Sinclair, Anderson tons flatten Albion

BCB/New York Business Group U-19 2-Day 2 Innings Tournament

– Rose Hall Town Pepsi A take inaugural title

The first ever New York Business Group Under-19 Two-Day, two innings cricket tournament concluded on Saturday at the Albion Sports Complex ground with Rose Hall Town Pepsi ‘A’ being crowned champions.
The final started in Friday and ended on Diwali day in front of a handful of spectators including the sponsors and their families and Berbice Cricket Board officials. Day two was blessed with fabulous weather and Kevlon Anderson and Kevin Sinclair made hay while the sun shone.

Replying to 95 all out made by Albion on the opening day, Anderson and Kevin Sinclair resumed the day on 78/1 in pursuit of the crucial first innings points which would ultimately guarantee them the championship. They knocked the wind out of the sails of Albion with a 184-run partnership for the second wicket after Junior Sinclair was dismissed for 14 in the afternoon session of day one.
Kevin Sinclair hit 15 exquisite boundaries on the lush Albion sward in compiling 111 while Anderson was very busy and picked the gaps nicely on the huge outfield in his workman like top score of 138. He added a 23 for the third wicket with Bhaskar Yadram and a further 42 for the fourth wicket with captain Bradon Prasad after losing Sinclair. Yadram and Prasad both made 14. After seeing the lead go past the 200-run mark and the total at 306, Anderson perished after hitting 14 fours. Keith Simpson was left not out on 6 when the declaration came at the fall of Anderson with the lead at 211 half way through the second session.
With just about a session and a half remaining in the day’s play and the competition, Albion who failed miserably with the bat in their first knock then began positively in their second turn at the crease with captain and best batsman Adrian Sukwa and Ritesh Umroa looking to brighten proceedings on the festival of lights. Sukwa showed is class briefly for 20 (2×4) in the opening stand of 32 while Omroa went on to 61 not out when the players shook hands and called the game off one ball after the final hour began. Matthew Hardyal (6), Joshua Harrychand (9) and 11 year old Reaz Karim (2) all fell to cunning bowling from Rose Hall Town Pepsi ‘A’ bowlers who were looking for an outright win.
Kevin Sinclair picked up two wickets for 22 while Prasad had one for 27 and Keith Simpson one for 26. Simpson who picked up 3-9 in the first innings was later named best bowler of the final while Kevin Sinclair copped the best batsman award and Kevlon Anderson the Most Valuable Player.
The New York Business Group was well represented and were responsible for the lavish presentation ceremony. There were plaques for outstanding individuals, trophies and cash prizes for outstanding individuals and medals for all participants of the final including players, scorers and match officials. Eighteen grade-A bats and a pair of wicket keeping pads were also presented.
The tournament which started in March was jointly organized by the Berbice Cricket Board and the Albion Sports Complex Cricket Club and fully sponsored by the New York Business Group (NYBG) who comprise a group of hard working and patriotic Guyanese that now reside in New York, USA. Ralph Tamesh, Hafeez Ali, Bhola Ramsundar, Ajit Mootoo and Insaf Ali assisted with the presentation of prizes and collectively stated that the NYBG will continue with the success story next year while spreading their wings to include Essequibo and Demerara.
Speaking on behalf of the Berbice Bricket Board, President Anil Beharry expressed gratitude to the NYBG while stating that the tournament was well run and was seen as a tournament to improve the competitive sills of the county’s under 19 team so that they can have a better showing nest year at the inter county level after a disappointing showing in 2016. Beharry also congratulated the finalists and Rose Hall Town especially for winning.
Executives of Albion Sports Complex Cricket Club; Imtiaz Baccus, Veemen Walter and Orvin Mangru also expressed their satisfaction to the NYBG for the tournament. Baccus also presented a token of the club’s appreciation in the form of a certificate to the NYBG.
However, Veemen Walter spoke of the positives that can be derived from the tournament but stressed that if the decision makers do not work together then all the hard work and money invested will go to waste. Walter, a cricket administrator for more than two decades called on the authorities to stop playing ‘cricket-politics’ and  let cricket move forward.