Elroy Stephney

 THE North Essequibo Cricket Committee (NECC), which is an affiliated member of the Essequibo Cricket Board (ECB), is voicing its support for the re-introduction of the senior Inter-county cricket competition.

According to a release, the Committee is concerned that the pride and passion of the game is being diminished since players have lost that honour of representing their respective counties.

The release further states that previously, Inter-county cricket was hugely successful because the best players were selected and there was great rivalry among players to gain selection and that the tournament proved to be a fitting stepping-stone to the national set-up.

The NECC also stated that the current franchise system though plausible is not the best foundation for players to be properly nurtured. The NECC call comes on the heels of a similar appeal from the Berbice Cricket Board recently, following a stakeholders’ meeting in the ancient county.

The Inter-county competition was abolished by the GCB almost three years ago and was replaced by a franchise system that involves several teams.

Most of the country’s top players graduated from the Inter-county system including Roger Harper, Clayton Lambert, Sudesh Dhaniram, Rabindranath Seeram and Clyde Butts.