The Ancient County of Berbice will soon experience the thrill of T20 cricket as the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) has collaborated with t ANSA McAL (Guy) Ltd to officially launch the SKYY Vodka 20/20 Cricket Tournament for First Division Teams.
The knockout tournament will consist of 12 teams, inclusive of West Berbice, Blairmont, Police, Tucber Park, Young Warriors, Rose Hall Canje, Albion, Port Mourant, Rose Hall Town Gizmos & Gadgets, Upper Corentyne and Skeldon.
The corporate giants have injected some $450, 000 into the competition. Predicting that the tournament will be a success and enjoyable for the entire
BCB President Hilbert Foster
family, Foster announced that popular senior players like Veerasammy Permaul, Devendra Bishoo, Shimron Hetmyer, Gudakesh Motie, Anthony Bramble, Clinton Pestano, Eon Hooper, Assad Fudadin, Romario Shepherd, Gajanand Singh and Keon Joseph are expected to take part. Additionally, young talents such as Kevlon Anderson, Junior Sinclair, Alex Algoo, Kassim Khan, Raun Johnson, Kevin Jawahir, Sasenarine Sukhdeo and Sudesh Dhanai will play alongside them. The matches are expected to be hosted at Area ‘H’ Ground, Skeldon, Cumberland, Blairmont and Albion. Getting down to the particulars, Foster disclosed that only one non-Berbician would be allowed to play per match for a team and a maximum of two would be allowed for the duration of the tournament. Explaining the rationale for this, Foster stated that such competitions were an opportunity to showcase young Berbician talents; however, clubs were in the habit of excluding these young players while favouring non-Berbician cricketers.
The BCB President also emphasised on discipline, noting that players should be fully attired and should arrive at the playing venue at least half an hour early. He also revealed that within the near future, teams that do not have a youth structure would not be allowed to play First Division Cricket in Berbice. This tournament comes as part of the recently-elected BCB President’s commitment to nurture cricket at all levels. To date, tournaments in the Internal Zone, Under-15, Under- 17, Under-19, Under-21, Female, Second Division and First Division levels have all been launched, while an Inter-Secondary School Tournament will be officially launched next week.
