Young Warriors Cricket Club of East Canje are the Berbice Cricket Board of Control (BCBC)/Isaac Bissoon-sponsored 2007 three-day cricket champions after they whipped Rose Hall Community Centre (RHCC) by 327 runs in the final which ended yesterday at the Rose Hall community Centre ground.
Scores in the game, Young Warriors 413 and 186-4 declared; Rose Hall CC 194 all out and 78-8 innings closed.
In what was expected to be a grudge match and a keenly-contested affair between two teams from the East Canje area, turned out to be a damp squib and at times looked farcical especially on the last day with the host team batting two men short.
The final day began with Young Warriors, who had already taken first innings points, on two without loss and an overall lead of 221.
They batted for a considerable part of the day before declaring at 186-4 with Richard Ramdeen scoring an even 100 which was decorated with two fours and three sixes.
Seon Hetmyer, who helped post 131 runs for the second wicket was unbeaten on 52 which included a solitary boundary.
Bowling for Rose Hall, 15-year-old off-spinner Kevin Ramdeen picked up 2-34 including the prize wicket of Gajanand Singh for nought.
Set 405 runs to win in 23 overs plus the mandatory 15 overs the host team’s batting was so pathetic that they did not even bat out the 23 over. The closed their innings on 78-8 innings in 21.2 overs with two batsmen retiring hurt.
Only Sanjay Khan, controversially given out caught at the wicket for 26, Kevin Ramdeen (18) and captain Romesh Munna 14 not out, reached double figures in a poor batting display.
Bowling for Young Warriors, Paul Wintz took 3-23 to end with match figures of 6 -43 whilst spinners Singh (2-21), Anil Beharry (2-1) along with Hetmyer’s 1-21 offered support.
RHCC Batsman Brijesh Jaipaul was struck two painful blows off successive deliveries on his hip by the lively Wintz and took no further part in the game, whilst an over weight Totaram Seenanand suffered from a muscle strain.
If the performance on the field was not embarrassing enough, then the absence of any senior executive of the BCBC apart from those playing in the match and competitions committee chairman Carl Moore was a shame.
None of the board selectors were present at the match that was witness by the President of the Guyana Cricket Board Chetram Singh and Vice President Malcolm Peters.
Speaking at the presentation ceremony Singh, who represented the sponsors, congratulated Young Warriors for winning and praised Rose Hall for reaching the final for the first time in over 30 years.
Singh said that despite the hiccups the competition will be sponsored again this year.
He also made special mention of young Kevin Ramdeen whom he said showed good potential. The GCB president however, lashed out at the BCBC officials whom he said he was very disappointed with as none of them took the time to attend the match. Their actions, Singh said left much to be desired and made him wonder whether they had cricket at heart. Singh also had harsh words for the selectors whom he said should attend matches especially a final. “How would you see a person like Ramdeen play if you don’t come to the matches?” he asked.Young Warriors were presented with the Isaac Bissoon Trophy and $50,000 by Singh while RHCC received $20,000. Gajanand Singh received the Man-of-the-match award mainly for his magnificent innings of 174 in Young Warriors’ first innings.
Wintz was rewarded for scoring the most runs in the competition 714 while Kassim with figures of 4-40 received the prize for the best bowling figures in the final
This was the second year for the competition which was sponsored by overseas-based Guyanese Isaac Bissoon to the tune of one million dollars. Bissoon was a former first division cricketer in the Ancient County.
Albion Community Centre won the inaugural competition in 2006.
