Presidents of GCB, TTCB ink agreement to host U13 tournaments

…GCB’s Singh lauds initiative as another significant step in youth cricket development

The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) and the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) will participate in a bilateral regional under-13 tournament scheduled for Guyana from December 10 to 17, 2022.
This inter-regional tournament is novel to Guyana, and complements Cricket West Indies’ plans to institute two-year incremental development programmes. It is expected to adequately expose under-13 players to competitive cricket in order to facilitate their growth and development for future two-year incremental development programmes, such as the national under-15, under-17, and under-19 training activities.

The GCB currently has established structured cricket development activities for the under-11, under-15, under-17, under-19, and senior levels. The under-11 activities are conducted through the Republic Bank Five for Fun cricket development programme. Additionally, the GCB and Republic Bank are in the planning stages of initiating a national under-23 inter-club tournament.
GCB President Bissoondyal Singh, expressing delight at being able to positively engage TTCB President Azim Bassarath, has said, “Both Territorial Boards are keen on exposing our future professional cricketers at an early age to the highest competitive standards possible. We recognize the need for children to develop their art: bowling, batting, and fielding, in a fun-related manner. However, we strongly believe that players in the under-13 age group can begin to challenge their minds a bit more than is currently being done.

“Learning cricket techniques is good, but executing the respective skills in competitive environments will set the players on a greater path to success. This initiative paves the way for a regional under-13 tournament. We believe in promoting the training aspects of cricket so that players can inculcate the recommended practices for the game as well as a person. Our planned Cricket Academy, which will cater to the needs of players aged seven (7) to seventeen (17), is geared at making our players rounded cricketers. In addition to technical and skill development, our Academy focuses on areas of cricket laws, scoring, match referee and umpire’s duties; and etiquette, including personal communication, interviewing as a priority activity, and psychology.”