THE Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) has taken a first-hand approach towards the development of female cricket at the grassroot level.

To this end, the board has commenced the first ever female franchise Under-17 secondary school T20 league yesterday with two matches.

The GCB will use this tournament as a foundation for the female franchise tournament in the upcoming years. Eight franchise teams from across Guyana are part of the league. They are Upper Corentyne, Lower Corentyne, West Berbice, East Coast Demerara, Georgetown, East Bank Demerara, West Demerara and Essequibo.

The teams will be competing in a round-robin method in seven rounds, which is expected to conclude on November 7.

West Demerara and Lower Corentyne gained victories over West Berbice and Upper Coprentyne, respectively.

At Albion, Lower Corentyne won by 27 runs. Lower Corentyne made 93-2 after winning the toss. Openers Ashmini Munisar and Shenia Simon added 52 for the first wicket before they were dismissed for 22 and 18, respectively.

In reply, Upper Corentyne struggled, and in the end reached 66-8. Shanaya Fraser top scored with 17. Bowling for Lower Corentyne,  Ashmini Munisar picked up 3 -14 while she was supported by Niveena Ramnauth, who took 2-5.

Meanwhile, over at the Wales ground in West Demerara, West Berbice won the toss and decided to bowl first. 

West Demerara then scored 77 all out in 13.3 overs of their allotted 20 overs. Ariana Buckan top scored with eight while Jamaica Simon scored five. The most instrumental bowler was Renata Liverpool who grabbed 4-15 while Lisa Isaaca and Tamara George took 3-20 and 2-10, respectively.

In reply, West Berbice failed to reach their target, managing to score only 63 from 18 overs. Ariana Buckan was the most destructive bowler, grabbing 5-18, while she was supported by Varuni Pitambar who took 2-10. West Demerara won by 14 runs.

The games billed for Enterprise were called off due to unforeseen circumstances.