When the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)/Gafsons Indus-tries Limited sponsored 20/20 cricket competition gets underway at Queenstown today, defending champions Malteenoes Sports Club (MSC) will be looking for revenge against Demerara Cricket Club (DCC), believed to be their toughest opponent in the group.
The Thomas Lands based MSC defeated Albion Com-munity Centre in the final of the same competition under the sponsorship of beverage companies Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) through its Pepsi brand and Ansa Mc Al Limited through their Carib Beer brand, but the last time these two clashed in the Georgetown Cricket Association/Pepsi limited overs competition, DCC came out victorious by a huge margin.
This time around, it’s a new sponsor with more prize money at stake, with the winning team pocketing $400,000 and their club $100,000 and no doubt MSC will be looking to repeat as champions in this version of the game here.
To this effect, they should be hitting the ground hard with players in the calibre of Shemroy Barrington, Orin Forde, Dion Ferrier West Indies under-19 vice captain Steven Jacobs, Imran Hassan and former national wicketkeeper Kenneth Wong.
Their bowling should be a spin-based one, considering the Queenstown team’s susceptibility to that type of bowling, thus former national under-19 off spinner Sean Devers should be donning the blues for MSC in this encounter and along with Jacobs, Forde and Ferrier, should pose a serious threat to DCC.
But DCC will have the services of Guyana/Stanford 2020 players in all rounder Christopher Barnwell and wicket keeper batsman Darwin Christian to call on and along with national under-19 opener Trevon Griffith, Dennis Squires, the hard hitting Jamal Hinckson and Royston Alkins at their disposal.
Coupled with a bowling attack that includes Barnwell and national fast bowler Trevon Garraway, along with Squires and Alkins,
MSC should expect a tough day in the field. Both Barnwell and Garraway will be rearing to go at MSC to display their new found knowledge from former West Indies fast bowlers Reon King and Colin Stuart in the recent GCB fast bowling clinic.
In other first round matches in the Demerara zone which is being divided into two zones, namely A and B, in Zone A Mavericks will take on East Coast Demerara at Enterprise Community Centre ground while Police and Guyana National Industrial Corporation will do battle at Eve Leary. Nandy Park who were scheduled to face MSC in the first round clash, have drawn a bye.
In Zone B, New Line Aqua Farm and Lusignan will face off at Lusignan, Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) and the University of Guyana will battle at GCC while Everest Cricket Club will host Transport Sports Club at Camp Road. The Guyana Defence Force is the other team in this zone and they have drawn a bye.
All matches will commence from 14:00hrs and the Demerara Cricket Board which is a subsidiary of the GCB will be providing balls throughout the duration of the preliminary rounds of this competition.
