Digicel Twenty20 cricket:ECCB names 21-man squad

The East Coast Cricket Board (ECCB) has named a 21-man squad to prepare for the upcoming Digicel Twenty20 cricket tournament on Friday.

According to information from the president of the ECCB, Bissoondial Singh, the tournament was slated for Friday since there is no cricket being played now and there seems to be a break in the May/June rains.

And according to a release, the 21 players are asked to contact Raymond Barton, an official of the ECCB, on 626-0223 and 220-1636 to confirm their availability for the tournament that will end on July 9.

The tournament will be played under the round robin system and there will be three teams from each county except Essequibo, which will be fielding two teams. Stabroek Sport was told that other details regarding this tournament will be released at a later date.

Demerara will comprise  East Coast Demerara (ECD), Georgetown and East Bank Demerara while Berbice will be divided into three districts and Essequibo’s two teams will merge with West Demerara.

Meanwhile, included in the ECCB squad are former West Indies opening batsman Ryan Ramdass, national off-spinner Zaheer Mohammed and former national player Krishna Arjune.

The batting of the ECCB will be further bolstered by top order batman Waslim Haslim, who has been explosive for the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC).

On the other hand, selectors have named all rounder Troy Gonsalves and left arm spinner Damian Vantull along with Everest Cricket Club (ECC) wicketkeeper Joseph Perry, who has also gotten some good scores with the bat before the seasonal rains came.

Squad: Ryan Ramdass, Christopher Pattadin, Waslim Haslim, Saltan Safdar, Sureshpaul Deosarran, Zaheer Mohammed, Sumnauth Brarrat, Suresh Budhu, Damian Vantull, Videsh Lall, Darron Peters, Marvin Cato, Ravi Singh, Travis Gilbert, Krishna Arjune, Vishnu Ramjeet, Troy Gonsalves, Joseph Perry, Rawle Fredericks,  Richard Chetura and Adrian Persaud.