CLICO launch 5th Inter-County U-17 cricket tourney

Aug 27, 2008 Sports

Matches fixed for Canje, Enterprise and Wales

By Sean Devers
It was another impressively organised ceremony as Insurance giants CLICO yesterday launched their fifth annual Inter-County under-17 two-day cricket competition at the Company’s Head Office in Camp Street.

CLICO’s Sales and Marketing Manager Venita Bovell handed over the sponsorship cheque to President of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Chetram Singh and explained that the $1.3 million handed over yesterday would cover the cost of expenses associated with running the matches and transportation of the teams.

Bovell informed that the entire sponsorship was worth over $3 million with the remainder of the amount to be used for prizes, uniforms for the players, ground staff and media along with branding for the final which is set for the final match when Demerara oppose defending champions Berbice at Wales on September 12 & 13. Outstanding players will receive cricket gear valued at $200,000.

CLICO first sponsored this competition in 2004 when they collaborated with the Guyana Post Office and Bovell said that this sponsorship falls on the heels of the successful CLICO International under-15 Championships which were held in April in several territories across the Caribbean, including Guyana.

CLICO’s contribution to the cricketing community at home and throughout the region has been outstanding Singh told the gathering which included CLICO staff, GCB officials and the Media.

Demerara face Essequibo at Enterprise in the opening game from September 6 while Berbice and Essequibo do battle at the Rose Hall Community Centre ground in Canje from September 9 before the three-team tournament concludes with the final match in West Demerara.

Admission to all of the games is free and the matches are scheduled to commence at 09:30hrs and Bovell revealed that CLICO’s aim is to spread the excitement to various venues across Guyana rather than having one venue for all of the games.

“We were disappointed by the attendance at last year’s competition during the CLICO International under-15 series and we urge all fans in the various areas where the games will be played to support our future champions,” Bovell said.

Singh explained that this competition was very important since it bridged the gap between under-15 and under-19.

“Before we had an under-17 competition we lost a lot of players after under-15 but now there is an under-17 Inter-County to look forward to and this year the youths will have the extra motivation of trying to make the Guyana team for the CLICO regional under-17 competition in Trinidad in December,” Singh informed.

He said every youth should want to play for the Guyana senior team and then the West Indies and if playing for the West Indies was not their ambition then he feels that are just wasting time and should do something else.

“The weather has very unkind to local cricket this year and we hope it improves next month since the national youth selectors will be using this competition to earmark a squad to prepare for the regional tournament in Trinidad.

‘We are committed to searching for the next West Indies cricketer and it is at this stage in their careers that the youths most need the support of sponsors and the fans and we are delighted to commit again to next year’s competition,” Bovell disclosed.