Local cricket hit hard by Pandemic as GCB could only hold two tournaments in 2020

Jan 05, 2021 Sports

By Sean Devers

Regal Masters won the Tropical Spring O-40 League.

Anthony Ifill (right) was the leading All-Rounder in the O-40 Tourney. (Brandon Corlette photo)

Kaieteur News – When the covid-19 pandemic hit Guyana in March the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) had only completed their GCB/Rubis U-17 Inter County tournament. It took nine months of inactivity before cricket resumed with the GCB/ Tropical Spring T20 Over-40 Tournament as 2020 ended as the worse year for the World in all aspects of life in a hundred years since the Spanish flu struck in 1920.
In January, Demerara won the GCB/Rubis U-17 Inter-County tournament.
In the final round at Everest, Berbice beat the Select U-15 by eight wickets. The U-15s made 97 from 40.3 overs with Nicolas Sheopersaud top scoring with 27. All-rounder Leon Cecil captured 6-14, while Jonathon Rampersaud supported with 3-29. Berbice replied with Mahendra Gopilall making 54, while Hemindra Gordial finished unbeaten on 30.
At Bourda, host Demerara began the final round with 18.5 points, while the lads from the Ancient County had 18.4. Demerara, on the back of Movindra Dindyal’s 40, fell for 168 in 41.2 overs. Ryan Atkinson had 3-33 and Skipper Aryan Persuad took 3-36 for Essequibo who were dismissed for 134 in 45.5 overs despite 34 from Renaldo Scouten. Rudranauth Kissoon bagged 4-25 as Demerara won by 34 runs to take the title.
Berbice U-17 opener Gopilall finished with scores of 58, 05 and 54* in 117 runs. Guyana and West Indies youth player, Rampertab Ramnauth ended as the second leading scorer with 104 runs and had a highest-score of 78, while his West Indies U-16 teammate, Mavindra Dindyal made 102 runs with a high-score of 50. He also scored a delightful 40 in the final when he won the Man-of-the-Match award. Essequibo’s captain Aryan Persaud, Berbice captain Zeynul Ramsammy, Wicketkeeper Shemar Yearwood were the other batsmen to reach fifty in the four-team competition.
In the bowling department, off-spinners Alvin Mohabir and Jared Allicock ended with seven and six wickets respectively, to top the bowling charts in the three-match tournament. Mohabir, a former Guyana U-15 captain claimed a five-wicket against Berbice, Leon Cecil had six wickets in the tournament including the only hat-trick, while Isai Thorne was the fastest bowler in the tournament.
GCB/Hand in Hand U-19 three-day tournament was cancelled due to Pandemic and the 50-over format has been rescheduled for mid-January, while the Regional U-15, U-17 and U-19 tournaments were called off due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
In November, The GCB collaborated with Tropical Spring for its T20 Over-40 Tournament which was played at three venues in each of Guyana’s three counties and saw the return of cricket locally.
The tournament involved 16 teams with Reliance Sports Club, Invaders Masters, Imam Bacchus Over 40, Jaguars Over 40, West Demerara Masters, West Demerara Mavericks, Everest Masters, Regal Masters, RP Construction Legends, Sand Pipper Masters, Bel-Air Rubis Ultra Tec, General Marine Masters, Jai Hind Masters, Sarjoo Tigers and West Berbice Masters, competing for a first prize of $250,000 and a runner’s prize of $100,000. KV Construction Masters pulled out after the opening round.
GCB’s Secretary Anand Sanasie said the Board opted for an over-40 tournament to mark the return of cricket after an almost nine-month absence from the field due to the pandemic because this age-group would be more responsible and should set a positive example for the other remaining tournaments planned for the year.
“As a consequence, the players of the GCB Tropical Spring T20 Over 40 Tournament, will have both the privilege and responsibility to engage in a tournament being used to facilitate a smooth return to cricket and other outdoor sporting activities,” Sanasie had added.
Territorial Development Officer of the GCB, former West Indies pacer, Colin Stuart explained the main aim of the National Over 40 Tournament was bringing former experienced players back to the cricket environment and thereby serving as an impetus for their involvement in relevant facets of the administration of the game, inclusive of coaching and mentorship.
The preliminary round of matches commenced on the Saturday 21 November 2020 and concluded on Saturday 5 December 2020. The Quarter-Finals were held on the Sunday 6 December 2020, the Semi-Finals on Friday 11 December 20202 and the Final on Saturday 12 December 2020.
On the field, West Demerara Masters beat West Demerara Mavericks in a battle of the teams from the west side in the semi-final at Enmore, while Berbice side Jai Hind Jaguars, the only unbeaten team in the tournament, opposed Regal Masters in the other semi-final at Everest. Regal Masters were awarded the game after the Berbice side were found guilty of deliberate time wasting with rain and bad light threatening to rob Regal Masters of victory.
In the Final at Everest, West Demerara Masters lost to Regal Masters by seven wickets after reaching 119-8 from their allotted 20 with Chabraj Ramcharran 29, Ramesh Thakur 27 and Ganesh Persaud 24 scoring the bulk of the runs. Anthony Ifill, the best all-rounder in the competition had 2-11, while former Berbice Inter-County batsman Eion Abel had 3-10. Regal Masters reached 120-3 from 16.5 overs. Ifill (36) and Chien Gittens (35) got support from Ezad Mohammed (26) and David Dick (17) saw their team to victory.