Dem Life backs NSSCL to revive West Indies cricket

As the sad reality of West Indies’ dismal performance in cricket sinks in, Demerara Mutual Life, Fire and General Insurance Company has begun doing their part as the company seeks to “revive West Indies Cricket.”

As such, on Thursday, at a simple handing over ceremony at their Head office at Robb Street and Avenue of the Republic, the company contributed a significant sum of money to the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) as they endeavor into the latter stages of the National Secondary Schools Cricket League (NSSCL).

With the tournament budgeted at close to $15 Million, Marketing Manager of the GCB, Raj Singh indicated that the contribution by the insurance company is well received as sponsorship has been hard to come by, having lost both Banks D.I.H and Digicel.

Singh added that it was through rigorous discussions between the two parties that this agreement was able to become a reality and hoped that it would be the beginning of a long lasting partnership.

Speaking on behalf of the Insurance Company, Clarence Perry, Executive Marketing Manager, was very adamant on the state of West Indies cricket, citing the deterioration as something that needs to be curbed as soon as possible and the foundation of the revival of the cricket is at this level, hinting to the reason the company has embarked on sponsoring the tournament. “The primary reason for sponsorship is the development of youths, particularly the revival cricket. As you know cricket is something we cherish and we see this as an investment towards the overall goal of developing in the future, hopefully that these young men can go on to represent us nationally and also internationally and once again return West Indies cricket to where it used to be,” Perry said.

He further pointed out that “if we could contribute in any way to make it happen, that’s what we would really like to do, invest in the young people,” sharing the position that no Guyanese is pleased with the position of West Indies cricket.

President of the GCB, Drubahadur highlighted his pleasure in seeing the sponsorship of the NSSCL by Demerara Mutual, indicating the importance of education and sport. He pointed out an incident whereby the West Indians were called an unspeakable name, “never again” he said. “You recall in a recent Australia T20 tour, a commentator called our cricketers dunce headers or something to that effect and I guess it affected every Caribbean person and we at the Guyana Board since last year took the initiative for us to improve our cricket and further our cricket we need to get back cricket into the schools,” The GCB President stated.

Drubahadur shared his viewpoint that it is always a plus to have some amount of academics to match your skills so you can be able to assess situations differently.

The GCB president committed the Board to a “highly competitive game” that will not disappoint the sponsors, saying ‘I want to give a commitment that the executives at the board, we view discipline on and off the field very seriously, we have Colin Stuart, our Technical Director, who is directly responsible for this and him being a former west indies player he knows about discipline, knows how to get you to the other level so we can commit to you a highly competitive game, competitive but friendly manner in which your name will not be tarnished in anyway.

Singh stated that while, the Insurance Company has contributed significantly, and there is still a huge gap that the GCB is filling, calling for the promotion of the remainder of the league. The League is in the latter stages with a few zone matches still to be played before going to the zone play-offs. The resumption is set for Monday.