President’s Cup regional One-Day cricket in Guyana

Nov 05, 2008 Sports

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Nine Teams vie for US$12,000 first prize from November 13

By Sean Devers
Nine teams will vie for the US$12,000 first prize when the 2008 regional one-day cricket competition bowls off in Guyana from November 13-23 with 21 games packed into nine days.

It was disclosed at a Press conference hosted by the Guyana Cricket Board yesterday that the winner of the two semi-finals will collect US$2, 000 with the losers getting US$1,000.

West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Director and President of the GCB Chetram Singh informed that although the competition is not sponsored the Man-of-the-Match in the preliminary round games will get US$150 while the player-of-the-match in the semi-finals will receive US$200.

The Man-of-the-Match in the final will collect US$250 while the best batsman, best bowler and best fielder in the tournament will each get US$500.

Singh said the local budget for the competition is US$300,000 which does not include the airfare and payment of players and officials.

“We cannot compete with all of the millions in prize money for cricket that we have seen recently but we are confident of a successful competition on the budget that we have.  While the big name players will not be involved because of their West Indies duties, we urge the fans to come and see the emerging players and support the cricket,” Singh said.

“Admission to all of the games, including the historic Day/Nigh semi-finals and final at the Guyana National Stadium, is just two dollars and fifty cents United States dollars (G$500) and with the chance of seeing regional cricket under lights for the first time in Guyana, I expect large crowds for the semi finals and final,” Singh said.

The matches will commence at 09:15hrs to compensate for the early sunset in Guyana at this time of the year while the Day/Night games will begin at 13:45hrs. Singh informed that it is now mandated that one team must bat their entire innings in daylight in all International and List ‘A’ Day/Night matches.

Singh revealed that the only change to the original fixture released by the Board is Guyana’s first round game.

All of the teams except the Windward Islands are expected in Guyana on November 11 and Guyana will now play the Combined Colleges and Campuses (CCC) in their opening game at the Stadium on November 13 instead of the Windward Islands who have encountered flight problems and will arrive in two parts on November 11 and 12.

Guyana will play the Windward Islands at Blairmont in the only game set for Berbice on November 15.
Albion, which hosted the first ever ODI in the region in 1977 is not one of the venues for this competition and Singh explained that the ‘tight schedule’ was the reason why just one game was fixed for Berbice and none for Albion.

“Albion is over 100 miles from the Capitol and it would have been very difficult to get the teams to that venue and back to the city in one day and with matches fixed for almost everyday we could only have set one game for Blairmont since the teams could travel to that ground the same day since they don’t have to cross the Berbice river.”

Apart from Blairmont, which is approximately 70 miles by road from Georgetown, five venues in Demerara, including two in the City will be used for the competition.      

Jamaica will begin their title defence against Barbados at Bourda on November 13 and the teams have been divided into three groups of three teams with each team playing two group matches.

The teams have been seeded from last year’s tournament which Jamaica won in Barbados and after their first two group games the top four teams (Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Barbados) will play two more games against a team each from the other two groups. After four matches each, the four teams with the most points will clash in the semi-finals. The number one team faces the number four side and the number two side plays the number three team.

The two rest days (November 16 & 20) will be used for seminars; with the WICB talking to the players on November 16 about Drug use and testing and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) speaking to the players on November 20.

“From January 1, 2009, drug testing will be mandatory for Test and First-Class matches and this is the first time that we will have nine first class teams participating in a regional competition at the same time so we wanted to make use of that opportunity to speak to the players about this important topic,” Singh said.
The five teams that fail to qualify for the semi-finals are scheduled to depart for home on November 21.  

While the USA and Canada make a return to West Indies domestic competition, the plan to have a West Indies youth side participate in this tournament was shelved because the members of the cricket committee feels that the young players should not be exposed to too much one-day cricket. It is hoped that the West Indies youth side will participate in the 2010 regional first-class competition.

Seven games will be played at the Stadium, Guyana’s most modern cricket facility and the region’s 10th Test Venue, including the three Day/Night games.

The two semi-finals finals are fixed for November 21 and 22 while the final will be played on November 23.
Singh disclosed that a massive marketing plan is being worked on by Marketing Manager of the GCB Ramsay Ali and his team to promote the 11-day event.

Banners will be placed at the venues while advertisements will be placed in the print and electronic media in Guyana.

It is also hoped that players and officials will be hosted on local TV shows to hype up the competition in the absence of the West Indies players.         

FIXTURES: 
Date   Match      Venue
 
13 Nov 2008  Jamaica vs Barbados                 GCC
   Canada vs Leeward Islands               Everest
   Guyana vs CCC                                  Stadium

14 Nov 2008  Barbados vs USA    Stadium
   Leeward Islands vs Trinidad   GCC
   Windward Islands vs CCC    Enmore

15 Nov 2008  Jamaica vs USA     Everest
   Trinidad vs Canada    Uitvlugt
   Guyana vs Windward Islands              Blairmont

 
17 Nov 2008  Canada vs Jamaica               GCC
   Barbados vs Leeward Islands                Uitvlugt
   Trinidad vs USA     Enmore

18 Nov 2008  Windward Islands vs Barbados   Enmore
   USA vs CCC     Everest
   Jamaica vs Guyana                Stadium

19 Nov 2008  Trinidad vs CCC     GCC
   Leeward Islands vs Windward Islands  Uitvlugt
   Guyana vs Canada    Stadium
 
21 Nov 2008  Semi-Final One (D/N)             Stadium

22 Nov 2008  Semi-Final Two (D/N)    Stadium

23 Nov 2008  FINAL (D/N)     Stadium

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