ECB President wants cricket to be played at all levels in E’bo

Jan 24, 2020 Sports

By Zaheer Mohamed

President of the Essequibo Cricket Board (ECB) Fizul Bacchus wants to see cricket played at all levels in the county. Speaking with Kaieteur Sport yesterday, Bacchus who was re-elected to the post on Sunday last at the Annual General Meeting said even though limited cricket was played at the Inter Committee level due to the lack of sponsorship, Essequibo had a good year in 2019.

Fizul Bacchus

He said that the senior team played well in the franchise tournament and as a result wicket-keeper batsman Kemol Savory was included in the National team for the Regional Super 50 tournament. At the age group level, Sheldon Charles was chosen as Captain of the National U17 team.
“We want to ensure that cricket is played at all levels in both male and female categories. To host a tournament in Essequibo usually costs a lot due to the geographical location of the respective area committees, but so far we have a commitment from Busta to stage a senior T20 tournament. I am calling on the business community to render assistance to the board so more cricket can be played,” he added,
Bacchus has expressed gratitude to Imam Bacchus and Company and Doodnauth Samaroo for their assistance. “Imam Bacchus and Company makes their ground readily available to be used by the board and for this we are very thankful.”
While the Imam Bacchus ground is one of the better grounds on the Coast, Bacchus said that they would like to utilise the Anna Regina ground which is located in close proximity to the board’s hostel.
“The Guyana Cricket Board has invested close to some $10m at the facility at Anna Regina. This includes two sight screens, a press box and a scoreboard and yet we cannot gain maximum use of the venue. There is a stage on the ground and the relevant authorities have promised to have it removed, so we are looking forward to having cricket played at this venue during this season. This ground is close to the hostel and having cricket played there will save the board a lot since we will not be spending so much on transportation, especially during trial matches.”
Bacchus indicated that the Mayor of Anna Regina Town Council, Rajendra Prabulall did put forward a proposal to the Ministry of Sport to have lights installed at the ground so we are hoping that this can be done, which will help us to stage more tournaments and raise funds for the board.”
He said the subvention they obtain from the Guyana Cricket Board is being spent on trial matches. “As long as we receive the necessary sponsorship we will be able to stage more tournaments and this can help us to select better teams to represent the county since more players will be on show as compared to just having trial matches.”
Bacchus stated that the board held a camp in 2019 which was a success and they will host another in August which will target both male and female cricketers. When quizzed about the absence of Leguan and Bartica from the AGM, Bacchus indicated that they will engage these areas and render the necessary assistance to help with the development of the game there.
The President expressed gratitude to the area committees for re-electing him and urged his fellow executive to work feverishly for the development of the sport there. The executive body will name its various committees on Sunday.
Apart from Leguan and Bartica, the other are committees are Wakenaam, East Bank Essequibo, Pomeroon, South Essequibo, North Essequibo and Central Essequibo.