GCB brings back 4-Day Inter-County tournament, to bowl off February 25

The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) has announced the return of the Senior Inter-County 4-Day Tournament.
This tournament will commence on Saturday, February 25, 2023, and would be used as preparation for the Guyana Harpy Eagles (GHE) prior to the resumption of the West Indies Championships, scheduled for March 15.

Last October, the GCB held the first senior inter-county tournament after a more-than-five-year absence when the Super-50 tournament was played. Berbice were crowned champions after they defeated Essequibo in the final, which was played at the National Stadium at Providence. The re-introduction of the 4-Day format in the GCB’s calendar of activities is a major step for the Board as these matches will give the players the opportunity to stake a claim for selection to the GHE team. It is expected that a strong team would be named, with GHE leading the points table at the end of the second round.
Demerara have named a strong squad led by GHE Captain Leon Johnson with a very strong batting line-up on paper, as most of the batsmen have regional experience. The in-form Matthew Nandu, who scored a century on debut against Barbados Pride in round one of the West Indies Championships, will lead the batting along with talented batsman Tevin Imlach and experienced batsman Christopher Barnwell. Ashmead Nedd is expected to spearhead the bowling department with support from leg-spinner Steven Sankar, off-spinner Richie Looknauth, former West Indies Under-19 pacer Ronaldo Ali-Mohamed and seamer Qumar Torrington.
Essequibo will be led by experienced left-arm spinner Antony Adams. West Indies pacer Keemo Paul will spearhead the bowling with support from national pacer Ronsford Beaton and skipper Adams. Talented wicketkeeper-batsman Kemol Savory will lead the batting department with support expected from Kevon Boodie and pugnacious lefthander Ricardo Adams.
Demerara squad: Leon Johnson (Captain); Matthew Nandu; Raymond Perez; Tevin Imlach; Akshaya Persaud; Shamar Yearwood; Christopher Barnwell; Ronaldo Ali-Mohamed; Richie Looknauth; Ashmead Need; Steven Sankar; Qumar Torrington; Sachin Singh and Sachin Balgobin. The Manager is Puneet Jaigopaul and the Head Coach is Garvin Need. The reserves are Nehemiah Hohenkirk, Christ Balgobin, Navendra Persaud, Kishan Tracy, Ronaldo Renee, Riyad Latiff, and Jermain Ramroop.

Essequibo squad: Antony Adams (Captain); Kevon Boodie; Sheldon Charles; Kemol Savory; Neland Cadogan; Ricardo Adams; Keemo Paul; Quentin Sampson; Ronaldo Renn; Leon Swamy; Avinash Persaud; Malcolm Hubbard; Wazim Mohamed and Ronsford Beaton. The Manager is Yogeshwar Lall and the Head Coach is Ryan Hercules. The reserves are Ricardo Peters, Rajendra Ramballi, Shane Wong, Carl Gilgeous, Beesham Moses, and Garfield Phillips.
Berbice squad is to be submitted. It must be noted that Shimron Hetmyer and Romario Shepherd are available for the Inter-County; therefore, we expect them to be part of the Berbice team. The GCB’s Select XI will be named shortly.
Teams will commence training in their respective counties on Tuesday, February 21. Demerara will be at the GCC from 09:00h to 13:00h; Berbice will be at Port Mourant from 14:30h to 18:00h; Essequibo at Imam Bacchus from 09:00h to 13:00h while the Select XI will be at Malteenoes from 15:00h to 18:00h.
Live streaming will be available for both matches of each round which would be shared on the GCB Facebook page.

GCB Senior 4-Day
Inter-County schedule
Round 1 – February 25-28, 2023
Berbice v Demerara at Providence
Essequibo v Select XI at Enmore
Round 2 – March 3-6, 2023
Berbice v Essequibo at GCC, Bourda
Demerara v Select XI at Enmore
Round 3 – March 9-12, 2023
Essequibo v Demerara at GCC, Bourda
Berbice v Select XI at Enmore