FOR the first time in over a decade, senior Inter-County cricket returns to Berbice when favourites and the hosts clash with Demerara in the opening round of the GCB’s senior Inter-County 50-over tournament on Saturday.
The match will be played at the Blairmount Community Centre Ground in East Bank Berbice.
With a slew of West Indies and Guyana players named in Saturday’s contest, a large crowd is anticipated to be at the venue which produced Tests players like Roy Fredericks and pacer Brandon Bess.
The Berbice team has only two players without international or First-Class caps, while Rampertab Ramnauth represented Guyana at the U-19 level this year.
The Demerara team, while not as star-studded as the home team, has in their ranks Skipper Tevin Imlach, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Chanderpaul Hemraj, Matthew Nandu, Akshaya Persaud, and West Indies U-19 player Mavendra Dindyal.
If Sherfane Rutherford, who been picked to play for Demerara, and the gifted but temperamental Shimron Hetmyer, who has been named for Berbice, play, then the fans could be in for a treat.
The Demerara supporters could make the trip to Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) and create what could be a fantastic atmosphere, which will be nothing new for high-level cricket at ‘Country’ venues.
Defending Champions Berbice, who beat Essequibo at Providence in last year’s final, has in their squad the likes of Skipper Veerasammy Permaul, Romario Shepherd, Kevin Sinclair, Hetmyer, and Gudakesh Motie, all of whom have played for the West Indies.
At age 33, Johnathan Foo has been recalled to the Berbice squad, which also includes Kevlon Anderson, Anthony Bramble, Nial Smith, Shamar Joseph, and Clinton Pestano.
Such is the strength of the Berbice side that West Indies pacer Isai Thorne, and recent CPL off-spinner Junior Sinclair, who will Captain the GCB Select XI, cannot find a place in the squad.
The Demerara team will also have in its ranks Akshaya Persaud.
All the above players will press for places in next month’s Regional Super50, which is scheduled for Trinidad from October 16.
Guyana will be hoping to win its first 50 overs title since they beat Barbados at Bourda in 2005 after the Guyana Harpy Eagles won the West Indies Championship 4-Day tournament last April.
Some of the players who helped the Guyana Warriors to its first CPL title on Sunday at Providence, including Hetmyer, Motie, Shepherd, Anderson, Joseph, Sinclar, Beaton and Hemraj, should also be on show in this tournament.
Demerara’s Ashamed Nedd, and Essequibo’s Kemo Paul, who both played in the CPL, will miss this tournament due to injury, while the experienced Chris Barnwell will be the Vice-Captain to Sinclair for GCB Select X1, which will include Thorne.
The second match of Round One will be on October 1, with last year’s runner-up Essequibo battling the GCB Select XI at the historic Bourda.
Round Two will be played on Tuesday, October 3, with Berbice facing GCB Select XI at Enmore, while Demerara battle Essequibo at GCC.
On Thursday, Berbice faces Essequibo at Bourda, while Demerara will oppose GCB Select XI at Enmore. The final will be played at GCC on Saturday, October 7.
All matches are scheduled to start at 09:00 hours, and will be live-streamed on the GCB Facebook page.
BERBICE TEAM: Veerasammy Permaul (Captain), Romario Shepherd (Vice-captain), Kevin Sinclair, Rampertab Ramnauth, Kevlon Anderson, Shimron Hetmyer, Johnathan Foo, Anthony Bramble, Gudakesh Motie, Nial Smith, Shamar Joseph, Clinton Pestano and Nigel Deodat.
STAND-BY: Suresh Dhanai, Kelvin Umrao and Demetri Cameron.
HEAD COACH: Julian Moore.
MANAGER: Travis Harcourt.
ESSEQUIBO TEAM: Anthony Adams, Kemol Savory, Ronsford Beaton, Ricardo Adams, Kevon Boodie, Quentin Sampson, Neiland Cadogan, Garfield Phillips, Jadon Campbell, Sherland Anthony, David Williams, Malcom Hubbard, Wasim Mohamed and Norman Fredricks
STAND BY: Ayran Persaud, Shaheed Veira, Orlando Jailall, Keshun Tracy Rajendra Ramballi and Joshua Jones.
HEAD COACH: Nandkishore Andrews MANAGER: Yogeshwar Lall
DEMERARA TEAM: Tevin Imlach- Captain, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Chanderpaul Hemraj, Matthew Nandu, Akshaya Persaud- Vice-Captain, Mavendra Dindyal, Sherfane Rutherford, Steven Sankar, Richie Looknauth, Ronaldo Ali Mohamed, Devon Lord, Qumar Torrington, Floyd Joseph, Bernard Bailey
STAND-BY: Daniel Mootoo, Riyad Latif, Nehemiah Hohenkirk, Krisna Singh, Brandon Jaikaran and Laurel Parks.
HEAD COACH: Garvin Nedd
MANAGER: Surendra Hiralal
GCB SELECT XI: Junior Sinclair (Captain), Christopher Barnwell (V/Captain) Sachin Singh, Jonathan Rampersaud, Raymond Perez, Shamar Yearwood, Joshua Persaud, Jeremiah Scott, Carlos La Rose, Aryan Persaud, Isai Thorne, Zeynul Ramsammy, Cylus Tyndall, Chris Harry.
STAND-BY: Kashan Tracy, Shaid Viera, Zachery Jodah, Robin Williams, Orland Jailall, Kwesi Mickle, Suresh Dhanai.
HEAD COACH: Clive Grimmond
MANAGER: Ravindranath Seeram
