Franchise cricket still on the cards to complement inter-county, says GCB President

By Brandon Corlette

The return of the Guyana Cricket Board’s (GCB’s) senior inter-county tournament was a pleasing sight for many cricket fans, but for some it was the opposite. The senior inter-county tournament was replaced by the franchise league, which had more teams and more games.

According to GCB President Bissoondyal Singh, the franchise cricket will return and the inter-county will continue as per norm.
“Our board will play as much cricket as possible. And that is the purpose of the board. The franchise is there, but there needs to be a change in the format and formula to make it more professional in the way in which we select the players,” he said.
“The answer is, ‘No, we have not abandoned the franchise, it is a feeder for the inter-county’, so we know what happens with the rain and the hustle to get a Guyana team, put in time for training, have practice matches; and that is what happen there,” Singh has said.
The GCB boss also noted that playing inter-county cricket is part of the Five-Year Strategic Plan that was submitted. “This is something that we promised on our campaign trail, and we found it necessary. It was shocking (that inter-county stopped), because this is the level of cricket people depend on to get the players up to standard. We have done a Five-Year Strategic Plan, submitted to the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and submitted to the National Sports Commission. This is part of the Five-Year Strategic Plan. Because we did not have the time to do the franchise leading into this, we had to go directly into the inter-county,” Singh explained.
Of course, the GCB still has areas to be improved upon, especially the marketing aspect. Despite the quantity of posts and press releases, the quality of the production is poor, and for the inter-county, Singh admitted there is more work to be done.
“It is a work in progress, much more is needed to be done,” Singh highlighted.
The GCB also found it fitting to livestream matches globally following a partnership that is now in its “testing stage.”
The inter-county final was livestreamed in the subcontinent, comprising of India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Bhutan, Maldives and Afghanistan, through a partnership agreement with a promotion firm registered in India. This partnership arrangement is now in the testing stage of Guyana’s Cricket Product.
President Singh added, “To date, we have livestreamed all matches in this tournament, and have engaged a potential commercial partner to assist in the promotion of the game beyond the boundaries of Guyana and the West Indian region.”
The 2023 inter-county should be a cracking tournament, as GCB continues to seek new ideas. Berbice continues to reign supreme at this level, with a host of star players showing their class. This season, it was Romario Shepherd who claimed the most wickets and was awarded the “most valuable player and the “player of the final”.
Meanwhile, captain of the Guyana Harpy Eagles, Leon Johnson, has scored the most runs in the tournament.