… WJ Enterprise; NALICO join

By Rajiv Bisnauth

CHAIRMAN of the Big Man Cricket-Guyana (BMC-G), Rajendra Singh, has stated unequivocally that the tournament scheduled to bowl off on March 13 will go ahead despite non-approval from the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB).
“We are going ahead with the tournament … all our logistics are in place. We have an official launch on Friday (tomorrow), so nothing will stop us from playing the tournament,” Singh, who was the Marketing Manager of the GCB for a number of years said.
This is not the first time the GCB has shot down plans to host the tournament, which was originally scheduled for last November.
The board did not sanction the event then, since they said it would have infringed on the sanctioned Over-40 competition.
After what it deemed “a painful period of deliberation”, the committee had opted to postpone the tournament.
However, GCB has issued a release reiterating its position on the hosting of the Big Man Cricket tournament.

The board stated that the tournament has not received approval from the governing body and any action to host the tournament contrary to approval by the GCB will be seen as “subverting the role and responsibility of the board.”
Applications for approval of a cricket match or event – outside of what is detailed in the list of approved and pre-approved cricket – must be made in writing to the Cricket West Indies (CWI) at least 30 days prior to the start of the event.
BMC-G had already obtained approval from the Ministry of Health, COVID-19 Task Force and the Minister with responsibility for Sport for this tournament.
It is understood that twelve teams have registered for the tournament, namely Upper Corentyne, Jai Hind, The Godfathers, East Coast Strikers, Georgetown Royal Rangers, Sarjoo Tigers, Regal Masters, Everest Masters, West Bank Warriors, West Demerara Vipers, Essequibo Eagles and Ras Tafar Eye Patriarchs.
The competition will be for players who are over 45 years as of January 2021 and will be a 25-over affair. This signature tournament will be conducted on a round-robin basis with two semi-finals and a final and will feature matches being held at grounds in all the counties.

The final and semi-finals will be live-streamed with accompanying commentary. The tournament will run until April 18.
Apart from trophy and cash prizes for the top teams, there will be several individual awards, including a motorcycle for the man-of-the-series.
Meanwhile, WJ Enterprise and North American Fire & General Insurance Company Limited (NAFICO) are the latest entities to join the growing list of sponsors.
WJ Enterprise, the sole distributor of Croxley Paper/Copy Rite Paper and Stationery Supplies, has been in the Wholesale Distribution business for several decades and is the leading distributor of Supermarket, Restaurant and Bakery Goods in Guyana.
Both Heeralall Naraine of WJ Enterprise and Basil Mahadeo, who serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Insurance Company agreed to co-sponsor this tournament since they believe it would help to get our senior cricketers more actively involved in the game of cricket ,which ultimately would lead to healthier lifestyles and enhancement of community.