Leslie Amsterdam Memorial Competition bowls off tomorrow

The long-awaited Leslie Amsterdam Memorial Under-17 Interzone 50 overs competition will finally be bowled off tomorrow in Berbice.

Speaking to Stabroek Sport, Chairman of the Berbice Competition Committee, Carl Moore said that the format for the selection of the Berbice team to represent the county will be a round robin system.

Moore said that there are five zonal teams involved, including West Berbice, New Amsterdam/ Canje, Lower Corentyne, Central Corentyne and Upper Corentyne with West Berbice and New Amsterdam/Canje playing in one group and the three Corentyne teams playing in the other with the top team from each group playing each other in the finals.

He said that West Berbice and New Amsterdam will play each other twice to select one finalist. And the Corentyne teams will face each other once to select the other finalist with the adoption of a one-day double innings system. Each team batting will get an allotted 60 overs with the possibility of at least a first innings points win and these games will be played on a daily basis from 9am-5pm.

Moore said that the Berbice junior selectors will be on hand to observe the players in action to obtain a firsthand look at the players in order  to select a team to compete in the Clico under-17 two-day competition scheduled for Georgetown.

The competition is being held in memory of the former Berbice Cricket Administrator, and national player who drowned in the Berbice River in 1999.  Amsterdam played for Guyana during the time of  Rohan Kanhai, Basil Butcher and Joe Solomon and because of these three it is claimed that he did not get a chance to represent the West Indies. However, he gave his all to local cricket, especially in Berbice where he was an outstanding player.