By Brandon Corlette
The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) on Tuesday afternoon issued a release expressing disappointment at Cricket West Indies (CWI) for selecting only four Guyanese in the West Indies Under-19 training camp.
Appearing on Tuesday’s Mason and Guest programme, Head Coach Floyd Reifer shot down the GCB, noting that the GCB had the opportunity like every other territory to put forward their best players.
“The GCB had the opportunity, like everyone else, when we were looking at the players in the initial stage, they put forward their best players to us. It is unfortunate that they did not get in the games like Barbados and Trinidad did, so we can see the other players; but, like I said, I think we chose the best possible 56 guys to work with at this moment, with no youth cricket played this year,” Reifer explained.
Bissoondyal Singh
The four Guyanese selected for the WI Under-19 camp are Matthew Nandu, Isai Thorne, Rampertab Ramnauth and Mavindra Dindyal. The squad to tour England will be cut to 18 after the 56 players play the mini Best v Best matches in Antigua.
Four teams will be competing in that series.
Below is the GCB statement:
The GCB once again notes with extreme concern the shoddy treatment of Guyanese cricketers by CWI. The GCB has been reliably informed that only four (4) Guyanese are in the training squad of fifty -six (56) cricketers to prepare for selection to the regional team to participate in the Under-19 World Cup Tournament.
Coach Floyd Reifer
This is despite GCB’s considerable investment in playing trial matches with livestream feeds and commentary within the region. Though these matches were affected by rain, the players and the GCB’s commitment cannot be overstated. This ICC tournament is scheduled to be played in the West Indies in January and February 2022, and already interest is high for what is expected to be a showpiece for international youth cricket.
Just a few weeks ago, the GCB was obliged to take issue with CWI over the omission of Veerasammy Permaul, Shimron Hetymer and Romario Shepherd from the Senior Regional Team for the series against South Africa.
The GCB remains firm in its position that Guyana has a number of very talented under-19 cricketers, who must be recognised by the Regional Selectors and whose names would once again be forwarded to CWI with a request for them to be added to the squad.
The GCB will continue to diligently monitor the selection processes of CWI, to ensure there is a level playing field across the region. In this regard, the GCB will continue to engage CWI in order to obtain a copy of the “CWI Selection Criteria Policy”. A request had already been made to CWI.
President of the GCB, Mr. Bissoondyal Singh, on August 02 2021 intervened by discussing with CWI President Ricky Skerritt the selection issue in general and the continuing omission of Guyanese players in particular.
On August 3, 2021, President Singh also had a discussion with CWI Vice-President Dr. Kishore Shallow on the very matters. President Singh was given the assurance that CWI will address the concerns of the GCB and update him accordingly.
